It's our war now — part 2

The room felt stone-cold. For a brief moment, everyone fell mute. Not only did they hear a threat from a foreign Cybertronian whom they cannot even disclose their alignment, but also they are in possession of their human friend. Fowler couldn't hold his response.

"Who is this?" Fowler asked in a serious tone, removing any hint of worry.

"I'm a…let's say a revolutionary. I'm sure that you can find me — please, pay me a visit. With Prime in tow. Pipe out."

With that, the link had shut down.

"We need to call Optimus." Arcee said. Fowler canceled the call and headed towards the base, while Ratchet dialed Optimus.

"Pipe out…why does that sound familiar?" Bulkhead asked, followed by confusion and partial hesitation. He was trying his best to remember, but it was difficult.

"Maybe someone from the Wreckers?" Jack inquired, feeling like he was asking something that didn't make sense. On the contrary, that had perfectly jogged his memory.

"Yeah, you're right! We had a member, Pipelock. He was very young, too. And small, for a wrecker. But, he always had a habit of saying 'Pipe in' and 'Pipe out', whenever he was going around."

Bulkhead explained, remembering the young mech now. It was a very long time ago when he had seen him for the last time.

"Are you saying that this is Pipelock?" Arcee arched her optic ridge, but Bulkhead shook his head in no.

"No, no, his voice was way different." Bulkhead waved his hand as he spoke. "And if memory serves me well, I think he is offline. It was during the defense of Iacon."

"Pipeline!" Hyacinthus snapped her digits. She listened to the conversation from behind, and headed towards the shorter bots.

"Pipeline was a member of a revolutionary unit who had been protesting against Autobots prior to the war. They had fallen apart fast, but she was almost always seen with Pipelock. He was not part of them, however."

"A revolutionary?" Bumblebee asked. Between them all, it was a known fact that Bumblebee was the youngest Cybertronian walking, not too far away from Arcee.

"It was a party, formed by Cybertronians who did not want to take part in either Autobots or Decepticon favor, but more of in between. They were against Autobots, regardless of status."

The deep voice coming from the side belonged to their rightful leader. Optimus had arrived at nearly perfect timing. Transforming from his vehicle mode to his bipedal, his optics had met with the team.

"They fell apart during the war, and never to be heard of again. Is a revolutionary behind the attack?" Optimus was fast to be filled in, whether because of Ratchet or Fowler.

"But, where could she be?" Arcee asked, uncertain about this individual.

"I can help with that." Fowler's voice brought everyone's attention, as he emerged from the elevator. He would approach the stairway, gripping the handrail.

"I have tried to contact the boys from a base near the borders with Utah. Turns out, there is one of our smaller bases that has not been answering the calls at all, and its systems have crashed. It might be the lair of our guest."

"Send the coordinates. Ratchet, open the groundbridge." Fowler would fiddle with his mobile device, sending the coordinates to Raphael, who managed to translate it to the machinery they used.

Hyacinthus had turned into an airplane, and parked in the air, next to the railings. Door flew open, a vacant space offered to Fowler, inviting him to have a seat. A call that is never declined.

The aquamarine vortex would open, and the team transforms into their vehicle mode. "Autobots! Roll out!" Optimus called, and the team had gone through the bridge.

Once ported out, everyone would drive towards the base, while Hyacinthus flew up into the air. She was the air support, as humans say, with Fowler using her vehicle to fight; she did not fight alone.

The base itself is made of headquarters, several warehouses which were marked with specific flagpoles. The warehouses differed, some containing aircraft, and some weaponry.

Most of the warehouses were very tall, reaching even over forty feet; because of the requirement to possess massive transportation and weaponry, they were huge.

The headquarters themself looked intact and slightly smaller than the rest. The flag was burned, and some of the warehouses were damaged, scratched, and even possessed burn marks.

From air, Hyacnithus and Fowler could see the base clear. Using her own methods of concealing her signature, Hyacinthus would share what she sees on a small screen inside.

"The base looks…abandoned. Destroyed, deserted even." Fowler noted. And Hyacinthus agreed with him. She tried to scan for any sign of life, Cybertronian and Human alike.

On the green dashboard, Fowler could see three pings. One was white, and the other was red. There was a small distance between them; likely they were in the same room. And the third one, also red, was distanced away.

"Wait, who's the third one?" Fowler asked, tapping his finger against the dashboard. The closest red ping would itch to the left, without major movement.

"It's one of our own kind. I cannot tell who. We need to wait for the rest to investigate." Hyacinthus pointed out. Seeing no humans present in their distance, the team would shift into their bipedal forms once more.

"Move with caution." Optimus warned, as the mouth protector popped over his lower faceplate. Each step was as light as possible, optics scanning the area closely.

"They should be inside." Hyacinthus reported via a communication link. The Autobots would look around the area; there were several vacant bases, and warehouses.

However, the sight was far from plain. Many humans were dead, their bodies littering the soil. Dried blood leaving a trace across the field. Countless mutilated corpses.

Twisted limbs, eyeballs hanging by a single muscular thread, and fingers set at uncomfortable angles. They weren't only murdered, but further damaged past their death.

Hyacinthus would zoom in for Fowler to see, who felt sick just by seeing the scene. He may be an agent who had spent decades in a field like this, but it doesn't mean he doesn't feel the shiver from gruesome spectacle.

"Soldiers have their intestines out." His fingers curled inwards. Optimus altered his arm into a blaster, being first to enter the nearest warehouse, where the pings were coming from.

The designed warehouse had several planes set in, but they were turned off. At the furthest spot in the room, there was a figure. A female body pinned against the wall; her hands were above her head.

The group carefully approached. Arcee and Bumblebee had switched to their blasters as well, pacing with care while looking around in skepticism.

"Are you sure she's here?" Arcee whispered in the communication link, coming audible to Hyacinthus only. The femme would double check her readings, but she could see that was the case.

"Yes, she's close to you." Hyacinthus confirmed. Arcee's optics narrowed. She is hiding as one of the planes. Arcee exchanged the signature look with Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead; a subtle nod.

Their mission was to find and rescue the human agent; Optimus beckoned Bumblebee to get to the human. The moment Arcee passed a certain airplane, she could hear the voice of her teammate.

"That one."

Without waiting, Arcee immediately shot the plane, which immediately began backing away, pushing some of the regular planes to the side.

Bumblebee rushed to the woman's side — her chest was rising and falling, signaling life. But, there was so much blood. Her hands were penetrated and a metal rod was shoved through them.

The scout beeped at her, trying to get her attention. The redhead fidgeted, before tilting her head up. "Bee?" her voice cracked, almost pained.

The rod was horizontal, and then went vertical for a couple centimeters, making it impossible to break free from it without either pushing her hands through it, or severing the rod.

The airplane transformed into bipedal form, showing the red and orange colors, with white stripes at servos and pedes. Grim smiles forming at the sight of the scout trying to rescue the human.

Femme stood a couple meters away from the group. "You have managed to find me in this mass of identical planes! How smart! I have been waiting for a while now…"

Pipeline said, as her shoulder pads popped up, and hidden, small missiles emerged, heading towards the team.

"Protect Agent Marshall!" Optimus shouted, and along with Bulkhead, tried to either take a hit on the missile or redirect it, but not let it hit the two behind.

Bumblebee was panicking, because he couldn't sever the metal. He cannot even blast it off. Gaining more consciousness, Marshall would grunt. "Hold me tight, I got this. Vivian Marshall does not fall to damn challenges."

She coughed blood out to the side. Bumblebee would place his hand around her waist gently, and she would rely on him, moving her hands and following the rod's pathway, muffling the pain.

Her hands, with a hole in them, needed immediate care. She would manage to bring them out from the angled rod, and finally free them of such gruesome punishment.

They were numb, flesh had tried to heal but the wound was stained with dirt and rising infection, her fingers couldn't even curl in anymore.

"We…need to get Highway." Agent Marshall said, relying on Bumblebee's hold. "This wench had attacked us."

The explosion from missiles caused smoke to fill the room, concealing everyone's sight. Optimus leaned in, relying on his audios for any sound. At first there was silence, and then the strike.

Pipeline dashed to Arcee and kicked her side with full might, sending the blue femme flying towards the wall, and even breaking through it.

Bumblebee covered the human with his servo to protect her, but once Arcee flew out, he would turn to face the hole in the wall and run out, to help her, while holding Marshall in his hand.

Bulkhead moved tentatively, his servo transformed into the mace. He could feel Pipeline strike, and without waiting for actual hit, Bulkhead swung his mace, only to break one of the airplanes.

Optimus tilted his head to the side, and following the instincts, he shifted his gun to sword and parried the incoming attack, which was Pipeline with her own sword.

"Oh, how many people do you need to lose, in order to show up on your own?"

Pipeline taunted. The smoke would dissipate fast, allowing others to see clear once more. Optimus frowned at that statement, beginning to figure out what was truly going on.

His optics softened, a moment of grief tugging his spark. No… His expression brought satisfaction to Pipeline, who would push him away and then land several swift kicks at Optimus.

Bulkhead tried to fight her from behind, but Pipeline effectively dodged his attacks, jumping onto his shoulders and sliding past him, before sending a repulsive force through her palm, knocking him away several meters.

"Ratchet, we need a bridge for Marshall." Arcee called, however her words were met with protest from the wounded agent. Her copper hair fell over her face, but her eyes bore determination.

"We need to find Highway — this bitch has hurt her!"

On the other side of the communication link stood Ratchet, who was trying to connect the dots. He could only hear Arcee, Bumblebee, and Marshall. But he did not know the context.

"What about Highway? Have you heard of her?" Ratchet asked, leaning towards the green panel. At the entrance to the hallway stood a figure, in silence, listening to the ongoing conversation, Arcee's voice filling the base.

"Marshall says that she's hurt. We haven't seen or heard of her." Arcee reported. Thinking back about it, Highway said that she will undergo a solo mission and return promptly.

Ratchet could hear the steps, but once he turned around, no one was present. The silhouette had already made his way through the main hallway that leads towards the exit of the base, speeding up. Highway…, her name and faceplate formed in the mech's mind.

Primus, save her.

As the combat was ongoing, Hyacinthus had opted to move to the third signal. It was one of their kin. She would fly towards the signal and pop a window up. Before Fowler could say anything, she fired him up in the air.

Taking mere seconds to transform, as soon as Fowler began descending, she caught him mid air, and then placed him in her chassis interior once more, protecting him in that way.

Fowler did not have space to protest, as she failed to ask him anything. He needed his own time to regain composure, and she didn't want to be too far away from others. The signal would begin backing off, and Hyacinthus hurried towards it.

There were tall rocks, enough to hide most bots, but not Hyacinthus. She would move behind one of the rocks, only to be suddenly pushed to the soil by an unknown force. Hyacinthus immediately put her servos up in defense, but what she faced was…not a regular Cybertronian.

For a brief moment, Hyacinthus felt awkward, as neither of them were actively trying to harm one another. Was this an attack in defense? "I won't hurt you. I am just inspecting the area." Hyacinthus said calmly.

Briefly glancing around, she could tell that this was a… "Cyber Scorpion." Hyacinthus whispered under her breath, amazed that she was facing one. They had been exterminated and annihilated during the war.

That brought the Cyberscorpion's mouth even closer to her, the sharp legs ready to tear her up should she move. "It's okay, I am not an enemy. I promise." Hyacinthus breathed out.

"I can help, okay? Why are you here? Are you alone?" Maybe they are cooperating with Pipelock? The yellow scorpion would say something, but in an odd sound, like a faint buzzing that was hardly audible.

Finally, the Cyberscorpion would transform into bipedal mode. A femme, easily rivaling Optimus in height, even upping him for half a head. Her optics, they hid fear.

"I only want energon. There are some…" the Cyberscorpion pointed at one of the smaller warehouses. "...there. That's all."

"Well, I'll be a bald eagle!" Fowler mouthed out. He was still seated in Hyacinthus' chassis, and faced this at the same time. The only thing he did not understand was their conversation.

It seems like they switch between languages with ease, Fowler noted. "It's okay." Hyacinthus mumbled to him. The Cyberscorpion offered her servo tentatively, and Hyacinthus took it, getting up to her peers.

At that moment, Hyacinthus saw Arcee fly out from the warehouse. She would look between them, and then at Cyberscorption, biting her tongue. The Cyberscorpion seemed oblivious to the matters.

"Are you on your own?"

"Yes."

This shouldn't surprise her. The Cyberscorption eyed Autobot insignia on Hyacinthus' shoulder blade.

"Stay here, then. I am Hyacinthus, a member of Team Prime. We can help you. But right now, I need to help my team."

With that, she would slowly take steps backwards, and then run towards the field. "I thought you wouldn't go into combat!" Fowler called from his spot.

"Don't worry. You're safe in there. I don't plan to fight head-on." Hyacinthus said. Bumblebee had already helped Arcee get up, and Agent Marshall was still with him.

"Cynthia." Bumblebee beeped. "Agent!" Fowler called from his spot, but his voice was muffled. "Vivi said that Highway is hiding somewhere. But Optimus and Bulkhead need help." Bumblebee added, and passed the redhead to Hyacinthus.

"I'll cover that up. Go help them." Hyacinthus looked down at the female, who looked exhausted and bloodied. The holes in her hands made Fowler grit his teeth.

Bumblebee and Arcee moved back to the warehouse, while Hyacinthus stayed out. She would open her chassis and place Marshall inside, before closing it again. They could be heard by her with ease.

"Vivian, are you okay?!" Fowler immediately helped the woman to sit down and lean on him, his fingers carefully moving over her wrists, watching her wounds in horror.

For him, the agent was like a daughter – sassy, confident, and a very valuable soldier that he would work along with anymore.

"I'm fine. I have saved…all the data." She would shift in her seat and try to reach for her pocket, but she couldn't take it as her hands were paralyzed. Fowler would reach out and take a flash memory from it.

"This…Highway said that they include information from war that was owned by Decepticons. Energon mines, experiments, and whatnot, collected over the decades if not even longer." Marshall took deep breaths.

"Cynthia, hurry to the warehouse, over there near the flagpole. Highway, I- I do not know her state." Hyacinthus did not hesitate. She would quickly make her way over to it.

What she had managed to download and save is very valuable; but where did she find it in the first place? Hyacinthus made it over to the warehouse, and she could see that the front wall was gone.

She could freely enter. Doing so, Hyacinthus could spot the makeshift Cybertronian gadget, equivalent to what Raphael uses, something between a data pad and a whole computer.

Next to it stood a human desk and computer, with a sign that all the files were sent. Hyacinthus walked in, noting some of the dried and slightly dry energon droplets.

A couple energon cubes were set on the side as well, and there were vials of energon too, some full and some emptied. Hyacinthus would open her chassis and scoop Fowler out, and plant him down by human computer, while she approached the Cybertronian one.

"I swear on the damn fourth july turkey, this does not add up! What would a revolutionary want to do with us?" Fowler tried to inspect what was being transported, but he wasn't sure what he was looking at.

Hyacinthus was next to him, scanning the device. It looked like all the coordinates were sent from the Human to the makeshift Cybertronian one.

A droplet fell down to Fowler's forehead, and slid down his nose. "What the…?" He moved his hand past it, and the density of liquid did not remind him of water.

Looking into it, he could see a dense, dark blue fluid. Immediately, Fowler looked up, and gasped loudly. "Holy– Hyacinthus!" He snapped at the bot, pointing his finger up.

Hyacinthus tilted her head above. Her pale purple optics widened, her frame immediately shaking up. The tension ran down her back, her palms immediately covering her mouth.

A mangled, alien corpse was hanging above, with chains and heavy ropes holding a body up by several points. Neck cables, and sensitive cables between elbows and knees, were all slashed, mouth wide open, while the chassis had a hole in it.

Her body was not bound entirely together, but the spark was long gone. She had been offline for a while, and some of her body parts were missing as well.

"Highway!" Vivian shouted with blood and anger in her voice, immediately jumping from her spot, hitting the hard glass of Hyacinthus' chassis.

"Ra…Raa…Raa…" Hyacinthus tried to call for the medic, but she couldn't muster his name out. Her voice was light, her pronouncing extended.

"Hyacinthus? Do you read? What's happening over there?" The doctor called from the base, as the link remained open. He didn't want to leave the link open just for cause, because Optimus might need him.

"Highway…she…" Hyacinthus muttered. "Hyacinthus, I need you to speak! Optimus is out there too, he might need groundbridge or–"

"Highway has been offlined and dismembered!" Cynthia finally blurted it out. Ratchet's optics peeled open. He immediately checked the health panel, and there was no Highway's bar. As if it was disconnected.

The battle between Team Prime and Pipeline continued relentlessly. While she was outnumbered, Pipeline had proved why she was a trouble back on Cybertron.

The battlefield went in her favor. She did not care whether something gets destroyed, and mini bombs were placed on varying places that only she knew, using them against the team.

A screen popped over to the side of her left optic, reading a hundred percent notification. Perfect. "Well!" Pipeline began, making distance between herself and the three.

"I do not have a lot of time, or energon. If you won't fall to my well-designed playground, then I don't want to waste ammunition anymore." Pipeline winked at them.

With one last ace in the sleeve, she would deliver smoke bombs at the group, and turn into an airplane, before dashing away from the team. The younger ones would try to shoot at her, but to no avail.

Autobot's shoulder blades sagged in disappointment. They missed her, and she might cause a problem later on. With heavy spark, Optimus would dial Hyacinthus. "Have you located our mechanic?"

"...Come to me, please." Hyacinthus couldn't hide the crack in her tone. Optimus' expression did not change, and he led the team towards the warehouse where Hyacinthus was.

Once everyone arrived, they could see the horror. Hyacinthus was on her knees, sobbing heavily. Fowler was staring at the floor. He'd look up at Optimus with a serious line, and then look away.

When the team looked up and faced Highway, they were hit with the same wave of shock and grief. "Highway!" Arcee called for the offlined teammate, but it was over.

Optimus shook his head in no, breaking his look down. First Cliffjumper, now Highway too. Bumblebee beeped sadly, unable to look away from her. The armor, it was shiny once, and the cheeky smile. All gone.

"How…are we going to tell Hailblades?" Bulkhead asked, but he didn't receive an answer. They took a moment of silence, dealing with the grief in their own way. Finally, Optimus would walk up to their winged ally.

"Hyacinthus, you need to put her down." He said, and Hyacinthus' body could not stop shaking. Arcee walked up to her, giving her a supportive hold, but the femme felt like her world was crumbling.

With a soft squeeze of her hand, Arcee would beckon Hyacinthus to get up. The taller femme would slowly fire up and fly up, beginning to slowly un–gnarled the limbs from ropes.

It was both psychic and mental torture. With each rope removed and limb recovered, Hyacinthus could remember her voice, and their adventures. When they would laugh in her office. When they teamed up for a project and bested the opposite team.

Slowly, Hyacinthus managed to take her down, the corpse only further getting strained. Highway's left pede dropped down with a heavy thud on the floor. Once she was put down, Optimus would dial Ratchet.

"Ratchet, prepare groundbrdige. And…summon Hailblades." Optimus' voice carried sadness, despite the Matrix cleansing him of emotions. It could not tear away the true feeling of loss anymore.

Feeling that he was looked at crept up to him. He turned around, only to face a large femme, of gray and dark yellow shades. She carried in her servos the energon from the warehouse, yet her faceplates were void of joy.

Optimus and the Cyberscorpion exchanged looks, and the femme would approach in the end, offering energon to them. She needed it for survival, but what she had seen was a topic heavy for them all.

Pipeline had escaped, unpunished. One down. If I can catch them one by one like this…, the femme thought, carefully crafting her plan.

Pipelock's offlining will not go to vain. She had soared into the sky, only to suddenly find self attacked mid air.

She hissed in response, her wing nearly detached from her body. She began falling down from the sky, and she tried her best to adjust herself, before easing her fall.

Despite efforts, Pipeline had crashed onto the ground. She groaned in pain, her optics flicking, searching for her attacker.

Another body landed near her. Before she could even turn at them, a laser beam hit her shoulder blade, causing a sudden surge of pain to shoot up.

And that servo was paralyzed.

Panicked now, Pipeline immediately sat up and began backing off, looking over at the attacker. He was a young mech, with red and gray color schemes. His digit was his weapon, as another laser was shot with impeccable precision.

Pipeline's second shoulder blade was shot, and then it was followed by a hit in her sides, effectively and silently paralyzing her. Who is he?, Pipeline thought in panic.

She was already exhausted from her battle with Team Prime, and he took her by surprise. The mech closed distance between them, kneeling before her body.

"Pipeline? The proud member of the Revolutionary, and arms trader?" he asked. Pipeline watched him with an intense stare. He'd grip her faceplates with one palm, while another reached for the side of her helm.

The fact she could not move her body or even activate her t-cog did not make her feel comfortable. As far as she knew, this mech could finish her career. And that's what might just happen.

She spotted his Autobot insignia. And she will not fall in silence. "You took something that's mine, and I took something that's yours." Pipeline hissed.

The mech shoved his digit into the side of her helm, causing Pipeline to roar in pain. A panel opened up on his servo, showing the information loading. Everything that she gathered so far, will be in his possession now.

"Offlining you would be an easy way out. But...those who are offline will never come online again."

Through a couple minutes in silence, Pipeline could feel her mind was slowing down. But…the mech in front of her, could not hold his own anymore, and the droplets of his own tears erupted.

"Despair…so delicious, wouldn't you say?"

Pathetic, she'd say. But, when she thinks back about Pipelock, a lost mech with no name or place…it reminds her that this is worth it. Pipelock was a young mech who had nothing, and no one. Pipeline gave him all.

And Autobot's took him, and later paid the lost battle with his spark. As soon as the information was extracted, he would turn his servo into a blade.

"Wait." The femme pleaded. "...she called your name, when I offlined her. Hailblades." Without a second, Hailblades immediately finished her off. With her gone as well, Hailblades could finally break down.

The vortex would swirl into life, and Optimus would walk out from it, on his own. Hailblades was weeping in silence, corpse of Pipeline on the sand.

The leader would approach him, and slowly walk him back into the base, while Fowler arranged for his men to pick up the corpse of an alien, so no one runs into her, despite being in the middle of nowhere, near Utah.

Once he walked into base, Hailblades made it past others. "Hailblades." Optimus called softly, but the spy ignored him. Hyacintus was in medbay, with the doctor. The Cyberscorpion stood awkwardly, while the trio were bound to their humans.

"What happened?" Miko whispered to Jack, only to receive a silent scorn from Arcee. Optimus would turn to the Cyberscorpion, who had servos held close.

"I am sorry that you had to face the loss of our member." Optimus started. "However, we stand strong, even in these challenging times." Jack did not resonate with those words, and he could tell neither did Optimus.

"If you are willing to stand with Autobots, we will welcome you. If you seek isolation, we will not stop you." Cyerscorpions were extinct, and if they desired to avoid war, they had full right to do so.

"Was that…a Decepticon?" She asked, and Optimus shook his head. "Unaffiliated, old enemy. However, Decepticons are present on this planet as well."

That had taken some time for her to think, but in the end, she knew she couldn't do much alone anymore, not when she is stranded on this planet, without means to escape.

"Then…we will join." The Cyberscorpion finally answered. "Our name is Jitterbug."