In a past time before the humans ever met the Autobots, the Nemesis was flying into deep space as Starscream stood on the main deck with Soundwave by his side. Two Vehicons arrived while carrying an Autobot prisoner towards the air commander, and that prisoner was Arcee.
"They said it couldn't be done. The one called Arcee is too quick, too stealthy to be captured." Starscream said, smirking down at the female Autobot. "Well here you are, with a rare opportunity to make history." He added before gesturing to Soundwave, who displayed a red Cybertronian message on his screen. "You see, I have intercepted this encrypted Autobot signal. And if it's encrypted, it must be important. Decode it for me and I will see to it that you perish quickly."
Arcee only mumbled some words that Starscream couldn't make out.
"Speak up!" Starscream ordered. "I can't hear you when you whimper."
"Get…fragged." Arcee replied coldly.
"Perhaps Arcee will be more inclined to cooperate when it is not her own well-being at stake."
Just then, two Vehicons showed up on the main deck with their own prisoner. The two Vehicons dropped their prisoner next to Arcee, revealing him to be Cliffjumper.
"Arcee. Been a while." Cliffjumper greeted with a smile, while the female Autobot was a bit surprised.
"Give me the encryption code or I will add your comrade, Cliffjumper, to the multitude of Autobots bellow." Starscream ordered threateningly.
"Scrap him. I barely know the guy." Arcee said without a care in the world.
"Ouch. Glad I'm not the sensitive type." Cliffjumper joked.
The Nemesis' main screen started to display Cybertron in it's deceased and baron form for everyone on the main deck to see.
"Cybertron is little more than a graveyard now." Starscream said, turning to Arcee in a threatening way. "Give me the code!"
"I'm not afraid of you, Starscream." Arcee sneered with her eyes narrowed. "You're no Megatron."
Starscream shouted out furiously before he slashed his claws straight at Arcee, making everything go white.
In the present, Arcee snapped out of her little flashback as she was back at Autobot Base and saw Bulkhead laying on the ground with a weak groan. Miko marched up to him while the other Autobots were either watching or minding their own business.
"Three steps Bulkhead?" Miko questioned with a frown. "That's all you can manage?"
"I'm sorry, Miko. My legs still hurt." Bulkhead groaned as he got back up in a struggling way, still feeling weakened by the critical damage he received from Hardshell the other day.
"What did we talk about?" Miko asked with a smirk.
Bulkhead sighed, "No complaining," He answered.
"Exactly Now, try again." Miko told him. "Ten steps, this time."
As Bulkhead continued with his little exercise and the others watched, Optimus was busy working on decoding the Iacon database on the main console.
Elita walked up to Optimus with a concerned look. "I hope decoding the Iacon Database is going well then Bulkhead's recovery." She said to Optimus while looking at Bulkhead in concern.
"Slow but steady, Elita." Optimus said to her. "Even Metroplex can be at a similar pace."
"Fixit is decoding similar records, but even he is slow going since these are ancient Autobot records," Elita said with a sigh.
"Ugh, human technology." Ratchet muttered. "But your expertise in the field should provide any edge we need to beat the Decepticons at this game, Optimus."
"I fear their access to Cybertronian technology may provide them with an equal advantage." Optimus replied.
But then, everyone heard another crash noise and they saw that Bulkhead had collapsed onto the floor again. "Not good enough!" Miko said disapprovingly, "You have to come back stronger than before!"
Ratchet then approached Bulkhead. "Time for a break, Bulkhead." He told the dark-green Wrecker.
"A break?! You think a Cons are gonna give Bulkhead a break in the middle of a firefight?!" Miko questioned in disbelief as Ratchet supported Bulkhead.
"If you push a patient too far, too fast, you risk exacerbating their injuries." Ratchet said to her.
"But…" Miko tried to say.
"Bulkhead needs to rest." Ratchet firmly said as he guided Bulkhead to the medical bay as Miko groaned as Bumblebee drove up in front of her.
"Out of the way!" Miko snapped as Bumblebee flinched as the Autobots watched her go as Elita turn to Acree.
"She needs someone to talk to. And so does Grimlock after that little revenge stunt they pulled." Elita said with a concerned frown.
"Me?" Arcee questioned.
"You know what it's like when you worry or feel you're a danger to those you care about." Elita said to her as she placed a servo on Acree's shoulder. "And right now, two others are in need of an expert of this pain."
Acree looked down for a moment in thought.
Meanwhile Grimlock was on the roof of the base in his Dinobot form laying down. He had distant himself from the others in case his Beast Rage took over again. "I thought I had the beast in me under control." Grimlock muttered with a sad look. "I mean, sure, they were cons, but I almost fried Miko." He muttered before he heard sobbing sounds as he turned and saw Miko sitting on the other end of the base. "Miko?" He asked as Miko turned to him. "I didn't see you there."
"Sorry, forgot you were up here," Miko said, clearing her eyes.
"Huh, went up to get away from it all too?" Grimlock guessed, knowing the reason Miko was here.
"Yeah. And… I just wanted Bulkhead to get stronger." Miko added. "But I just feel like I'm making it worse."
"I know that feeling. I have to keep away from the other bot, so they won't get smashed." Grimlock said with a solemn look. "I can still feel the Insecticon and Hardshell's energon on my metal."
Soon, the two stood quiet as they look out to the desert, feeling disheartened before they heard footsteps. "Miko? Grimlock?" They turned and saw Arcee walking up to them.
"Oh, uh, hey, Acree." Miko said with a small wave. "We were just…"
"Aren't we a little close to the edge?" Acree asked the two.
"Heights don't scare me." Grimlock answered. "I've jumped off of higher places."
"Yeah, they don't scare me either." Miko added.
"Bulkhead's coming along just fine, thanks mostly to your efforts, Miko." Arcee said reassuringly. "But he needs friends right now, not a drill sergeant or a moping Dinobot."
"No offense, but we came up here for some privacy." Miko reminded her as she looked away.
"Yeah, we just need some alone time," Grimlock muttered while he kept his face straight.
"I understand what you're both going through." Arcee admitted in sympathy. "If you ever want someone to talk to-"
"We're fine. Okay." Miko said harshly. "We're not the ones Hardshell tried to scrap."
"And you're not the one who turned into a monster," Grimlock snapped.
Acree was quiet for a moment before she spoke. "Miko, Grimlock, it's rough when someone you care about gets hurt and or losing yourself to your anger. Closing yourself off from feeling and pushing others away won't help anyone." She said softly.
"Well, you would know, wouldn't you?" Miko questioned sarcastically, not knowing she opened an old wound.
"Yes. I would." Arcee replied while looking down in depression before turning her head.
This made Grimlock and Miko turn to her as they saw what she was looking as they saw the memorial ground of Cliffjumper's horn, realizing what Miko just said when Acree lost Cliffjumper when Starscream killed him while Grimlock was caught to speed of a fallen Autobot.
"Oh, dang…" Grimlock muttered in sympathy, seeing that Acree had gone through a similar outcome. "Sorry, about that, Acree."
"I didn't mean that." Miko said in guilt, forgetting about her loss of Cliffjumper.
"It's okay." Arcee said as she looked out into the horizon. "He's… been on my mind lately. After I lost my first partner, Tailgate, I pushed everyone away, even my old team, and worked as a solo agent, just so I could make sure I wouldn't get anyone else to lose their spark
until Cliffjumper came along."
"What was he like?" Grimlock wondered.
"Cliff was, quite the conversationalist." Acree said with a small smile at the memory of her chatty friend.
Arcee was seen inside a detention cell on the Nemesis before the doors opened, allowing two guards to toss Cliffjumper inside. The red Autobot groaned a bit as Arcee approached him.
"Cliffjumper?" Arcee asked, a little bit concerned. "Are you…?"
"I…I can't…I can't believe you actually cared." Cliffjumper chuckled, looking up at Arcee with a smile.
Arcee was surprised at first, but put on an annoyed frown as she backed away while Cliffjumper stood up. "The only thing I care about is whether you talked just now." Arcee muttered.
"You always this nice to your rescuers?" Cliffjumper asked jokingly, stretching his arms around before approaching the cell walls.
Arcee then walked up to Cliffjumper, who pounded the walls to inspect any weaknesses. "You didn't answer my question." The female Autobot reminded.
"I got bored with Starscream's little workout, so I idled my engines and fake shut down." Cliffjumper said. "Scream bought it."
"How did you wind up here?" Arcee asked.
"Intercepted some chatter about a Decepticon operation on the old home planet. So, I follow the trail and find Starscream shipping massive amounts of Energon here to Cybertron." Cliffjumper explained. "What's your story?"
"Same." Arcee said simply.
"You're quite the conversationalist," Cliffjumper commented, still keeping on his signature smile while Arcee leaned back.
On the bridge of the Nemesis, Starscream groaned in frustration with Soundwave behind him. "Ugh, I've tried every interrogation technique and nothing is working!" Starscream scowled. "I would just eliminate them, but the code they carry is too valuable. If only I could break them open and just take it."
Soundwave said nothing as he turned to him and pointed down to Cybertron, which Starscream got what he meant as he frowned. "No, I will not take the prisoners to the surface." Starscream argued as he held a slight grudge against the Decepticon they were talking about. "Why should I let him have all the glory?"
"The code they carry is too valuable." Soundwave said with a recorded message of Starscream.
"Alright. Since I must deliver the Energon to him anyway." Starscream said in defeat.
On Cybertron's surface, Starscream and a bunch of Vehicons were seen walking through the ruins of their home planet with Arcee, Cliffjumper and some crates of Energon in tow.
"So this is Kaon, Huh? Love what you Decepticons have done with the place." Cliffjumper said, wanting to lighten things up. "The ruins are especially picturesque."
"Silence!" Starscream ordered in irritation, causing a Vehicon to shove Cliffjumper from behind.
Starscream and his two Autobot prisoners soon arrived in some kind of laboratory beneath the city of Kaon.
"Here we are." Starscream said.
Arcee and Cliffjumper looked down at a nearby table and saw a bunch of deadly tools on it, meaning that whoever works down here was a really dangerous individual.
"That's not a good sign." Cliffjumper muttered worriedly.
"Since I could not compel you to surrender the encryption code, I'm forced to introduce you to someone who's methods are a little more…persuasive." Starscream told the Autobots, holding an Energon taser.
Just then, Arcee and Cliffjumper began to hear some loud footsteps from behind and they turned around to see a large Cybertronian walking his way into the lab from the shadows. When the new Decepticon arrived, he was shown to be purple, had tank-like rails on the back of his legs, a long spinal belt that connects from his back to a big cannon that serves as his left hand, and a single red eye on his head.
"We may be in a little more trouble than I thought." Cliffjumper admitted.
"Autobot, say hello to Shockwave." Starscream introduced as the one-eyed Decepticon stared down at them.
Later on, Arcee and Cliffjumper were hooked up to a lab table separately as Shockwave was working to extract the encryption code from them, while Starscream simply walked around casually.
"Delivering a mountain of Energon, intercepting an encrypted Autobot communique and capturing two key prisoners is impressive, I admit. But Lord Megatron expects nothing less from his first lieu-" Starscream stopped talking when he saw Shockwave staring at him. "I should let you work, right? No doubt you are trying to concentrate. Carry on."
Shockwave grabbed a Cortical Psychic Patch cable and connected one end to the back of his head. While the Decepticons weren't looking, Arcee began using her orange wrist piece to cut through her restraint and Cliffjumper saw this.
"Umm, Shockwave, are you certain you can extract the decryption code without first nullifying our subjects' neural net?" Starscream asked doubtfully, causing the one-eyed Decepticon to get closer in his face.
"I invented the Cortical Psychic Patch. I am familiar with it's idiosyncrasies." Shockwave replied, walking away.
"Eh…of course you are." Starscream stuttered.
Shockwave started approaching Arcee with the other end of the Cortical Psychic Patch wire in his hand.
"Keep that thing away from me, you one-eyed freak!" Arcee shouted.
"Leave her alone! Use it on me!" Cliffjumper called out.
"Do not worry. If her mind does not survive the procedure, you will be next." Shockwave said.
He used his cannon to hold Arcee's head still and connected the Cortical Psychic Patch cable to her head, making her gasp. Cliffjumper struggled to free himself as Arcee remained still and a bunch of Cybertronian data started appearing on a monitor, which Starscream immediately noticed.
"Ah, the code." Starscream said with a pleased smile.
When Shockwave removed the cable from Arcee's head, the female Autobot muttered in pain and laid motionlessly in her position.
"Arcee! Arcee! I'll scrap you both!" Cliffjumper yelled angrily.
"Shut up! I'm trying to listen." Starscream replied.
The encrypted code then started to play a message for everyone in the lab to hear.
"This is Optimus Prime. To all surviving Autobots who hear this message, I ask you to join me in a remote corner of the universe, on a small planet rich with Energon." Optimus' voice said on the monitor. "I have reason to believe this world will soon become a new target of Decepticon conquest. Our team is small, but strong. Join me at these coordinates so that we might plan our resistance. Safe journeys."
While Starscream and Shockwave listened to the message, Cliffjumper saw that Arcee was awake and faking being unconscious while continuing to break through her restraints.
"Ah, brilliant! Not only do we know where to find Optimus Prime, but he's begging for help. Now is the time to strike." Starscream declared before he activated his com-link. "Thundercracker, prepare the Nemesis for galactic travel. We finally know where to find Optimus Prime and his Autobot followers."
"Sure thing, Starscream." Thundercracker replied.
Shockwave turned his attention to Cliffjumper and approached the red Autobot.
"You are no longer of use." Shockwave declared as he aimed his cannon at Cliffjumper.
"Hey, Scream. Curious, you always let other Cons do your dirty work?" Cliffjumper asked tauntingly, which instantly got the air commander's attention.
"Shockwave, you already disposed of one of my prisoners." Starscream told the one-eyed Decepticon. "Cliffjumper is mine."
"Your reasoning is hardly logical. But indulge yourself." Shockwave said before he left the lab, with two Vehicons following him.
"What do you think, Cliffjumper? Plenty to choose from here." Starscream sneered, smirking deviously as he picked up a tool. "Shall we go with precise dissection or blunt force?"
Cliffjumper looked to his side and saw that Arcee had finally gotten her left arm free, knowing he needed to distract Starscream for just a little bit longer.
"Your choice, Scream. Whatever you pick, I'm just gonna end up using it on you." Cliffjumper proclaimed.
"Very well." Starscream said before he approached Cliffjumper and bared his claws at him. "Why don't we do this the old-fashioned way?"
But before he could kill Cliffjumper, Arcee jumped at Starscream from behind and arm-pinned him before kneeing him in the face. Arcee then knocked Starscream into the lab table and restrained him before he could do anything.
"No! No!" Starscream shouted.
Arcee walked up to Cliffjumper and deactivated his restraints.
"Thanks for the save." Cliffjumper said before Arcee turned her attention back to Starscream.
"Your turn, Starscream. What's with all the Energon?" Arcee questioned.
"As if I would tell you." Starscream retorted.
"Talk, or you're a science experiment. I'm not kidding!" Arcee said with a stern glare, walking towards the lab table.
"You should probably tell her something. I'm not sure how long I can hold her back." Cliffjumper admitted as he leaned against the table Starscream was on.
"I'm no expert with this, but I hear one slip-up can fry a neural net." Arcee explained threateningly, holding the Cortical Psychic Patch cable as Starscream squirmed nervously.
"Shockwave! He's the one you want!" Starscream stated. "He's building a Space Bridge beneath Kaon."
"Impossible. Space Bridge technology's been lost for mega-cycles." Arcee said in disbelief.
"And yet, he managed. Shockwave never left Cybertron precisely so he could scavenge parts and reverse engineer Space Bridge mechanics." Starscream explained.
"And you just delivered all the Energon he needs to power it up." Cliffjumper finished.
"Well, it often pains me, I try to be a team player." Starscream admitted, until Arcee knocked him out and began walking away.
"You going somewhere?" Cliffjumper asked.
"To take down a Space Bridge." Arcee declared.
"Without me?" Cliffjumper questioned.
"This will require stealth, not chatter." Arcee said, still not putting up with his talkative personality.
"Oh, you mean the chatter that distracted Starscream long enough for you to free yourself." Cliffjumper reminded her with a smile.
"…Just try not to slow me down." Arcee replied begrudgingly.
Once they were out of Shockwave's lab, Arcee and Cliffjumper began running through the underground facility to find the Space Bridge.
"You know where you're going?" Cliffjumper asked.
"My unit used these tunnels during the war. They're part of old Cybertron." Arcee said.
The two of them made a right turn and they came up to a pile of wreckage before climbing over it. "The sooner we blow the Bridge, the sooner we join up with Optimus Prime." Cliffjumper proclaimed.
"Give him my regards." Arcee replied as they made it to the other side.
"Did you not hear Prime's message? He needs us." Cliffjumper said.
"Teamwork isn't my thing. After we finish this, you and I go our separate ways." Arcee told him, not looking back.
"Whatever you say, partner." Cliffjumper commented, making Arcee immediately turn around.
"Let's get one thing straight, you are not my partner." Arcee stated with a stern glare, which caused Cliffjumper to drop his playful attitude.
"Arcee, I know it's rough. I really do." Cliffjumper said, more sincere this time.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Arcee replied, starting to walk away.
"Tailgate." Cliffjumper told her, making Arcee stop in her tracks and remember when her old partner was slaughtered by Airachnid.
Sometime back, Acree was captured and tortured by Airachnid before Tailgate was brought in as Acree watched as her former partner got killed by one of Airachnid's pincers while some Energon spilled into the wall.
"Tailgate!" Acree cried out in pure despair.
"Closing yourself off from feeling and pushing others away won't help anyone." Cliffjumper said as Arcee just stood there with a solemn look at the memory of her partner.
Back in the present Arcee still had her head down at the surprising wisdom in Cliffjumper, "Wow. That's deep." Grimlock muttered.
"And familiar." Miko said with a small smile.
"Good advice is good advice." Acree said with a shrug.
"So, we gotta know, what happened next?" Miko asked.
"Yeah, what did you and Cliffjumper do next when you found Shockwave's Space Bridge?" Grimlock spoke next, which made Acree smiled in response.
Back in the past at Cybertron's underground area, two Vehicons were guarding the door to a large station room before they got taken out by Arcee and Cliffjumper, who dragged them behind the walls. Arcee and Cliffjumper ran into the room and they got behind some cover, looking ahead to see a fully-activated Space Bridge in the distance.
"Shockwave's latest work of art." Arcee whispered.
"Already fuelled and ready to rip." Cliffjumper added before spotting something near the Space Bridge. "Arcee, look familiar?"
Arcee followed his gaze and saw two Vehicons working at an control terminal, which displayed a familiar set of coordinates on Earth.
"The coordinates Optimus provided. They're being used to target the Space Bridge." Arcee said.
"Which means the Cons will ambush Optimus and his team before any Autobot reinforcements can get there." Cliffjumper realised as they both got lower in their cover.
"If the Cons scorch Optimus, the war is as good as over." Arcee told the red Autobot.
"We can fix that." Cliffjumper assured, shifting his hand into a blaster.
"No. We don't have the ordinance to blow the Bridge." Arcee replied. "I'll have to sabotage the control systems."
"What about access? You're just gonna walk up and ask for permission?" Cliffjumper asked.
"No. You are." Arcee answered, much to Cliffjumper's surprise.
The two Vehicons were still working at the control terminal, until someone arrived to interrupt their work.
"Uh, excuse me." Cliffjumper called as he walked down the ramp, earning the Vehicons' attention. "I got separated from the tour group. Does anyone know where I can find the Decepticon base?"
The Vehicons immediately brought out their blasters and approached the red Autobot.
"Wow! Didn't Commander Starscream tell ya? I'm on your side now." Cliffjumper announced.
The two Vehicons looked at each other in confusion, while Arcee secretly got behind them and made her way to the control console before typing some buttons on it.
"That coward, Optimus Prime, turned tail and ran. Left the rest of us Autobots to fend for ourselves. So much for camaraderie, Huh?" Cliffjumper explained. "Figured I'd rather be on the winning team, so I took Starscream up on his offer. Imagine the look on Prime's face when it starts raining Decepticons, me with them."
The Vehicons still had their blasters aimed at him, finding it very hard to believe what he said.
"Really. I know all about Starscream's plan. We can all get along, now." Cliffjumper told them.
But then, the Vehicons looked behind Cliffjumper and lowered their weapons, making him fell uncomfortably suspicious.
"There's someone behind me, isn't there?" Cliffjumper asked before he turned around to see Shockwave.
"Only Starscream could fail to dispose of a helpless captive." Shockwave proclaimed.
However, everyone started to see the Space Bridge build up more energy inside and it made an loud and strange noise while Arcee kept sabotaging it from the control terminal.
"Uh, is it supposed to sound like that?" Cliffjumper questioned, until Shockwave immediately bashed him away and rushed towards Arcee.
"Interloper!" Shockwave shouted, grabbing Arcee and tossing her away as she nearly fell off the platform. "You have overridden the Energon containment protocols, haven't you? Clever, but not irreversible."
As Shockwave worked at the console to get the Space Bridge working properly, the two Vehicons tried keeping Cliffjumper pinned. But the red Autobot managed to push one of them away and kicked the other one before managing to get up. Cliffjumper then managed to take them both out in hand-to-hand combat before he used another as a shield against a fourth Vehicon, taking them out in seconds. He turned his attention to Shockwave and fired his blaster at the control terminal, destroying it. Shockwave began walking towards Cliffjumper as his blaster shots had little effect on him, until Cliffjumper jumped up and kicked down on Shockwave. When he landed on the other side, Cliffjumper stepped back and avoided some physical attacks from Shockwave before swiping the one-eyed Decepticon off his feet and aiming his blaster at him. But then, Shockwave knocked Cliffjumper away and two Vehicons stomped towards him, until Arcee shot them with her blasters. More Vehicons showed up to fire at Arcee, who shot one of them down and destroyed the other three with her wrist blades. Arcee then noticed Shockwave aiming his cannon at Cliffjumper.
"There is more than one way to nullify a neural net." Shockwave said.
"Not this time." Arcee stated before she fired her blaster at the ceiling above them.
The rubble came crashing down and Cliffjumper rolled out of the way, causing Shockwave to be buried in a pile of scrap.
"Cliff?" Arcee asked in concern, rushing up to Cliffjumper and helping him up.
"I knew you cared." Cliffjumper quipped.
Just then, Starscream arrived with two Vehicons by his side. "It appears Shockwave's arrogance was his undoing. Destroy them!" Starscream ordered.
The Vehicons fired their blasters and Arcee and Cliffjumper quickly took cover behind some of the rubble. Starscream then noticed the Space Bridge was sparking out energy to show it was overloading.
"Autobots, whatever you did to the Space Bridge, undo it now!" Starscream called out.
"They should really stop shooting at us if they want our help." Cliffjumper said to Arcee before they ducked down. "Seeing as our exit is blocked and we have an open Space Bridge portal currently set for Prime's location…you with me?"
Cliffjumper held his hand out for Arcee and the female Autobot stared quietly at him, while he gave her a confident smile. Arcee then accepted Cliffjumper's hand as Starscream and the Vehicons saw the Space Bridge was reaching its energy limits.
"The Space Bridge! It's going to blow!" Starscream exclaimed as he ran away.
Arcee and Cliffjumper ran straight into the Space Bridge, but the rubble they left behind began to move and Shockwave stood out of it.
Inside the Space Bridge portal, Arcee and Cliffjumper were running straight towards the other end. But then, a powerful blaster shot landed in front of them and they quickly stopped before they saw Shockwave walking up to them and firing another blast.
"Give him everything you've got!" Cliffjumper stated.
He and Arcee fired their blasters at Shockwave, who wasn't damaged at all and fired another shot that sent both of them falling against the Space Bridge surface. Arcee looked back to see Cliffjumper laying on the floor and she glared at Shockwave, who was still advancing towards them. Cliffjumper saw Arcee standing in front of him and facing Shockwave determinedly before the one-eyed Decepticon fired his cannon at her. But then, Arcee leaned to the side and avoided the laser shot, firing her blaster and shooting Shockwave straight in his eye while causing him to shout out in pain.
"Woo! Bullseye!" Cliffjumper cheered before he and Arcee made a run for the Space Bridge exit.
Shockwave was now blinded with his eye destroyed and he fired his cannon aimlessly, causing a bunch of energy explosions to set off around the Space Bridge with him, Arcee and Cliffjumper still in it.
On Earth, the Space Bridge appeared in the middle of a badlands and Arcee and Cliffjumper fell out of it. The Space Bridge then exploded and it faded away, while Arcee and Cliffjumper simply laid on the ground.
"Think Shockwave survived?" Arcee asked without opening her eyes.
"Hope so. I want a rematch." Cliffjumper replied with a chuckle.
He began to stand back up while groaning a bit before Arcee approached him.
"Let's find Optimus…partner," Arcee said, kindly offering her hand to Cliffjumper.
Cliffjumper was pleased to know that he and Arcee had a partnership now and he accepted her hand, standing back up and walking through the badlands with her.
"Heheh, rich with Energon, Huh? Hope the whole rock doesn't look like this." Cliffjumper said while observing their surroundings. "Reminds me of the time I was lost in the Sea of Rust back on Cybertron. Except I was separated from my unit with absolutely no one to talk to."
"Talk at?" Arcee questioned jokingly.
"Admit it, you love the company," Cliffjumper replied as the two continued their trek to find Optimus.
Back in the present, Arcee, Miko and Grimlock looked on to the horizon while watching the sunset. "Hmm, funny. At first I didn't think I'd get used to Cliff's constant chatter." Acree said with a slight chuckle before she looked down in sadness. "Now, there's nothing louder to me than the silence." She added as Grimlock and Miko looked at her in sympathy.
"Well, I know that feeling way too well." Grimlock said with a frown. "To tell you the truth, I used to have a team during the war, but it wasn't Autobots or Decepticons."
"Really?" Miko asked in surprise, which got Acree's attention.
"You were part of a team?" Acree asked.
"Well, not part, more like a leader." Grimlock said with a sad look, which surprised the two. "Yeah, well, turns out, during the war, there were others like me. Dinobots. We found each other and were fighting off some fighters in the war while helping either side just to stay neutral and love to smash things, because, well, that's what we do."
"Cool." Miko said with a small smile.
"Sure it was, but then, bad stuff happened and…" Grimlock said as he began to give a sad look again. "I never saw them again."
Miko and Arcee gave him sympathetic looks before Miko placed a hand on the Dinobot, making him turn to her, "I'm sure they're proud you're still smashing up bad guys." Miko said softly.
"And that you are helping the Autobots in the war." Acree added with a small smile, which made Grimlock smile softly.
"And I'm sure Cliffjumper's glad you're still smashing up cons too." Grimlock added as Acree nodded softly as the three continued to look out to the sunset while still behind Cliffjumper's memorial, honoring his memories to never close off your feelings or push away others who are there for you.
And with that another Chapter is complete.
Arcee shares her past with Miko and Grimlock, teaching them hiding your feelings and pushing others away is no way of life.
And Grimlock admits he used to be on a team of other Dinobots. Don't worry though, I'm not talking about Sludge, Snarl, Slug, and Swoop, they're still alive just scattered across the stars.
Will I add them or not, well I feel like I'm really pushing it with how many Bots and Cons are being added. Fortunately though I've already decided one which next few bots or cons I'll add, now some of you may be disappointed while others will be elated but in the end I feel like the story is in a good place.
Stay tuned, because soon the Autobots discover an escape pod carrying three young Cybertronians, two of which are a well known pair in "New Recruits".