'Thoughts'

Transitions

Commlink

"Speech"


2 Days Later…

Raf was busy typing away on his computer while Miko was reminiscing with her old partner and their newest rendition to their ever-growing family of misfits. "I got up and pressed a command on the console, then the Jackhammer rose and fired a missile straight into that ugly bug's grill and bang! No more Hardshell."

Hound's optic ridges raised in shock as he stared at this tiny organic that sat on Bulk's shoulder. "That really happened?" Hound remarked in disbelief.

Wheeljack came over and lightly punched Hound in the arm. "That's the day she became an honorary Wrecker; she can scrap with the best of us."

Hound looked over at Wheeljack then back towards Bulk and watched the green wrecker nod his head slowly. Hound wondered what else the other 'humans' had done to gain the respect of Team Prime.

While the Wreckers continued retelling many of their notorious stories to their newcomer, their comms went off simultaneously. "All Autobots," Ratchet's voice filled their ears, "Report to the command center.

The wreckers simply stayed put as they had already been in the mentioned location and watched as the other teams appeared.

Ratchet looked around at everyone that was present except for one. "Where's Arcee?"

Chromia stepped forward to answer, "She's out on a drive."

"And how long until she gets here?" Ratchet impatiently remarked.

Just then the gathered teams could hear an engine approaching from the base's entrance. They all watched as Arcee sped inside and swiftly transformed.

Arcee slowly made her way over to her sister's side before looking around at everyone's expression and finally returning her focus back on Ratchet. "So why are we here?" She blankly stated.

Ratchet remained still, simply pondering over Arcee's frequent outings and regarding them with no interest. "We are here in order to discuss a recent finding," Ratchet stated, "One worth its weight in energon."

He simply pressed a button on his console as a picture popped up. "This is one of M.E.C.H's research facilities. Thanks to Fowler we were able to learn that nearby its location is a fairly untouched energon mine."

The autobots analyzed the picture as Ratchet briefed their mission. "Their forces appear to be light, possibly due to their false belief of secrecy and security"

'Both of which are going to disappear' Arcee thought.

"I'm going to entrust this mission to Bravo," Ratchet announced, "If there are any problems once the mission begins," He looked towards Bee and his team, "Contact base and let us know of your situation." Bee nodded as Ratchet turned his attention elsewhere.

"As for our communications," Ratchet stated, "Raf will be the one contacted when you need the ground bridge."

Bee looked back towards Raf who was still typing on his computer barely registering his position with a simple grunt. The sight was not completely new to Bee as he had seen it sometimes before, however, it was only when Raf was either coping with stress or wanted privacy.

Bee then looked towards his two teammates who both looked to him in anticipation. "Windblade, you're new to this so I want you to stick to scouting in the air." Windblade nodded as she thought of the excitement of her first mission. "Smokescreen, you and I will take the ground, I'll focus on the base while you cover me and Windblade" Smokescreen looked towards Windblade then back at Bee and nodded with a look of determination.

"We'll be making our approach at night and the terrain consists mainly of grasslands with pockets of trees nearby, so prepare to stick to the shadows." Bumblebee finished.

With his team now at an equal understanding of their positions and what to expect, Bee was ready to have his mettle tested.

30 Minutes Later…

Bee's team was slowly making their way to the research facility. With a simple servo signal at Bee's discretion, Windblade transformed into her alt mode and flew into the sky. She simultaneously activated her cloaking device which made her blend into the sky and invisible to the naked eye.

Smokescreen watched her fly as he followed Bee closely. "So, what do you think of the shinies?"

Bee's optics widened with confusion as he continued to push on. "Shinies?"

"Yeah, they don't have experience, fresh paint with no battle damage, Shinies." Smokescreen replied.

"Well, don't forget you were a shiny not long ago." Bumblebee said haphazardly.

"I know, but what do you think of them?" Smokescreen asked as he tried to feint his offended pride.

"Well assuming they do a good enough job following orders, hopefully they turn out like you did." Bee remarked.

Smokescreen taken aback by the compliment looked towards Windblade. "So, what's your take on our teammate?" he stated as he looked back at Bee.

"Well for starters, she flies," Bee started, "Big bonus on scouting and the like with the cloak tech and what not."

"Fair point." Smokescreen finished as they came across a cliff top that had an overview of the base.

Bee looked out at the base before lifting his servo to the right side of his helm. "Windblade, do you read me?"

"Read you loud and clear sir" Windblade stated as she began to hover over the base.

"What can you tell us about the base from your position?"

"Well…" Windblade stated anxiously, "Ratchet may have been wrong about their 'light' forces."

"Alright then, keep me posted on any new changes." Bumblebee stated before turning to Smokescreen with a concerned expression.

Smokescreen noticed Bee's change in posture. "What's going on Bee?"

"Apparently there's an increased number of personnel we weren't informed about."

"Seeing as we're just scouting for now, I'd assume that's good intel?" Smokescreen's attempt to render the sudden info useful was drowned out by Bee's curiosity.

"While you are not wrong Smokescreen, there must be a reason for their sudden reinforcements." Bumblebee's optics widened slightly, "And there is only one plausible reason for them to reinforce this base."

Smokescreen's face twisted in confusion as he tried to figure what Bee was saying when all of a sudden, the sounds of a gun fight broke out and overtook his audio receptors.

The two scouts both looked over towards the base and heard bullets fly and small explosives go off. Bee was quick to try and understand what was happening as he pressed his servo to the right of his helm. "Windblade, what's happening over there?"

Windblade's voice came over in a flurry of confusion and excitement at the sight below her. "Sir, there appears to be a group dressed in a mix of greens and blacks invading the M.E.C.H. base."

"Is there any recognizable markings or insignias on their uniforms?" Bee looked over towards the base as the fight raged on.

"No sir, just a dark mix of colors, no recog-" Windblade's commlink buzzed as it went to static.

"Windblade?" Bee looked on at the fight before him.

Smokescreen was looking over Bee's shoulder then spotted something in the sky. Quickly tapping on Bee's shoulder, Smokescreen pointed at what he was witnessing.

Above the M.E.C.H. research facility, the two autobots watched as Windblade was knocked out of the sky by a tossed log and sent crashing down towards the far side of the base. They transformed as they started making their way to Windblade's crash site.

Meanwhile with Windblade…

"Bumblebee, do you read me?" Windblade stammered as she tried to gain control of her falling. "Smokescreen, are you there?"

She continued to perilously fall to earth and crash onto a small grass patch a decent distance away from M.E.C.H's established base.

A few disorienting moments later, Windblade awoke and transformed into her bipedal mode. Reaching for her head in order to steady herself, she began to look around for anything or anyone she knew.

A twig snapped and alerted her to look towards the direction of the base. Windblade's mouth hung open at the sight before her.

A mech clad in black, slim limbs like Arcee's, with a decently sized chest that resembled Bee's own frame. Along the arms were thick lines of blue that ended with a white accent around the wrists. He stood around the height of Ratchet. The helm was worn similar to a medieval knight with slim horns forming an almost crown paired with an open face and thin mask over the mouth. The eyes of the mech swirled in red and blue with a bright white pupil in the center.

Windblade got into a defensive position as she eyed up her chances against this newcomer. The mech responded by simply staring and waiting for her to make the first move.

"So, the autobots have gained some fresh metal huh?" The mech spoke in a deep broken voice with an inquisitive tone.

"What's it to you?" Windblade spat back, slightly startled by the mech's overall lack of movement.

The mech tilted his head, analyzing the femme in front of him before responding, "Simply curious as to why, what purpose do they have for sending out lambs to the slaughter?"

Windblade responded to the pointed threat by pulling her signature sword out and steadying her mind. "If you think this fight is going to be that easy, then you're mistaken."

The dark mech straightened himself up, reached over with his right hand to a handle on the left of his hip. He pulled a thin but sturdy looking saber from its hilt and stood ready to fight.

Windblade looked towards the mech's weapon and noticed its rather intricate design. The blade shined as if made of silver and an intricate wing pattern was embedded into the blade. The hilt was blackened, almost like it was burnt, and the color faded into orange as the color went down the handle. The hilt also functioned as a handguard that curved around the handle and ended at the pommel.

The mech stared at his opponent with anticipation boiling away. "So, femmes first or shall I start this off?"

They both got into an offensive position before dashing towards one another, sword clashing against saber as the mech simply parried Windblade's attacks with his own flourishes. During one of her attacks, Windblade noticed the bot only used one hand during the encounter, a sign of his strength as he seemed to only be testing her.

Windblade then broke off of their clash, lifted herself into the air using her jets, and flew towards her opponent. She lifted her legs sideways as she planned to deliver a boosted dropkick. The mech simply turned slightly and lifted his left arm in preparation.

Her kick landed, causing a small shockwave across their battleground, and sent the mech flying away. However, the mech stuck his saber into the ground and knelt on the ground bracing himself against the force and knockback of the kick.

Windblade's optics went wide as she witnessed the mech slowly stand and draw his saber once more. Before she could move, the mech dashed at her causing her to raise her sword for defense.

The mech swung once while Windblade blocked it. "You 'bots must think you're so strong." He swung again forcing Windblade to remain where she was. "But in the end, you will all fall." He delivered a heavy strike on Windblade's sword, causing her to stumble backwards and lose her weapon as she fell down.

The mech stood over her, his blade pointed directly at her neck ready to slice it clean open. She stared at the mech waiting for his next move.

"However," The mech spoke as his chest opened. A chain flew out and wrapped around the mech's own neck before something flew out and landed on his outstretched arm.

Windblade looked at this being that had appeared with utter confusion and building anger. She studied the outfit that consisted of a jacket with darkened mixes of blue and black, red strips went down the sleeves and center of his chest partnered by pants that were straight black and had similar stripes down the sides. Paired with a full-face mask that had a small slit where the eyes were. He wore weapons at his side, noting the chained Kamas around his forearms and waste combined with pouches of random equipment.

He walked down the mech's now eerily stationary arm before stopping just before the tip of the blade. Now staring the femme in the eyes, he spoke with an almost identical voice to the mech, "I don't plan on ending you here."

Windblade's optics narrowed at the assumed organic. "Then what do you want?"

In response the organic grabbed a Kama from his hip and slashed her face, causing energon to slowly leak. Windblade fell back and reached for her face to protect it. "I'm here to test some of the new metal and finish off those that don't belong."

"We are Killer Informants Forged Over Rebellion," the human said, "But you can simply remember us as K.I.F.O.R."

The human walked back up the arm and jumped back into the mech's chest before it swiftly closed up. The mech looked back towards Windblade, raising his saber before looking somewhere behind her.

In the distance she heard two distinct engines speeding closer every second. The mech swiftly sheathed his saber before he turned around and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of trees and foliage.

Just as Windblade had lost sight of the mech, Smokescreen and Bumblebee finally arrived and quickly went to assist their fallen comrade. By holding her arms around their necks, Bee and Smoke helped Windblade to her pedes.

Bumblebee raised his servo to the right of his helm. "Raf, we need a ground bridge." He paused before looking at Windblade. "And prep the med bay."

Once Bee finished his transmission, a swirl of green, purple and blue appeared in front of the trio, allowing them to walk through and return to base.

Upon their arrival the team is welcomed back by Ratchet, Knockout, Bulkhead, Miko, Raf, Arcee and Chromia. As the team walked in Knockout stepped forward to assist Windblade to a nearby crate and allow Bee and Smokescreen to debrief the group.

"We'll need to get that scrape fixed," Knockout began analyzing any surface damage Windblade received as he set her to sit on a crate of resources, "Remain here while I go fetch some equipment."

"Understood, thanks doc." Windblade replied, grateful that Knockout's constant need for a shiny finish made him an expert at many medical practices.

Knockout swiftly walked away as he relished in the recognition.

"Now then…" Ratchet began as he turned to look at Bee, "What exactly happened out there?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure." Bee remarked as he tried to remember the crazed situation. "All I know is that there's a new faction at play here, one that doesn't like M.E.C.H much."

"Perhaps there's finally an ally we can rely on then." Bulkhead chuckled out at the idea of M.E.C.H being against two enemy factions.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Windblade replied.

Everyone turned to look at her as she stared down Bulkhead.

"And why not?" Arcee stated rather coldly.

Windblade pointed to her face. "This was from their 'leader' if that's what he was."

"But they were all humans?" Smokescreen pointed out, "How did a human manage that?"

Windblade looked around at the now perplexed autobots as they waited for her explanation. "There's a… mech…? With them. One that allows a human to fit inside the chest plating."

The bots looked at one another as Knockout walked in with a bag of medical equipment. Windblade continued her explanation as Knockout began setting up his tools.

"The mech defeated me, a result of his strength with a saber." She remarked, "The human stepped out and walked along the mech's arm towards me, before slashing me with a Kama he had."

Chromia looked at Windblade in the optics before asking a very needed question, "Do you happen to remember what they looked like or what they had?"

Windblade looked back towards Chromia before giving her descriptions, "The mech was black all around except for blue lines down his arms and cuffs of white around the wrists." She looked towards the rest of the team before continuing, "The human had a jacket of blue and black, black pants, red stripes down the arms, and a black mask with a small slit where the eyes should be"

Knockout looked over concernedly towards Windblade, "What exactly did I miss?"

Bumblebee tried to answer his confusion, "There's a human organization that has a mech that can house a human inside, allowing the human to pilot the mech."

Knockout tilted his head while looking towards Bee. "You mean like Silas and Breakdown?"

Arcee looked towards Knockout with a deadly stare, "What do you mean Silas and Breakdown."

Knockout waved his hand, "M.E.C.H. tried to pair a human and a cybertronian, the experiment worked by placing Silas in Breakdown's body." Knockout raised his servo to his chin as he contemplated the situation.

"And he was able to leave the body?" Bee asked as Knockout slowly lowered his hand.

"No, he was practically stuck inside," Knockout stated as he looked towards Windblade, "Did you happen to get a sample?"

"No," Windblade stated, "Didn't realize that would be something we needed at the time."

"Next time please do," Knockout said as he reached for a tool, "I may be able to study how the mech functions."

"I did get a name though," Windblade started abruptly, "Regarding this new organization."

"And that would be?" Ratchet asked.

"Killer Informants Forged Over Rebellion," Windblade said as Knockout started up his tools, "They prefer to be regarded as K.I.F.O.R."


Author's Notes

Well, it's good to meet anyone that actually reads all of this.

First off, I want to say that all characters used are owned by Hasbro.

Secondly, if you have read this far, thank you for taking the time as I didn't truly think this was going to be a good enough story to make.

Third, I know what everyone's going to say about it, I am retconning the Silas/Breakdown thing into my own thing, don't worry as it will make sense in due time.

If you want to leave a review, go right ahead. It may be a while before the next part is out, but I'll make sure to get it done in short time. Overall, thanks for taking the time to read the story so far and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.