Small Mercies

by SniperGirl0907

Movieverse AU: Things get awkward for the Autobots as the new President of the USA pays them a visit, and old skeletons start to come out of the closet as the Waineright's family history comes to light. Meanwhile, a new adversary puts NEST in danger, and amid the chaos, new secrets come to light. Chapter 6 of the TIFC saga. OC centric.

6. Chpt 5: Desperate Times

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: just my OC's & the plot.

---

SMALL MERCIES

Chapter 5: Desperate Times

As the energy wave surged out, Optimus and Jazz barely had time to duck out of the way, when another blast from Soundwave's sonic cannon's dissipated the energy field, and knocked the girl clean off her feet. Crystalwing backed him up with her own sonic cannons, and together the two communications officers kept the girl at bay, whilst Prime and Jazz got the humans out. When he was sure everyone was clear, Jazz activated the magnetic generators in his wrists, and magnetized the doors, sealing them shut; and then made a hasty retreat.

"Think that'll hold her?" Crystalwing glanced over her shoulder as he caught up to them.

"It'd better!" Jazz panted

---

Elsewhere in the base:

As the Ios crystal hovered above the floor of its storage hanger, no one would think that within such a serine and still structure, tension was beginning to mount...

Within the crystal, was a place unlike any other: not confined to the laws of space, time, or physics; it was a dimension that was the gateway to many unknown places in the universe. For many, it would be considered the holy grail of all scientific knowledge: the pinnacle of all human discoveries...

But for Alpha Trion, it was home: and right now, it was what was occurring beyond his front door that had him quite worried...

Watching the action in all corners of the base play out via a portal of pure swirling energy; the ancient bot watched as everyone's machinations unfolded and collided. Blackshot began to spiral into her rage, while the girl that was now trapped in the human med-unit tried to break open the doors; and everyone in between, were unknowingly keeping their heads above the rising tide of chaos.

"This is getting out of hand..." he frowned; with a gentle wave of his hand, his staff floated through the air, and into his waiting fingers as he strode towards the portal that would take him outside the crystal. "I have to do something to try to curb this madness-"

But before he could step outside the crystal: the portal changed, as rays of white light burst forth, and a familiar voice called out to him...

"...What? ..." he paused and turned around.

The portal's light danced about like ripples on the surface of a pond, as the voice, that only he could hear, spoke to him in a language, only he could understand...

"...I don't understand: what are you-

A flash of fire and immense cosmic energy exploded out of the portal in a tremendous energy wave: knocking Alpha off his feet, and throwing him across the pristine glass-like floor. Having the wind knocked out of him, the old bot struggled to sit back up, and when he did, the sight before him literally took his breath away...

The portal had become a hellhole: fire and lightning crackled around the edge, as the energy licked and danced around the corona in a raw, almost angry display of power and fury. Alpha Trion was shocked, but what came next, only turned his shock into horror...

Within the event horizon, a black mass of energy encased in a deep purple aura, began to bubble up like a witches brew in a cauldron; the strange black substance took on a life of its own as a mass of slimy tentacles formed from the bubbles, and whipped out towards the white mech. Alpha instinctively raised his arm to shield his face, and in the same instance, the tentacles bounced off a powerful energy field encasing the bot. The tentacles retreated, but the mass continued to grow as it spewed out of the portal...

Grabbing his staff and getting back up on his feet, Alpha shock his head in disbelief: "...It can't be ...Not you..."

You knew this day would come; servant of Primus...

The tentacles surged forward again, and Alpha raised his staff, as a blinding white light burst forth from the orb set in the top of his staff...

And somewhere in the ether of infinity, the foundations of the universe were jolted...

---

At the same time, down in the lower level:

A firefight between humans in the dark was dangerous enough: for cybertronians, it was just as risky; Majestrix, Deathshot and Eclipse had managed to hold their position, even with the lights out, but they hadn't been able to push Longrange and Coldbore back. The fight was now a stalemate, as the two sides hid behind their corners: saving their bullets, and waiting for someone to stick their head out.

: You two stand down and pull out of there! We've got bigger problems now! : Blackshot barked down the encrypted comm line.

: Was the power tripping out your idea? : Longrange sarcastically retorted

: Yes, and for good reason: the plan's been compromised; get out of there and meet us at rendezvous point three; I'll fill you in then: she replied before disappearing.

Without wasting time, Coldbore threw a static smoke bomb at the three bots. Without missing a beat, the three made a dash in the opposite direction, right before the bomb detonated: and a cloud of red smoke filled the corridor. Glancing over her shoulder, Majestrix couldn't see them, and her scanners confirmed it...

After legging it some distance to another section of the level, and carefully checking for any security cameras (which there weren't): the three bots finally stopped, and Deathshot removed a dazed Sam, Tom, Danny and Ashley from his cockpit, placing them on the floor, and switching on his navigation lights so they could see who was standing where.

As he got his figurative breath back, Deathshot glanced at Majestrix with a stern cold look that would scare most; but not her, never Majestrix: but she knew his reprimanding look was for a good reason: and so she submissively met his gaze with an unreadable look...

"Okay, what the fuck just happened back there?!" Ashley angrily exclaimed,

"Is there something you care to explain?" Sam added sarcastically

"We've had a lot to contend with today Witwicky: your sarcasm is not needed" Majestrix frowned down at him,

"Oh well excuse me, we just nearly got shot up by the two biggest dicks on the base!" he retorted; he was about to add another retort, when Deathshot held up his hand to stop him. Stepping in front of her, he looked her square in the optic, and calmly demanded, "...Just tell us. What. Is going on? ..."

Majestrix looked at him: and dropped her gaze as she drew in breath...

---

At the same time, up on the central level, inside the command center:

"It's no use! The power's completely out! Even the back-up system's out!" Inferno panicked as he conferred with Teletran's system's on the state of the base.

"There's no power anywhere on the base?!" Bishop exclaimed in disbelief.

"The only thing still running is Teletran: he may have a net-system in the base's mainframe, but he's still got his own CPU aboard the Ark; right now, he's keeping the comms up, but he can't do much else since he's not plugged into the base directly" Portia replied.

"And I take it there's no way to trace the source of the blackout?" Bishop asked offhand,

"No sir: without power, we're dead in the water" one of the human tech's sighed,

"If we can't switch the lights back on from here: the only other way would be to turn them on at their source" Epps offered

"Sure. The base's hydro-electric dam" Lennox realized, "If the system was overloaded, it would be a simple case of throwing the breakers off"

"But what if the plug was pulled all together? And someone just turned the dam's generators off? It wouldn't be so easy to reset the system if that were the case" Bumblebee threw in.

"Then we'll check for any and all possibilities," Bishop ordered, "Major, I want you to organize a team of maintenance personnel: electricians, engineers; whoever you deem best to get a handle on this: get them up to the dam, and get the power back on. Take a couple of your men to cover them"

"Yes sir" the major replied,

"And just in case the worse should transpire," Optimus added, "Ironhide, I want you to take a team and cover the humans: help out where needed: especially with the doors" he gestured to the half-shut doors.

"Right away..." Ironhide tipped his head, and went off with Lennox to make the necessary arrangements. 'Of all the days for Anny and Sarah to visit the base...' the Major thought as he shook his head in disbelief.

Drawing in breath, Bishop then turned his attention to the human medical staff: all of whom had just about gotten their breaths back, and were still in the process of seeing to each others injuries. "Okay..." the Colonel sighed, "We can let what just happened knock us down, or we can learn something from it. So, what were you all able to gather before all hell broke loose?"

A brief silence passed between everyone, as they tried to recall everything that had happened right up until the girl woke up. Carefully thinking about it, the lead doctor was the first to speak up: "...It had to have been a human that entered the room..." everyone looked at him bemused, "We all heard the door close, and none of us left the room when the lights went out the first time: so it could only have been someone unaccounted for" he clarified.

"There was that EMP we felt too" Jazz threw in, as he placed a worried Miles on his left shoulder, "But the kid was out of it, there's no way she could've done that"

"She didn't," Crystalwing added as she rubbed her still-throbbing helm, "And because of that EMP, we couldn't detect who it was that entered the room"

"Speaking of which," Jazz suddenly thought aloud, "Why did the kid freak out when she saw you? That wasn't your typical 'seeing an Autobot for the first time' kinda panic; that was real terror she let out right there" he gazed over at Prime,

"Because it wasn't the first time she's met Optimus" Soundwave sighed somberly: everyone stared at him in shock.

"What?" Bishop exclaimed, "How?"

"Mission city..." was all the bot could say, as he pressed his hand to his forehead, trying to get his thoughts in order. "The memories came fast and thick: but she was there, that day you took on Megatron and his forces" he glanced over at a surprised Optimus. "And from what I saw, I think it's fair to say she was one of the unlucky ones. I've just sent Darren a data-burst of what I saw: hopefully he'll be able to get an answer out of it. But I don't know what else I can tell you? Besides the fact that she has unresolved issues"

A cold silence passed through the command center, as Optimus began to wonder if all this, was in some way his fault. He tried to keep his mind on track, and turned his attention back to the doctor. "...Was there anything else you were able to learn of her, before she onlined?"

"...Actually?" the radiologist spoke up, "I was just about to tell you when the lights went out. One of the devices implanted in her was connected directly to her brain; judging from what parts of the brain it was linked up to, I think it's likely to be the device that's keeping her under control. It runs quite close to the surface of the skin. So? Theoretically, an electrical discharge applied directly to the area where it was implanted, could short circuit the device, and 'snap her out of it', (so to speak)"

"Do you know that for sure?" Bishop asked seriously

"It's just a theory, I'm not an expert in 'cyborg tech'" the radiologist shrugged,

"If that device is the only thing standing between us and her completely loosing it; then maybe we should leave it be" the colonel stated, before gazing up at the telepath's, "What else where you able to get from her?"

"The doctor's analogy on the device controlling her brain may not be so theoretical" Crystalwing explained, "The only thing that concerns me is that I couldn't detect any command signal coming or going from her; which can only mean the device is autonomous: and operating under a pre-programmed mission directive"

"If that's the case, then that gives us something to work with" Jazz perked up, "If the device ain't taking orders in real time, we could find a way to hack it, and get it under our control"

"And incur that virus Deathshot got attacked by? That won't be easy" Bishop sighed,

"But if it means we're unlikely to incur a hacker face to face (so to speak), then it's a gamble that's more likely to swing in our favour" Soundwave added.

Looking around the command center, and seeing that their options were few; Bishop sighed in reluctance, "We can't do anything until the power's back up: for now, we'll try and utilize Teletran as best we can, and try and keep her contained"

---

At the same time, elsewhere:

"Dude, who turned the lights off?" Firefly thought aloud as she wiped the dust from her headlights.

"And how come your laptop still has power? And Wi-Fi to boot?" Max frowned as she noticed the battery symbol on her desktop indicated that her laptop was running low.

"Because I came up with a contingency plan for just such a scenario," Darren casually stated: "A while back: I figured I'd need a back-up, in case the base's back-up generator went down for whatever reason. So I custom-built my own server with a few left-over things from Wheeljack's lab, and overhauled my laptop's battery to provide enough power for a week non-stop. The server's in a secret location aboard the Ark, linked to Teletran's online functions, in a separate net channel that links to the outside independently of the system; so as to avoid back-hacking"

Everyone stared at him in amazement; "You-, can actually do that?" Rosy blinked in surprise.

"Sure I can" Darren smirked, "There's a lotta things about me, you don't ask about"

"Mostly, because the rest of us don't subscribe to Power Geek monthly" Roxy retorted sarcastically,

"A separate server?" Novastar thought aloud: "That's actually not a bad idea: I should talk to Red Alert about that" she smiled,

"Yeah? Well it's gonna have to wait," Darren replied as his fingers flew across the keyboard, and his eyes stayed glued to the flow of data scrolling down his desktop: "According to Teletran here, the blackout is all over the base: our two laptops are the only computers still running"

"Should we try to help somehow?" Becca asked

"There's not a lot we can do from in here; but knowing the guys, I bet their already sending someone out to try and find the problem" Darren stated: "...But that being said. It probably wouldn't hurt to ask Teletran to run an internal diagnostic of his systems. One of his jobs is to regulate the power flow between the base and the Ark: if there were any glitches in the central power operations systems, he'd be able to detect it. Whatever he finds, I can relay to Prime over the comm"

"Okay, that's that taken care of. Now where were we?" Skywarp shrugged as he tried to remember: "Oh yeah, the girl. Any luck?"

"Actually, Prime and Soundwave just sent me an update: apparently, she was at Mission City the day your former boss attacked" Darren replied

"Seriously?" Skywarp blinked in surprise.

"According to Soundwave's data-burst she was probably right in the line of fire; tragic as that is, that's actually a good thing in this case" the teen hacker replied

"How so?" Hailey raised an eyebrow,

"During the aftermath of that battle, the Defense Department scrambled to come up with a clean-up operation that would: A, help reduce collateral damage, and B, try to cover up the incident as best they could; some stuff got out on the internet, but for the most part, they were able to round up everyone who'd seen the fight first-hand, and 'clarify to them what they actually saw', thus preventing an all-out media fire-storm" he said in inverted commas, "For those who got caught up in the fight and badly injured: they were placed on the 'critical' list: and allotted certain 'compensations'; namely, forking out for their medical bills and insurance so as the families may not be tempted to sue, or ask questions"

"And you think if she got injured, she'd be on that list?" Becca asked

"How could she not be? I read the report on the Mission City clean up op: the army practically went over everywhere in and around the city with a fine-tooth comb for weeks following the battle. As far as they knew, everyone who'd been there that day was accounted for, even those who skipped the state in the hours following the fight. The total number of witnesses came to about two thousand and thirty six"

"That many?" Bluebird blinked in surprise.

"From what Ironhide told me: Megatron and Starscream kinda made a real mess of it...no surprises there" Skywarp sighed offhand,

"In any case, it's gonna take me some time to go through the list, once I copy and paste it outta the Pentagon's above-classified data archive" Darren said offhand

"Why not just ask for the list directly?" Lizzy asked offhand

"Because: assuming that the girl and the blackout are part of a plan to attack us from behind our own lines; we have to assume that Broadsword is going on the offense. And if I ask the Pentagon for that list, they're gonna put two and two together, and then who knows what shit they may try to pull? Right now, stealth is the only means of keeping everyone safe, and no one outside this base can know what we're up to" Darren explained, glancing up at Novastar, "...How's your analysis of the data-burst going?"

Activating her optic's holo-projectors, Novastar looked over the images in bemusement: "To be honest? I don't know what to think? I don't doubt these are what Soundwave and Crystalwing saw in her mind, but it's not like there's much to work with...All they are, is a white mansion of some kind; which could be anywhere on the planet. A pink bedroom with a bathroom, and small window: again, it could be in any house, anywhere. A white room with a machine of some kind in the corner, quite possibly a human medical facility? ...And: a tall building, with Optimus and Megatron crashing through it... "

As they gazed at said image, a sombre silence passed between everyone; before Bluestreak voiced his thoughts: "...Do you think-, she's here for revenge?"

"If she is, then its karma" Darren sighed regretfully, "Every action, has an equal and opposite reaction. If this is the consequence of what happened two years ago: then maybe it's shouldn't be surprising that we're in this mess"

"But what happened in Mission City couldn't be avoided" Novastar pointed out, "It wouldn't have mattered where Sam would've taken the Allspark; innocent lives were going to be caught in the crossfire one way or another"

"Yeah, but come on! A city?! Who in their right mind would take that kind of a fight into a place where casualties were guaranteed? You wanna save lives? You take it to where there are little or no people out in the open..." Roxy stated, folding her arms in frustration, "...You know? If she is here for revenge? Then maybe she's entitled to it. Maybe that's her karma in all this? "

An awkward silence filled the room. Darren looked up at her with an unreadable expression, and turned back to his work: "... If she's here to do what she must, and we're here to do what we must... Then whatever happens, happens"

"...Okay? ..." Hailey replied, before going back to the subject at hand: "...Um? Have you been able to find anything else on Lawrence?"

"Huh? Oh, right..." Max turned her laptop round to show her, "Not much else I'm afraid. The whole Waineright family has a pretty spotless record of politicking and corporate success: your Grandma Ruth in particular, seems very well connected to quite a few different corporate backers" Max pointed to the various windows of information on the desktop.

"A family this well polished: would have to go to a lot of trouble to bury any dirty laundry" Becca surmised

"In which case, investigating via the conventional means probably won't yield what you're looking for" Darren suggested, "Try snooping around some federal and other legal back doors. Birth, marriage and death certificates; check to see if there are any sealed criminal records"

"Okay" Max huffed, "But my battery's probably not going to last much longer"

Darren reached into his pocket, and handed her a USB stick: "Plug it in; it'll be good for the next forty eight hours"

"That's-, a battery?" Chelsea blinked in surprise,

"Yep, lithium-energon hybrid power cells: not the easiest battery to put together, but their great for being easy to carry around" he grinned; Max took the USB stick, plugged it into the port on the side of her laptop, and right away, the battery symbol on the desktop turned green. "Sweet" she smiled, "What was the name of that magazine again?"

"You can read my old copies once we're done here" Darren stated, "Right now, we gotta stay on this"

---

At the same time, down on the lower level:

Deathshot stared at Majestrix and Eclipse in disbelief: he couldn't quite believe what he'd just been told; the boys too were just as dumbstruck, as they were now halfway between horrified, and riled up.

"I don't believe this... Sam breathed as he rubbed his forehead, "She-...how in the hell, could you do this?!"

"You're willing to betray us?!" Danny angrily retorted up at Eclipse

"Was" she clarified: "I originally went through with the plan to try and save lives: not destroy them!"

"But it took you all this time realize that her plan was genocide?!" Ashley growled as he paced about in his hybrid form, "How stupid do you have to be, to take this long to figure that out?!"

"I didn't know she was going to take this far!" Eclipse retorted, "I never imagined she would ever-

Eclipse stopped abruptly, she didn't want this to spiral out of control any more than it already has; she her mother couldn't afford to make more enemies today. Taking a deep breath, she tried to stay with the subject at hand: "...Look; I am prepared to face whatever punishment Prime and the others deem worthy for my betrayal. You have every right to be angry at me, and I won't try to convince you otherwise. But right now, stopping Blackshot is the only thing that matters; if she's allowed to go through with this, many lives, both Autobot and human will be lost... I'm not asking for forgiveness; I'm just asking if you'll help..." she pleaded.

"...How do we know Blackshot didn't put you up to this? That this, and what happened back there isn't just once big ruse to keep us occupied while she carries out her plan?" Tom asked,

"You don't," she replied frankly: "I have nothing to offer but my word, and right now that's as trustworthy as a turbo-viper, as far as you and everyone else are concerned"

"Then why are you even doing this?" Danny scowled up at her, "Why do you even care?"

"...Because this is my mess: I knew what she was, long before we ever came to earth. I knew what she had in mind for us: and still, I did nothing; out of the belief that she would see sense. That she would see, after everything that's happened here on this world; that things had changed for the better, and that the plan was no longer necessary... But-"

"-She proved you wrong" Danny beat her to it: "For god sake, she's been a right royal bitch since the moment she stepped off your ship: wasn't that enough to suggest she hadn't changed?"

"Is it wrong, to want to assume that people can change?" Eclipse stated: "I didn't know: and I couldn't foresee, that she'd spiral into madness like this!"

"BULLSHIT!" Danny angrily exclaimed, "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! If you really knew her all that time, then you had to have known something was wrong! You had to have seen this coming!"

"I KNOW!" She yelled down at him, making him and the others jump back. For a moment, a tense and uneasy silence filled the corridor, as energon tears began to stream down her cheek plates: "...I know...I hate her: but not as much as I hate myself; for believing all the lies she spoon-fed me over the eons"

Danny looked up at her angrily: and turned away; after everything she had told them, he didn't want to believe any of it. Too stubborn and too angry to want to give the benefit of the doubt.

"...This is pointless" Deathshot sighed in frustration:

"I know, so let's haul her arse to the brig!" Danny stated

"And just what would that accomplish?!" the sniper snapped: taking his charges completely aback: "You can moan and bitch about it all you want Danny, but it won't solve the problem at hand. And besides: Eclipse isn't lying, about any of it"

"What?!" Danny retorted, "Oh come on! She's playing you!"

"Danny, I make it my professional and personal businesses to know what people are thinking, just by looking at how they hold their gaze. If she or her mother were lying, we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation" he frowned down at the boy, who quickly curbed his attitude and shut up. He then turned his attention to Eclipse, who was a little surprised he hadn't chewed her out (not yet, at least). "...All I want to know, is where Morri went"

"I don't know, she didn't tell me; to be frank, I don't know what she thinks she can do?" Eclipse admitted

"Knowing her: I bet she's already got something in mind" the sniper thought aloud, "If she's playing her cards close to her chest-plates, then I doubt we're going to know, until we find her"

"This blackout: you really think this is Blackshot's doing?" Sam asked,

"...On one level, yes; but at the same time no" Majestrix admitted: "It would make it easy for her to traverse the base without being sighted: but at the same time, she's lost the use of the security cameras and being able to keep an optic on the whole base. I can't see her readily giving up that advantage"

"Maybe it's a risk she's willing to take?" Tom suggested, "If she's getting desperate like you said, then maybe she has to go out of her comfort zone to get the job done?"

Thinking about it: Blackshot was a lot of things, but desperate and sloppy, she wasn't. She was trained as a tactician, and its core principles of being as such, made her very formidable over the eons. As Majestrix tried to think what she would do if she were in the same situation, all she could come up with was: "...No; she'd tried to maintain the 'home field' advantage: try to manipulate the situation so she'd stay in control"

"And you know that for a fact?" Danny sarcastically retorted,

"That's how I trained her. Even in the pits of Kaon she knew how to work the gladiators without even drawing her blades" the Prima told him. "This blackout? I'm certain it has something to do with the girl in the human med-unit"

"You may be right," Deathshot added, "Though I can't get a totally clear reception down here, I can just about hear what's going on upstairs. They've managed to confine her to the med-unit by magnetizing the doors: Prime and Bishop have sent out teams to the dam to try and get the power back on, and the president's holed up in the rec-room with Elita and her team. Between all that, I can't say for sure what else is going on, but it sounds like no one has sighted Morri"

"Okay: so how do we stop Blackshot? If she's hacked into Teletran then there's got to be a point of entry?" Sam interjected

"That's what I've been looking for all morning" Majestrix explained: "She wouldn't be able to hack him via the internet: his firewalls are too big for that; so she must have a secret terminal set up somewhere in or near the base. If we find that terminal and shut it down: or better yet, take control of it, her plan would be badly crippled"

"But this is Blackshot we're talking about: she's going to have contingencies for her contingencies" Deathshot pointed out

"I know, that's why this is going to be dangerous: and why I ask you all again. Are you sure you want to do this?" the Prima pressed them,

"Duh? " Ashley raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, we'll help: it's not like we got much of a choice anyway: if it's as bad as you say it is"

Sam and Tom both voiced their agreements: but Danny stubbornly refused to meet their gaze; "...Okay" Sam sighed in frustration, "So what do you want to do?" he asked him,

"...I have one question..." Danny reluctantly admitted, as he turned to face Eclipse: "...For someone she 'trusted' so closely with her plan: and helped put it together; why didn't she tell you about the seed?"

"...She didn't tell me until last night: that's when I realized what she planned to do with it" the purple femme admitted: "...You have to understand: Blackshot never really trusted anyone: and the number of people (including myself) she did trust? She never completely relied on. She was very careful in controlling the flow of information: telling us what we could know, and what we couldn't. And if you asked questions?- ..." she pressed her hand to her face, and sighed bitterly through her vents. "...You think you know someone... Even throughout your whole life you think you know...I've known Blackshot since before I could even remember: she and her sister Swiftshot were always there. I thought I knew her, and I thought she could be reasoned with... She just-, seemed way too smart, too intelligent: to let her beliefs drive her to this ... Once, she and the rest of us undertook this plan because we wanted to end the war, to stop the desolation of Cybertron, and everyone on it...but-...That was when, she still had hope; that was back when Cybertron still had a chance...But as the years dragged on, and the whole war spiraled down into the pit...I think something in her snapped, and a psychosis was born from that hopelessness; I don't know what has been going on in her mind these past several thousand years, and frankly, I don't want to know...All I know, is that she's not the femme who used to inspire me with her war stories, or teach me how to fight off a pack of seekers...She died in the fires of the second age of the war; all that's left now, is the monster standing in her place"

Another silence passed, before Danny forced himself to look up at her: "...I don't believe-...If you were really that close, how come you couldn't see what was going on with her?"

"We're not mind-readers: that's Soundwave and Crystalwing's job" Majestrix told him, "For all the years you spend together, you never truly know what anyone really thinks: even those you hold close your spark; and to presume to do so, is the most dangerous form of arrogance there is"

"Yeah but still-

"-BUT NOTHING!" Majestrix snapped down at him; having just about enough of his teenage stubborn bull-headedness, she went on to explain, "You think my daughter is the only one to have suffered from this betrayal?! Blackshot was my best friend too! She and I trained at the Autobot academy together! We did everything together, and more...How can you think so badly of someone who's been a sister to you in every way except blood? How can you bring yourself, to believe that they are capable of the worst atrocities imaginable? When they have done nothing but give their life and their spark to you?" ...What happened between me and my twin brother, was the worst day of my life; to have a friend who still believes in you, who knows who you are and where your true spark lies; is the one thing that stood between me and complete despair...You don't know what it's like: to suddenly realize that all of that was a farce, and that you've been played for the greatest fool there is!..." she stared down at him sternly, calming herself down a little: "...I hope you never get stabbed in the back, the way we have; but until you do. Don't you dare presume to know us, or what we've been through: and if you can't see past your own anger, then we're all doomed. So either help us, or leave! ..."

Danny stared up at her, taken aback and unsure what to say; glancing at Sam, Tom and Ashley, their expressions told him this wasn't helping. Deathshot wasn't too pleased either, but he didn't say anything.

"...Okay..." Danny sighed in defeat, "So where do you think this secret terminal could be?"

---

At the same time, elsewhere on the base:

The small group was in a state of confusion by the time Blackshot rounded the corner and joined up with them; Longrange in particular, was not impressed as he approached her. "A base-wide blackout? Seriously .That was your genius way of getting-

He didn't get to finish as Blackshot punched him hard upside his left jaw, flooring him square on his back. "Talk to me like that again, and I'll rip your wings off..." she calmly stated, before turning her attention to the rest of the group: "... Yes, I switched the power off to cover your afts back there: but someone turned the lights out before me, in the human med-unit"

"Someone hacked your back-hack?" the red-eyed stranger exclaimed from the shadows of the corridor: "But that's not possible? There's only one terminal"

"And someone managed to bypass it, using my ID key-code" she growled angrily, "Whoever did this knows about us: and what we're planning to do"

"Majestrix, Eclipse, and now Deathshot and his pets know about the plan; there's only Velocity, but she's locked up in the brig" Longrange piped in as he got up off the floor: rubbing his jaw-plate.

"Which is why we're going to take advantage of this blackout" Blackshot ordered: "I don't care what you have to do: get them all alone, and take them out: before they have a chance to tell Prime; I need to make sure the terminal is secure, and someone find Deathshot's pet femme"

"That, I can handle" the stranger replied as he disappeared into the dark.

Turning to Coldbore, she explained, "We need to work this to our advantage, try to drag it out for as long as possible: Prime has already sent a team to try and switch the power back on at the hydro-electric dam. I want you to hinder them, but don't kill them. We don't need any more problems than what we can already handle"

"Of Course... So who accessed the system?" the black sniper asked

"I don't know, but when I do; they're going to wish they had never been sparked!"

---

Elsewhere in the base:

The climb through the ventilation system had been hard on her hands and knees: but as she gazed at her CTG's holo-projection of the vents and surrounding pipes, Morri stopped to calculate her current position: "...Okay: according to this, I should be somewhere near the human medical-unit..."

Seeing a grid up ahead, Morri crawled onwards, and activating the night-vision in her visor, peered out into a long stretch of corridor; which was totally shrouded in darkness: even the red emergency visual aid lights weren't on.

'The power's out?' Morri thought in confusion, before worry set in once again: 'What the hell's Blackshot up to now?'

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

But her train of thought ground to a halt when the thunderous banging echoed down the corridor:

"What the-

BOOM! BOOM!

Looking all around, Morri soon saw the source of the sound: the giant set of sliding doors right across from the grid, were badly scorched, as if something had blasted them with a massive amount of laser-fire. Glancing at the huge windows through the smaller human-sized door that lead into the observation room: Morri could just make out a glowing human-shaped white silhouette, with blue energy flames licking off them, in the reflection; pounding hard against the door, unleashing wave after wave of energy-blasts, which sent out a massive static charge that made her CTG's hologram flicker like an old TV, and her visor's night-vision distort.

"Bloody hell" Morri breathed in astonishment, "They must have apprehended her somehow...but then-, how did this happen?"

Looking up and down the corridor, and seeing no one was around, Morri could only conclude: 'With this amount of static in the air, they must've holed up back in the command center...or somewhere at a safe distance at least'

Without stopping to second-guess: Morri glanced at the barely-functional hologram, and upon finding the command center and working out the quickest route there; began crawling further on, hoping in the back of her mind, that somehow, Ashley would be somewhere there...

---

Meanwhile, somewhere else on the base:

"Okay, PUSH!-" Ironhide grunted as he and Ultra Magnas gripped the giant reinforced sliding doors, and pulled them open: allowing Lennox and his team to squeeze through with very little trouble; though for the bots, with their huge forms, being able to squeeze through any gap wasn't easy, and so they had to pry the doors open all the way, before stepping through.

: Ironhide, what is your status? : Prime asked

: Give us a break will you Prime! We've only managed to get through five doors! : The weapons expert stubbornly replied, : We'll let you know when we're outside, okay?:

: Affirmative: Prime sighed

"It's going to be a while before they reach the base entrance: you may as well turn your attention to this..." Red Alert pointed to the monitor of his terminal,

"What have you found?" Prime asked as he turned his attention to the image on the screen.

"This..." Red Alert pressed one of the keys on the keyboard, and the image of the security camera feed from Wheeljack's lab played: with a slight static distortion that barely lasted a second. To the untrained eye, it just seemed to be a slight glitch in the feed, with nothing in the lab seeming to be out of place; but the chronometer in the top right-hand corner of the screen said otherwise. "A seventeen second black out: most likely caused by a time-delayed cloaking virus that distorted the chronometer, and swapped out the live feed for a looping ten second feed; thereby keeping whoever snuck into the lab from being spotted. For all we know, whoever stole the BSHB unit could've spent up to an hour in the lab and none of us would've known. And before you ask, yes, it's likely Broadsword is behind this; the timing is way too suspicious for it not to be them"

"Why do you say that?" Ratchet asked

"Because the theft occurred during our confrontation with Broadsword at the Hoover dam" Red Alert stated

"What?" Bishop exclaimed

"Indeed: approximately thirty minutes after Majestrix left with the rescue party to go and bring you back; the glitch in the camera feed occurred. I've no doubt, this was timed to coincide with your kidnapping" the security officer glanced over at Optimus.

"Or the kidnapping was staged, solely for this one purpose" Prime frowned

"That's a hell of a lot of trouble to go through just to steal one bit of tech, isn't it?" Glen raised a skeptical eyebrow,

"But it worked didn't it? We were all practically off the base, and with our attention focused on getting Prime back, why not seize the chance?" Bishop pointed out.

"If my abduction was for the purpose of obtaining the BSHB, then Broadsword are willing to go to great lengths to see us fall" Optimus stated,

"That's debatable" Ratchet scoffed: "Stupid or 'ballsy' would be the much more appropriate description"

"In any case: they got what they wanted..." Optimus stated as he turned his attention to the medic and Que: "Are you able to deduce anything further from the girl's medical assessment?"

"I've said it once, if I have to say it a thousand times" Ratchet huffed, "We'll tell you when we have something!"

Knowing Ratchet and Que were working as best they could, under the current circumstances: Prime knew pressing them wouldn't yield the desired results. At this point, part of him was willing something new to arise, something that would turn this whole mess around. But he knew he was only kidding himself: the situation was what it was, and neither he nor anyone else could stop it.

Taking a deep breath through his vents, Optimus felt the soothing presence of his spark-mate, on the other end of his spark-bond; like warm oil on rusted joints, she had a knack for easing the tension out of his nerves, and as she wrapped her spark around his, he let his thanks be known in his relief.

: How are they? : He asked Elita over their privet comm line,

: Not as shaken up as I thought they'd be: she admitted frankly; : Lawrence is, understandably rattled. But Galloway? He's being unusually quiet. I can't tell if it's stress, or...:

As his wariness of Galloway was reawakened: Optimus suddenly began to get the sneaking suspicion that maybe: just maybe, there could be another angle to this situation. Sensing his suspicions over the spark-bond, Elita was inclined to agree,

: Watch him:

: What do you think I've been doing? : She smirked, as she gazed over at the humans in the corner of the rec-room.

Near the human mess area: the president and his entourage had met up with his brother and sister-in-law, along with Sarah Lennox, who had also had the frame of mind to hide in the rec-room. With Trailbreaker and Bumblebee guarding the two main entrances, Elita was positioned so she'd have a clear line of fire to both doors, should the worst case scenario transpire. Though the current silence outside the room suggested that wasn't the case...for now.

As Lawrence dabbed a small cut on his forehead with his handkerchief: his brother Jason sat across from him, trying to understand what he'd just told him. "So? The lights went out, and when they came back on again, she was sitting up and awake?"

"That's what we saw" Lawrence huffed, wincing slightly as the cut stung a little, "Someone must've snuck in and administered something to counteract the sedatives"

"Who'd be bold enough to do that?" Sarah threw in, from where she stood behind the Waineright's.

"I don't know" Lawrence threw his one free hand up, "All I know, is that the whole place is in a state of confusion: and the power being out doesn't help..." he glanced at his brother, who simply watched him with an unreadable expression. "...You know, for someone who prides himself on being a good father: I can't say I'm impressed"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beverly frowned. Jason knew exactly what he meant by that remark: and it made his hackles rise in ire; but he maintained self-restraint, and stayed put.

Tucking his handkerchief back into his pocket, Lawrence approached his brother, and regarded them both with a look of discontent; "... This is exactly what I was trying to warn you about! We don't know what the hell's going on, and you're both okay with letting the girls go off on their own? In the middle of god knows what?!"

"Hailey said she needed to do something important: I trust her to know how to handle herself: so I didn't argue" Jason frowned; "For god sake Lawrence she's not a kid anymore!"

"Be that as it may; you're willing to let your own daughters put themselves in harm's way?"

"Okay, stop-" Jason stood up, and looked Lawrence right in the eye: "-Just stop! You don't know my daughters: you don't know anything about them! And you're trying to pretend to be concerned? After all these years, now you decide to take an interest in my family?" Jason stared at him in disbelief, "...I don't know what you intend to get out of this, but one thing's for sure; when this is over, they're not going anywhere with you..."

As he paced off to try and put some distance between himself and his brother: Beverly followed after him, and leaned in to discreetly talk: "You said; Hailey needed to do something. What, exactly?" she asked worryingly.

"I don't know" was all Jason could offer in a whispered voice, "She just said to try and buy some time; well frankly, I'm running out of excuses"

"Look; I don't-

Beverly stopped as she noticed Lawrence's face was scrunched up in pain, as he pressed one hand to his forehead. "Are you okay sir?" one of the security guards asked. "It's just a migraine; I'll be fine" Lawrence waved off.

From where she was standing, across from where Galloway was sitting at one of the tables: Sarah noticed that, it was a most unusual time for the bureaucrat to be checking his text messages. As he looked back and forth between Lawrence and his cell phone: Sarah began to get the feeling that something was out of place. In an underground military complex, fortified with reinforced concrete, steal and armour plating: getting a cell reception in here was impossible. It had been a while since Galloway entered the base, so any messages from his contacts in Washington wouldn't have gotten through: and given the stress and urgency of the current situation, one would assume that such a priority would not be at the forefront of one's mind. Unless there was something else going on that needed one's attention...

Quietly, and as discreetly as possible: Sarah walked in a big wide circle across the rec-room, making sure none of the security detail or the president noticed her. She came up behind Galloway, maintaining enough of a distance that she wasn't hovering right behind him. And craning her head up to glance over his shoulder, she could see the tiny monitor of his cell phone: but instead of text messages, she saw, what looked like a scanning reading of some kind. Nothing at all like what you'd expect to see on a cell phone.

She made a mental note to tell her husband about this...

---

A little while later:

"...Ah-..." Darren perked up as he saw the data scroll down his laptop's screen,

"What? You found something?" Lizzy asked offhand.

"Did I ever..." Darren replied worryingly as he activated the speaker-phone on his comm unit. "Optimus, are you there? I hit pay-dirt on the girl"

: Go ahead: Prime answered

"Okay, according to the Defense Department's list of first-hand witnesses to the 'Mission City incident': there were three hundred and eighty six who're at 'ground zero', many of which were critically injured and therefore placed on the critical list. Now: I just cross-referenced that list with the Pentagon's emergency resources dispatch list (the one they put aside for terrorist bombings and natural disasters and what-not?). And according to them, the original report stated that those resources were made out for three hundred and eighty eight, at Mission city: the day after the fight. There were two extra's who's names had been deleted from the list"

: And you found them? :

"Just about; someone went to a lot of trouble to keep these girls from being found. Their names are Josie and Amy Beller: daughters of Ian Beller, CEO of Caerus Global. Basically one ridiculously rich dude who owns the world's biggest privet equity firm..." Darren paused a brief moment, as he tried to break the next line of information gently, "You know the building you and Megatron crashed through? That was his company's Californian office... Both Josie and Amy were on the twenty second floor..."

On the other end of the open comm, everyone watched as Prime's expression betrayed his sense of guilt and regret: the feeling of being responsible made his spark sink, and even Elita's spark-presence did little to comfort him. : ...What happened to them? ...: he asked in an unreadable tone.

Darren heaved a heavy sigh; for he knew Prime was only going to blame himself for this: "...It didn't end well... According to the E.R.D.L, Josie was found in the rubble holding her sister, who was in a severely critical condition. She was taken to Mission City general hospital, where she lapsed into a coma forty eight hours after the fight. She didn't go downhill, but her condition didn't seem to improve either. Her dad had her moved to a privet facility in LA, where she-...passed away: eighteen months ago..."

An uncomfortable and heavy silence passed, before Prime spoke, :...What happened to Josie?:

"That's what I can't find: I've looked everywhere I can think of, but there's no paper trail or online activity; financial movements, medical records. There's nothing suggest Josie was alive following the Mission City incident, but at the same time I can't find any death certificate on her, or reports of her absence. It's like she and her whole existence just disappeared"

Thinking about it, Prime then asked, : ...It is possible, the girl in the med-unit is Josie?:

"It's a possibility?" Darren shrugged, "But without a photo to ID her, I can't say for sure"

: You said you looked everywhere you can think of, are you sure? : Optimus asked

"Optimus, when you put something online, it's on the internet forever; no matter if you take it off your profile or website minutes after uploading it, it's going to be somewhere else. I've looked in all the places where the necessary information might be hiding, and every time I type in Josie's name, there are holes where something on her should be: even her sister's Facebook page had been skilfully tampered with... To go this length, across the whole expanse of the internet, to erase someone from existence: there are only a handful of hackers on the planet that could pull this off, and have the resources to back them up...Whoever did this is no armature or online thrill-seeker, someone wanted to make sure she couldn't be found...I've still got some more work to do here: I'll keep you posted if I find anything new"

: Rodger that: Prime replied, before the comm went silent.

"It is Josie in the med-unit, isn't it?" Jeanie thought aloud as she folded her arms

"You surmised that too?" Darren glanced at her as he got up from the desk and stretched his stiffened joints

"The daughter of one of the richest men on earth: disappearing right after the Mission city incident? Please don't tell me something about that doesn't seem shady as hell?" Jeanie stated, "Plus, where's the uproar from her dad? One of his kid's dies, other goes MIA, and he doesn't raise hell over it?"

"It's true" Novastar piped in as she scanned the internet, displaying everything via her optic's holo-projectors: "Following the Mission city incident, there was no mention of Josie's disappearance in any of the local or online media. Her name doesn't even appear in the FBI's missing person's database"

"That rule's out dad going to the feds for help" Chelsea threw in, "But a rich kid like her? There's got to be something out there that proves she left a mark on the world. Excessive credit card usage? A regular on the clubbing scene? Multiple homes and properties around the world?"

"Actually, I did find something on that front" Novastar perked up

"What? She had a mansion?" Jeanie blinked in surprise

"I don't know if it was her's per se: but look..." she said as she displayed the image of the white mansion from Soundwave's telepathic 'glimpse', and bought up another image, of the exact same mansion.

"You found where that place is?" Darren exclaimed

"It's one of three homes Beller has here in California: this particular property is situated in western Beverly Hills, just within range of the Los Angeles country club: it's in Beller's name, but it was originally his spark-mate's family home"

"His wife...Is she still around?" Jeanie thought aloud

"Unfortunately no; according to country records, she took her own life twelve years ago, the death certificate states she cut her wrists and-...oh no..." Novastar paused,

"What?"

"According to the police report, both her daughters were the ones that found her"

"How was the incident handled?" Darren asked, half-wondering where this was going,

"Uh..." the femme concentrated as she scrolled through all the data she could find, "According to the country sheriff's office: Beller was investigated after it was discovered he'd taken out a massive life insurance policy on his sparkmate, worth over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars: and that he claimed it the day after her funeral: a week after her passing"

Everyone glanced at one another: if that didn't suggest a motive for murder, what would? But as he thought about it, Darren shook his head in disbelief: "A guy who runs the world's biggest privet equity firm: who's loaded to the hilt, takes out life insurance on his wife worth only three quarters of a million dollars?..."

"That doesn't make any sense" Jeanie thought aloud.

"What happened to Beller? Did the cops arrest him?" Chelsea asked

"There was an investigation: but all his alibis checked out, the timeline of his whereabouts and what he was doing proved he was nowhere near the house at the time of her death, and his financial and cell phone records prove he didn't hire anyone to commit the crime. Also, the coroner's report states that there was no evidence to suggest she had been attacked or restrained; no bruising or ligature marks, and nothing to suggest she wasn't alone at the time of her death... I'm sorry but-, it seems she took her own life, willingly"

A slight moment of silence passed, as Darren thought about all the information, and how it added up: "...You said it was her family home, do the records show the girls lived there?"

"Born and raised there, until Amy moved out when she was nineteen, taking Josie with her"

Seeing the thousand mile stare in his eyes, Jeanie approached and asked: "...What are you thinking?"

Glancing at his laptop, and then up at the images of the white mansion; Darren replied: "...I think I've gone as far as I can by my usual means," he gestured to his laptop: "Just about everything's online, but only to an extent: there comes a point you can only go so far, before you have to go to the source, and dig around with your bare hands and see with your own eyes. This Josie Beller, her life on the internet has been erased, but she was still a living person. Someone's daughter, someone's sister; someone in the real world knew her. And if that person is still around, maybe they can tell us something that'll help?"

"What're you saying? You wanna go off-base?" Tangostar blinked in surprise.

"Yes, and I have a starting point" Darren pointed to the holo-image of the mansion, "That place"

"And just how do you expect to get there?" Roxy raised an eyebrow. Darren merely glanced up at Skywarp with a knowing look: and the seeker, taking the hint, let his wings droop in exasperation as he sighed: "...Of course..."

"I'm pretty sure Prime won't approve of this" Novastar hesitated,

"Approval or not, it's the only way to find what we're looking for" Darren replied

"If it's there. You seriously think there may be something in that house that could lend a hint to what's happening here and now?" Roxy piped in, Darren gazed at her in exasperation, and not being in the mood to make a debate out of it, merely shrugged and replied: "It's worth a try ? look: the power's still out, Josie's still locked up in the med-unit, and none of the guys can get within two hundred yards of her without getting their CPU's half-fired. If there's something, even a scrap of information that'll put the ball back in our court, it's worth the risk, isn't it?"

Glancing at Darren sceptically and back at her sister's: Roxy sighed in frustration: "Fine, but you're not going alone; I'm coming with you"

"What? No, I can't-

"-She's right" Chelsea interrupted, "You're gonna need some muscle to cover your ass: plus, I'm coming too, someone's gonna have to get you into that place without tripping the home security; and I do have a bit of expertise in that particular field" she smirked

Huffing in frustration, Darren conceded: "Fine, but I could use your help too," he looked over at Jeanie, "As far as shrinks go, you're the next best thing: and I've got a feeling I'm going to be needing some expertise"

"Fine" Jeanie shrugged, "So when do we go?"

"I've some things to tie over before we can get away: You ready?" Darren glanced up at Skywarp,

"Always" the seeker replied as he got up, gently removed Jay-jay, Annabelle and Violet from his shoulder-plates, and handed them down to Bluestreak.

"Then give me ten minutes" Darren stated as he returned to his laptop, and started typing again.

"What do we tell Prime if he comms you?" Hailey asked,

"Tell him I'm out on an errand (which will technically be true)...Anyway, I hope you have some good luck with your uncle"

"Yeah, about him:" Max interrupted, "I'm not having much luck digging up any dirt on him or his family. But...looking over the county records and newspaper articles, there is one thing that seems a little odd"

"What's that?" Becca asked

"Well? Seems like just about every member of the Waineright family's been in the papers every time there's been a birth, marriage or death. Nothing spectacular or grand, but still: they obviously felt they were occasions worth letting everyone else know about. With the acceptation of one: Reginald Waineright"

"Reginald?" Hailey blinked in surprise.

"You knew him?" Bluestreak asked,

"Never heard of him," she glanced at her sisters, but they shook their heads. They'd never heard of him too. "Who was he?"

"According to his birth certificate: his dad was Antony Waineright, but it doesn't say who his mom was"

"Uncle Antony?" Becky thought aloud

"You know him?" Lizzy raised an eyebrow

"Only by name, not that dad talks about him much; I think he's our dad's uncle or something?" Becca shrugged offhand

"Well, it seems 'Reggie' might have been the black sheep of the family: there's no mention of his birth anywhere in the Washington papers, and no obituary following his death" Max added as she scrolled down the long line of data on her laptop, "Seems like he's the only Waineright to have lived and died in (practically) complete obscurity"

"How did he die?" Hailey asked offhand

"According to the county coroner's report it-...Whoa..." Max paused as she reread the data carefully

"What?" the twins chimed together,

"According to this, the dude was found dead in his apartment with a bottle of pills in one hand and a half-empty bottle of bourbon in the other: but the coroner stated that there were ligature marks around his neck"

"Ligature marks?" Rosy blinked in surprise, before squirming a little in revolution, "As in, hanging yourself, kinda ligature marks?"

"Foul play?" Hailey speculated aloud.

"Not according to the police report; front door was locked, the rest of the family were nowhere near the place, no phone calls or cell phone activity to suggest anyone else had been there, and no one in the apartment building reported seeing anyone or anything suspicious at the time of his death... But still; dead men don't remove the rope from their neck, and then go knocking back the booze and a whole bottle of anti-depressants..."

"The papers didn't get wind of this?" Hailey frowned in suspicion, as she read the information on Max's laptop.

"Didn't, or were told not to; according to DC Monthly, your granddad has been golfing buddies with the guy who owns the Washington Post for years. Maybe he paid the dude off to keep the whole thing under the rug? According to the same magazine; there was also an incident several years before Reggie's death: when apparently, a photographer from one of the tabloids tried to get close up shot's of the family in their home. Ruth filed a lawsuit against the guy, even though technically he hadn't been trespassing on their property. Her attorney is one slick dude, cuz he managed to get the tabloid in question to cough up sixty five thousand dollars out of court. No one else in the media seemed to be willing to push their luck after that"

"You think something happened to Reggie, and that someone in his family tried to cover it up?" Darren thought aloud.

"Well what else could it be? If there's something to suggest it happened differently, I'm not seeing it here" Max shrugged.

"What else can you find out about this?" Hailey asked as she sat down next to Max,.

"Well, if we dig a little deeper into the county records we can-..." Max paused as a certain file grabbed her notice, "... Looks like we might have scored pay-dirt"

"What'd you find?" Lizzy asked as she climbed down off of Firefly's shoulder, and approached for a better look,

"A sealed file: on Antony..."

With her curiosity well and truly piqued, Hailey kept her eyes on the screen, "...Can you open it? ..."

"Hell yeah" Max grinned, "Just let me work my magic

"One other thing," Becca asked as she sat down next to her big sister, "How old was Reggie when he died?"

", Only twenty three" Max replied quietly.

---

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the base:

: What do you sense? : Optimus asked

: She's tired and exhausted, : Crystalwing replied, : she's trying to catch her breath; now's a good time to try and probe her. We're waiting for an opening to exploit, but it's not like her mental guard's up anyway:

: Still, I can still sense a lot of rawness emanating from her; she may be under mental restraint, but she's still riled. We'll have to do this slowly, and carefully: Soundwave added

: Alright, keep me informed of any developments:

: Will do Prime: Crystalwing replied.

"Well? We knew if she kept pounding the doors like that, she was going to run low on energy anyway" Ratchet said offhand,

"And somehow, it affected the static output" Que threw in

"It's opportunity to regroup we can't squander" Bishop stated, "or at the least, try to get our own breaths back..." rubbing his forehead and passing a deep sigh of exhaustion, Bishop gazed up at Optimus, who was standing off to the side: with a deep look of regret etched into his faceplates.

Thinking about the girl, and what happened to her and her sister, that day two years ago. Prime felt his spark grow heavy, and he wondered if this was the punishment, for the lives that were ruined that day. True, Megatron had to be stopped, but at what cost? Casualties were a fact of war: there's no escaping that fact...But still: could there have been more done that might have saved lives? Something he missed, that might have reduced the death-toll, even by a fraction? Even by one?

Don't do this to yourself

He felt Elita's spark caress his own, as she tried to console his lament.

He left you with no choice: he always did, because he knew that's what hurt you the most

"I know" he softly whispered, so low and so quietly, that he knew only she could hear it. "But we should never have taken the cube into the city"

"This isn't your fault," Bishop stated as he approached Prime: Optimus kneeled down to be closer to his level, as the colonel, in a rare act of kind reassurance, placed his hand on his knee, and looked up at him square in the optic. "What happened that day, you made your choices based on what was best for everyone. It wasn't in your control: and you know that"

"I am well aware of that, but it does not change how I feel" Prime frowned, "The loss of life, is not something to be blase about. Our war should never have come to your world in the first place: and every human death that results from it, shall be leveled at our feet"

Seeing the look in his optics, Bishop began to grow concerned, as he leaned in closer to discreetly ask: "...Please tell me, you're not gonna go and face her?"

"If her sister's death is because of us: someone has to take responsibility. I crashed through that building with Megatron: if its revenge she wants, I have no right to deny her" Prime stated,

"But you can't get near her without getting your CPU fried, its suicide" Bishop reasoned, "You can't offer yourself up as a sacrifice, for Megatron's crimes"

"Me? Megatron? I think it would make little or no difference. Her sister is dead, that's all she cares about. If it's revenge she intends to mete out, I'll be the one to stand before her: I won't let anyone risk their lives for something that was equally my fault"

"...I can't talk you out, can I?" Bishop sighed

"We all make sacrifices for the good of our families, Colonel. I know, you would do no less for yours" Prime stated,

"Optimus" Ratchet called over to him, "They're about to start"

In the human medical unit, near the main entrance: the two telepath's waited as their children carefully made their way towards the quarantine unit, where the girl was still confined. Through their telepathic bonds to their families, both telepaths could sense and feel what they were experiencing; having to analyse a situation through multiple minds was no easy feat, and Crystalwing wasn't finding it easy. With Shadowstar still AWOL, she struggled to maintain the bond between her children; Soundwave offered her a figurative psychic shoulder to lean on, and it did help: but it just wasn't the same as having her daughter's presence there.

"Frag it: the static's dropped, but it still making my diodes ache" Rumble grimaced as he flanked his older brother,

"Quit yer pump-aching, we're nearly there" Acidwing hissed as he followed his older siblings.

As the drones silently approached the unit, with Obsidian and Twilightveil taking point, they kept their heads on a swivel; listening, sniffing, and telepathically scanning for any signs of trouble.

As he sniffed the air, Ravage suddenly stopped, as a familiar scent got his attention; through the bond, the others all sensed what he was experiencing, and they all instinctively shared his surprise and concern.

"Morri?" Ravage thought aloud (even though he didn't have to say it, but old habits die hard)

"She was here?" Shiningstar added.

Turning his head from side to side, to better smell the air: the panther realized it was wafting out of the nearby air vent. Softly pacing over to the grid and getting several deep sniffs in, he realized: "She crawled through the vent"

"Okay?" Blackmoon shrugged

As he sniffed some more: Morri's scent told him what had happened; the residue of her scent read like a book that chronicled the last few hours, and what he read, gave him cause for concern...

The adrenaline and stress hormones in her sweat told him she's been scared, or angry: either way, her body's fight or flight mode had been engaged, and she was on alert and ready for action.

The dead skin cells had static smoke bomb residue mixed in with them: a static smoke bomb? That's a very specialized weapon; there aren't many bots that carry them around. But through the scent of the smoke residue, he could also detect the distinct scent of two bots. One was Eclipse,

The other was Coldbore, and it was his energon, that was the more prominent of the two.

Something bad had happened: Morri was alive and unhurt (she wasn't bleeding at least), but the fact she'd been crawling through the ventilation system, could only suggest that she was trying to avoid being seen. But the scent hadn't pooled at this vent, so where was she going?

As worry began to run through his mind, it echoed down the bond, and Soundwave told him: 'Go, find her: at the very least make sure she's alive'

Without another word, the panther turned on a sixpence, and was off in the opposite direction like a shot.

"Ihopeshe'sokay" Frenzy couldn't help but think aloud.

---

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

As she passed a small vent, Morri chanced a peek out into the gloom of the corridor: since leaving the human med-unit, the level of static had dropped considerably, and her CTG and visor were working properly again. Looking at the 3D hologram of the ventilation system, Morri surmised she had be around the corner from the command center, for sure; but it was so eerily quiet in the corridor, the bot's must have barricaded themselves inside the command centre. Or retreated further up, onto the next level: to the armory maybe?

The darkness was as deep and black as ink, without the emergency visual aid lights to provide illumination, navigating in the dark was no easy feat.

The emergency visual aid lights; Morri's train of thought suddenly stopped as she remembered: 'Wait a minute...the visual aid lights are connected to the back-up system: they should have come on when the power tripped out'

And indeed, that should have been the case: the back-up power system was there to provide for the computers and servers in the command center, the ventilation system to prevent the air turning stale, and for the power grid in the-

"-THE BRIG!" Morri suddenly realized, "-Oh my god: if the power went out and the stasis fields are down, that means-

Velocity was free

Panicking: Morri scrambled at speed, looking for a large vent through which she could get out.

---

At the same time, on the other side of the same level:

"Okay, I don't care what crazy plan she has up her sleeves, we're telling Prime about this!" Sam stated fervently as he held tightly onto Deathshot's shoulder, as the sniper legged it down the corridor at break-neck speed.

"I wasn't going to go along with it anyway" Deathshot huffed, "She's done some crazy things, but this is pushing the bullet too far down the barrel: even if it means avoiding Blackshot, it's too great a risk!"

"For now, just get us there: with any luck Prime might be able to-

TZAK!

The corridor lit up in a blinding flash of blue and white light, as Deathshot violently convulsed, throwing the humans off and falling face down onto the floor: his momentum caused him to skid across the concrete for a good fifty feet, before comming to a stop. Fortunately, the boy's hadn't fallen very far, as they had landed on the second and third level platforms of the suspended walkways: but still, it had been a hard landing, as they scrambled to get back up on their feet, while rubbing their sore heads, back's and shoulders.

Their attention was immediately drawn to the brilliant bluish-white light some distance way: it was a stasis-teaser, and there, illuminated by the strobe light, Velocity stood grinning.

"Guess whose out on parole?" she smirked.

"Shit" Ashley frowned as he transformed into his hybrid form, and unsheathed his claws...

---

At the same time, two miles north of the open-air hanger:

While the hydro-electric dam was nowhere on the same scale as its predecessor, the Hoover dam: it was still, by no means, a fairly impressive sight; and the power station that lay adjacent to it on the edge of the canyon, could easily keep the city of Tranquility lit up for months at a time.

But right now, there was no power anywhere in the base: and as Ironhide and his team pulled up outside the power-station, and let Lennox and his team get out before transforming into their mech-modes, they looked the complex over carefully.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been here?" Sideswipe thought aloud.

"Since the station was converted to automated control, very few people have to be on site" one of the human engineers replied.

"I'll take point: Ironhide?" Lennox glanced up at his guardian,

"I've got your back" the weapons expert nodded as he fired up his cannons, and gestured to the other bots to assume their flanking positions.

"Okay? Where to?" Lennox glanced at the engineer, and he held his gun close,

"The main breakers are down there, just past those transformers and on the left" he gestured,

"And for Primus sake, keep your heads down: don't want Ratchet to throw another wrench at me for letting you lot get your diodes fried" Ironhide grumbled as he led the way. "Oh like we need a shock to the system: you checked your tank gauge recently, old mech?" Sideswipe smirked: Ironhide merely shot him a dirty look and grumbled something under his breath.

The short walk from the front of the complex soon took them to the location in question. As they passed through the substation: the distinctive humming/buzz of electricity flowing through the system made the humans wary. This place was live, and one wrong move could mean instant death; while for the bots, fried circuits and a lecture from Ratchet was an equally bad prospect. Keeping an eye out for trespassers was not easy here.

...Though, none of them were aware of Coldbore: who was watching them from the other side of the dam, up on the ridge overlooking the canyon: as he silently prepared his rifle...

"So there's still juice in the system: that's good right?" Epps said offhand.

"Yeah, but why'd it stop?" Lennox replied,

"Well we're about to find out," the engineer interjected: "The breakers we're looking for are just-. But the engineer stooped in his tracks, as he rounded a main transformer, and spotted the breakers in question... "-Here...What the hell?" he gasped in astonishment.

"What? What's the-

Ironhide too stopped, as he laid his optics on the breakers: the others quickly followed suit, and were as equally astonished by what they saw. The breaker's were ripped and shredded out of their protective casings, and even the metal cage that housed them was ripped apart. Some of the exposed wires were still live and sparking, but the rest, for the most part, were all dead.

"Okay? ..." Epps deadpanned, "So who could'a done this?"

"Not who, what..." Ironhide frowned as he approached the breakers, and looked over the gouges in the metal and plastic casings: "See that right there? Their teeth marks: and I know for a fact Majestrix doesn't let any of her pets up here"

"So who else could it be, the Dinobots?" Lennox frowned

"Hmm, no; they'd have ripped up the whole complex: the damage is concentrated to this one area" the weapons expert thought aloud.

"And they knew these breakers are on the main lines into the base: whoever did this has studied the layout of this complex" the engineer threw in.

"But can we get at least some power back into the base?" Lennox asked,

"Hmm..." the engineer looked the damaged breaker's over carefully: "The repair work's gonna take time: but for now, I think we can safely by-pass the breaker's by rerouting the main current to those lines there," he pointed to the main power lines overhead: "We just need a stable bridge that's not gonna to fry"

"Jolt, that's your cue buddy," Sideswipe patted the smaller bot on the back, and gave him a gentle shove to the front of the team. Looking over the damaged unit, the bot carefully analyzed the damage, and shook his head optimistically. "Well?" Ironhide demanded.

"I can by-pass it alright, but it's a lot of power to bridge all at once: I'll have to lower the amps on my conductors to better control the output. The base will get power again, albeit the current's gonna be fluky"

"Do it. Flukey's better than nothing" Ironhide ordered, "Everyone stand clear"

Unsheathing his long electro-whips: which glowed and crackled with raw electrical energy, Jolt threw his arms up and cracked both whips: latching one around the line that fed into the breakers, and the other onto the main power lines that fed into the base. As energy sparked and crackled up and down his arms: the bot remained calm and still; being designed to wield large amounts of electricity, the massive surge of power that flowed through him was of no great concern. As he funneled the power one way, he increased the voltage, until a smile came to his face-plates. "The power should be coming back on any second!" he called over the loud crackling and buzzing: "I just gotta turn up the juice a little more!"

At the same time, inside the base: the lights began to flicker; computer monitors flicked on and off, and the ventilation system started humming back to life: a collective sigh of relief rose up as everyone relaxed a little, thinking it was over.

Glancing over his shoulder at Ironhide, Jolt added, "Okay, I can keep the current stable; fortunately it's not too-

CRACK!

Jolt's left shoulder exploded in a burst of metal and electrical energy: in the same tenth of a second, his whips unfurled from their anchors and disappeared back up into his arms, so fast that no one even saw them move: it was just a blur of movement and light. The blue bot fell to the ground in agony, and before his CPU even registered the pain, Ironhide knew immediate what had just happened-

"A SNIPER! TAKE COVER!" he bellowed as he rushed forward, grabbing Jolt and pulling him unceremoniously beneath his huge bulk, as he retreated behind the main transformer. In the same instance, the humans and other bot's scrambled to find cover amid the transformers and circuit breakers.

"That shot came from the other side of the canyon!" Sideswipe shouted out from where he hid with Epps some distance away.

As Jolt clutched his arm in pain, Ironhide scanned the area where the bullet entered his shoulder: "Wasn't a human sniper either..." he replied as he chanced a look down into the canyon, and caught sight of a dark figure disappearing behind the other side of the dam. "YOU!-" he stood up, aimed, and let off several rounds from his left cannon, all of which whistled through the air, over the dam, and hit the cliff-face right next to it. At the very least, the sniper had lost the element of surprise.

"...Could've taken a head-shot, but he didn't..." the weapons expert grunted,

"He didn't want the power back on, but he didn't kill Jolt? What the hell's this guy playing at?!" Lennox vented angrily.

"Don't know, and don't care" Ironhide scoffed as he activated his comm, : Prime, we got a serious problem up here: a sniper's just got Jolt. He's alive but in bad shape; can you spare some back-up to come and flush this slagger out of his hole? And send a medic up here too:

: Copy that Ironhide, back-ups on the way:

---

At the same time, back inside the base:

After a long crawl to find a vent big enough to get out of: Morri unscrewed the final hinge, and kicked the grid off its frame: scrambling out as fast as she could, she was so panicked and flustered, that the bright red optics to her right made her jump out of her skin.

"Morri? Why you in air-tunnel?" Carnage grunted as he sniffed her up and down,

"Carnage!" Morri breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh Carnage, thank god! You nearly gave me a heart-attack!"

"Me sorry" the huge Postosuchus grunted, "You smell scared, what wrong?"

"I am scared" she panicked, trying to keep it together: "Velocity's out of the brig, and I'm scared what she'll do to my family if she gets to them first!"

"Me find them! Me protect them!" he growled, as he lowered his head down, allowing her to climb on. No sooner had Morri seated herself on his back, the dinobot was off like a shot: galloping awkwardly along as he sniffed the air for Deathshot's scent.

As she held on for dear life, Morri's mind filled with dread as the prospect of facing Velocity again loomed over her. She was lucky to have survived last time: now, there was no telling what the deranged femme might do. Would it be a repeat of last time, or would she do something completely different? Either way, her family's lives were on the line: and with a potential coup fast approaching, the stakes couldn't be higher...

As he galloped further into the heart of the base, Carnage's momentum seemed to add speed to his less-than streamlined bulk, as he skidded and drifted around every corner: using his long claws to break while his tail kept him balanced; all the while, Morri could only hold on tight and lean into every turn. They passed the command center and headed westward, but when they came to a six-way intersection, the dinobot screeched to a halt, and sniffed the air hard like a hound dog.

"What is it? What'd you smell?" Morri demanded

"...Blood...and energon" was all Carnage replied,

"Follow it!"

Carnage followed the scent, still galloping, but this time at a steadier pace as he kept his head up: sniffing and sniffing as he followed the scent down a southward corridor. Before long, Morri could smell it too, not a lot, but it was noticeable. As they rounded a corner, they were greeted by a most ominous sight...

The metal walkways on both sides of the corridor were crushed, twisted and torn away from their anchors and fittings, as if two cybertronians had been fighting here, and had knocked each other into the walls, hard. There were some bullet holes in the walls, floor and ceiling and a small splatter of energon on the floor where someone took a pounding...

And a small amount of blood smeared on the left-side wall, where someone got in the way of the fracas...

Horrified and fearing the worse, Morri dismounted Carnage, and approached the torn up walkways in trepidation: it was a mess, hard to tell where one walkway ended and another began. "...What happened?" She gasped offhand,

For all she knew: this could've been the result of something totally different? Maybe Eclipse caught up to Coldbore or Longrange, and went postal on them? Maybe Majestrix found Blackshot and ripped her a new exhaust vent? But then, that wouldn't account for the blood on the wall, and that could be anyone's. And besides, if it had been Eclipse or her mother, the damage would be far worse than this...

Despite the possibility this may not be Velocity's handiwork: Morri's gut kept screaming at her to think otherwise: if she was so desperate to have Deathshot before, what difference would there be now to make her change her mind?

This was Velocity's doing, and she knew it.

Balling her fists up so tightly that her arms began to shake, Morri began to see red: "...If she's done anything to them, I swear I'll-

"...Mmm..."

Morri suddenly snapped out of it, as she listened again...

"...Uh..."

"What-

"-There..." Carnage trotted over to a heap of metal, shoving his nose under a piece of twisted platform, and tossing it aside like a plank of wood; there, lying face down on the floor with blood droplets around him, Sam stirred to life as Carnage nudged him with his nose.

"-SAM!" Morri rushed over, and started pulling the metal off and away: with enough weight gone to pull him out of the wreckage safely, Morri gently flipped him on his front, and saw the state of his injuries...

A nasty gash across his forehead and right temple, clean and shallow, but bleeding none the less. Several prominent bruises that were now turning their colour, and more cuts dotted over his chest, shoulders and arms; from fending off multiple blows: "Oh god Sam! What happened?!" Morri panicked as she wiped the blood off his face with her sleeve.

"Velocity..." he breathed as he slowly came around, "She took D and the boys: told me I wasn't involved...tried to pound me into the wall-"

"I'll sort her out later, right now, we need to get you a medic: Carnage, help me get him on your back..." she ordered: the dinobot lay down as Morri maneuvered Sam onto his back, sitting him upright: she saddled between the Postosuchus's shoulders, in front of Sam, and wrapped his hands around her belt. "Can you hold on okay?"

"Yeah, I got ya" he nodded, trying to stay conscious as best he could.

"Get us to Ratchet's med-bay: the human med-unit's out of commission"

"Me go faster than Blurr!" Carnage growled as he took off again: Morri kept one hand on his shoulder-plate, the other on Sam: hoping and praying the undulation wouldn't throw him off; "You better hold on Sam: or Mikaela's gonna rip you a new one!"

"Heh: she'll rip me a new one anyway" he grinned, trying to make light of it.

---

At the same time, in the command center:

: Jetfire, Springer, Portia, Thundercracker: Any sign of the sniper? : Optimus ordered

: He's taken off, no energon trail to follow either: but we got Ironhide's team secured, and Ratchet and Wheeljack have got Jolt stabilized. Whoever it was, their long gone now: Springer replied,

: Very well, escort the team back to base and secure the exit: we'll re-think the plan to get the power back. But with that sniper loose, our options are limited:

: Rodger:

At the same time, outside the med-unit, the telepaths all jolted: completely taken aback by what they just collectively detected, "What?!"

Having heard them over the open comm, Prime demanded: What just happened? :

: A signal! We just detected a signal! : Obsidian replied, half-panicked,

: The girl, she responded to it; her implants must be calibrated to the same frequency: Soundwave added,

"How's that possible?!" Bishop exclaimed as he discreetly slipped his cell phone back onto his pocket, "The whole base is insulated from the outside"

"But that means-

"The mole..." Optimus frowned in ire, : Attention all Autobots, fan out and search the base: anyone within range of the human med-unit who's not supposed to be there, arrest them and detain them on-site! :

: Prime! Something's happening! The static's beginning to build again, and the BSHB's output is spiking way off the charts!: Crystalwing panicked, : We're clearing out of here, it's too dangerous: she's going to break out any second-

The girl was now worked up into a complete frenzy, as she pounded the doors over and over again. With every blow the BSHB's energy spiked higher, until finally there was enough momentum to blow the doors out of their frame: and she was out.

Soundwave and Crystalwing barely got themselves and their families out of the immediate danger zone, as the girl flew past: completely ignoring them. But they weren't far away enough, as a massive EMP field knocked both families unconscious, and they fell to the floor; limp as like rag-dolls...

---

On his end of the bond, Ravage nearly lost it: snarling and hissing as he felt their minds go abruptly silent; but he could still feel their sparks, they were still alive. Unconscious, but alive and intact: 'Be more careful next time, okay?' he whispered down the bond: knowing full well that at least one of them heard him.

Breathing a sigh of relief: he took a brief moment to regain himself, before continuing his search for Morri...When suddenly; he picked up a familiar scent...

"What's he doing inside the base?"

Following the scent, he soon picked up the unmistakable scent of blood and energon; and in the back of his mind, he began to wonder: what else has been going on today?

---

The girl seemed to know where she was going as she made a bee-line for the command center: as they felt the static electricity build up on the other side of the thick armored doors, the bots inside all rushed to the opposite end of the room in an attempt to get as far away from the EMP field as possible. While the humans were mostly unaffected, albeit they kept getting static shocks off everything they touched, while their hair stood on end.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The doors dented with every blow: this wasn't possible, not even with the BSHB's; the armor in the doors was over twenty inches thick, and composed of carbon cybertanium; the densest, most durable form of cybertanium there was. With every blow, the tension and fear in the room rose, as the bots took aim while the humans ran and ducked for cover, all the while the computers in the room were haywire from the static build-up.

"What the hell's that bitch on?!" Glen panicked as he ran behind one of the huge bot-sized terminals.

"Think the mole siced her on us?" Bishop thought aloud as he aimed him 9mm at the doors.

"Undoubtedly" Prime frowned as he aimed his cannon in the same direction.

The blows kept comming hard and fast, and just when it seemed the doors were about to give way. Everyone suddenly heard the sound of gunshots, right outside in the corridor...

"Give her the pit!" Veebee grunted as she let loose on the girl: all four sisters fired everything they had at her; despite the fact they were over nine hundred feet away, all four sisters managed to push the girl back and away from the doors. But just as the girl turned and aimed at them, Skywarp teleported in and out in a flash: retuning the sisters to the room where the Ainsley sisters were holed up.

"Holy Primus! That was painful!" Tangostar grasped her helm as her CPU throbbed,

"We can't do that again, that static's way too thick!" Bluebird held her helm with one hand, as Novastar helped her and her sister's sit down on the floor, while Rosy, Violet, Lizzy and the Waineright twins attended to them.

"I might be able to give her one more shot" Skywarp frowned as he teleported away again...

The girl was about to continue her assault of the command center, when Skywarp teleported in, smacked her away with a firm back-hand, and teleported away again, all within a split-second. This particular form of close quarter combat was his specialty, and it's what made him one of the most feared seekers in the Decepticon armada. Teleporting in and out in a flash of light and thunder, he blind-sided her hard and fast from all directions, pushing her back, disorientating her; not giving her the chance to recover or retreat.

In the command center, Prime instantly recognized the seeker's teleportation sequence (it wasn't as loud and booming as Jetfire's), and realized what he was doing; deciding to take advantage of the situation, Optimus commed him, : Skywarp, teleport her outside! :

Without having time to respond, Skywarp grabbed the girl by the leg: and in a flash, teleported her outside to the western mountain, and tossed her into the thick scrub, before teleporting away again.

: She's out by the mountain: the seeker panted, as he tried to get his (figurative) breath back. : She's still pissed; but I don't think she knows what hit her:

: Good, the doors to the open-air hanger are still closed so we'll be safe in here for the time being: Prime responded

"Are you okay?" Novastar asked worryingly as Skywarp grasped his sore helm: "Fine, just need to go to the med-bay for something for my diodes, be right back" he assured her, and teleported out.

But as he appeared in the med-bay, Skywarp was taken aback by the sight of a badly beaten-up Sam, having his injures attended to by Mikaela and Morri, while Carnage stood guard by his berth.

"Primus! What happened to you?!" he gasped as he approached them.

"Velocity" Morri growled

"What?!"

"The back-up generators for the stasis fields in the brig are out: she could've been wandering around the base all this time, with no one being the wiser" Mikaela added,

"And now she's taken my family and guardian: AGAIN!" Morri vented as she plied a dressing to one of Sam's cuts.

"Oh Primus..." Skywarp facepalmed, "This is all we need", : Prime! Please tell me you heard that! :

: I did: Optimus deadpanned, : This isn't good:

"YOU THINK?!" Morri exploded, "She could be anywhere on the base!"

: Morri, please-

"Just send someone to help me find her! And pray to god I don't find her first! Because if I do-...

This wasn't her

Giving into her anger like this: she knew this wasn't right. But she was so angry, first Blackshot, and now Velocity, again?

This wasn't fair; as tears welled up in her eyes, Sam sat upright, and gently placed his hands on her shoulders: "Listen, we'll find them, okay? Just try and keep it together: then you can go all-out-psycho on her ass, alright?"

Morri couldn't help but smile: trust Sam to know what to say: "...Okay..." she sighed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry about that, Optimus"

: I know...: Optimus assured her, :...We're still in poor shape on this end, I'll send someone to help you locate her. It's all I can do for now I'm afraid:

"Just make sure it's someone who can put up a tough fight: she's a real slippery bitch"

: Acknowledged:

"...How're you feeling now?" Morri turned her attention back to Sam.

"Better, now that my head's not throbbing," Sam sighed as he got down off the berth, and put his CTG back on: being careful not to let it snag on one of the dressings on his arm. "Are you sure about this? Only, given what happened the last time you went up against her-"

"-I'll be okay" Morri was quick to assure him, "Honest; I just need to figure out where she might have taken them"

"Well, she won't have gone back to the garbage disposal unit: the powers out there too" Mikaela offered,

"The lifts are out too, so she's trapped on this level" Morri thought aloud, "That narrows her lists of options. But still..."

"...She's clever; she's gonna be holed up somewhere no one's gonna think to look, especially at a time like this" Skywarp threw in.

"And if it's Deathshot she wants: she's going to go somewhere that'll allow her some privacy" Mikaela added

As she thought through the list of possible locations on this level, there was only one place that seemed to fit the bill: "...The training room," Morri suddenly blurted out.

"You're sure?" Sam frowned,

"It's big, it's sound-proof, fire-proof, bullet-proof: and any training sessions that were scheduled for today got cancelled when the power went out. It's the only logical choice that makes sense" Morri pointed out. "You coming?"

"Love to, but something came up right before Velocity jumped us: I'm sorry, but it can't wait" Sam apologized.

"'Warp?" she gazed up at the seeker,

"Sorry kid, Darren wants me to 'run an errand': but give her a few punches from me, okay?" he apologized, before turning to Mikaela, "And speaking of punches, I just got hit in the head with a frag-loada static: where does Ratchet keep the charge dampeners?"

Mikaela pointed to the room next door: "Blue cabinet, top shelf, far left-hand corner: And just two shots! They're not candy you know!" she called after him as he disappeared into said room.

"I go help you" Carnage nudged Morri in the side, "I help you find crazy-femme, and rip her wings off"

"Cheer's mate" she smiled in appreciation, as she stroked his nose.

"You gonna be okay with this?" Mikaela asked offhand.

"Trust me, after what's happened today: I can handle this" Morri huffed as she mounted the dinobot, "Whoever Prime sends, tell them I went on ahead...Let's go Carnage"

"ME GO!" the Postosuchus roared, and unceremoniously galloped out the med-bay, and disappeared into the pitch black corridor.

"She'll be fine..." Sam placed a hand on her shoulder, gently pulled her in closer, and whispered: "But listen, that thing that came up right before Velocity attacked? It's bad"

"How bad?" Mikaela asked,

"Like, the whole base is in real danger, kinda bad: and it ain't the girl that's the problem"

"What do you mean?"

As Sam pulled her in closer to explain in a hushed voice: outside the med-bay, Ravage trotted away, as he followed Carnage's and Morri's scent...

---

This chapter took way longer to complete than expected :/ But hey, it's done & done :)

Don't forget to R&R please ;)