Arcee and the five other vehicles she had taken with her walked through the cold arctic wasteland. Well, among them was a Decepticon deserter. Silver Seeker, used to be Megatron's second-in-command and commander of the Decepticon Air Force. Starscream.
"Do you even know who I am?!" he asked angrily as Arcee and the other soldiers ignored him, just keeping their weapons ready in case Starscream decided to attack.
They walked on, Starscream still talking, trying to get some response out of Arcee.
"Who the hell are you femme?!" Starscream asked but Arcee just walked with the scanner in her hand. I asked something!" He said, already seriously angry as he touched her shoulder.
But very quickly he ended up on the ground with a blade at his neck "say one more thing ex-commander Starscream and I swear your voicemail will become useless just like your T-kog or you won't even have one" Arcee said and Starscream felt like she the blade touched his neck lightly.
Arcee got back to her feet and the vehicles lifted Starscream off the ground. They continued walking, but did not notice the tall red and blue robot following them.
They continued walking and Starscream began to complain about the temperatures being too cold. Arcee was already getting on his nerves from his constant talking, but this time fate favored her and they arrived at the coordinates. Something more metallic could be seen in the ice wall.
"Start" Arcee gave the command and all five vehicles began to melt the ice with their blasters. Arcee looked at Starscream as he slowly walked away from them. Arcee pulled out a blaster and aimed it at the helmet. "Move and you'll be headless," Arcee said. Starscream turned around in fear and put his cuffed hands in front of his face.
"Commander Arcee, we almost have the relic selected," said one of the vehicles and Arcee walked up to him. She looked at it and saw it was armor. Hand forged Decepticon armor. APEX armor.
Arcee went to touch him when he heard the roar of an engine. She turned to see a red and blue Peterbilt speeding toward him. Who subsequently transformed into the supreme commander of the Autobot forces. Optimus Prime.
"Decepticons, step back from the relic and I will spare you," Optimus said. The vehicles went to Arcee's side while Arcee ordered the last three to dig up the relic and the vehicles on the bridge control panel on Nemesis ordered the bridge open in a minute.
Everything was timed, the bridge opened, three vehicles drove in and the bridge closed behind them. Arcee and the two soldiers started shooting at Optimus, but the soldiers fell to the ground dead very quickly.
Hiding behind the broken ice, Starscream watched as the Autobot leader and the Decepticon woman faced off.
"I don't mean to hurt you, just listen to me for a second," Optimus said pulling the blaster back into his hand. Arcee frowned.
"Why should I have you? I've heard enough from you Autobots and I'm not going to continue. I didn't plan on killing you when I came to Earth, but that changed," Arcee said. She retracted her blasters, activated her paddles, and attacked.
She used her advantage of being smaller than Prime and slipped between his legs and kicked him in the side before he could turn around. Optimus didn't want to hurt her, so he just tried to grab her hands and throw her away. She currently added three more to the reasons why he didn't like women's nature.
The first was that each was extra stubborn and it didn't matter if her master was calm, their carrier kept rewriting it. The second, when she got angry, she could be dangerous and you didn't know how to deal with her. Third, they used their smaller frame against mechs.
Optimus managed to grab Arcee and threw her high and far. She landed perfectly on her two feet and frowned as she felt a sharp pain in her side.
Arcee looked to her side only to see Starscream with a smirk and a key to the cuffs quickly running away. She left him, grabbed his side and continued her attack on Prime. She attacked, but noticed that he only defended himself and at least pushed her away.
Neither of them realized that they had reached a frozen lake that was slowly melting and could crack under their weight.
Arcee held tight to her side and began shooting from her spot. She was about to say something when she heard a terrible sound.
A bang
Arcee fell under the ice. Arcee tried to rise above the surface, but her armor was pulling her down. It was then that she began to struggle to stand up, and much more energy began to flow from her side, and icy water flowed into her body through the wound. She slowly closed the optics and got deeper and closer to the bottom.
The last thing she heard and felt as her system shut down and everything was focused on keeping the spark alive was someone jumping into the water and carrying her away.
Optimus saw Arcee fall under the ice and go to the edge, but quickly retreated as it began to crack under him as well. He looked into the hole and couldn't leave it like that, maybe when he pulls it out, it will speak to him and only now did he notice the energon on the ground.
Optimus took off most of his armor so he wouldn't be dragged to the bottom and jumped into the water. Just then Arcee turned off the optics as well and he swam towards her faster.
Optimus grabbed her around the waist, squeezing the wound she probably had from Starscream. Optimus emerged from the water. Zasa let his armor snap into place and carried Arcee away from the hole and the ice.
He pressed one hand on her wound and placed the other on her chest to see if her system had started to clear the water.
Arcee felt someone lift her out of the icy water and press down on her side and chest. She slowly started to come back online and saw a red and blue figure bending over her body.
"Why can't he just leave me alone," Arcee muttered, her optics sharpening completely. She saw him and quickly removed his hand from her hip so he wouldn't hold on to her. She stood up, but also regretted it when she felt a sharp pain in her side, but she put it down.
"You should get back to Nemesis before your energy is all over the ground," Optimus said standing up as well.
"Believe it or not, I can last long enough, answer me now. Why did you take me out? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Arcee asked, her whole attitude changed, or at least Optimus saw it that way.
"Even if you don't want to admit it, you're still my daughter and if I see you in danger, I'll come back for you" Optimus said honestly and when he looked under Arcee, he saw how the energon was just piling up.
Arcee turned around, a small tear falling from her eye before she said something.
"Did you recognize the warehouse where you found the Elite?" Arcee asked, her optics no longer hostile, more childish or desperate.
Optimus didn't have to think about it and nodded. "And did you ever hear a child scream from there?" Arcee asked, it took a lot to keep the tears from forming in her eyes. Optimus nodded again.
Arcee turned around fully "here Officer Arcee I need a bridge to my coordinates" Arcee said her voice shaking slightly. A second later, a bridge opened in front of her and she walked across it.
She was about to go to the Medbay when a vehicle stopped her and said that Lord Megatron wanted everyone who went after the relics on the bridge. Arcee sighed and prayed to Primus to stay on his feet a little longer.
When she arrived at the bridge, everyone was already there. The Knockout had its precious paint completely scratched. The Incenticon Hardshell that was also shipped was missing one of its fangs. Soundwave had a cracked visor.
Arcee lined up and caught her wound with a clean hand and Megatron began his speech.
"How did four relics in four different places only get Arcee and Soundwave a relic," Megatron said menacingly as he looked at the first one that came back.
"Lord Megatron, that scout tricked me and the incenticon I got was incapacitating," Knockout said defensively. Megatron frowned and looked at Hardshell.
"And you Hardshell, what's your excuse?" Megatron asked.
"I don't have one my lord, but I can tell you I took out one of the Autobots," Hardshell said.
Arcee wasn't even listening to what they were saying anymore, she was just trying to get to her feet. She looked at her hand which was now holding the wound closed and the energy was rapidly flowing out.
Standing next to Arcee, Soundwave saw her posture no longer strong and straight, but rather hunched over and tired. Then Arcee raised her hand a little and he saw how it was from the energon.
"My lord, we can 'move' to the Medbay," Soundwave said using the recordings and when he put them together they were also a little static.
Megatron looked towards his TIC and saw it standing there but when he looked at the femme he saw energon. Megatron nodded and started walking towards the Medbay. Knockout followed him when he needed to restore his beautiful color back to its original beauty. Soundwave grabbed Arcee's hands and then Arcee noticed them walking off the bridge.
When they arrived at the Medbay, Knockout was about to go straight to painting when Megatron stopped him.
"Knockout, investigate Laserbeak and take care of Arcee," Megatron said and Knockout nodded in frustration.
He took the scanner and began to investigate Laserbeak and it was discovered that the bomb had been planted by an Autobot doctor. Soundwave then left Medbay quite angry and proceeded to decode Project Iacon.
Arcee laid down on the bed and showed the wound she had there from Starscream.
"For Primus, who did this to you?!" Knockout asked and started cleaning it so he could weld it.
"One traitor who likes to sneak around during a fight," Arcee said holding back a hiss of pain as he held the disinfectant to her side. The minutes passed rather quickly and Knockout retreated with his metal welded and only a bit of a scar.
"I suggest you rest, take an energy cube, and most of all stay calm for a while," Knockout said and Arcee stood up from the medic dock, clutching her wound a bit.
"Rest and peace won't get us any more relic," Arcee said and started walking out of the Medbay. Knockout sighed, no one on Nemesis was listening to his advice.
She came into the computer room and saw Soundwave already there with a cracked visor laying next to him. She took her seat and began to work.
"Who did this to you?" asked a deep yet gentle voice. It belonged to Soundwave.
"Traitor," Arcee replied, continuing to decode without turning around. Soundwave walked over to her and turned her so they were face to face.
"Arcee, what's wrong? What did you find out when you were alone?" Soundwave asked, placing his hand on her face and leaving her mask in his hand. "Tell me. I want to know if I should protect you," he said and Arcee's optics completely weakened and lost their hardness. She looked down.
"Soundwave, have you put together what I've been saying for the past months?" Arcee asked and Soundwave nodded his head. "Soundwave, I know who my makers are. They…I killed Elite-One and she was my bearer and Optimus…Our Lord Optimus Prime's greatest enemy is my master," Arcee said, Soundwave lifting her chin with a finger.
"Do you want to switch sides?" Soundwave asked.
"I don't know. How many times I disappeared for days, I was at an Autobot base. Now he saved me when I fell under the ice, he pulled me back. But I still don't know. He saved my life, but things happened on Cybertron and… I can't. I am an honorable warrior and my allegiance is to Lord Megatron," Arcee said as she took Soundwave's mask and placed it over her face and continued decoding.
She was an honorable warrior, but her loyalty to the Decepticon cause would weaken.