Well, the news came form the Hub and other media websites. But for those of you who didn't catch on with what's going on, let me explain. In 2015, a new Transformers series is going to air on the Hub Network. Don't know the month it will air, all I know is that it will take place years after Prime and would have an action/comedy field to it compared to the dark story from the Beast Hunters saga. Another thing that kind of caught me off guard is that Bumblebee would be a new leader to a team of new Autobots. That got me scratching my head because I never see Bumblebee as a leader. I mean sure, he destroyed Megatron and all, but that's suppose to be the Prime's job, not the scout. And besides, there are other Autobots that would make great leaders too, Arcee, Smokescreen, Ultra Magnus are some good examples. I don't see Bee making a great leader to this new team. And even if there is a new series in the works, there are still questions that need to be answer. Like if Optimus sacrificed himself to restore Cybertron, then who is going to be the new Prime? And what about Jack, Raf, and Miko? Are they going to make a return years after Prime? What will they look like if the team returns to Earth? It's still baffling as to why they haven't answered any of those questions yet. But it's still early to think that yet and once I get more information, I'll put it on my Youtube video about my thoughts on the new series. But still, I'm excited about this new series and can't wait to see how that you live up to the Prime series. Now for the last chapter, still popular as the others. 16 reviews and over a thousand hits as always. There were a few extra reviews here and there, but they were all just guest reviews claiming that I should update this chapter immediately and one claiming that I should do a Jack/Miko pairing. I had to delete those reviews because they were giving me such a pain as of late. I know a lot of people want me to update quickly, but if I do that, then my chapters would be half finished and completely messy. So please stop telling me to update people! I'll post them when I post them. Moving on to the next chapter, the team starts searching for their leader while the Cons search for them. Will Autobots save Optimus and make an escape. Or will they get caught and fall? This should be very intense.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime

Chapter Twelve: Optimus

On the twentieth floor of Darkmount, two Vehicons stood guard at the front of the elevator, keeping watch and being on the lookout for the Neutrals or any other intruders. There was word on the comms that the Neutrals must have brought the Autobots in to the fortress through some kind of modified ground bridge they had been working on. For that reason, the entire army was keeping optics out for any intruders, whether Bot or not. As they were on guard, a ding was heard from the elevator behind them; they turned to see who was coming down. Approaching the opening metal doors, they waited to see who was inside. But to their surprise, they saw Bulkhead with his wrecking balls armed and Wheeljack with his fists clenched, ready to deliver a major beat down.

Bulkhead: "Knock, knock!"

The two then punched both drones so hard that they were knocked to the ground. The moment they were in deep stasis, the two Wreckers relaxed as Bulkhead retracted his weapons, dragging the drones' unconscience bodies into hiding. While they were doing that, Smokescreen exited the lift and scanned the area for any other possible threats. Once he knew they were in the clear, he turned on his comm., which included a built in scrambler, and contacted Firewall.

Smokescreen: "Smokescreen to Firewall. Come in. We reached the twentieth floor. Where is the trophy room?"

Meanwhile, in the communications room being run by the Neutrals, Firewall was at the controls with his cables connected to various consoles, trying to keep the Cons off their backs by transmitting neutral but believable responses to every status query. Once he heard the Elite Guard's voice on the channel, he responded and looked at the Darkmount map, telling him which direction the team needed to go.

Raf/Firewall: "I'm here Smokescreen. According to the map, the trophy room where they're keeping the Iacon relics is located in the west end of the floor. There could be guards protecting the area. Might be a long stretch, but it's the only way of getting those relics."

Smokescreen: "Copy that. We're on our way now."

Raf/Firewall: "Just be on alert. Decepticon chatter is buzzing that you guys might be in the tower with us. They are searching for you, so be on your guard."

Smokescreen: "Understood. We'll try to be as stealthy as possible. Smokescreen out."

Raf ended the comm. frequency as he waited for any more progress. Meanwhile, the other two recruits and humans were waiting for Team Prime to finish their mission. Jack, or Rodimus, was behind the hacker, watching the progress. Sari, Sam, and Vince were sitting nearby at the control console, with their legs Indian style, resting from all the walking and standing. Sari amused herself by playing with her pet Scraplet, Sparkplug. But Miko, Kaosu, was not so much of the waiting kind. She was pacing back and forth like a crazy person, aggravated by the fact that she had to remain in the communication center until it was time to leave. And that was something she did not want to do. She wanted to charge in and get into the action, beating up Cons from left to right, not sit around doing nothing. Jack turned to see the Wrecking cadet getting on edge and sighed to himself. Knowing Miko, she did have the tendency to get into trouble. Heading over to her, he told her to stop walking back and forth.

Jack/Rodimus: "Kaosu, can you please stop tramping around? If you keep this up, you might dig a hole into China, or worse, the floor below where more Cons are searching for us."

The Wrecking Cadet turned to him and was feeling a little irate.

Miko/Kaosu: "Well then if that's the case, I will dig a hole with my feet just to get some serious action. Didn't you hear what Arcee said to us? She told us to wait right here while they bash some Decepticreeps. It's not fair!"

Jack gave Miko a very confusing look as he told her what they've been through before they brought the team in.

Jack/Rodimus: "Kaosu, we went through an onslaught in Jasper, survived an infestation in the sewer system, sneaked our way into Darkmount, and went into a serious firefight before reaching this place. Don't you think that should be enough for one day?"

The Japanese femme raised an optic ridge and acted like he had two heads or something.

Miko/Kaosu: "Uh… No."

The recruit rolled his optics around and couldn't believe that she wanted more action even after what she'd been through.

Jack/Rodimus: "It is unbelievable that you are so desperate to commit suicide after all that slag we just put up with."

Miko/Kaosu: "Oh come on Rodimus. You know I'm just itching for action! I can't be cooped up in here forever!"

But still, the young mech shook his head and told her it was a no go.

Jack/Rodimus: "Sorry Kaosu, but Arcee's orders are to remain here and keep the Cons in the dark about our presence. No exception."

Miko heard of that, and had a playful smirk on her face.

Miko/Kaosu: "Oh really? So you decided to follow orders from your girlfriend. That's very touching…"

That caused the former teen to blush slightly as he turned his head away to hide the blush.

Jack/Rodimus: "Whoa! Hold up! What makes you think that we are a couple? We're pretty much partners."

Now the Wrecking cadet was completely interested as she continued to stir the pot.

Miko/Kaosu: "Oh, so that's what that kiss was about. Nothing to wonder about; you're both partners. Or, is it something else?"

Now Jack was in a very uncomfortable position as he tried to get her off his case.

Jack/Rodimus: "Okay, first of all, you shouldn't stick your nose in anybody's business. That's just rude. Secondly, Arcee told me that once she and the others save Optimus, she would give me an answer to my question."

Miko/Kaosu: "Is that so? Well given the way you two were acting back there, I think we already know the answer.

As Rodimus and Kaosu were arguing over the relationship between him and the two-wheeler, the humans looked on and were pretty much amused with their little squabble.

Sari: "Man, those two like to fight each other huh?"

Sam Witwicky: "Sure looks that way. Guess they had a tendency to fight each other whenever things got a little heated."

Vince looked at the two and saw things differently between them. He couldn't put his finger on it, but watching these two argue reminded him about the two students he picked on. One which was Darby and the other that foreign exchange student from Japan. Looking at them, he rubbed his chin and started acting a little suspicious.

Vince: "I don't know about that, you two. Their fighting reminds me so much of the students I liked to bully in high school. One in particular, a foreign exchange student that came from Tokyo. She was always a bit of a troublemaker. In fact, the way this Kaosu girl is acting, she reminds me of that girl in school."

The two humans looked at him and could tell that he was getting close to the truth. But before he could come to a conclusion, a voice came on the speakers that was very familiar to Sari.

Professor Sumdac: "Come in Firewall. Do you read me?"

Raf looked at the screen and could tell that it was Sumdac. Luckily, he was able to make a relay between Darkmount and the Lake Erie base and blocked off the feed from the Cons or they would be more suspicions. Hearing it as well, Rodimus decided to save the fight for later and approached console to answer.

Jack/Rodimus: "We're here professor. What's going on at the base? Were you able to get the survivors out of the fallout shelter?"

At the Autobot base underneath Lake Erie, the remaining civilians from Jasper were at the command center, being treated by medical personnel and questioners, making sure that they were recovering from their traumatic invasion experience. The medical staff was also tending to the soldiers that were wounded during the attack, while the remaining soldiers took a breather after that last assault against the Cons. As they were recovering from that nightmare, Isaac Sumdac was at the comm. console with Agent Fowler next to him. The professor nodded as he relayed the good news to the other end.

Professor Sumdac: "Yes we have. We were successful in getting the remaining occupants of the town out of Jasper and into the Autobot base. Even as we speak, they are being treated and would soon move into the relocation program where their family and friends will welcome them in with open arms."

Jack/Rodimus: "That's good to hear."

Fowler then stepped in and decided to tell him about a few other things as well.

Agent Fowler: "You know, when Sumdac told me that there were survivors living underneath Jasper, I thought that was impossible. But the moment I passed through the ground bridge, I could see he was telling the truth. Though we were able to rescue them, we came at pretty much the worst time."

Jack/Rodimus: "What do you mean by that Fowler? What happened?"

The former Army Ranger took a deep breath and told him what really happened.

Agent Fowler: "Just as I headed to the fallout shelter underneath the town, the Cons discovered the place and attacked. Judging by the situation, I would seem that the military were preparing for their last stand."

There was a bit of silence as Jack asked about that sudden attack.

Jack/Rodimus: "Really? That was a bit unexpected. Did anyone survive?"

Before Fowler could answer that question, Lasky overheard the talk while watching the survivors getting treated. He decided to head to the two and talk to Rodimus.

Captain Lasky: "Some of the soldiers were killed off while holding off the Decepticon onslaught while others were injured. The civilians weren't in harm's way thank goodness. If it hasn't been for Fowler rescuing us, then we would've been extinct by now."

Fowler then lifted his hand up to stop him there and told the young mech that everything is under control now.

Agent Fowler: "Regardless of that unexpected turn of events, we managed to get everyone into the portal and away from that Hell. The Jasper citizens have been through too much as it is with an alien robot invasion. Once they've recover from their experience, they will be moved to their new homes and pretend that it didn't exist. Although I find that to be highly impossible now that everyone on Earth knows of the Autobot/Decepticon war."

Jack/Rodimus: "Well if there's one person that can do damage control Fowler, it's you."

The agent sighed to himself and didn't like the way it sounded.

Agent Fowler: "Easier said than done."

Lasky nodded and decided to end the transmission.

Captain Lasky: "I agree with Fowler, Rodimus. It's going to take a while to recover from this horrific experience. Whatever the case, you did a good job getting all these people out."

Returning to Darkmount's comm. facility…

Captain Lasky: "We'll take care of them until the military relocates them into their temporary homes. After that, I'll discuss with Bryce the situation we encountered in Nevada. Oh, and Rodimus?"

Rodimus remained quiet after hearing all he needed to hear and responded back.

Jack/Rodimus: "Yes?"

There was a bit of silence in the comm. frequency until the captain responded back.

Captain Lasky: "Thank you for your help. If you weren't there, I don't know whether we could have survived another firefight."

Jack simply smiled and told him that it was no big deal.

Jack/Rodimus: "Yes, well we were sort of at the wrong place at the right time. Glad that we were there to assist you."

Captain Lasky: "Of course. Good luck rescuing your leader, Rodimus. We're going to need his help now more than ever. Lasky, out."

As soon as the comm. ended, Rodimus sighed and was glad that the survivors made an escape before the Cons could destroy them all. Firewall looked to him and told him that everything will be all right.

Raf/Firewall: "Hey, we should be happy. We managed to save a lot of lives. There's no denying that."

The humans turned to him to and agreed with their friend.

Sari: "He's right Rodimus. After what we've been through, saving innocent people should be the greatest achievement of your life. You ought to be proud of what you've done."

Rodimus looked to the hacker and the humans and nodded. But he had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right from the moment they entered this fortress.

Jack/Rodimus: "Maybe… Maybe… But there's something off about all of this."

The others looked at him and were a little confused by what he was saying.

Sam Witwicky: "What do you mean by that?"

Jack looked down at Sam and told him what he thought.

Jack/Rodimus: "It's about what we saw in Darkmount. All this hardware they're packing, no way it would be for just the Autobots. They're planning something, but what?"

After thinking this through, he turned to the hacker and asked for a favor.

Jack/Rodimus: "Firewall, think you can break into the Decepticon's database, see what they're really doing?"

Raf looked to him and blinked his optics, wondering why he wanted to do this. However, given what they've seen, he had no choice in the matter.

Raf/Firewall: "On it."

With his cables still connected to the console, he went into the Con's databanks to see what they were planning, being sure that the enemy wouldn't trace his actions.

As the recruits were looking into Megatron's plan, another team of Autobots were in the elevator lift, descending downwards to the prison underneath the Con's base of operations. That team was comprised of Ratchet, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Altra. The team managed to bypass the enemy forces without straining a shot and reached the access lift with their limbs still intact. Now they just needed to get to the prison floor and free Optimus from Megatron's tyranny. During their descent, June took a quick breather and didn't like where they're going.

June/Altra: "So, we're going down to the prison and free Optimus."

Arcee, who was next to her, nodded in agreement.

Arcee: "Yep."

June/Altra: "And there could be a chance that we're going to encounter guards around every corner."

Arcee: "Pretty much."

The nurse gave off a deep sigh and didn't like the odds.

June/Altra: "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like where this is going?"

The two-wheeler rolled her optics around and understood June's apprehension. So she assured her that everything will be all right.

Arcee: "It's okay June. You're just going to help Ratchet tend to Optimus's injuries. Nothing combat related. Besides, this isn't your first rodeo. You did fight off against the Director's MECHicons."

That's when the nurse turned to her and spat back.

June/Altra: "True, but that was when those MECH pigs were trying to hit on me. ME! A mother who is married for crying out loud. I swear, the moment John gets back, those bastards will be sorry for what they were trying to do."

The femme patted the nurse on her back and was surprised that she would act like that.

Arcee: "That a femme, June. You certainly got the Autobot spark in ya."

Just then, another recorded speech was heard over the speakers as Megatron boasted about his future for Earth.

Megatron: "Right now, our future is clear my dear Decepticons. The Autobots are on the run, their base is no more, the Iacon relics now belong to us, and their precious leader is within our possession. But we must remain vigilant. For if we are to conquer this world, Optimus's rag-tag group must be defeated. And once their sparks have been exterminated, this planet will be ours for the taking. The dawn of man has ended! The rise of the machine has begun!"

Just as the speech was finished, Bumblebee armed his blaster and fired it right at the speaker, ending the speech completely. Glaring at the broken speaker, he beeped his frustration on the whole thing.

Bumblebee: (Accursed warlord. How much of an ego does he have in his processor?)

Arcee approached the scout and answered his question.

Arcee: "I'm thinking not enough. Megatron thinks that we're on the run. Boy is he in for a surprise when he finds out we're in his new home. Right, Ratchet?"

She turned to the medic for an answer. But he stood where he was since entering the elevator, looking out at the factory and seeing the classes of Cons being made. He'd remained quiet since then, and the team was getting a little worried. Altra approached the group and talked about it.

June/Altra: "Ratchet's been quiet ever since we entered the elevator. I'm worried about him."

Arcee: "Yeah… He's been like that for a while now. Let me talk to him."

The femme approached Ratchet and started to talk to him.

Arcee: "Hey Ratchet. Is everything okay with you? You've been quiet most of the time."

The medic looked to her and then went back to the window, observing the assembly line of the many enemy drones being created.

Ratchet: "I'm fine, Arcee. It's just that observing the Cons creating their own kind… It sickens me to my very fuel tank."

The two-wheeler turned to the factory within the citadel and shook her head in disgust.

Arcee: "Well at least we know Jack was right. They're building a new army out of the parts of human vehicles. And to think Megatron is desperate for recruitment.

Ratch though turned his helm away and closed his optics tight.

Ratchet: "And to think, all of this happened because of me."

The femme turned to him and realized that he still felt guilty for the actions that caused all of this from the start; the fact that he neglected to pick the kids up from school, which led to the Autobot's downfall and their darkest hour. Placing her servo on his shoulder, she eased him and told him that it was all right.

Arcee: "Come on now, Ratchet. You didn't expect this to happen. No one does."

But the medic pushed her servo away and told her why they were in this predicament.

Ratchet: "Don't you get it Arcee? What happened with the Omega Lock, Darkmount, all of this, is because of me! I was so desperate to get to Cybertron, to go back home. But due to my selfishness, I failed to realize that all planets were at stake, including this one. If I had picked those kids up from school, taken them to the safety of our base, then none of this would have happened."

She turned her head away and could tell that he was right on those occasions. Since the Omega Lock incident and the destruction of their old base, Ratch had been blaming the team for surrendering the Omega Keys and should've focused on restoring Cybertron. But with Megatron using Jack, Raf, and Miko as bargaining chips, they wouldn't let them die in the toxic atmosphere of their planet. He continued to blame them until recently, when the recruits went to the Morrison Dam and rescued the team. He soon realized that with the Cons planning to take over this planet, the Autobots are needed now more than ever and if the team dies, humanity would be extinct. He didn't want that in his conscience more so then he already has. That led to his apology and getting some closure. Looking back to him, Arcee decided to comfort him further.

Arcee: "I know that things were a little hectic that day and you were upset about what happened. But you've seen the error or your ways, understood what we're really fighting for, and apologized to everyone for your mistakes. That's all that matters."

The medic was a little silent about that as he still felt he wasn't ready to move on.

Ratchet: "You're wrong Arcee. I've apologized to everyone except for one. Optimus. Because of my actions, he's spent weeks held captive in Megatron's fortress, getting himself tortured for who knows how long. He deserves a deep apology more than anyone else."

Arcee stared him down and could tell that he was right. Of all the people and bots he apologized to, the one Autobot he didn't apologize to was the leader himself. The two had been close friends during the war and he kept beating himself up by the fact that Optimus stayed behind to save them all. And if there was one person he should be apologizing to the most, it had to be the Prime. Shaking her head, she told him that it was all right.

Arcee: "It's going to be okay, Ratch. Once we rescue Optimus from Megatron, that will be enough of an apology."

Ratchet looked to her and smiled a little, knowing saving him would be compensation enough. As he was feeling a little more confident, the floors of assembly lines disappeared from their view as they went deeper into the fortress. Ratchet took a deep sigh and was ready for the rescue.

Ratchet: "Let's hope Optimus is alive the moment we get there."

The group nodded in unison as they waited for the elevator to stop at the dungeon level.

As they were getting to that floor, the two Vehicons were still on guard watching over the cell Optimus resides in. One of the guards turned to see the crack at the door to see the Autobot leader in stasis as he survived another interrogation session from the infamous Decepticon warlord. He felt a little helpless about the Prime's situation and wanted to help him so bad. Sure, he gave the leader news of these Neutrals arriving at Darkmount, but it wasn't enough. He wanted to do something more, he wanted to save him. But with the Cons around, he didn't know how to do that. As he was thinking about it, the second Vehicon got contact from the higher ups about the latest news.

Vehicon 2: "Are you certain?" - "Do you know if they're here or not?" – "Just simple speculation?" – "Even if it's possible, there's no way they would enter this base without penetrating the shield. You don't think this has something to do with those Neutrals, does it?"

That got the guard's attention as he turned to the other and listened in.

Vehicon 2: "Okay, so that's a possibility. But if they are here, then perhaps you should update some security around here. You can't have two guards protecting Optimus, you need a battalion!" – "Yes, I know that the location of the Prime's cell is classified and only us, the leader, and second in command know of this, but it's still risky. Even if this place is huge and it might take them cycles to find him, but it will only be a matter of time for them to-" – "Yes I understand…" - "Of course… We'll keep watch and see if there's anything out of the usual coming our way. Over and out."

Once he ended the comm. channel, the first Vehicon asked about the conversation.

Vehicon 1: "What happened? Who was that?"

The second guard turned to him and answered his questions.

Vehicon 2: "That was Starscream. He said that the Autobots could be in Darkmount."

The first guard had a shocked expression to his visor and couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Vehicon 1: "That Autobots are here? How?"

The second guard shrugged his shoulders and explained.

Vehicon 2: "Don't know… The commander said that the Neutrals must have helped them get into the fortress. It could be the reason why those no-emblem Cybertronians were here in the first place. But that's just an assumption, as no one knows if it was true or not. Still, everyone in Darkmount is under high alert. Wish they could bring more Cons here. If those Autobots are here, I don't think the two of us can hold them back."

The first Vehicon listened in and found that surprising. The Autobots here in the Citadel? That seemed highly impossible! Yet with the Neutrals coming in, it all made some sense. If the Autobots were here, then he could give Optimus the news. But even if he could do that, the team doesn't know where his cell is at. Since only Megatron, Starscream, and guards like him know of the cell, Team Prime doesn't have a clue. They will be lost in this long maze and will have no clue where their leader is. Thinking about this, he had an idea. Looking to the other Vehicon, he told him what he was going to do.

Vehicon 1: "Then if that's the case, let me go ahead and search the area. See if the Autobots are around."

The other guard turned to him and was a little unsure about that.

Vehicon 2: "I don't know… Megatron's orders are to stand guard and watch the door for any intruders. We cannot leave our posts."

Vehicon 1: "Yeah, but we have to make sure that the Autobots aren't around here. I'll just scout ahead and scan the area for any Autobots in the area. If there are any in the prison, I'll contact you for backup. We have to be sure that what Starscream said is true."

The Vehicon remained silent and was a little skeptical about his idea. Sure, they were to guard the Autobot leader, yet orders were that they had to remain where they are until further notice. But giving the recent news of the Autobots here, they needed to be sure if that's the truth. So he turned and nodded in approval.

Vehicon 2: "All right, fine. Go on ahead and check the area out. But contact me when you see the Autobots. Can't have you killed on my watch. Don't take too long."

The first guard nodded as he left his post and scouted ahead. But as he left, he had a faint smile behind his mouth guard as he was able to fool him. Now all he needed to do was find the team and help them locate their leader.

As he was doing that, the elevator entrance was narrow and quiet. That was until there was a ding at the lift and the doors opened. Suddenly, a femme and scout jumped out of the lift, and rolled over into a kneeing position, arming their blasters for any enemies. Scanning the area, there were no drones around as Arcee peeked back and told the others to move.

Arcee: "Clear."

Just as she said that, both Ratchet and Altra stepped out of the elevator while the scout and ninja got up with only one of their blasters armed. June looked around at the place and saw nothing but dark dingy halls with a huge number of doors around it. Just the look of it makes her get the jibblies.

June/Altra: "Well, I know one thing; the Cons are no Home and Gardens."

The femme turned to the nurse and explained about her quote.

Arcee: "Believe me when I say this June, the Cons are not much of the gardening and home decorating type. They pretty much care about world domination. Quite a busy bunch when you think about it."

Ratchet looked around too and could tell that they were at the right place.

Ratchet: "This must be the prison floor Raf told us about. Now all we need to do is find Optimus. That's the good news. The bad news though is to find him. Too bad we don't know which cell he's being imprisoned in."

Cee then turned to him and told him what they should do.

Arcee: "Since that's the problem, the only thing we could do is to check each cell to find our leader. Keep your guard up. Drones could be anywhere."

To that end, the team checked each cell to find Prime. They started to open one door at a time to find their leader and free him, yet all they found were nothing but empty cells and no prisoners. It was a repeated cycle for a few good minutes until Bumblebee stumbled upon a cell that had someone from within. At first, he thought that it was Optimus in the cell. But when he pushed the button to open the metal cell he looked inside and was completely shocked by what he saw. So much so that he called the others about it.

Bumblebee: (Guys, I think I found something you might want to see.)

The group stopped what they were doing and looked to the scout with a bit of confusion in their expression. Heading to his side, they went around Bee and observed what he was looking at. What they were looking at surprised them completely. Standing before them was a huge bot shackled in cuffs and energy chains that matched the same body-type as Bulkhead but less rounded. He had what was supposed to be a light blue and silver paintjob, huge wheels for shoulders, another huge tire on his back, and instead of a gray face like most Cybertronians, his face was crimson orange. But by looking at him, he looked like a Frankenstein experiment gone horribly wrong. His chassis was cracked, the paint all completely muddled and a little rusted, and his right optic had a huge hole in it. The group had disgusted looks on their faces as the medic understood who it was.

Ratchet: "Is that Breakdown?"

Arcee looked to the chained up Con and had a sour look on her face, knowing who he really was.

Arcee: "No, that's not Breakdown, not anymore."

Ratchet look to her and was feeling a bit perplexed.

Ratchet: "Come again?"

The femme turned to him and explained what she heard from the Wrecker.

Arcee: "Remember when Bulkhead was doing a little curbside duty during his recovery? Well he told me that he encountered Breakdown during his patrol while we were trying to stop the Cons from activating Damocles. But what he said next was that he wasn't fighting Breakdown. He was fighting Silas."

Ratchet looked back and forth between her and the mangled body of the Con and was a little irate.

Ratchet: "You mean that Silas is inside of that Decepticon shell? That's impossible!"

Arcee: "Is it? Silas always wanted to combine his weaponry to Cybertronian technology. The perfect meld for man and machine he preferred. Well, it looks like he got what he wanted. Though by the looks of things, his alliance with the Decepticons didn't go well for him."

June looked at him too and could tell that this was the guy that kidnapped her on the day she discovered the truth. In every fiber of her being, she wanted to march towards him and slap him in the face. But given that the Decepticons were doing all the torturing, she then worried about his well-being. So she asked about him.

June/Altra: "So, what are we going to do with him?"

Arcee looked to the prisoner and wondered about that. He too was a human and he needed to be freed as well. But then she thought back of the mess Silas put them through. The convoy incident with the Dingus, the capturing of Breakdown, kidnapping June, stealing Bumblebee's T-Cog, Nemesis Prime… He had done terrible things to them and was as evil as Megatron. As she was looking at him, Silas was beginning to stir and slowly lifted his head up to see them. Turned out he was alive, barely, and Knockout was keeping him that way to continue with experimentation and dissection. With his optics giving out a dim glow, he looked at the team, hoping that they could help him get out of this prison. But Arcee came up with a different idea and told them to keep going.

Arcee: "Leave him here. After what he had done to us, he got what he deserved."

Soon enough the group left the former MECH leader as Bumblebee looked on to see him trying to get up. Knowing what he had done to him, the scout pushed the button and sealed the prison doors completely, leaving him to rot.

While they were searching, Optimus was still in his cell all shackled up and trapped in his own confines. After his talks with Alpha Trion and the Vehicon, he started to feel confident that this new Prime, whoever he was, will come and rescue him. But the main problem he had is how and when? Darkmount is heavily fortified and it will be impossible to get in without getting hurt or worse. But he still was keeping his hopes up as he was waiting for this Prime to come. Just as he was waiting, he felt a presence close by. But strangely enough, it wasn't the new Prime. It was someone he remembered, almost a familiar presence. Looking up to the door, he realized that someone was coming, his team is coming.

Optimus Prime: "They're here…"

Around that time, the team kept searching each cell, trying to find their leader. Room after room, they searched, and room after room, they weren't so lucky. After opening another only to find it vacant, Ratchet was getting a little antsy as he pounded the wall in frustration.

Ratchet: "This is ludicrous! How are we suppose to find Optimus if we don't know which cell he's in? Bulkhead is right. This really is a needle in a haystack."

Arcee checked another empty cell and reminded him to not give up.

Arcee: "I know it's difficult Ratchet, but we can't just give up yet. Optimus is in here. We just need to start looking."

The medic turned to her and argued back.

Ratchet: "And how are we going to find him? This floor is massive! It will probably take us cycles to find him!"

The femme walked down a T-junction, not realizing something was coming to them.

Arcee: "I know this will take a while. But we have to keep looking and make sure our leader is close by. I just hope that we don't run into too much-"

Just before she could finish, the femme felt something that wasn't right and turned to the hall at the T-junction with her blaster armed and charging. In front of her was a Vehicon with his own blaster armed and ready to fire. That one Vehicon was actually one of the guards keeping watch. Bee, Ratch, and June approached her side and panicked to see the con and prepared themselves for a little standoff. The Vehicon looked to the group and was surprised to see them there.

Vehicon 1: "So the rumors are true… The Autobots are here."

Arcee got a little tense as she was ready to fire.

Arcee: "You expect us to surrender to you Cons? You got another thing coming. Now step aside or get yourself shot!"

Just as she was ready to fight, the guard lifted his servo and told them to stop.

Vehicon 1: "Wait! I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help you."

The team was a little confused as the two-wheeler wasn't buying it.

Arcee: "Give me one good reason why a Con would want to help us?"

The Con gave a deep sigh and decided to tell them.

Vehicon 1: "To help you find your leader."

The group looked at each other and was a little surprised by this turn of events. Still, Arcee didn't believe him as she had her blaster up to his head.

Arcee: "You're bluffing…"

Vehicon 1: "Am I? I'm assigned to be a bodyguard to watch Optimus. Making sure he doesn't escape. But after the solar cycles Megatron has put the poor bot through, there comes a time where enough is enough. I can take you to him, take you to the cell he's being kept."

Arcee: "And why would we trust you to take us to the whereabouts of our Prime."

The Vehicon approached the femme and disarmed his blaster, letting his helmet touch the front end of hers.

Vehicon 1: "Because I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you here on the spot. Don't believe me? Then what then what are you waiting for? Take your shot…"

Arcee looked at him intently, ready to fire at the guard.

Meanwhile, on the twentieth floor of Darkmount, there were two Cons on post keeping an optic out for anything suspicious. Now that news that the Autobots might be here, they had to be on alert at all times. As they were watching, two shadows were behind them and getting closer. Suddenly, the two shadows lunged at them and got them in the chock hold, bringing them down easily. They then moved the unconscious cons away and put them in hiding. Once they did that, the two shadows, which were actually Bulkhead and Wheeljack, stepped in and scanned the area. Seeing that it was empty, Smokescreen stepped forward and looked left and right. Nodding, he turned right as the two Wreckers followed him. As they were walking, Smoke contacted Raf through the comm. and told them that they were close.

Smokescreen: "We're approaching the trophy room Firewall. How close are we to the location?"

Raf/Firewall: "Very close. I checked the schematic of the tower and there's a huge door. That will lead you to the entrance."

The Elite Guard member looked around to find a door that could take them to the Iacon relics. Looking around, he spotted a huge door that was a little wider than the others they passed by and saw Cybertronian engraving on it. Staring at it, he could tell that it was the door leading to the trophy room.

Smokescreen: "This must be the place. Let's see if the relics are in there."

Before he could even enter, Wheeljack stopped him and told him to wait.

Wheeljack: "Hold up bud. This all seems a little too easy. Let the professionals go in first."

To that end, Jackie sealed off his mouth guard and got his Katana swords out for battle. Bulkhead did the same and armed his wrecking balls as well. As soon as they got close, the door opened as the two prepared themselves for battle. But just as the door opened, the whole room was completely empty with no Con in sight; Smokescreen went between the two and scanned the area. Knowing that everything was clear, they were a little concerned as he told them to move in.

Smokescreen: "Odd… There is no one in this room. You're right about one thing Wheeljack, this all seems too easy. Proceed with caution."

The Elite Guard member walked in and started to search the room while the two Wreckers disengaged their weapons and went in after him. As they were walking, they were amazed at what they saw. The trophy room was a huge area filled with podiums of random objects floating around in a gravity fields while there were others that were hung on the wall. Looking at each of the podiums, they all could tell what they are and what their purposes were.

The first one they spotted was a dark gray arch-like weapon with a handle at the bottom, glowing yellow markings, and a button that could display a digital control panel. It was the Polarity Gauntlet, a Decepticon-based weapon used to attract or magnetize anything metal, including living metal, and create a force field to deflect a variety of attacks.

The second object was metal stick with a spinner claw at one end. It is known as the Immobilizer, a weapon used to immobilize enemies, leaving them vulnerable to an attack.

The third was a small, circular object that was glowing blue and had metallic clamps on the side. This relic is called the Phase Shifter. Once it attaches to a Cybertronian's arm, it allows the wearer to phase through any surface whether on the walls, floors, or ceilings.

And the fourth object in the collection was a bizarrely shaped relic with a blue circle in the middle and curved handles on the sides. It is called the Apex Armor, one of the most versatile and dangerous of weapons. Once placed on the chest of a Cybertronian, it forms a heavily indestructible armor around the host, leaving him completely invincible.

There were other relics hung on the wall, three in total. The first one on the left was the Star Saber sword Optimus used to destroy the Omega Lock and the ground bridge controls during the team's darkest hour. In the middle was the Forge of Solus Prime, a hammer that could create any Cybertronian weaponry imaginable out of everyday metal. And on the right was Megatron's Dark Saber sword the Decepticon created with the forge and the arm of one of the Primes. Now, being that he has no longer had use of the sword, he placed it in the trophy room just in case he would ever need it. Looking at each of the Iacon Relics resting on the podiums, the team was surprised to see the relics being treated as prizes for the Cons.

Smokescreen: "Look at all these relics. We worked so hard to get those relics and the Cons decided to treat them as personal treasures. We've been doing all the work! They're just gloating that they succeeded in our surrender. What a bunch of Deceptipansies."

Bulk looked at one of the relics and agreed with the Elite Guard member.

Bulkhead: "Don't get too worked up at this, Smoke. The Cons have always been the cocky bunch. Doesn't matter how they win it, they will continue to boast how successful they are when in reality they did nothing but follow a sadistic warlord."

Wheeljack looked to the Polarity Gauntlet and decided to start taking what belonged to them.

Wheeljack: "Well then, it's time to put a damper on their little parade. Let's take these relics from them and make some noise."

With that said, he carefully took the gauntlet from the podium while the others did the same.

Around that time, the Vehicon guard was standing watch at the cell door, waiting for the other to come. For some strange reason, the Con hadn't yet returned and he was getting a little worried. At first he thought that maybe the Vehicon got lost, since the prison was like a maze. But then there was the news of the Autobots in the citadel, and although the news wasn't official, it scared him. If there was a chance that the enemy was intruding and might have taken the Con for questioning, then there could be a problem. As he was thinking about that, he heard metal footsteps close by and turned to the left where the first con had left and remained steady in case the enemy was here. When he was waiting, he saw the one guard coming back, looking a little silent for some bizarre reason. But he sighed and decided to break the silence.

Vehicon 2: "Took you long enough. What happened? You get lost or something?"

The first con rubbed the back of his helm and apologized.

Vehicon 1: "Sorry about that. This floor is huge all around here. I'm still new to this Darkmount building and it's something we need to adjust to."

The guard looked to him and found his behavior a bit off. Still, he decided to let him get back to work.

Vehicon 2: "Well, now that you're done with your scouting, it's time to get back to your post. Now come on, get to your position."

The first Vehicon look to him and remained hesitant. Almost like he was trying to hide something. The second guard stared him down and was getting a little aggravated.

Vehicon 2: "Hey! Are your audio receptors on mute or something? Get back to your post! Now!"

There was a bit of a sigh as he decided to follow his order.

Vehicon 1: "Fine… I'm going…"

The Vehicon then stepped forward and was to return to his spot. But suddenly, under quick thinking, he sidestepped out of the way as Arcee stood behind him and used her blasters to fire on the second guard. The Con was caught by surprise as he had little time to react. The blasts hit him in both the chest and head as he was shut down completely and landed in a large thud. Once he was exterminated, the femme retracted her blasters and turned back to the other end to nod at someone. Coming out of the shadow was Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Altra as they were waiting for the plan to work. Truthfully, they started to trust the Vehicon, since he stated that he knew where Optimus was being kept. The problem was that he was with someone else and he was guarding the door as well. Knowing this, they group had to come up with a plan for getting past him. The first guard knew of a way, but they had to follow his lead. Feeling a bit hesitant in trusting the Con, they decided to take him up on his offer and wondered about what he was really planning. And guess what, the plan worked. Now they were in front of the cell door where Optimus was being kept against his will, as Ratchet approached the door and was curious.

Ratchet: "So, this is the cell Optimus is in. I gotta say, the security around here is a little lax."

The Vehicon approached the terminal and input the code to unlock the door.

Vehicon 1: "Well, Megatron has enough security above ground to hold you bots back. He didn't think adding security here would make much of a difference. Guess he should've thought that clearly since he's holding you leader here."

Arcee approached him and asked if he was telling the truth.

Arcee: "You're certain that Prime is in that room."

The guard remained silent as he took a bit of a breather.

Vehicon: "I'm positive… I was assigned to this post the moment they took him in. And believe me, the things they've done to him, make me have second thoughts about my leader's cause."

The moment he inputted the code, there was a beep at the door and it was unlocked. The group stood in front of the door as they waited for it to open. Just as it was fully opened, the group saw what was on the inside and was shocked and horrified by what they saw.

Arcee: "Dear Primus…"

Standing in front of them was Optimus Prime, but not the way they saw him, as a brave and honorable leader. He looked more like a prisoner being tortured and interrogated for answers. His body armor was heavily damaged from the explosion of Omega One, there were scars in a few places, meaning that Cons must've punished him for who knows how long, the windshield chest plate was cracked and shattered, and the protoform skin on his face had a few cracks around his optics. The team was disgusted by what they saw: their leader in a position they never thought they would see. But Ratchet was the worst, as he felt completely distraught and called out his friend's name.

Ratchet: "OPTIMUS!"

The medic rushed into the cell and approached him, checking to see if he's online.

Ratchet: "Optimus, are you all right? Speak to me! It's me!"

There was a bit of silence in the cell as the Medic waited for any type of response. Finally, Optimus slowly opened his optics and looked at Ratch with the light of his eyes dimming from time to time.

Optimus Prime: "Ratchet…"

The medic smiled and was glad that he was still online, for now. Quickly, he turned to Bee and Arcee and asked for help.

Ratchet: "Someone get these shackles off of him! Quickly!"

The scout nodded and armed his blasters, taking aim at the cuffs on Optimus's wrists. Firing at them, the cuffs were removed and the Autobot leader was freed. But he'd been suspended above the floor and then plummeted to the ground. Thankfully, Ratchet managed to grab him and carried him to the bench that was in the cell and placed him on it. Looking at his mangled body, he could tell that the Prime was worse for wear.

Ratchet: "Oh Optimus, what have you gotten yourself into? You shouldn't have stayed behind to save us. You shouldn't…"

Knowing that the damage was beyond anything he'd seen, he turned to June for some assistance.

Ratchet: "Altra, I'm going to need your help with this."

The nurse stood like a statue and never thought that he would see a Prime in this state. She was so distraught by this that she didn't hear him the first time. But on the second, Ratch got her attention.

Ratchet: "Altra!"

She shook her head from the image of a wounded prime and realized that the medic needed some help. Shaking her thoughts aside, she approached him and checked on the wounded leader. Checking the injuries and scanning his body, she feared the worse.

June/Altra: "This is bad. The damage to his body is extensive. The dents and scratches on his armor must've been the work of the explosion in the old base. All the scars on him must've been days of constant interrogation. His legs are heavily damaged during the base's collapse and his energon levels are low. Spark pressure is below normal, but not fatal. To top it off, his weapons system is mysteriously offline, perhaps someone must have shut them down to prevent him from defending himself."

Ratchet looked at the damage too and knew who removed the weaponry.

Ratchet: "My possible guess is that Knockout was the one that did it. He always removes weaponry from any Autobot soldier that they take prisoner. Seen it plenty of times in the war back on Cybertron. So, how long does he have?"

June looked to the medic and shook her head.

June/Altra: "Unknown… Given the time he had in this rotten place, I'd say… A few weeks tops. Maybe less…"

Ratchet nodded and looked to his leader to figure out what to do. He does have his medical tool kit with him, but that wouldn't be enough to fix all the damage Megatron inflicted on him. Lowering his head, he had no idea what to do. Just then, a thought occurred to him. He remembered Sari giving Bumblebee that key of hers. From what he heard during the MECH incident, Sari's key was very powerful as it contained a high-energy concentration that helped her gain access to restricted areas and heal wounded Cybertronians, as demonstrated when she used that key to fix Smokescreen's injuries. Thinking that through, he decided on a way to save his friend's life. Turning to the scout, he demanded that he hand the key over to him.

Ratchet: "Bumblebee! That key Sari gave you. Give it to me! Now!"

Bee looked to the medic and nodded in response. Approaching his side, he took the key out of his compartment and handed it to him. Once he got it, he turned to his friend and told him that it was all right.

Ratchet: "Stay with me Optimus. We're going to get you out of here. We just need to fix you up and you'll be in tiptop shape before you know it. Hold still for me for a second."

Optimus looked to him and silently nodded, wondering what he was going to do. To that end, Ratchet got the key close to his chest and waited for something to happen. Just then, his chest plate opened up as the windows and parts of his armor opened to reveal his spark chamber with the Matrix of Leadership still intact. He also spotted a socket opening up as the end of the key changed shape to match the socket's shape. Taking a deep breath, Ratchet installed the key to the spark chamber and turned it. The second he did that, the key glowed brightly as it began its work healing the leader. He and the other Autobots watched to see if this could work as the Vehicon that helped them went inside to see what they are trying to do. Just then something amazing happened. Miraculously, the armor began undenting itself as the scars were slowly disappearing. The cracks on the windshield chest were smoothing out and his protoform skin was repairing itself on his face. Optimus then felt his inner workings getting fixed as well as any wound that was fatal slowly faded away. The team was surprised that the key could actually fix him, but the process was slow and it would take time for the Prime to be fully healed and ready for battle. Even Optimus himself was amazed that this key was slowly saving his life. In fact, he was shocked to know there were a new Cybertronian with the team, one with no insignias on her. Looking to Ratchet, he congratulated him while at the same time asked about the key and the Neutral.

Optimus Prime: "Thank you Ratchet for saving my life. I knew that you and the other Autobots would come to save me one day. Still, there is the question as to how you managed to get in when there are defenses in Darkmount. Let alone how you were able to retrieve a device as this to help with my injuries. And who is this femme that is with you and the team?"

The medic turned to Altra and could tell that Optimus had no clue that it was actually June underneath that Cybertronian armor, let alone knew that there were more with the kids. Yet he couldn't yet reveal it all as they were still in enemy territory, so he turned to him and made a long story short.

Ratchet: "Let's just say, a lot has changed while you were imprisoned. I'll have to brief you about what you've missed. But right now, let's focus on you recovery and make a quick escape."

The leader nodded as he relaxed knowing that his rescue has arrived. But there was still the lingering question of this new prophecy that Alpha Trion told him about. That a new Prime will arrive to help stop the Decepticons and bring balance to the war. The only thing he could do was to wait and see what was bound to happen. During the recovery, Arcee activated her comm. and told Raf the good news.

Arcee: "Arcee to Firewall. We have found Optimus."

The hacker responded on the other end and was pleased with that news.

Raf/Firewall: "That's good to hear. What is his status?"

Arcee looks back to the Prime's slowly recovering body and explained to him what happened to their leader.

Arcee: "He was the worse for wear. Slagging Cons have been torturing the poor Prime for weeks on end."

Back in the comm. facility on the top floor, Jack, Raf, Miko, and the human companions were gathered together to listen to the news of Optimus.

Arcee: "We are already using Sari's key to repair the damage Megatron inflicted on him. It's going to take a while though, given how broad the injuries are, but he will be up and about before you know it."

Firewall nodded as he decided to end communication.

Raf/Firewall: "Keep us posted. Let us know when Optimus is ready for combat. We're going to need all the fire power he has."

Arcee: "Understood. We'll let you know when he's ready. Over and out."

As soon as the communication ended, Rodimus sighed in relief.

Jack/Rodimus: "Thank goodness that the team found him. It's been hard for all of us without Optimus keeping all of us in line."

Miko looked to him and argued about what happened over the past two weeks.

Miko/Kaosu: "Yeah, well we didn't have Optimus since we all went through the whole MECH debacle and we seem to have worked out well without him."

The former teen looked to the Wrecking Cadet and retorted back.

Jack/Rodimus: "That's because we were taking MECH's drones that were getting used to their new bodies. It was pretty much a cakewalk. The Decepticons, a totally different story. I just hope that Sari's key can heal him up completely so he can help us fight these Cons."

Vince looked to him and asked about this Optimus guy.

Vince: "So Optimus is the leader of this rag tag team of his. I got to say, as far as I'm concerned, a small team taking on a huge armada of Cons seems to be way over his head."

Jack looked to the bully and told him that it was nothing.

Jack/Rodimus: "I know it seems a little impossible, but let me be honest. Even though they are outnumbered, they are still united as a team. And as a team, they can take on whatever Megatron throws at them. Optimus is supposed to be the glue that keeps the team together and we lost him before on a previous incident. And now that this has happened, we need Optimus's help now more than ever. Without a leader, the team would be lost."

Vince nodded and understood that this team won't succeed without their leader by their side. After all, an entire human army cannot stop the Cons. Perhaps maybe a team of Autobots will help stop this invasion from happening. As the talk was going on, Raf was looking at the screen and was working on something important. While communicating to both teams on separate missions, he was breaching the Decepticon database per Rodimus's orders. He found it suspicious why Megatron needed a big enough army to take on a small group of Autobots and he needed to know why. So he told the hacker to check the database to see what they were really planning. Sam looked at him breaching the security within Darkmount and found that to be a bit worrisome. So he asked about his task.

Sam Witwicky: "What are you doing Firewall?"

Raf looked to him and explained what he was actually doing.

Raf/Firewall: "Breaching into the Decepticon database. Rodimus is concerned about what the Cons are cooking up and he needs to see what they're up to."

Sam looked to the data stream on the screen and asked about what would happen if he were hacking.

Sam Witwicky: "But shouldn't you be worried about the Decepticons noticing you breaking into their mainframe? Certainly any one of them would find out that you are in the system."

Raf looked to the screen with his visor filled with scrolling data and told him it was all right.

Raf/Firewall: "I've already got that covered. I have a cloaking program installed into the mainframe. As far as they know, everything is in the green and no one suspects the system is getting compromised. I've got it all together."

Sari looked to him and was impressed on his work.

Sari: "Wow… You came prepared for everything didn't you?"

The hacker turned to her and smiled.

Raf/Firewall: "You know it. Given my past experience, you've got to be prepared for anything."

Jack approached him and asked if he was able to find what he wanted to see.

Jack/Rodimus: "So where are we with that Firewall? Are we in?"

Raf looked to the screen and explained with the cables attached to the console.

Raf/Firewall: "Just about… These Cons have a lot of serious firewalls. It's almost like they were trying to hide something. Just give it a second and… Got it! I'm in!"

As soon as he said that, multiple windows popped up on the screen, showing just about everything from the Cons. Everything from schematic of the drones, blueprints of the weaponry they possessed, data logs, and battle plans for future endeavors. Miko noticed the screen too and joined in with the others to observe all the windows. Looking at each and every window, she whistled to herself and was amazed by all of this.

Miko/Kaosu: "Look at all of that. Got to say, those creeps aren't that lazy."

Rodimus looked at all of the windows too and was just as impressed as her.

Jack/Rodimus: "You could say that again… Looks like Megatron is really preparing for war. Wait. What's that?"

He pointed to a file with Cybertronian writing underneath that sayid, 'Clean Slate'. Raf looked to it too and checked to see what it was. Using one of his cables to gain access to the file, it opened up to reveal a map of the entire planet. The group looked on in curiosity, wondering what they were looking at. Suddenly, red dots appeared on the map and spread throughout every country. Vince saw this and was a little confused.

Vince: "Guys? What are we looking at?"

Firewall stared at the map and saw more Con writing underneath. Reading it, he could tell that it wasn't any good.

Raf/Firewall: "Don't know… But by the looks of it, I'd say they are locations of… Human military bases."

Everyone looked to him with a bit of shock as Sam asked in uneasiness.

Sam Witwicky: "What?"

Looking through the screen, he explained it a bit further.

Raf/Firewall: "I said that it would seem that the Decepticons are targeting military bases all across the globe. Look at that, that's the Milton Air force base we were in when the MECHicons decided to attack. And check this out. They are even thinking about attacking the Pentagon."

Sari saw the map and was curious.

Sari: "But why would they be interested in military bases across the planet?"

Raf rescanned the whole thing again and realized why.

Raf/Firewall: "It would seem that the Cons want to attack the bases around the world so that the planet would be defenseless before they can conquer Earth. That's pretty much their MO. They destroy the defenses and then lay waste to the rest of the globe."

Kaosu stared at the map for a little bit and understood most of it.

Miko/Kaosu: "Huh… Guess that could explain the factory making that huge army. Let alone the many ground bridges at the bottom floor. But the one thing that's still bothering me is what's the hold up? Why haven't they started attacking the planet yet?"

Jack thought that too and wondered why they would keep their world domination on hold. That's when he remembered the Autobots and finally put the two together.

Jack/Rodimus: "Because of Team Prime."

Everyone turned to the former teen as he told them why he thought about that.

Jack/Rodimus: "Just think about it. The Autobots are still protecting this planet. Even after what happened with the Omega Lock, they are still around and will do anything to keep Earth safe from the Cons. They can't attack this planet since Team Prime is keeping watch. This must be why they are so desperate in searching for the team. If the Autobots were killed during the search…"

Vince: "Earth wouldn't stand a chance."

Rodimus look to him and nodded in agreement.

Jack/Rodimus: "Yeah… You could say that… This is far worse than we all predicted. The Autobots must know about this. We have to show them what the Cons are really planning."

The Wrecking cadet turned to him and asked how they can do that.

Miko/Kaosu: "And how are we going to do that? It's not like we can contact them and give them the news. They need some serious proof about it."

He looked to her and realized she had a point. It's one thing to tell them; it's another to show them the proof. Looking all the files and pictures of the Con's plans, he came up with a really good plan and asked Raf one thing.

Jack/Rodimus: "Tell me Firewall, are we still connected to the Autobot's base?"

Firewall looked to him and nodded in agreement.

Raf/Firewall: "Yes. We are still connected to the base. Why?"

Jack/Rodimus: "Because if the team has to see, they need to see it. See if you can download all that information you gathered. And I mean everything."

There was a bit of a silence as the hacker was surprised by what he said.

Raf/Firewall: "What?! Are you crazy?! This is too much information to download. We don't know if we can get all this into the base."

Jack/Rodimus: "Listen! The Decepticons are planning to take over the world and the Autobots need to see this. This planet is in so much danger that the human race won't stand a chance. The team needs to be warned about the coming storm. Contact Sumdac and let him know that we sending him Intel about the Decepticon's plan. Send in all the information you can download. Let's hope the mainframe in our base can hold that much memory."

Firewall listened in and nodded in agreement. He knew that the team needed to be made aware of the situation and had to do something to warn them about it. Going back to the console, he began to regain communication while at the same time, begin downloading all the information that would be useful.

As he was doing that, the team of Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen were gathering the Iacon relics that the Cons took from them. Wheeljack already has the Polarity Gauntlet while Bulkhead has the Immobilizer in his servo and the Apex Armor strapped to his back. The Elite Guard member gently took his Phase Shifter and placed it over his wrist, once it attaches to him, he smiled and awkwardly enough, kissed it.

Smokescreen: "Hello beauty. Did you miss me?"

Both Wreckers saw this and found it to be a bit strange. In fact, Wheeljack felt a bit uncomfortable and told Bulk about it.

Wheeljack: "Is it me, or is he getting a little too attached to that relic?"

Bulk simply shrugged his shoulders and told him that it was all right.

Bulkhead: "Oh don't mind him, Jackie. Smokescreen might be a little protective of it, but it did help him out through a lot of hairy situations. All right, we got all of the relics. Let's meet up with the others and get the slag out of this place."

Both Wreckers turned and were reaching the same door they came in. But as they were doing that, Smoke looked to them and then back to the wall where the remaining relics were present. He turned back and asked about it.

Smokescreen: "Hey, aren't we forgetting something?"

The two look to him and had confused looks on their faceplates.

Bulkhead: "What?"

He then pointed to the remaining relics on the wall and asked them.

Smokescreen: "What about the Forge and the Saber Sword? Surely you're not thinking of leaving them here."

Both Wreckers look at the objects on the wall and were a little weary about it.

Wheeljack: "I don't know about that, kid. We pretty much got our servos full at this moment. I don't think we have enough room for carrying that much on our backs."

Bulkhead: "Plus those relics can only be used by a Prime. They're pretty much useless for any of us. Not to mention that the sword is impossible to wield since no one can remove it."

The Elite Guard member turned back to the relics and didn't want to take no for an answer.

Smokescreen: "Still, they need to be retrieved as well. Even if none of the Cons can no longer us them, they could still find a way of controlling their power and use it against us. So whether you want to or not, I'm taking them."

So he approached the rack of relics and was about to take the Forge from the wall. Just as he did it, Bulkhead realized that something was up and told him to stop what he's about to do.

Bulkhead: "Wait! Stop! Don't touch the-"

But his voice came too late as thin red lines appeared in front of him and his hand was through it. Smoke backed away when he saw the lines, but the damage was already done as a silent alarm went off.

Back at the security station, Starscream was next to Soundwave monitoring the entire fortress while Megatron, Knockout, and Shockwave were in the back observing the second in command's actions. Suddenly, a beep triggered and a red light appeared on the Darkmount map. Megatron noticed that as he approached the console and knocked Starscream away from him.

Megatron: "A disturbance in Darkmount? Soundwave, investigate the source and ID the breach."

The Intel officer nodded as he typed a few keys to locate the disturbance. Zooming in on the source, he discovered that it was coming from the trophy room on the twentieth floor. Curious, he went into the security camera menu to see who was inside. It then showed a live feed from a hidden camera showing three Cybertronians in the trophy room, trying to get some relics while helping themselves to more. Starscream looked at them and could tell that they were incredibly familiar. Getting a quick close up, they all noticed what appeared to be Autobot insignias. There was a bit of shock within every Con's optics as Megatron marched forward and was angry about what he was witnessing.

Megatron: "The Autobots? Here in my citadel?! Sound the alarm! Alert everyone! The Autobots are in Darkmount!"

Soundwave nodded in acknowledgement and prepared emergency protocol.

Back in the trophy room, Smokescreen backed up after what happened and was surprised that there were silent trip alarms at the racks.

Smokescreen: "What the frag?! They didn't put any alarms on the podiums, yet they put trip alarms around the Prime weapons. whose idea was that?"

Wheeljack looked at it too and came up with a conclusion.

Wheeljack: "My guess, since those weapons can be wielded by a Prime, Megs need to make sure that they wouldn't get anyone to touch them. That could explain why they have no worries of the other relics since those are high priorities."

Smoke sighed to himself and didn't think of that for a second.

Smokescreen: "Didn't realize that till now. I just hope that what I did didn't get the Cons attention."

Just as he said that, red lights started to blink and a blow horn was blaring wildly. The three looked up and realized that they were in trouble as Bulkhead looked to him with a cold glare.

Bulkhead: "You were saying?"

At the same time, the recruits and the human companions were at the communication center as Raf was downloading all the information that the Cons were planning. So far, he'd contacted Professor Sumdac about what they found and was sending the Intel into the Autobot database. So far, everything was running as smoothly as possible. But then they heard the alarm all around them and lights blinking all around. Everyone looked at the alarm and realized that trouble was brewing. Jack looked at Miko and thought it was her fault.

Jack/Rodimus: "Kaosu… What did you do?"

The Wrecking cadet looked to him and lifted her servos up in innocence.

Miko/Kaosu: "It wasn't me! I swear!"

Firewall looked at the screen and realized that it was an intruder alert message popping up in alien language.

Raf/Firewall: "Don't know whose fault it was. It looks like the Decepticons know that Team Prime is here. It will only be a matter of time before they get here and find us."

Rodimus saw the alert sign and nodded in agreement, knowing that the Cons will find them shortly. So he looked to the hacker and told him to keep up with his work.

Jack/Rodimus: "Keep the all clear signal on and make sure that the Cons don't suspect anything. We can't let them know that we are in here. I just hope the others will be all right."

Down at the dungeon, the rest of the team was gathered around Optimus as Sari's key was healing most of his injuries. Just as the Autobot leader was making a quick recovery, the alarm sounded there as well which caught everyone off guard. Bee heard the loud sirens and blinking lights and was a little confused.

Bumblebee: (What was that?)

Arcee heard it too and knew one thing.

Arcee: "Sounds like the Cons know we're here. We have to get out of here and get to the others quickly."

Ratchet turned to the femme and nodded, knowing they don't have much time to fix Optimus up completely. Turning to the leader, he removed the key from his spark chamber and halted the healing process for now. So far, he was mostly healed as there were no scars, wounds, or dents anywhere. Still, there were scratches and discoloring on his paint job due to the destruction of the base, but at least he was mostly healed.

Ratchet: "That will have to be enough. Right now we need to get you out of this dreary place and take you back to the base. I'll patch up the rest when we return."

Optimus look to the medic and nodded in agreement, given they had little time left. Slowly, he got off the bench and tried to stand up. But just as he was about to start walking, his legs buckled and he collapsed on the floor. Prime groaned a little and he tried to get up again, only to fall to his knees. The rest of the team turned to him and was shocked that he couldn't get up yet. Ratchet approached him and checked to see if he was all right.

Ratchet: "Optimus, is everything okay?"

The leader turned to the medic and told him that something was wrong.

Optimus Prime: "My legs… I can't move my legs."

Feeling a little worried, Ratchet started to scan Optimus's legs to see if there was a problem with them. After completing the scan, he made in interesting discovery.

Ratchet: "Odd… Says here that your leg joints are in half repair. Probably the moment we removed the key, it halted the healing process on your legs."

June then chimed in and gave her two cents.

June/Altra: "It's also because he never used his legs for a long time during his captivity. I've seen this plenty of times in the hospital. Patients who get injured in an accident, rarely use their legs during recovery."

Ratch look to the nurse and nodded in agreement. And being that Optimus is temporarily handicapped, they had to get him out one way or another.

Ratchet: "doesn't matter, we have to get him back to base to fix him a little more. Help me with Optimus. We need to carry him to safety."

June nodded and approached the other side of Optimus. Soon enough, the two lifted the Prime by the shoulders and started to carry him out of the cell. He then looked to Arcee and Bumblebee and asked for a favor.

Ratchet: "We are going to be vulnerable while we're carrying Optimus. You think you can protect us while we escort Prime out of the tower?"

The two Autobots looked at each other and knew this was important. Turning to the medic, Arcee let them know that they have their backs.

Arcee: "Bringing Prime back and protecting him is still our top priority. We'll do all that we can."

The medic smiled and knew that they were going to be taken care of. Soon enough, Cee and Bee were leading the way while the medic and nurse helped carry Optimus out. The moment they left the cell, Optimus looked to the Vehicon and was pleased that he was involved in helping the team.

Optimus Prime: "Thank you soldier, for aiding in the rescue."

The drone shrugged it off and responded the best that he could.

Vehicon 1: "Oh, it's nothing really. After what you've been through for the past two weeks, I had to do something to save ya."

The two-wheeler then approached him and asked for a quick favor.

Arcee: "Gotta say, I never really thought that a Con had a change in spark. Maybe you should start defecting, join our cause."

The Vehicon turned his head away and had given it some thought.

Vehicon 1: "A promising, yet tempting offer. But I prefer to stay with my kind, I'm certain that I'm not the only one who disagrees with Megatron's new direction."

Arcee stared him down and didn't like his decision, knowing that there could be some serious consequences.

Arcee: "You do realize that once Megatron finds out about what you did, there will be some serious repercussions."

Vehicon 1: "I understand the risks. But if I get terminated, at least I died so a Prime can live on."

Optimus look to him and could tell he was willing to give his life for the Autobot cause. Nodding, he let him know of what will happen.

Optimus Prime: "This selfless sacrifice will be remembered in Autobot historical archives. Farewell, friend."

Soon enough, the group left the Vehicon as he looked down at the carcass of the other guard and sighed to himself.

Vehicon 1: "Now how am I supposed to fix this?"

Heading up to the trophy room, Smoke, Bulk, and Jackie listened to the alarm and saw the red lights and realized that they got caught in the net. Wheeljack look to the Elite Guard member and was a little angry about it.

Wheeljack: "Way to go kiddo. You have officially rattled the Scraplet cages."

Smoke looked to the Wrecker and argued back.

Smokescreen: "Hey! It's not my fault! No one ever tells of any trip alarms near the Prime relics."

Bulkhead then decided to break it up and told them that they've got their servos full on this one.

Bulkhead: "Can it you two, we've got bigger problems to worry about right now! Since the Cons know we're here, we have to fight our way through to the rendezvous point."

He activated his comm. with the scrambler and contacted Raf about the situation.

Bulkhead: "Firewall, we have a situation!"

The hacker responded on the other end and told him he got it.

Firewall: "Yeah, I noticed that Bulkhead. I'm keeping watch on the security cameras while multitasking on a lot of other things right now. Looks like you've got a bunch of Cons heading to your direction. Insecticons in the front, Airadicons in the back. You'd better get ready."

Bulk nodded and turned to the others for the news.

Bulkhead: "Looks like you're right about this one, Jackie. We've got company coming our way!"

Jackie looked down at the gauntlet he was holding and came up with an idea.

Wheeljack: "Say, do these relics actually work?"

Smoke looked to him and smirked.

Smokescreen: "We used them when we were trying to get the Omega Keys on Cybertron. They work out pretty well."

Wheeljack: "Then let's give these babies a go. Give them a little test ride."

When he said that, he flicked his wrist and pushed a button on the gauntlet, causing it to glow and show a digital display on the middle opening and lines wrapped around his arm. Bulkhead looked at the Immobilizer and wondered if it will stop those Cons coming through the door. But given that most of them were Insecticons, he had to come up with an alternate solution. That's when he thought of the other relic he was holding. Dropping his Immobilizer, he took the Apex Armor on his back and looked at it with a sly grin. He turned to Smokescreen and asked what he said before.

Bulkhead: "What is it you told me about the Apex Armor Smoke? Instant muscle suit?"

The Elite Guard member turned to him and nodded with the devious grin.

Meanwhile, outside of the trophy room, a few Insecticons approached the door while the Airadicons were on standby with their blasters armed. One of the Insecticons approached the door and waited for it to open. The second stepped in front of the insect, then walked into the room to find the intruders. But then moment he got in, he got punched out and slammed hard into the metal wall. The group was a little shocked to see him getting taken out that easily. Turning back, they saw something they never thought they see. Standing at the doorway was Bulkhead, clad head to pede in heavy armor with light blue lights and a circle like object at the center. It was obvious to them that this Autobot had in his possession the Apex Armor, and they were all in serious trouble. Bulk pounded his metal fists together and was ready to give them all a major beat down.

Bulkhead: "Who else wants a piece of me?!"

The other Insecticons looked at each other and decided to strike now while they had a chance. Charging in, they attacked him with multiple swipes of their claws. But the armor was pretty much indestructible as the scratches didn't make a phase. Bulkhead observed this and found that having this armor on made him invincible. Thinking that, he decided to strike back.

Bulkhead: "My turn…"

Just like that, pulled his fist back and gave a strong punch to one of the Insecticons. The other Insecticons struck back and gave a few punches to him. Bulk struck back as he swung left to right as the creatures avoided each strike due to his heavy body. The Airadicons watched on and didn't know what to do with the fight in front of them. As they were watching, they were pretty much distracted as another Autobot slowly rose from the floor like a ghost in a haunted house. That Autobot was Smokescreen as he used the phase shifter to attack from the rear. With both of his blasters armed, he fired each of them through the back. Two of them were hit and the others turned to see the Elite Guard member firing at them. They then fired back as he fled and disappeared through the wall. As he left, the Airadicons scratched their helms and wondered where he went? But just as they were thinking about that, one of the Insecticons crashed into the one of the troops and pinned him to the floor underneath the unconscious insect. The others looked at the Wrecker as he plunged his huge metal fist into the chest plate and took out the wires of the spark chamber, ripping them out completely and shutting the metal beast down. With all of the Insecticons down, the rest of the Airadicons pointed their blasters to him and fired. Yet even if they were direct hits, they didn't do much. Bulkhead wanted to take them out as well, but he decided to try a simple approach. Taking the Immobilizer, which was strapped to his back, he fired it at them in a line. Once the beam hit them, they froze in place, making them defenseless. Looking at his work, he smiled and was ready to beat them up. Suddenly, multiple shots came from both ends as he looked left and right to see groups of Vehicons attacking him on either side. Though the armor protected him, he was still trapped. Looking to the frozen Airadicons, he came with a really good plan and told his friend to help him.

Bulkhead: "Jackie! A little help here!"

With that said, Wheeljack came out of the door and had his Polarity Gauntlet with him.

Wheeljack: "I got this one."

Pointing it at the immobile troops, an orange hue surrounded one of them as it lifted him in mid air. One by one, he tossed each of them to the group at both ends and knocked them down in one hit. As all the frozen drones were removed, the remaining Vehicons were lucky to not get hit and were about to strike back. But before they could even start to fire, Smokescreen appeared through the ceiling from the waist down and used both his blasters to fire the remaining Cons on both ends. Each shot hit them in the head and destroying them completely. With all of them dead, Smoke fazed down to the floor and landed on his pedes. When he landed, he looked to his phase shifter, happy to use it again after such a long time.

Smokescreen: "Man, I really missed you."

Both Wreckers looked at him and felt a little awkward about that.

Wheeljack: "Wow, the kid certainly likes that Shifter."

Bulk sighed to himself and let his friend know about that.

Bulkhead: "Don't take him too lightly, Jackie. He was always successful with that Phase Shifter on many occasions. He said it was his destiny to be just like Optimus, too. If you can believe that. Gotta say though, he certainly proven himself time and time again during our search for the Omega Keys and he showed that he can roll with us."

Smoke then looked at the two and decided that now would be a very good time to leave.

Smokescreen: "If you guys are done with all the talk, we've got to get out of here before more reinforcements show up."

Bulkhead turned to him and nodded in agreement.

Bulkhead: "Agreed. It will only be a matter of time before more of those Cons show up here and finish what the others have started. Let's head to the rendezvous point and meet up with the others."

The two gave a simple nod as they left the trophy room and headed straight to Darkmount's courtyard.

As they departing, Arcee and her team were in the elevator, leaving the prison floor and headed to the main floor. Both she and Bumblebee were at the front while Ratchet and June were in the back holding Optimus since his legs weren't fully repaired. The femme then activated her comm., just to see what was going on.

Arcee: "Firewall, what's the situation?"

Raf got on the other line and gave her the latest status.

Firewall: "The Cons must've picked up what's really going on. From the security monitors I've been looking at, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen managed to get out of a Decepticon ambush and have the Iacon relics with them. They are already on the way to the courtyard as we speak. You'd better prepare yourself too. I see a group of Vehicons heading to the elevator you're in. Guess they're there to get to the prison where Optimus was held."

Arcee: "Thanks for the heads up Firewall. Keep in touch."

Once she turned off the comm., she turned to the two medics and let them know about what she heard.

Arcee: "Looks like we've got company coming our way. Stay behind us and protect Optimus at all cost. We cannot let him die on our watch."

Both Cee and Bee prepared themselves for a battle while the two medics held their ground. At the same time, Optimus overheard the conversation and was more confused than before. He had never heard of a bot called Firewall, nor did he know that it was actually Raf. So he turned to Ratchet and asked away.

Optimus: "Ratchet, who is Firewall?"

The medic looked to him and told him as much as he could without revealing any truth.

Ratchet: "While you were imprisoned Optimus, we have… accidentally stumbled on a few new recruits. Altra and Firewall are two of the said recruits and there are two more you haven't met. Once you've settled into the new base and are recovering from the remaining injuries, you will get to meet them all properly."

The Prime listened in and gave it some thought. The team founded new recruits during his captivity? That's something a little unexpected. But then, upon hearing Alpha Trion's words, he began to wonder if one of those recruits was the new Prime that was prophesied. Thinking this through, he decided to wait until they left this dreadful place and then he'll ask the questions he needed. As they made their ascent, the lift jittered and stopped, making a ding noise signaling that they have reached the main floor. Both the femme and the scout got into their stances and were ready to fight.

Arcee: "Get ready, Bee. This is going to get a little aggressive."

Bee nodded and was prepared for a battle. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they saw a group of Vehicons waiting for them. The moment they saw the team and Optimus, one of them began to panic.

Vehicon 19: "Oh frag! The Autobots are here! And they have Optimus! Contact Megatron! Destroy them now!"

They all got their blasters ready and were about to fire. But Arcee jumped up to one of them and gave him a heavy kick.

Arcee: "Too slow!"

During the kick, she, pinned him down to the ground and armed her blasters to start firing at the first few drones along the way. One of them rushed to her and began the attack. The two-wheeler jumped back and avoided the attack. Getting into a kneeling stance, she deployed her blades getting ready for a brawl. Charging in, he attempted a few swipes left and right with his sharp digits. Cee used blades to block off any attack he was dishing out. One of the hits she blocked and held on to it with all of her strength. Finally, after getting an opening, she swiped the block and spun around to give a high round house to the helm, knocking him down completely. Just as he went down, Arcee felt a blaster hitting her on the back, but it was a small graze. Turning back, she saw more drones firing their blasters at her. She elegantly dodged each attack and was trying not to get blasted by the enemy. During her avoiding skills, she was easily distracting them. As they were firing, Bumblebee came out of the blue and punched one of them in the face, knocking him down completely. The other Con saw this and went on the attack against the scout, performing a couple of striking attempts. Bee swiftly avoided the attacks and was in the boxing defensive position. Once he got an opening, he went ahead and performed a few jabs on the enemy. Once the drone was woozy, he got back and jumped in the upside down position, delivering a straight up kick to the chin and sending him back into two more Cons that were trying to help their comrade.

Just then, a few more Cons appeared from behind and saw the beat down, they then activated their weapons and went straight to firing. Turning around, Bee got his blasters up and fired at each of them. Meanwhile, Arcee was using her blades to slice up Vehicons in several directions, ripping them apart piece by piece. One of them came up from behind and did a straight punch at the back of her helm. Yet she sensed it coming and tilted her head to the left to avoid the punch. Then on instinct, she grabbed the Con's punching arm and pulled him down with such force, flew over her helm, and hit him hard on the ground. Getting her blaster armed, she fired at his chest and destroyed his spark chamber, killing him completely. But as she finished, she was unaware that the last one had recovered and was now aiming for a good shot at her head.

Before he could even pull his trigger, a few stray shots came out of nowhere and hit him in the spark, causing him to fall back, shutting him down. Arcee looked behind to see the dead Con and wondered what had happened. Turning to the elevator, she saw both Ratchet and Altra still holding onto Optimus while using their free servos as blasters to protect their leader and the others. Arcee smiled and was thankful they were there to help.

Arcee: "Thanks for the save you two."

The two walked ahead carrying the last of the Primes as Ratchet retorted back.

Ratchet: "We're already carrying an injured Prime through the battlefield. Don't want to carry anymore Autobots when we have a leader to take care of."

Arcee gave a sly smirk and thought it would be wise not to get shot.

Arcee: "Duly noted. Let's head to the courtyard and meet up with the others. Firewall will contact the base to bridge us all when we're in the clear. Come on, time's a wasting."

The group then left the elevator access way and headed to the courtyard to bridge out of Darkmount. But as they were leaving, a security camera caught all the action as a certain Con watched the battle unfold.

Back in the security station, Megatron and his main Cons were watching both security feeds showing the two separate battles. One screen showed Bulkhead, Smokescreen, and Wheeljack beating up the Insecticons and Airadicons and another screen displayed Arcee and Bumblebee laying waste to the Vehicons while the medic and nurse were helping Optimus up. With Soundwave replaying that a couple of times, Megatron looked on, seething in anger.

Megatron: "This is a disaster! Not only did the Autobots find a way into our citadel, but they also rescued Optimus and took back the Iacon relics! How can this have happened!?"

He turned to his second in command and demanded answers from him. Starscream just looked at him and was getting extremely nervous by his leader's explosive anger.

Starscream: "Er… You're guess is as good as mine, my liege. I'm pretty sure there is a perfect explanation behind all of this."

Megatron: "Oh? Then tell me Starscream, how is it possible that no matter how heavily secured Darkmount is, that a bunch of Autobots managed to get in without any detection?!"

The commander tired to explain, but he had no clue why Team Prime managed to breach into the fortress and make a mockery of the armada. But just as he came up with an answer, Soundwave came in and let Megs know something. He then turned to the Intelligence officer and wondered what he wanted.

Megatron: "Yes Soundwave. What do you want?"

As if on cue, Soundwave activated his visor and showed the map of Darkmount. What no one knew was that he was doing his own investigation the moment they discovered the Autobots entering their territory. Upon his examination, he discovered a high energy readout that matched that of a ground bridge. Yet the strangest part was that the signature was coming straight from the one place were the Neutrals were located. Megatron looked at the screen intently and understood what he was saying.

Megatron: "Odd… There appears to be an energy signature at the communications facility at the top of Darkmount. But how can this be? Contact the guards at the comm. facility; find out if there was an attack.

Nodding, the Intel officer regained the communication and checked to see if that part of Darkmount had been compromised. Yet the only thing he got was a message saying all clear. He showed it on the screen as Megs watched in curiosity.

Megatron: "You're certain that the communications center hasn't been taken over."

Soundwave nodded again as Starscream walked by and had his own thoughts.

Starscream: "Perhaps it has something to do with the tower's energy field. Being that it is new, it's obvious we've always had a few bugs in the system."

Megatron turned away and rubbed his chin.

Megatron: "Perhaps… Or it could be something related to the previous intruders we have been searching for."

Scream looked to him and was a little confused by this.

Starscream: "Come again?"

Megatron: "If the Autobots managed to breach our defenses, then that means…"

Before he could finish, he lunged at his commander and grabbed him by the throat, concluding his deductions in a loud and clear voice.

Megatron: "THAT THE NEUTRALS HAVE BROUGHT THE AUTOBOTS THROUGH BY GAINING ACCESS TO THE COMMUNCATIONS FACILITY! THAT IS WHY THOSE PATHETIC HUMANS MANAGED TO ESCAPE THAT EASILY! THOSE NEUTRALS HAVE ASSISTED IN THE ESCAPE! YOU PROCESSOR-DEAD MORON!"

The commander was getting choked completely as he was scared of what would happen to him. Trying to get out of this situation, he tried to explain himself.

Starscream: "Forgive me Lord Megatron… I never knew that the Neutrals would make it this far… Please show some mercy…"

Megs looked to him and was ready to kill. But being that he already terminated Dreadwing for his insolence, and the fact that Starscream has been back for a while, he decided to spare him until he doesn't need him anymore. Letting go of his throat, Starscream coughed a little as Megatron turned his back to him and decided to focus on the task at him.

Megatron: "It proves that the Autobots brought these Neutrals in to help in the aid of rescuing their Prime. They must've used them to head to the command center and brought the team in through there. If that's the case, then I want those Neutrals taken care of."

Getting up from the unexpected choke, Scream decided to start handling this business.

Starscream: "If that's what you want, then allow me to send a strike team to start removing these intruders from the comm. facility."

But the Decepticon leader turned to him and decided not to let him do it.

Megatron: "And fail me again? No Starscream, your attempts in stopping these Neutrals have proven to be fruitless time and time again. I think now is the time we change the game."

He then turned to Shockwave and gave him the order.

Megatron: "Shockwave, I want you to head to the communication facility and handle the Neutrals personally."

The commander looked on and was horrified at the fact that the science officer was going to take over in stopping the Neutrals. Shockwave though bowed respectively and told him that it will be done.

Shockwave: "Understood, my liege. I will be certain that these Neutrals will not bother you anymore."

Megatron smirked and was pleased that his science officer will succeed in his mission. But he needed to be sure that he had some help in stopping them.

Megatron: "Take Knockout and Soundwave with you. Given the fact that these three managed to stop an entire armada, I think it's wise that you will need some backup with you."

Shockwave turned to both Knockout and Soundwave and could tell that he would need some help, given what happened recently. So he looked to his leader and agreed with him.

Shockwave: "But of course my lord."

With that said, Both Shockwave, Knockout, and Soundwave left the security station. But before they could leave, Megatron decided to give the science officer a little clarity.

Megatron: "And Shockwave… When you are done disposing them, bring them to me alive. I still have questions to ask of them regarding their actions."

Shockwave stopped and turned to his leader a bit just to see him. But after listening to his orders, he remained silent and uttered a few words.

Shockwave: "It shall be done…"

Soon enough, the group exited the security station as the doors closed behind them. The moment they left, Starscream stumbled in and decided to give his own thoughts in the matter.

Starscream: "Lord Megatron, forgive my rudeness, but is it wise to have Shockwave taking care of these younglings. Though he managed to exterminate most of the human population in that town, I don't know if he's prepared to take on a bunch of Cybertronian Neutrals."

Megatron turned back to him and explained why he chose Shockwave for this assignment.

Megatron: "I understand your concern Starscream, but let me be clear about this. Though Shockwave is a scientist, he too is also a noble warrior. The weapons he created wiped out half the Autobot faction during the Great War and he shows no remorse in his actions. So whether it's a huge army, or a small team, he will succeed no matter what the outcome. I am sure of that."

Finished with this chapter. Pretty long one I'll give it that. And being that I was juggling so many things in real life, I had to work on this whenever I can. But I am done and hope the next one won't take longer then this one. And I am hoping that no more anonymous guest reviewers don't force me to update everyday. So on the next chapter, Jack, Raf, and Miko takes on Shockwave, Soundwave, and Knockout in an all out brawl. Who's going to come out on top? That's for me to know you for all of you to find out. Stay tuned. Please Review.