2. All Decepticons must be disarmed and/or have their weapons neutralised
"But they're construction tools," Scavenger protested.
"Both of you fire your drill bits in combat," Arcee rebutted, though it was Bonecrusher she was looking at, determined not to drop her optics before his glower.
Scrapper, of course, stepped in. "Oh, no, these are construction-grade drill bits. Ballistic-grade drill bits are totally different!"
Arcee was beginning to realise that the next few days were going to be a lot more tedious than she had bargained for. On the plus side, Rodimus would be returning to Iacon just as soon as the location for the crypt was agreed. Given the choice between arguing with Constructicons and figuring out where she stood with her recruit-barracks-sweetheart-turned-Autobot-leader, she'd take the Constructicons every time.
"Fine, I'll allow the drill bits, but why does Bonecrusher need to carry concussion bombs?"
Said Constructicon loomed over her. "Demolitions."
She met him glare for glare. "Hand them over. If you need to blow something up, let me know and I'll issue one for a supervised detonation—subject to approval."
Bonecrusher was clearly not in support of a ceasefire. His optics tracked over to Scrapper, who shrugged, and then Springer, who crossed his arms, before finally, begrudgingly, he pulled out a cluster of bombs and passed them to Arcee.
"OK, Scavenger and Bonecrusher are clear to go. The other Autobots will be on hand should you need anything."
Springer stood aside, allowing the two named Constructicons to transform and pass through the gate. Soundwave and his cassettes were waiting, and they moved slowly in the wake of the two vehicles as they surveyed the city—save for Rumble who lingered by the gate, scowling at Wheelie who was scowling right back. That wasn't going to end well, but Arcee still had another Constructicon to deal with; Springer could keep Wheelie from getting himself into a scrap.
She turned to Long Haul and found herself faced with Scrapper.
"Hey, Beauty-bot, did you know Hook's a surgeon as well as an architect? If you're interested, he could give you some great mods… they might get in the way of your transformation, but you'd look amazing laid out on somebody's hood..."
Oh, no. Mortification flooded Arcee, only marginally offset by the fact that Scrapper was totally insincere. She had been hit on enough times to know the difference between interest and provocation. Scrapper was pushing buttons to see what would happen.
She pulled up Long Haul's specs on her datapad and sidestepped Scrapper to look over the other Constructicon, while setting her vocal tone to 'automatic professional courtesy': "Is this your way of pointing out that we omitted a sexual harassment clause in the terms and conditions?"
"We're an asexual species, lady-bot."
"It's the impact not the intent," she answered, as absently as possible.
Scrapper fell silent, looking over her shoulder at Springer, and Arcee prayed to Vector Sigma that the triple-changer would not get involved. As laid back as he was, Springer was never afraid to escalate a situation, and she'd prefer to keep her battles to a scale where she could fight them herself.
Ignoring both of them, she walked around Long Haul. Somewhere around here was a change of subject… Ah.
"Right, care to tell me why your project needs a—" she ostentatiously checked her pad, "—dual heat-seeking missile launcher?"
Scrapper's attention snapped back to her, his faceplate dropping before he scowled at his team-member. "Long Haul, what the Pit were you thinking bringing that with you?"
Long Haul glared at him for a moment before sulkily lowering his optic band. "But without it, I'm just a dump truck!"
"Yes!" Scrapper hissed. "For the next few days, you are just a dump truck. We are not here to fight." Finally, he sounded sincere. "Drop it. It's going back to the ship as soon as Hook sends the lift back."
Long Haul complied, but before Arcee could give his clearance, yelling broke out from the other side of the gate. They all turned to see Wheelie and Rumble rolling on the ground, throwing punches at each other.
Springer yanked Wheelie out of the fray by the scruff of his neck. "I'd say you guys are supposed to talk through your issues, but maybe it's best if we just slap a mutual restraining order on you both!"
"Soundwave," Scrapper snapped aloud to his com-link. "Either get your brat disciplined or put him away."
It seemed that the Autobots weren't the only ones with their hands full. Arcee chose to take that as a positive.