Not trusting Airachnid to keep her word with the whole one-on-one between her and Arcee, not to mention not wanting Arcee to go in all alone, it was easy enough to ask for and receive reinforcements. Throughout most of the cycle, Autobots have been coming through the bridge portal. Other 'Bots – such as Windblade, Jazz, and most of the Rescue Bots – stay behind to keep optics on both Cybertron and Earth, as well as doubling as an insurance policy of sorts, in the event things take a turn for the worse.

Which can happen, since there is one glaringly obvious problem with bringing a small army of war-hardened Autobots onto this particular vessel…

"Hey, um, Bee?"

"Yeah, Moonracer?"

"Not that I'm questioning your plan or anything, but are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean, a bunch of you guys – no offense to you or Autobots in general or anything – but on the same ship with Decepticons? Again, no offense to them either…"

"Moonracer, this is all to get Knockout back. Besides, it's not like I'm asking them to like each other or anything! We just need them to tolerate each other for a bit."

"I know, I know, but I'm still worried! I may not have a problem with Steeljaw, or even Starscream, but do not think for a nanoklik that I am unaware of how everyone else feels."

"I'm not saying that you do…"

"BEE! What's taking so long?" A young mech whined.

Bumblebee took a quick vent to calm himself. He turned away from Moonracer to face the assembled Autobots, including: Team Prime; his team – the Bee Team; Rescue Bots Blurr and Quickshadow; and a few squads of trained officers and medical personnel.

"Yeah, Bee! I'm getting bored here!" Another young mech pitched-in.

"Sideswipe, Blurr, give me a minute, I'm in the middle of something right now," Bumblebee replied.

"I thought you called us for a mission, not to sit around and do nothing," Sideswipe huffed. Strong Arm immediately punched him in the shoulder.

"Shut it, Sideswipe!" The blue and white femme hissed. "He said he'll get to us in a minute!"

"A minute is way too long!" Blurr argued, receiving a smack to the back of the helm, courtesy of Quickshadow. "Aw, come on! Not you, too!"

"Would you prefer it if I called Heatwave now?" Quickshadow retorted. Blurr was smart enough not to continue pushing his luck.

With tensions rising, so was Bumblebee's anxiety, and he could only assume what Steeljaw and Starscream were feeling. Said mechs are hiding just around the corner, waiting for the right time to come out. It wasn't just Moonracer who was worried about them; Bumblebee was, too.

"Moonracer?" Bumblebee whispered, just loud enough for the turquoise femme to hear.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Not really, but I'm afraid the longer I wait…"

"The more likely they are to try and kill each other before we even leave the ship. Yeah, got it."

Everyone watched Moonracer quietly shuffle off to the far side of the room, away from the large crowd of Autobots.

"Why did she just move over there?" Arcee asked, looking skeptically between Moonracer and Bumblebee.

"Lieutenant, I don't mean to question your authority, but I sense there's something you're not telling us about this plan of yours," Strong Arm said.

Bumblebee only glanced at both femmes before scanning the rest of the Autobots in front of him.

Optimus, Ratchet, and Bulkhead already know about Starscream, and my team sort of knows about Steeljaw, but they don't know about the other and vice-versa, not to mention everyone else who has had nothing to do with any of this…

The yellow and black mech vented.

Frag it all! Let's just get this over with!

A servo planting itself on his shoulder plate broke Bumblebee out of his anxious processor. It was Optimus Prime, trying to comfort him. He gave the young mech a reassuring smile; Bee returned it. Satisfied by the response, Optimus stepped aside to allow the yellow and black mech some space.

"I'm sorry about that, everyone, but I was just trying to figure out how to break this to you," Bumblebee started, extremely nervous. "However, we don't have the time for explanations right now, so please just do me a huge favor and save your… excitement for later. Alright? Everyone understand?"

The other Autobots quickly turned to talk with their neighbors. Bumblebee's vents hitched.

Oh Primus. Oh Primus. Oh Primus… stay calm, Bee! Stay calm!

"Soldier, I expect you to tell us what you are not telling us," Ultra Magnus suggested, or rather demanded. Either way, Bumblebee was verbally forced to stop stalling and start giving answers.

"Okay… um… it might be easier to just… you know?"

At this rate, we won't be going anywhere!

Bumblebee turned around and faced the corner where Steeljaw and Starscream – surprisingly silent – were still hiding.

"Uh, guys? You can come out now!"

First, there was nothing. Next was the sound of hushed voices. Then there's a small scuffle. And finally, the hidden mechs make an appearance.

Neither Steeljaw nor Starscream wanted to go out in front of everyone with only Bumblebee as their shield and Moonracer as back-up, but knowing they had no other choice, Steeljaw shut out his pessimistic thoughts and practically dragged Starscream out with him. Now, the Seeker partly hid behind the Lupicon, who was on the defensive and ready to attack if the need arose.

As for the Autobots…

One scene of the Autobots trying to kill Starscream and Steeljaw while Bumblebee and Moonracer somehow manage to keep them alive later…

"Okay, has every bot gotten their first waves of rage and frustration out?" Bumblebee asked, looking around the room.

Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Bulkhead – along with Drift's help, much to Bee's surprise – were keeping the other Autobots at bay, while Moonracer was standing protectively in front of a still-on-edge Steeljaw and hyperventilating Starscream.

No one looked happy, but at least they stopped trying to kill each other.

"Bumblebee…" Arcee started.

"Arcee," Optimus said, holding up a servo.

"Optimus? Don't tell me you approve of… whatever this is!"

"I will do my best to explain what I can to you, to all of you, but right now, a comrade of ours is in dire need. Please, Arcee, remember what's at stake."

The blue femme appeared not to be listening. Her glare was still fixated on Starscream, who had finally calmed down, but remained on the ground, afraid to move and face another attack.

". . . Fine," Arcee relented. "For Knockout, and also because I hate Airachnid more than I do Starscream."

Bumblebee couldn't help the relieved vent that escaped his voice box.

"Thank you, Arcee. Now, here's how it's going to go: you and Airachnid will fight each other, one-on-one. Or so she says. Anyway, Starscream and I will be escorting you, since I'm sure she'll be expecting us. Ratchet, you'll stay here with Moonracer and the other medics. Prepare for casualties. Moonracer also manages the bridge when we're out, so Fixit, you'll assist her in that aspect."

"Hey, Bee, not to interrupt or anything, but I got a question," Blurr piped.

"I was just about to get to you, Blurr," Bumblebee said, then turned to the other Rescue Bot. "You, too, Quickshadow."

"Not to make presumptions, but since we're here, I suppose Blurr and I will be in charge of rescuing your friend," Quickshadow surmised.

"Well, I figured between the two of you and your multiple skill sets regarding this kind of fieldwork…"

"We're the perfect bots for the job!" Blurr interrupted, again.

"Sure…" Bumblebee trailed.

Let's go with that.

"Hey, listen, not that I'm doubting your Rescue Bot skills or anything," Sideswipe was saying. "I mean, I have seen you at work plenty of times before…"

"But have either of you ever been up against an Insecticon?" Wheeljack asked. "They're nasty glitches. Of course, it ain't anything I can't handle, but as the kid said…"

"I think they get the point, Jackie," Bulkhead interrupted.

"Well, I could always go with them as extra firepower," Smokescreen offered.

"Or me! I could just punch them!" Grimlock eagerly spoke, slamming his fists together. Drift just rolled his optics at his teammate's answer.

"Sorry, guys, but I already have someone in mind who can both sneak around and handle himself in a fight," Bumblebee explained, smirking. He looked over his shoulder plate. "Isn't that right, Steeljaw?"

The Lupicon nearly doubled-over from shock.

"What?" Steeljaw snarled. He stalked away from Starscream and Moonracer until he was face-to-face with Bumblebee. "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I can do this by myself!"

"You did, but while you weren't around, 2-out-of-3 of us agreed that you shouldn't go alone."

Steeljaw immediately turned around. He didn't need to say anything; his optics betrayed his feelings to the second party he knew went along with Bumblebee's secret decision.

"You are not going alone and that is final," Moonracer stated firmly.

Steeljaw suppressed the urge to say something, instead choosing the safer option of an irritated sound effect to avoid pissing off Moonracer.

"Of course, if you don't want a trained pair of Rescue Bots to assist you in Knockout's rescue, then I guess I could assign you another group," Bumblebee mused. "Like, 'Bots you're more familiar with. Say… oh, I don't know… Strong Arm and Sideswipe?"