"AND YOU JUST LET HIM GO?!"
"EY! You wanna try say'n no to a six story building with teeth!? Be my guest!"
"Ah man," Jack groaned, just as Henry walked in with a fresh steaming bag of popcorn. He reached up and rewound the live feed back a few minutes to catch up on what he had missed, then lazily sat back in his chair and propped his sandaled feet up beside the computer monitor, upsetting on of many piles of clutter in the process. He watched the feed, grabbing a wad of oily popcorn and shoving in his mouth as the Nakadai's began their sweet moment, making the inventor want to gag on his snack.
Sure he could understand the appeal of heartfelt father daughter bonding by grief moments, but frankly he'd hacked into the feed for some promo sci-fi spy footage, not soap-operas. Leaning forward, he clicked past the emotional parts until Jack left the hangar to get the Director, then reclined back as Raf wired his laptop to the ground-bridge just as Skylynx barged in. He was at least going to enjoy the fruits of his labor after all the time it took to hack the feed.
Yeah he probably should be in his lab back in the hangar, but sticking around for the emotional spillage in person just felt, wrong somehow. Contrary to popular belief Henry did have something resembling a sense of decency, even if it was only just. He saw what Miko, Jack, and Raf had going, that chemistry you needed more than just friendship to create, and he respected that. At least enough that he'd never tried to insert himself into their group, no matter how close The Director put his lab to the Ground Bridge portal. Besides, the last thing they needed was him coming to them with the mess he called a life at the moment while they still had all this Decepticon crud on their hands. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted when his monitor shifted ever so slightly before his cursor no longer responded to the mouse in his hand.
"Ah frag," Henry groaned, reluctantly retrieving his headset and plugging in the microphone. He didn't have to wait long before a distorted synthesized voice crackled in his ear.
"Well well well," the filtered voice drawled in a midwestern accent its owner managed to keep despite. "You have been the busy little bee haven't you?"
"Waddaya want Tar?" Henry whined, "I'm in the middle of something."
"Oh I can see that," Tar's warped voice smirked, cursor moving over the video feed. "Its good to know you can do something right for a change." Henry growled and ground his teeth together.
"If you and your Boss had given me more tech to work with, or stable Energon God forbid, then maybe you'd still have a laAAAAAHHHH!" Henry screamed as his back arched, white hot electrical currents jolting up and down his body as a tiny square glowed red beneath the skin of his right shoulder.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Always making excuses aren't we Henry," Tar mocked calmly as the pain from the shock subsided. "I do hope you remember what happens if you disappoint us again." Henry wanted so badly to tear into the little weasel on the other end of the transmission, but he didn't want another shock anytime soon.
"Don't worry," the inventor said numbly, "I'll make sure they don't find out about the hacked feeds."
"Aaaannnndd?" He could almost see Tar's finger poised over the remote trigger for the shock chip.
"And," he said carefully, "I'll make sure Fowler's suit is delayed until yours are up and running. I've already sent the new specs over. You can check the email."
"I already have, they are most impressive." Henry didn't want to admit it, but he was a little anxious to know how the other suits were progressing. And as with all tech geeks, his curiosity won out.
"If you don't mind me asking."
"I do actually," Tar snapped coldly, shutting the inventor up before a sick smile crept back into his tone. "Now, be a good little saboteur and go back to your lab. Must keep up appearances you know, and you've a suit to not finish. Ta-ta Henry." With that the connection ended, and Henry found his computer back under his control. He turned off the monitor and slumped forward, head held in his hands as he massaged his temples.
"Dammit Masterson," he cursed to himself, "How in the world did you ever let your life get this fragged?" He knew the answer of course. His life had gone to the pits the night he found that purple caddy in the rocks behind his neighbors house. Why couldn't he have just left well enough alone. He knew why, because an alien robot civil war and government spy rings beat video games and stale chips in your mom's basement hands down any day.
'Speaking of which,' Henry thought, sliding back from his computer desk and setting his popcorn aside before hopping to his feet. He walked across the small bedroom, floor strewn with used clothes of all shapes and unmentionable varieties before he reached a small door, half barricaded behind a bookshelf full of technical manuals and magazines and a pile of unknown cloth horrors. He pushed the obstacles aside, then reached down the front of his shirt and retrieved a key attached to his neck via a small silver chain. In less than a second he had unlocked and opened the door, only to spend twice as much time searching for the light switch.
"Come on," Henry grumbled, "Who keeps moving this blasted, Aha!" He exclaimed when his fingers found purchase and flipped the single light bulb glowed overhead. He closed the door behind him and spared a moment to take in what stood in front of him. The walk in closet had been converted into a make shift mini lab, complete with welders, holo projectors, everything he needed to get his own model up and running without either big brother knowing.
He looked over the frame, wires still exposed in a few places, but otherwise concealed beneath the primary layer of gunmetal grey plating. He took another plate from one of the shelf he had screwed into the closet walls, looking at his distorted reflection in the dull dark magenta metal, then turned his eyes up at the hastily drawn schematics he had been able to gleam from his last net chat. He paused a moment to realize just how low he'd allowed himself to sink, but frankly he hadn't been that far up on the morality ladder to start with, and if it meant getting his freedom back he knew he'd do anything.
Even if it meant trading one evil for another and bluffing blind to show these noobs that nobody owned him.
The tranquility of the British hills were once again shattered by a ground-bridge portal, and screaming.
"HOLY!" Jack yelped when he he'd come charging out of the ground-bridge only to stumble on the steep slope and wet grass, Miko close behind.
"WHOA!" Miko cried as she went tumbling after Jack down the hill, a third larger form darting past them both, details only reemerging when they had rolled to a stop near the bottom. "Ugh," Miko groaned, sitting up and brushing bits of grass and stray flowers from her hair and clothes. "Someone needs to upgrade that mapping software on the bridge." Jack jumped to his feet, popping his neck as he stretched.
"Well don't look at me," the young agent said gruffly, spitting a wad of green from his teeth and brushing more plant life from his red jacket sleeve, "I just run through the thing."
"I wonder then," Dynomo said calmly, standing from where he had landed in a graceful crouch compared to the younger two's heaps "What would happen when you're Medic and programmer were suddenly unable to perform their duties?"
"Well, I um," Jack stuttered as Miko and her father walked past him.
"Or, when I'm not there to save your aft again?" She chided, making Jack realize something very depressing.
"Great, Two of them," He grumbled getting back on his feet, quickly checking his sidearms, twin colt 45's, hidden in their shoulder holsters under his jacket. He scanned the area with his eyes, taking out his phone and pulling up the app Raf had created to let them patch into the Autobots comm frequencies. "Wheeljack? Wheeljack are you out there? Scrap nothing." Miko looked at the clouds gathering overhead in the waning twilight, while her Father only grimaced at the sound of distant thunder.
"This place is not long for a storm," he said darkly, "But it is far to distant to interfere." Miko looked up and around at the rolling hills, sighed when she didn't find what she was looking for.
"So why can't we call them? And more importantly, How does something as HUGE as Skylynx not leave any footprints?" Her best friend just shrugged.
"Maybe something else is blocking the transmission." But this only caused Miko to throw up her arms.
"WHAT SOMETHING?!" She yelled waving at the open, brightening countryside. "There's nothing here but dirt and grass!"
"One of the first phrases I learned after arriving here," Dynomo said, maintaining his sage like tone, "Don't judge a book by its cover. Much like cybertron, there is often more to the land than what meets the eyes." Jack smiled slightly at the impromptu casualness of the situation. Granted Miko was by no means back to her normal bubbly self and might not ever be again, but it seemed Her uncle had been right. Letting them tag along to find their AWOL friends was distracting them from their grief for the time being, although he wasn't entirely sure the results were worth it.
"Maybe," Jack said nervously, "They decided they could see more from the air and took of together?" Both Nakadai's did an about face and gave him the same 'are-you-for-real' look. "It could happen," The young agent insisted as Miko started to laugh under her breath at the thought of Wheeljack riding Skylynx like something out of a bad fantasy movie.
"Perhaps," Her father sighed, rolling his eyes dismissively, "but unlikely. From what I have observed of him, this Predacon is far to proud to allow himself to be utilized as a steed of any sort." Jack made a mental note to pry Miko about her Fathers over the top speech later, but said young womans frustrated roar grabbed his immediate attention.
"GRRRRR! Where are they?!" She yelled, plating starting to shift to the surface of her skin as her temper rose.
"Miko," Her father warned, "Calm yourself." the japanese teen steadied herself, taking deep breaths as her skin slowly folded itself back over her plating. Jack made yet another note to make sure Ratchet gave Miko a thorough examination, just to know if she was gonna turn into a full size transformer the next time they set her off.
"Sorry," Miko sighed, still frustrated but now more at herself than anything. "I'm just mad we ain't seen any Cons yet." Jack gave his friend a knowing look, eyes lingering on her right arm.
"You really want to try out that blaster don't you?"
"Hey, I'm a Wrecker remember," Miko started, arm in question transforming with her gesture, "Thats means I'm here to kick aft, take names, and." Her bravado vanished however the moment she realized what she had just said. She paled as she turned to meet her fathers glare, his arms crossed while his fingers drummed against his arm.
"Exactly how long have you known Team Prime?" Dynomo asked in the flat tone he reserved for getting a confession out of his daughter.
"Since, well since I started going to Jasper really," She admitted, but her father never flinched. Jack decided to give the two their privacy for a moment, and focused himself on the ground beneath his feet. Maybe there was something to point them towards Skylynx and Wheeljack.
"And how long have you been accompanying them into the field?" Miko only looked more nervous, if that was even possible, as Jack brushed his hands over the grass, cool blades rubbing against his palm, only to suddenly give way to a strange pixelated flicker.
"Well you see, uh hehe, funny story about that." But before the conversation could go any further.
"Hey!" Jack called from just left of the Nakadai's. "Found something." Dynomo looked at his daughter, his own rendition of every parents, 'you're-not-off-the-hook-yet-missy' glare before they walked over to the young agent. "Look," he said waving his hand through the grass, the green shoots flickering slightly as he did.
"A hologram," Miko groaned kicking herself, infuriated at the simple deception.
"And feel the ground. Its not normal either." Dynomo knelt down to touch the "grass", hand passing right through to a spongy moving surface.
"Any idea what it is?" Jack asked.
"Hardlight camouflage," Dynamo said matter of factly, "A combination of holograms and programmable surface replicators favored by smugglers." Jack looked up at the field surrounding them.
"This stuff must go for miles."
"Unlikely," The elder Nakadai scoffed, "a hardlight system is only effective when it conceals small areas. Anything larger than an average Cybertronian, and the hologram becomes unstable." Miko gave her father a confused look, never expecting him to know so much about any kind of technology, but Dynomo shrugged it off. "One tends to learn certain things whilst wandering between planets for centuries on end."
"Thats why there aren't any tracks!" Miko said in anticipation, "Jacky and Skylynx must've come running out of the Bridge so fast they fell through before they knew what was happening!"
"Fell through what?" Jack asked confused.
"The door genius!" she answer in a duh tone. "Why else would someone go to the trouble of setting all this up?"
"That seems logical," Her father nodded, "The entrance to an energon mine mayhaps?"
"Whatever it is," Jack said standing, looking toward the rising sun, "We need to move fast. The locals are gonna be awake soon, if they aren't already."
"The boy is right," Dynomo agreed, though his choice of words irked the agent more than a little, though that was the least of their worries. "MIKO! Get back here!"
"Why?" she asked inocently, walking further out into the field, holograms flickering only just as she stepped over the illusion. "We're not gonna find anything just standing around."
"There is a reason Hardlight systems are illegal!" he father retorted, understandably panicked. "For all you know you could walk right into a pit of snakes!" Her father wasn't the only one concerned.
"Come on Miko," Jack called after her, "This isn't funny!"
"Will you two lighten up!" She yelled back, tone reclaiming some of its care free signature. "Come on, whats the worst that could happEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!" Miko's word turned into a yell when she suddenly dropped into the hologram and vanished from sight, before the two still on the surface heard a dull metallic thud from deep below.
"MIKO!" Her father yelled rushing up to the spot where his daughter had disappeared, Jack cursing right behind him. "Miko! Can you hear me?! Are you all right?!"
"Uuugghh, I'm fine," She groaned from somewhere under the holographic field. "Wow, dark down here. Hey dad, don't transformers have some kind of night vision or something?"
"No," was his curt answer, "Though there might be a scouting system in your servo."
"Right, now how does this thing work, YOW That's bright!"
"Well," Jack sighed, "I think its safe to say she found it." Dynomo groaned, while below, his daughter was in awe.
"Wooow, you guys should see this! These tunnels are huge! Like, Predacon huge!" Jack remained focused on Miko's voice while her father got to his feet. "Come on down, the cave is fine!"
"Gee I would love too Miko," Jack said, not sparing any sarcasm, "But I seem to have left my cave diving gear back at." Dynomo suddenly stepped forward, then fell forward, vanishing down into the hologram just as Miko had. "Base."There was another dull thud, then cheering from Miko about sticking the landing.
"Right," Jack said putting his feet under him and standing near what he assumed was the edge. "No problem. Just falling down a black pit for I don't know how far to a bottom I can't see through a door I can't see." He shook his head and laughed a little, "Just another day at the office." He steeled his nerves and stepped forward, holding his breath when he didn't fall into oblivion right away. Deciding the door had to be right in front of him, he sucked in one last breath, and jumped forward, which would have worked.
If his heel hadn't caught on the ledge and sent him tumbling end over end into the hole.
"And this is the mess." Fowler waved through the open doors of the more or less school style cafeteria, which failed to impress the two recruits. "Next up is Hangar E," he said, not missing the sudden gleam in both of the recruits eyes. "Thats where you'll meet our primary field agents." He quietly counted his lucky stars and stripes that these two had more military training in them than the last batch, and thus knew when to keep their mouths shut and let their CO do the talking.
"Now keep in mind most of these guys didn't start out Military like you, but they've been through a lot together and they've been getting the job done right for a good while now."
"Director!" Fowler looked to his left, only to scowl halfheartedly as he saw the crisp oxford suit and its owner approaching. He looked at the recruits.
"You go on ahead to the motor pool, I'll be right behind you." The red headed army recruit snapped a salute.
"Yes Sir," Vince said before walking away. The female navy recruit didn't salute, only gave him that penetrating stare Fowler knew he would soon be familiar with, then turned to follow Vince. Fowler sighed, not on base an hour and he was already positive his plan wasn't going to go well. How could it when it required sticking three alpha dogs in the same pack?
"Director," The suited man repeated, now much closer and fully recognizable as one of the Regents, specifically the third, quieter member of the three.
"Sir," he said, saluting by reflex more than anything.
"Not here," The older man said shaking his head, laughing slightly. "Out of that room I'm just another over payed paper pusher." His body language loosened, no longer the controlled ice block it had been in the de-briefing. He even loosened his tie a little, just enough to expose the tattooed head of an american eagle on his collar bone. In a single moment a regent had been replaced with an old friend, and Fowler couldn't help but smile.
"How've you been Ace?" He asked shaking the fellow Ranger vet's hand.
"All things considered," He sighed, glancing around, "Not too bad. You certainty ruffled a few feathers back there." The director only scoffed.
"Yeah well they can kiss my red white and blue back side for all I care. No offense."
"None taken," Ace laughed, "Though it wouldn't hurt for you to be a little nicer to them for a change."
"Then what?" He asked sarcastically, "Should I start work'n on a dance number too? You and I both know those two are vultures."
"No We're politicians," Ace rebutted sharply, "that means we're cheaters and lairs, and whenever we're not kissing baby's, we're stealing their lollipops. But," He added quietly, "I'm also a Ranger, and that means I work with what I've got and don't waste time whining bout what I don't. You're planning something."
"That obvious?" Fowler asked, not liking that one of the regents, even if it was a friend, knew he was up to something.
"Was Washington honest?" Ace laughed back. "I know you're the Director and all now, but you don't just ask for two military personnel transfers for no reason. Christ I can't imagine what it took you to get a hold of those two."
"Just calling in a few old favors. Listen, Ace, just how much do the?"
"Other Regents know?" he finished for him. "They know your latest recruits graduated near the top of their classes and were being lined up for their own separate court martials for falsifying personal information." He paused, face and tone darkening. "And that both had family in Jasper." Fowler hid the pang of guilt that threatened to explode of his face, covering it with practiced numbness.
"We evacuated the town as quickly as we could," he said distantly, "Any casualties were at the bare minimum."
"Don't give me that crap Will" Ace dead panned. "We all read the report. At least five dozen people never made it through the E-vac check points, and even when our boy's could get back into the town."
"If you got something to say spit it out," Fowler barked, loosing both his cool and composure. His friend stopped, tone shifting to avoid biting in further to the former rangers guilt.
"...Loosing a loved one to someone else's war is hard," He said, speaking from cold experience. "But you learn to live with it ... eventually" Fowler's voice was likewise numb.
"People can live with a lot of things."
"Yeah," Ace admitted solemnly, "But burying seven empty coffins isn't one of them."
"Ow." That was the best way Jack could describe how he was feeling at the moment. Fair considering he'd just landed flat on his back on a floor that might as well have been steel. He felt two strong arms lifting him to a sitting position, then recognized the almost glowing green eyes of Miko's father.
"Easy," the elder Nakadai said, "You're landing was not a graceful one."
"Yeah," Jack groaned, stretching and popping his back. "I can tell." He had just regained feeling in his chest when a blinding search light blazed into existence.
"MIKO!" Dynomo barked, shielding his eyes, "Do try not to point that in our faces!"
"Sorry Dad," The japanese hybrid said, aiming her blaster and search light up. The white light reflecting off the dull grey slate gave Jack a chance to see how deep in the earth they were. It turned out to be just a bit more than a two stories, and considering he had landed flat on his back, Jack was amazed none of his bones were broken.
"Any way Come on!" Miko said waving the others towards the tunnel behind her, "It looks like Draco and Jacky went this way!" Both men hopped to their feet and followed the young woman into the dark, her light leading the way through the dripping dank cavern. Jack immediately noticed the utter blackness.
"Cons must've cleaned this place out good," He remarked glancing over the walls ahead of Miko. "Not even a scrap of Energon left." Dynamo was trailing behind the younger two, right arm reached back, hand fingering his swords hilt nervously, the other brushing along the walls and feeling the rock.
"I do not believe this was a mine Agent Darby," he said, clearly anxious. "The walls are much too smooth. The stone bears no tool marks." Jack mulled over this, running scenarios through his head that would lead to the cons bridging to and camouflaging a cave entrance in the middle of Wales. But before he could come up with one that actually made sense, he noticed their guiding light had stopped.
"Miko," Her father said walking up to his daughter, confused and concerned. "What is it?"
"I don't know," She said quietly, looking at the walls around them, "Its just, This place feels...familiar somehow." She knew she'd never been in this cave before, but there was an air about it all the same. A quiet, almost murmuring thrum that seemed to waft through the damp air, not unlike the atmosphere of the shrine.
"Yes," her father purred, twinges of his cybertronian accent slipping through. "I feel it as well. The earth breathes as if alive, and beats like a drum." However, his poetic musing was interrupted by a roar like scraping metal. A roar Miko immediately recognized as that of a Predacon.
"They're this way!" She yelled, rushing down the tunnel, light bouncing erratically as she ran while the others sprinted to catch up. Their shoes slipped and slid on the damp cave floor, and jack nearly fell when he came round a corner too fast, but caught himself before he dropped completely. It was after that he saw the glow of fire ahead of them, and in a few moments they recognized the hulking form of Skylynx's beast mode. The dragon former was throwing everything he had at the wall before him, but whatever it was that blocked his path was not yielding.
"Dudes," Miko yelled, finding Wheeljack taking cover further back in the cave from Skylynx. "Why the cold shoulder all of a sudden?" All she got from the Wrecker was a dry laugh as her arm resumed a human appearance.
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing." He and the humans ducked behind the out cropping as Skylynx let loose another stream of fire. "I've been trying to get a hold of the hatchet for almost a megacycle. What gives?" The wreckers optics narrowed when he saw Miko's father, but Dynomo was more concerned with more immediate issues.
"Our communications are being blocked then. We could neither communicate with you or the base." Jack turned his attention to Skylynx, who had stopped his flame throwing long enough to give the young agent a clear view of what he was firing at: A massive metal door clearly built to the most accommodating of cybertronian proportions, one that seemed to have enraged their resident Predacon.
"ROOOAAAAHHHH!" Skylynx roared, transforming to finish the cry in robot mode as he pounded his claws on the still warm metal. "Break you insolent piece of scrap! BREAK!" He kept hitting the door over and over again, but Wheeljack could only shake his helm.
"Poor kids been at it since we got down here. You'd think his sparkling was on the other side or something." Dynomo shot the larger cybertronian a venomous glare, but oddly enough his daughter chose that moment to have an idea.
"I know," She said excitedly, jumping out of cover and sprinting away before Her dad or Jack could grab her.
"Miko!"
"What are you doing?!"
"Trust me," She smiled back over her shoulder, though it was more of a devious smirk. "This is gonna be a blast." Jack hoped against reason she wasn't being literal. "HEY LIZARD LIPS!" Skylynx whirled around, looking for the source of the name. "Down here."
"Huh? Oh," he said finally noticing Miko, "Its you again." But the small hybrid took the predacon's prickly demeanor in stride, rocking back on her feet.
"You know," Miko said innocently, "if you're having trouble breaking down that door, why not just smash it in dragon mode? You are a lot stronger that way aren'tcha?"
"Of course I am," He said, chest plates puffing out a little. "There is nothing more devastating than a Predacon in Beast mode." But Miko wasn't entirely convinced.
"Uh huh, so tell me; Why isn't that door scrap yet." Skylynx only growled and turned away, then resumed bashing his hands on the still very sealed door, and Miko waited until he was ventilating hard. "You know," she said baiting the predacon, "breaking down that door would be a lot easier if..."
"If what?" Skylynx asked eagerly when the girl stopped in the middle of her sentence.
"Nevermind," Miko said dismissively, "I probably wouldn't have worked anyway."
"Oh," Skylynx said looking back to the door, but his face plates and voice had given him away. For whatever reason He was desperate to get inside, and now Miko had him right where she wanted him.
"Weeeelllllll," She smirked, dangerously now. "It might juuust work but."
"But what?!" Skylynx shouted back and down at the smaller half cybertronian.
"It could work, but you have to exactly as I say. Got it?" To be fair, Skylynx did pause for a moment to consider his options. But it wasn't a very long moment.
"All right, what do you have in mind?" Miko's grin took on a whole new dimension, one Jack recognized from last year on April fools day.
'Oh Primus,' he thought, scooting further into cover. 'The prank grin.'
"Okay, here's the plan," Miko grinned rubbing her hands together. "First you gotta transform." Skylynx did so, then looked at her, the question of "what next," on his draconian face-plates. "Now, face the wall and walk towards it. You'll have to be riiight in front of it." The predacon gave her a confused look, but did as instructed and walked until he was mere feet away from the door. "A liiiittle closer." The dragon groaned and stepped closer, muzzle nearly touching the metal surface. "Tiiiiinnnsy bit more." He glared down at her, snarling in his throat but soon obliged, taking a half step forward before. "THAT'S IT! Perfect! Stay right there, and wait for my signal."
She ran back to where the others were hiding, prank grin still slathered all over her face. And it was starting to scare Jack.
"Miko," he started nervously, a sentiment echoed by her father.
"Whatever it is you're planning," he said warningly and knowingly, "it had better work."
"Oh it will," she smirked, right arm transforming back to its blaster mode as she poked out from behind the outcropping and took aim, mumbling to herself: "Dog goes woof, cat goes meow, bird goes tweet. But what," She asked lining her barrel up with the plating just below the base of Skylynx's tail. "Does the dragon say?"
Skylynx had just realized Miko hadn't told him what to do when she gave the signal when said signal hit him right between the skid plates, and his optics shot to the size of satellite dishes.
He howled in pain, rearing up on his hind legs like a stallion before falling forward, front claws planting themselves on the door as one thousand tons of Predacon came crashing down on it.
"BOOYAH!" Miko cheered, jumping up and down as a cloud of dust erupted at the door, enveloping Skylynx completely. Dynomo and Jack could only stare slack jawed at what she had just done, while Wheeljack, in typical Wrecker fashion, threw his helm back and laughed. Hard.
Shockingly the humor of the joke was lost on Skylynx.
"WHEN I GET MY CLAWS ON YOU HALF-BREED! THERE WON'T BE ENOUGH LEFT TO CALL SCra..." Miko was too excited, and Wheeljack was still laughing too hard, but Dynomo and Jack noticed when Skylynx's voice trailed off within the cloud. The two men shared a quick glanced at each other, and drew their respective weapons. Jack reached into his jacket and pulled out his pistols, while Dynamo gripped his sword as the two advanced. Miko came off of her victory high just in time to see the two men walking toward the now open door, and with Wheeljack, quickly followed. Wheeljack got to his pedes and took point, blasters ready and charging as his battle mask slid over his lower face plates.
"Skylynx?" He called, slowly walking through the dissipating dust cloud lingering at the doorway. "Sky, what is it?" He frowned when no answer came, and looked back to tell the humans to stay outside, but instead of the scared children he remembered, he found two young adults and a much changed but familiar mech armed and ready. They walked inside, over the threshold, but nothing could have prepared them for what they saw.
"Oh my God," Jack gasped, gun barrels dipping when he saw the room behind the door. Even with only the small light of Wheeljacks scouting light for illumination, he could see the cybertronian sized computer terminals lining the walls, along with the countless dissection assemblies and stasis chambers attached to them. Dynomo growled in his throat, jumping and turning to look for some unseen enemy.
"This cannot be" He said, very real fear creeping onto his face.
"It is," Wheeljack frowned, recognizing the rooms morbid aesthetic hallmarks. "Shockwave."
"Hold up," Miko said looking at her fellow Wrecker, "You told us you had Shockwave all locked up on Cybertron."
"We do, but the cyclops has a thing for multiple labs." Dynomo growled as he too recognized the familiar signs.
"The human term for it, I believe," He spat, "Is a fetish." Miko would have laughed at her fathers choice of words, had she not seen Skylynx standing off to himself in a far corner of the lab.
"Hey, Lizard lips," She called, but the predacon remained rooted to the spot. "Skylynx?" She asked, activating her scouting light and walking over to him. "Skylynx, yoo-hoo!" Still nothing. She followed his optics fixed stare, then felt her own breath catch.
There in front of them was another console, connected by thick wires to a trio of enormous stasis chambers, each easily large enough to hold a predacon. Two were sealed, the one on the left still holding within it a malformed, disfigured specimen that seemed to be trapped between beast and robot mode, face plates twisted in agony. The one beside it, the middle chamber, was drained and empty, but the third was shattered, glass strewn across the floor around it. It had been broken from the inside. Miko looked up at the red white and blue Predacon, understanding more by the minute.
"Skylynx?" This time her soft voice broke his trance, and he looked down at her. "You remember this lab, don't you?"
"...Yes," He finally said, though his tone was anything but certain. "I, have seen this place before." He said walking up to the still occupied chamber, gently placing a clawed hand on the glass. "I couldn't save them."
"Ah don't beat yourself up kid," Wheeljack said dismissively, investigating the labs main computer. "That things probably been dead for solar cycles now."
"She," Skylynx hissed as if struck again. "Her name was Ripclaw." He looked at the Predacon femme trapped with her chamber, then roared as he swung his shifting arm at it, mace appearing milliseconds before it shattered the stasis chamber. And the same moment that Wheeljak managed to reactivate the main terminal.
"There," He said, energon flowing through the terminals circuits and activating the holo screen. "Now, lets see what the mad doc was up to." He selected the first file he saw and engaged the audio.
"Shockwave's Log, Lab report 19-86: Project Predacon sub Terra, is a failure."