Transformers Equestria Girls In Disguise: The New Generation

Chapters

Chapter 2: Perfect Capture
Chapter 3: Life Of A Loner
Chapter 4: Decepticon Island
Chapter 5: Responsibilities
Chapter 6: Flareup
Chapter 7: Cargo Drop
Chapter 8: Shattering Blackout
Chapter 9: Sour Return
Chapter 10: Betamax Track
Chapter 11: Old Friends
Chapter 12: Tempest Negotiations
Chapter 13: Fighting New Faces
Chapter 14: Catching Up
Chapter 16: Misconceptions
Chapter 17: Magic Fight
Chapter 18: The Terrorcons
Chapter 19: Truth Bombs
Chapter 20: Fresh Morning
Chapter 21: Terror On Refinery Grounds
Chapter 22: Battle!
Chapter 23: Old Friends And Memories
Chapter 24: A Few Hours Ago
Chapter 25: Pros And Cons
Chapter 1: Awakening
Chapter 15: Swamp Of Unbalanced Emotion

Chapter 2: Perfect Capture

Monday, 8:00 AM

Far from the Storm base, there were a collective of mountains. On the outside of one of them, it looked like any generic mountain in the harsh hot desert, but the inside was another story. The inside of that mountain was not rock, but was instead the home base for the Autobot team; the Ark.

The base had seen much change since their last battle; the battle to save the Autobots and Decepticons home planet Cybertron from the clutches of the god, Unicron. But ever since the battle passed, the base had new changes. For one, the base had gotten bigger than before now that relations with Cybertron were stronger, so now they could make their base even bigger. Even more so, now adaptable for humans to live in. But the base had seen changes that were not so good.

The Autobots human companions, Sunset Shimmer, her friends the Rainbooms, and the Shadow Five from Crystal Prep Academy, had graduated from school and college. Now they were all off on their own, leaving their days of war adventures behind. One by one, they all departed the team and went into their own direction, never to be seen again. As if the girls leaving wasn't bad enough, Autobots began to drop from the team, calling for early retirement and quits. With the lack of Decepticon activity and even more so, lack of unity and communication, most of the Autobots began to go in their own direction.

Thankfully, not everyone left the team but a vast majority had left. Sunset Shimmer was the only one who decided to stay on the Autobot team, and ever since she matured into adulthood, she had been more help to the team than ever before.

The monitors on Teletraan-1, the main computer began to blink on and off. Two red flashing lights with Decepticon markings were blaring, attracting the attention of one of the Autobots; Wheeljack.

Wheeljack's hands pressed several keys and buttons, and he zoomed in on the map that was on-screen, enabling him to find the precise coordinates of where the signal was coming from. After finding the signal, he pressed a button on the control panel, turning on a speaker.

"Sunset, we're picking up two Decepticon energy signatures."

"Understood Wheeljack. Assemble some Autobots, I'm going to brief the Wonderbolts."

Walking through a door and into a briefing room big enough for just the humans was a fully grown and matured Sunset Shimmer. While she did get older and wiser with time having being under Optimus's command, she still kept a black jacket and a blue blouse to remind herself of the old days back at Canterlot High School. Best years of my life, they always say.

Sunset stood in the main center of the room, and looked at a bunch of men and women who where putting on blue spandex outfits, with yellow lightning streaks across the suits.

"Attention. Commander on deck!" A stern voice barked, getting everyone to stand straight and listen.

Sunset saluted the woman who halted her men. She had a muscular build underneath her suit, with sun yellow skin and fiery hair puffed back on her head. And hanging around the collar of her shirt was a pair of tinted sunglasses and military dog tags.

"At ease, Lieutenant."

Spitfire removed her hand from the salute and she sat in a chair with the rest of the men and women.

"We've picked the location of two loose Decepticon fugitives, here in Nevada." Sunset said. "There have been reports of one of them found in motorcycle form, and is causing severe highway accidents across every road around. As for the other? She's scaring off every airplane in the sky causing untold amounts of damage."

"So, who are our Decepticons ma'am?" Spitfire asked.

Sunset turned on the monitor in front of them, and displayed a mugshot image of the first Decepticon. Black was mostly her body color with only a few hints of red here and there. Flames covered the armored plating on her breastplate, while a Decepticon mark was near visible under her neck. A yellow crest stuck from out her forehead, and her eyes were of a violent and dark hue of purple. The last details that anyone with eyes could notice was that in her teeth, were fangs as sharp as a cobra.

"The Alchemor's prisoner manifest reads her as Flamewar; unstable, sociopathic, psychotic, and criminally insane. Arrested for several counts of murder and terrorism in the golden days of Cybertron, primarily out of her unstable nature. She takes great pride in what she does, and she isn't one to underestimate." Sunset said before the monitors turned off. "I, along with a handful of Autobots are going to arrive on Groundbridge to try and chase her down long enough to get her out of civilian eyes."

"But why are you talking to us, ma'am?" Another recruit asked.

"That's where she comes in."

Another mugshot appeared on the screen. This time of a Decepticon with a gray helm and face, with yellow optics. and big wings that hung over her back. There were yellow and purple highlights over her wings and legs, and she had a curvy figure shown from her thighs. Her upper torso however had grays meshed in with the yellows, and a purple orb in the middle of her chest which showed off her Decepticon marking.

"Thunderblast is her name. Don't let her innocent and cutesie look fool you, she's just as much trouble. She was arrested for severe property damage, and blindly following Megatron's orders, causing destruction across several transport stations on Cybertron."

The screen cut away and exposed a camera shot of the Decepticon, wandering aimlessly in an abandoned airport. As she wandered around, the footage caught her calling for anyone nearby, and comically tripping over airport transport trucks and trailers.

"We've found her located over an airport in the same district. The airport has been evacuated, but she still needs to be contained. Which is why all of you with the aid of our flyers, are going to fly to Arizona and contain her as discretely as possible. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone said.

"Good. Lieutenant Spitfire, you may have the floor."

Sunset exited the room, allowing Spitfire to stand up and face her troops.

"Listen up!"

Everyone stood straight and gave her their undivided attention. If military drum beats could be heard, they would definitely be hearing them as she spoke.

"The Autobots need us to handle this unstable Con. You know why?"

"Because they're too lazy to do it?" A recruit asked, making a few others giggle.

"No! Try again!"

"Because the Groundbridge isn't functioning as well as it should be, thanks to Sun Chaser's clumsiness?"

"Hey!"

"Zip it you two! And you're still wrong! The real reason is because we are all they have to provide cover from the world. If anyone in the world discovered what these Autobots really are, several years of work will go straight downhill! Besides, Optimus Prime along with Sunset Shimmer have more important missions ahead of them. They picked us because we're the best for the job, and we can get it done. Understood!?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. Now lets get moving. Be ready to leave at 0820!" Spitfire called, dismissing her soldiers.

The Wonderbolts wasted no time getting their gear ready. They never wasted time when it was the mention of a Decepticon attack. They knew they were serious business, and whenever they were brought up, they took the matter very seriously. Even the teammates who were well known for slacking off and or being the goofy ones took the matter seriously.

With their suits ready, they began walking through the main hangar of the base and start to board their airplanes, preparing for their takeoff.

"All pilots, please board your craft. All pilots, please board your craft."

In a below portion of the base were several blue jets that were all lined up with one another. Each one of them had yellow lightning streaks across the wings and small red Autobot logos branded on them. One by one, each of them began to board their ships.

"Okay boys, you ready?" Spitfire asked as she put her flight mask on.

"Soarin here and standing by; Code name Wonderbolt 2"

"Wonderbolt 3, standing by! Fleetfoot here!"

"Wonderbolt 4, standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 5, ready and standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 6 standing by!!"

"Wonderbolt 7, standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 8, standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 9, standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 10, standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 11, standing by!"

"Wonderbolt 12, standing by!"

Spitfire's helmet was fully adjusted and she started to flip on the engines of her aircraft. But there was one more thing she had to check first.

"Last one. Nitro?" Spitfire asked.

She looked to the group of jets and planes that were on the runway in front of them, each with their engines humming as they awaited for the others to get moving.

"Nitro Zeus here, and lets do this!"

Within seconds, the main hangar doors began to slide open, and the bright morning sun began to cast its light right onto the group of jets.

"Oh that's bright!"

"Don't look directly at the sun Fleefoot, you should know this by now." Spitfire responded. She hit a switch and spoke. "Sunset, we're about to take off and head for Arizona. You think you can get the Groundbridge ready in time?"

"Wheeljack is working as best as he can right now. Just go, we'll try and catch up to you real soon."

One by one, each of the jets began to take off. The Wonderbolts took off first, and then the Autobots flew off with them. Now it was time to kick into action. The main thrusters slammed the jets as they took off into the air, sending them off into the skies.

At the same time within another part of the base, Sunset and her band of Autobots were getting ready to depart. She strapped on a fighting suit and mask, ready to step into action.

"Alright. Autobots! Lets saddle up and ride out!"

Each of them transformed into their alternate modes, with their engines humming. Sunset finished adjusting her helmet, and she got onto the seat of Arcee's motorcycle mode. She held onto the handlebars, and looked forward at the active Groundbridge.

"Lets go!"

Arcee's wheels grinded against the floor, and she sped through the Groundbridge. Soon the other Autobots sped up, and zoomed through the Groundbridge as well, appearing on the other side.

"Okay, we need to contain this issue as best as possible. Roadblock, Strongarm, Berserker, block all the road exits and contact all police departments to set up barricades. We don't need any civilians getting hurt cause of Flamewar's recklessness. Everyone else, come with me. We've got to stop her before anyone else gets hurt."

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone yelled.

Every police vehicle that was in the pack split off from the group and left, going straight for the other lane that went the other direction from them. And as they left, Sunset held on to Arcee as she led the pack.

"So Sunset, how you want to handle this creepy cat?" The Autobot Jazz asked through the radio.

"We need to keep on her tail, but we need to make sure she can't go too far out of our area. Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, split off to the left exit. Tracks, head for the right exit. The rest of you are with me; we're keeping our focus straight ahead."

"Alright then!" Jazz cheered. "How about some chase music?"

"Hit it Jazz!" Bumblebee said.

Jazz's windows opened up, and a pair of speakers pulled out from the back of his alternate mode. Soon the speakers began to blast a rock and roll song, much to the pleasure of the group. As the song began, the team kicked up their engines even higher and raced down the road.

Several thousand feet above in the air were Spitfire and her team of Wonderbolts. They stayed in a V formation, while the real Autobots stayed in front of them.

"Okay, I'm picking up on her signal. She's still wandering around the airport lost. Spitfire and I will approach her carefully as possible, and as soon as we have her distracted, you guys are gonna throw the nets on her!"

"Roger that. Wonderbolts, stay in formation."

"Lets get her!"

Nitro, Spitfire, and the Wonderbolts all spiraled down to the ground, leaving the squadron to keep up in the air. The three jets were now descending towards the airport lot.

All three of them extended their wheels and jumped onto the runway, racing all the way down while their engines died down from the speed. As soon as they slowed down, Nitro Zeus transformed into his alternate form, with guns at the ready.

Spitfire's plane also slowed down, and both Nitro and Blitzwing watched her jet. The jet she rode in started to transform, forming a biped state, looking very similar to their old enemy Starscream and his Seeker squadron. As she nearly finished, a small head popped up, resembling Nitro's own head, with one eye and a pair of horns on the side.

"Okay boys, I'm ready!" Spitfire hollered, readying her weapons. "Lets move quickly. Wonderbolts, you may come to the ground.

The rest of the Wonderbolts came rushing down on the runway, and each one of the jets transformed into a mech. Each mech looking exactly the same like the other.

All the mechs came running down, and all pushed against the sides of the building, trying to keep themselves from being spotted. Just in the middle of that airport area was Thunderblast; wandering aimlessly with no sense of direction.

"How do we handle this?" Soarin asked.

"Nitro Zeus will go distract her. Once she's distracted, the rest of the Wonderbolts will close in, and fire their stun guns all at once to immobilize her."

"Right. Come on!"

Nitro stretched his fingers out, and cracked them. Twisting his body around, he stretched out a few processors and parts. Can't fight without getting himself ready, now could he? And in just the right moment, the Wonderbolts started to spread out, hiding in different corners of the buildings, walls, and above to try and surround Thunderblast before she could even see them. Luckily she hadn't spotted them yet.

"Whoa-ho-ho... hello, baby." Nitro said, walking causually into the area.

The Decepticon turned around and nearly shrieked.

"Ah! You've only got one eye, ewww! Wait. Are you cousins of Shockwave?" Thunderblast asked, tilting her head.

"That's one way to perceive it. Now what's a gorgeous mech like you doing out here?"

"Well, what are you doing here?" Thunderblast replied.

"I could sense your tracking signal. I didn't know if anyone else was in the area, so I figured I'd pop in for a look. Boy oh boy, I'm glad to find a hottie like you."

Thunderblast's cheeks went red. "Oh, you!"

Nitro chuckled. "I'm not lyin', baby. You are one fine lookin' mech. I bet all the bots fall head over servos for you."

The Wonderbolts all slowly moved from their hiding spots, pointing their stun weapons onto Thunderblast. Several glowing red dots shined on her, all locked on target.

"So, what do you say babe? How I take you somewhere nice on this planet? I hear there's good oil up north of here."

Just a few more seconds, Spitfire thought.

"Oh, well, I'd love--DAH!!!!"

Thunderblast didn't get to finish her sentence. A few seconds after she was about to speak, several wires and coils jolted at her, sending several waves of electricity through her body. The shocks were strong enough to make her fall on the ground, her body convulsing from the lightning.

After a few more moments, she stopped spasming out of control and her eyes shut down. She wasn't dead, but rather she had fallen into a shutdown mode.

"She's out! We got her!" Nitro cheered.

"Great work boys!"

"Now I wonder what's up with Sunset's group?" one of the Wonderbolts asked.

As the second group continued to race down the barren road, they quickly caught sight of a motorcycle ahead of them with painted flames.

"Okay, now lets see about approaching her carefully. Mohawk, pull up on her right, Arcee and I will go on her left."

"Understood!" The man that was covered in black riding on the motorcycle waved at her giving her an indication he listened. Of course it was followed by the man on the bike appearing to flash in static as if he was a hologram. "Now come on, I'm dying to jump on this glitch!"

Mohawk did exactly as he was told and pulled up on Flamewar's right, keeping up with her pace.

"Get out... of my way!!!" The fiery motorcycle yelled.

"What's that babe? Sorry, I didn't understand you under your hoarse voice."

"You cannot stop me, because SHE's still in here!"

Up ahead, they could see a few of the Autobots that had been called out had made their move. Sideswipe and the others swerved around and created a barricade to prevent Flamewar from going anywhere. Like timing, Mohawk began to throw himself straight at Flamewar. The gray bike jumped up into the air, and transformed into a human sized biped which grappled onto Flamewar.

"Get off me!!!" Flamewar screeched.

Flamewar swerved and transformed into robot mode, crashing across the road and tumbling. Mohawk saved himself in time and he jumped off her as soon as she changed shape, and converted back into his alternate form.

As soon as Flamewar was down, she got herself back on her feet and snarled. She gritted her teeth and her purple voids of eyes were jolting and twitching as she found herself surrounded by the number of cars.

"Alright, all of you stay away from me, or you die!!!" Flamewar shrieked.

She kept moving around from side to side, intense paranoia filling her brain as she looked at the cars. She could swear they would transform at any minute, ready to attack. Well, she wasn't having any of that! She kept her bow and arrows out, ready to shoot at any given second, should someone make a move.

Behind one of the cars was Arcee who hid perfectly behind one of the bigger bots.

"Okay... ready... now!" Sunset yelled.

Arcee sprung up from her motorcycle form, making a jump from one of the Bots. She raised her front wheel up and as soon as Flamewar turned around, her wheel pounced her face, making her fall to the ground, convulsing in pain.

"Okay, now!"

Flamewar was about to get back up, but an electric coil touched her body, making her convulse and jitter around from the sheer electricity. She groaned loudly, until her body fell limp and her eyes began to slowly close, going into a deep sleep.

With no strength left in her, Arcee used a pair of stasis cuffs and cuffed Flamewar's hands together, binding them in place.

"We've got her girls."

"I'm surprised we even could. How'd you even get a pounce on this crazy chick?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Its a matter of keeping her distracted, using her paranoia against her." Arcee replied, picking up the unconscious nut.

"Good news Sunset! Thunderblast has been apprehended and is in our possession," Spitfire replied over the comlink.

"Great job Spitfire. You and the Wonderbolts just return on home, we'll take Flamewar back. Rest Q, prepare the Groundbridge. We've got our prisoner."

Author's Note

Fun little fact for ya; I wanted to base Mohawk around Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy, and not the attitude from Last Knight. Probably won't see it here, but maybe in future chapters, maybe.

Either way, hope you enjoyed, and continue to join this adventure!

Chapter 3: Life Of A Loner

The Groundbridge opened up, and the Autobots walked through with no issues. And hoisted over Jazz's shoulders was the contained Flamewar. She didn't struggle or attempt to break free, for she was still unconscious.

"Hey Teletraan! We're home!" Sunset called out.

A new voice spoke over the system. With Teletraan-1 destroyed during one of their last battles, they patched up the system and got a new AI into their computer.

"Welcome home, ma'am." The voice said. Many of the Autobots compared her voice to that of the voice on the humans phones, someone called 'Siri'.

"Put Flamewar and Thunderblast's names into the prisoner manifest. Two more Decepticons have been obtained."

"Certainly, ma'am."

As they walked through, Sunset started moving towards a small room. A changing room that she herself had installed so she could get cleaned up real fast after a mission.

"Teletraan-2?"

"Yes, Sunset Shimmer?"

"Anything interesting happen while we were gone in the span of a single hour?" Sunset asked as she started removing her fighting outfit.

After a brief pause, the voice spoke again.

"Trailbreaker has finished repairs on the satellite system, Wheeljack has finished the modifications on former Decepticon Blitzwing, and there are 10 pieces of mail."

"Great. Any new Decepticon sightings?"

"Negative."

"Any Autobots decide to drop off the team at any time?"

"No ma'am."

"Perfect! Tell Wheeljack we have returned, and I would like to see how Blitzwing is."

"Certainly ma'am."

After Sunset stepped out of the changing room, she walked over to a group of people who were walking from another room. The Wonderbolts, who had all arrived from their travels to that airport they were told to go to.

"Captain."

"Ma'am," Spitfire saluted.

"Great work out there. Especially to your troops."

"All in a day's work, Sunset. Though, if I may bring up something?"

"Yes?"

Some of the Wonderbolts stopped, and all turned their gaze to Sunset with a rather confused and nervous look.

"There was only one Decepticon to take care of, and we apprehended her quickly. We didn't need that many people out to take care of her."

"Yeah, that just seems a bit... excessive," the Wonderbolt Soarin said.

Sunset stared at Spitfire and Soarin. The two just positioned themselves back to standing straight.

"At ease, you two. Look, so maybe throwing in a lot of troops at once when it wasn't necessary wasn't a good idea--"

"A waste of resources, being honest--", a Wonderbolt said off to the side.

"--But we don't know how tough some of these Decepticons are. While a good majority of the Decepticons are scattered across the galaxy, including the ones with the leader Megatron himself for that matter, it is still up to us to contain remaining Decepticon prisoners that are scattered on Earth. So no matter what, we've gotta take precautions."

"Yes ma'am," Spitfire and Soarin replied.

"Okay. Now go hit the mess hall, I don't think we'll be doing anything else today."

The two soldiers nodded, walking away with the rest of the troops to get cleaned up. Soon after, around the corner came the scientist himself; Wheeljack.

"Hey, Wheeljack."

"How did the mission go?"

"To quote these humans, 'piece of cake'," Mohawk replied, stomping and standing right next to Sunset.

"Maybe for you. Trying to convince the police officers to barricade the streets, was not..." Berserker hissed.

"Sincerest apologies. Berserker isn't really the strongest with words," Roadblock spoke to the two Autobots cars who walked away.

"Anyways..." Sunset said, to break the awkwardness. "You finished the modifications on Blitzwing, that's great!"

"He finally finished working on that loud mouth?" Mohawk asked, his retinas squinting.

"Yeah. New logo, new tracking signals, and plenty of healthy Energon. Only one small problem though--"

"I'm sure its no biggie, Wheeljack. Lets see him!"

Wheeljack's head turned to the dark hallway. "Blitzwing. You ready?"

A soft glow of a red visor flickered in the hallway. Slowly, a familiar form stomped out. A mesh of sand, purple, and gray colors all over the body. Wings on his back. A tank turret sticking up in the air. He still resembled the same Blitzwing they knew from their last battles. But the newest detail to them was the Decepticon mark on his chest which was clawed out, and two new Autobot marks were on his wings.

"So, Blitzwing, how do you feel?" Sunset asked.

Blitzwing looked down, facing the small human and human sized Decepticon next to her.

"I feel... different."

"Different how?"

Without warning, the face he had suddenly switched. Like it flipped around. A new face emerged with a rather angry look, and then out of nowhere, he started ranting.

"I'm pissed off! That's how different! Your Autobot hack of a scientist gave me three faces! How am I supposed to stay calm with three fragging faces!?"

His face flipped again, only this one was much more different than the other three. A jack-o-lantern like face was the best that could have been described, with red and black.

"But on the positive side, I can be happy and giddy now that I am no longer suffering internally from the fighting! Who wants to do the dance of joy? Ha-Ha-Ha!"

His face flipped again, going back to his real face. He looked rather... disturbed.

"... I'm sorry, Sunset, but I don't know why, but suddenly, I now have three different personalities bubbling inside of me," Blitzwing explained.

Sunset blinked. "I can see that... Wheeljack, did you--?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't build three additional faces for him. Something I did while repairing him unlocked something in his processor. I did a scan on it, and it appears he was forged with three faces."

"With three different identities. How come we're only seeing this now?" Sunset asked.

"During the Great War, I was one of the first Decepticons Megatron himself enlisted. But he found my, ahem, condition to be less than pleasing. So Shockwave instilled a lock in my processor that would shut down my other two selves."

"I see. Well, should there be any problem, just let someone know, okay?"

Blitzwing didn't say anything else, but instead simply nodded and stomped away to mind his own business. Well, by mind his own business, that meant hanging out with the former Decepticons.

"Mind if Berserker joins, Blitzwing?" Berserker asked, with a scratch in her throat.

"I could care less," Blitzwing said, ignoring her.

The night came and every Wonderbolt was now fast asleep. Well, almost everyone. Sunset Shimmer, did not go to sleep like she should have. No, for a good amount of nights, she almost never slept.

The lounge was an especially built room, since Sunset and her friends were now new additions to the Autobot team. So to accommodate for their size, as well as their needs, they built a giant room for them to use. Most of the time, it was used to just kick back and relax while they waited for some of the Autobots to return from missions or when they needed a place to study and work. Now, it had become the lounge area for the Wonderbolts to kick back after a hefty mission.

Instead, she just stood there, gazing down into an open yearbook. The last yearbook she ever received, the one she got before officially graduating from high school. She stared blankly down into the last few pages, right into 12th grade. Looking down, she could see herself, and all of her friends gathered close. One band. One team. One big friendship.

"Hey guys. We um... we took down some more Decepticons," Sunset smiled, staring deep into the photo. "I... I think it would have been a lot more fun if we had you girls with us."

Her smile quickly faded into a frown, and her eyes closed.

"I think... I think you guys should know how much I miss you all," Sunset whispered.

"Sunset?"

"HIYA!" Sunset sprung around, performing a karate kick to the face of who scared her.

"OW!"

Sunset jumped back down and gasped, follow by cupping her mouth when she realized who she kicked. On the ground trying to move her jaw back into shape was none other than Captain Spitfire, dressed in her PJS. Well, what she considered PJs which was just her t-shirt, and panties.

"Oh, Captain! I am so sorry, I thought you were someone else,"

"No, no, its fine," Spitfire replied, getting back up, stretching her jaw to get it back into place. "I should have kept some distance from you." Spitfire opened her mouth wide a few times, trying to see if it was properly back in place. "Are you looking at your old friends from high school again?"

"Huh? Me?"

Sunset turned her head towards the yearbook again. "Oh yeah. Yeah, look at us! The old gang again..." Sunset turned around and sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

Spitfire nodded. "I see."

Spitfire reached to the side of the counter, grabbing a cup of tea.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying, I've seen you stare at that picture almost every night, at this exact same time, at 2:27."

"Come on, you can't possibly have--"

Spitfire hung a long sheet of paper which bounced on the ground which showed stilled frames from the security system cameras. Sunset's finger drooped.

"--Okay. So you have."

Spitfire sighed. "Sunset, I'm starting to get concerned about you. This isn't normal behavior, you've been doing that every single night for the past... what, two, three, five years now."

"Well, I... I can't help it. I miss them, Spitfire. I just... I really wish I could talk to them right now."

"Then you know how I feel about me and my husband," Spitfire acknowledged.

Sunset looked to her second-in-command. "But that's different. You can talk to your husband whenever you want, and you can go see him! But me? I can't. I have a responsibility as second leader of Team Prime to watch over the base on Earth, and hunt down every possible Decepticon fugitive that's still out there."

Spitfire raised a brow. "You realize you are allowed to take a break, right?"

"Well, y-yeah--"

"Do you?" Spitfire got up in Sunset's face.

"I--"

"Do you!?"

"OKAY, I don't!!!" Sunset yelled.

Spitfire smirked. "You know something Sunset? Your endless will and strength to keep on trucking no matter what, to keep on pushing even when you've had enough, I like that about you. But you know, even those who can push beyond their limits need to take breaks now and then. I think maybe you need to too."

"But what can I do? Everyone's probably spread all over the world and I don't even know where to look."

Spitfire blinked with one of her brows raised. "Did you think about maybe researching their names online?"

Sunset stopped. And then she facepalmed.

"Oh my god..."

"Did that really never occur to you?"

"Well, uh--"

Spitfire shook her head. "Wow, Sunset... you really do need a break."

"But, I--"

"Listen to me. I know Optimus left you in charge, but even he knows you can't handle everything on your own. So, for your health and sanity, and as second-in-command, I am issuing you a week off from Autobot work."

"B-"

"-No butts!" Spitfire winked. "I promise, everything will be fine. Just go somewhere! Read, rest, travel, find your friends, talk to them, tell them how you feel!"

Sunset stopped. She looked down into the yearbook, and a small smile came to her face. "You know what? You're right."

"Of course I'm right," Spitfire said.

"I'm going to do it. I'll pack my things, and I'm going out there to find the girls. I know they shouldn't be too hard to find! I hope... oh no, wait!" Sunset halted. "I forgot, Ironhide and some new recruits are going to be leaving tonight, they'll be on their way to Earth, and if I'm not there--"

"--Then the new guys will have to deal with it then," Spitfire interrupted.

"No, no, you're right. I need a vacation, I... Oh..." Sunset paused again. She dashed over to one of the terminals, turning it on. On screen, a few images and mugshots appeared on screen, displaying some of the Decepticon fugitives.

"Ma'am, I can assure you, if we run into them, we'll handle it. Okay?"

Sunset sighed. "Okay. Just be careful though, we still haven't found some of these guys. Barricade, Shatter, Dropkick, the Cyberjack combiners, many of them are still out there."

Spitfire leaned over, looking at the screen. "Well, if they're still out there, where they could they have gone?"

"I don't know. But every second we get near, they always manage to escape. Just keep an eye out for some of these Decepticons. I have a feeling many of them may be collaborating together..."

Cybertron had seen much change ever since the last known battle. With Megatron and most of his army still gone on their own mission, the Autobots took control of Cybertron and had been rebuilding the planet ever since. No Decepticons meant total control for them now. It was still a bit of a wreck in a few places, but they did their best to put it back together.

In a base somewhere, Autobot leader Optimus Prime, along with a handful of other Autobots gazed through the tower, performing a perimeter check. They knew the Decepticons were gone, but they wanted to be prepared in the case that an attack started at any time.

"Ironhide, do you see any Decepticons in range?" Optimus asked.

The bulky red Autobot sitting at one of the control consoles shook his head. "No sign, Optimus. But every time I look into a monitor, my circuits start to sizzle. When is Megatron and his Decepti-punks comin' back?"

"We haven't heard word from the Decepticons in a decade, Ironhide. I don't know when Megatron will return, but we will just have to wait."

Ironhide grumbled. "Wish I could just burrow my fist into Megatron's circuits right now..."

"Your hunger for action will come, big, hunky, and bold," a suave voice said from the side.

Ironhide chuckled. "I know, Knockout. I know. Anyways, what was your mission you wanted me to do, Prime?"

Optimus looked down to his most trusted soldier. "I want you and Heatseeker to take our new recruits for a special run down to the Ark on Earth. I have a feeling Sunset Shimmer can give them the guideance they need to become great Autobots."

Knockout chuckled. "You really believe those two hotshots have a chance? If I do not recall, I believe there is barely anyone left at Autobot base, and seven of said remaining are former Decepticons. They can't so much as look at one without pointing a barrel to the temple."

"I'll make sure that won't happen," Ironhide said, getting up from his seat. "Besides, I have a feelin' they'll like Earth."

Ironhide leapt up and headed towards the exit. Upon leaving, he transformed into his alternate form and drove down the path, going straight for the shuttle that was finishing the fuel intake.

As Ironhide drove for the shuttle, Optimus pressed his finger on a blue button on the panel in front of him, bringing up another video screen.

"Prowl, report security stasis. Any Decepticons or unidentified Cybertronians in the area?"

"None whatsoever, Optimus. Sectors 7-13 are completely clear."

"Understood. Keep up the search, and contact all patrols if you find something," Optimus replied.

"Roger that. Over and out."

The monitor flipped off, and Optimus looked back to the shuttle which had just closed its doors.

Inside, Ironhide sat at one of the control chairs, right next to his other pilot, Heatseeker.

"I can't wait to get back to Earth," Ironhide grinned.

"Me too. It'll be so nice to see Sunset again. I bet she misses us," Heatseeker nodded. "And I'll bet she, along with Bumblebee will be more happy to see our little surprise back there."

Ironhide and Heatseeker turned their heads to the cryo-stasis chamber sitting in the back of the shuttle.

"Alright. Lets get ready to launch," Ironhide said, starting up the engine.

"One more thing?" Knockout said, his face appearing on the monitor.

"Yes?"

Knockout frowned for a moment, but his face slowly turned into a smile.

"If there's a chance that perhaps Rarity is there, please tell her I said I miss her," Knockout said.

Ironhide gave a genuine smile, nodding at his friend. "I promise, Knockout."

"Cliffjumper. Commence the countdown."

Heatseeker looked back to the new recruits behind him. "Alright, you two. Strap yourselves in, we're about to take off."

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Blast off!"

The thrusters on the back of the shuttle ignited with flames. The entire ship shook and wobbled from the rockets, and then slowly it began to lift off and zoomed right into open space, leaving Cybertron. Within a matter of seconds, it vanished from the atmosphere, and disappeared into the stars.

Chapter 4: Decepticon Island

Oklahoma

The sun shined bright on the small house in the grassy plains, the start of a new morning. Around in these parts, it was usually quiet. Nothing too insane or chaotic to cause stress among its folks within any towns or cities. Everywhere was normally calm and relaxing.

Oklahoma also made home for a former Crystal Prep student and her partner. They moved to Oklahoma ever since they got married, and they even started a family. Their previous lives were strange to say the least. Having been former war veterans, and participating in endless battles among battles, they were hoping for a change in scenery now that they were married.

One of the first things they did after they got married in fact was settle for a house in a small area where no one would bother them or think about attacking them. A perfect concrete house with a nice patio, in a grassy plain, with only a 20 minute drive into town. And while you couldn't exactly tell a thing about a person by where they lived, the house that belonged to this couple said it all. It was nice, cute, well made, with nothing out of place or anything bad to complain about.

The mirror of the house was steamed up from the hot water having ran through it. But eventually it started to clear up, revealing a face of a woman. A woman with gray metallic colored skin, with a pair of emerald tinted visor glasses on her face, with lustrous red hair hanging behind her head.

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath, clearing her head of the commotion of thoughts running rampant. She was known by the name of Smallfoot, wife and loyal partner to her lover; Sour Sweet.

"No fear... no hate... no worry." Smallfoot whispered.

One finishing adjusting her hair. She stepped out of the bathroom, going back into the bedroom they shared. Plenty of turquoise wallpaper surrounded their room, with a few patterns of geometric shapes with purple or blue or yellow.

She stepped out into the main hallway, Making her way down the stairs, she found herself into the big space that was on the main floor. The living room was connected with the kitchen, and it was only a few steps to walk to either one. In the kitchen, she found her wife busy cooking breakfast. The smell of pancakes and bacon filled the air, hitting her nose directly. The scent was enough to make her mouth water.

Sour Sweet could hear her partner come down the stairs, and a smile crept on her face. Her skin was yellow, and her hair was red with an aquamarine highlight in, albeit cut short to hang over her shoulders but with some flow to them.

Sour felt her wife's arms wrap around her thighs, accompanied by her giving her a peck on the cheek from behind.

"Morning beautiful." Smallfoot smiled.

Sour giggled. "Morning Smallfoot. You doing okay? You were in the bathroom for a while."

"Just trying to keep myself motivated for the big event tonight, that's all."

"You're going to do fine at the party tonight, Smallfoot. You're the best around." The woman in front of her said.

"You sure Sour?"

"Absolutely. Now quit worrying so much." Sour chuckled. "Oh, and if you could wake up Betamax, that would be appreciated."

Smallfoot looked behind her and saw someone a few inches shorter come down the stairs.

"No need. He's already up."

A skinny little boy with a neon colored t-shirt and black track shorts came walking down the stairs, barefoot into the kitchen.

"Morning Mommy!"

Smallfoot giggled, picking up the little boy and hugging him. "Good morning sweetheart. You sleep okay?"

"Mmmhmm!"

Smallfoot gave him a kiss on the cheek and hugged him even more. She hugged him even more, making him laugh.

"Dah, stop, come on..."

Smallfoot giggled, holding her son close.

"You excited for the big party later tonight?" Sour asked to the eight-year-old kid.

"Yeah!"

Sour smiled, booping Betamax's nose. "I thought you would."

Smallfoot let her son back down on the floor, allowing him to go sit down at the breakfast table, where he knew for sure breakfast would be set up soon. As Sour started to put pancakes down onto the plate, Smallfoot hugged her again, wrapping her hands around her sides and nuzzling her cheek over her shoulder.

"You know I'm really thankful that there's other kids who are attending the party," Smallfoot said, kissing her wife's cheek. "The last babysitter ran out on us, yet again."

Sour groaned. "I swear, we'll never find someone to look after the little guy."

"Sour, you know, some of our friends said they'd be more than happy to look after him in the event that we're out for a few hours or so," Smallfoot replied.

"I know, its just... I don't know. Maybe its my paranoia speaking, but its just hard to trust people sometimes," Sour replied, turning herself around to look Smallfoot directly into the eyes.

Her partner just gave a simple smile, kissing her on the lips, and pulling her close. Sour moaned into the kiss, giving an even more passionate kiss than before.

"Easy baby. It's okay. I'm sure we'll figure something out, but right now, we don't have to worry about it."

With that said, Sour could only smile back and help get the rest of their breakfast set out onto the table. She was right. No need to worry for today. As far as she knew, they would have all the time in the world to plan for the case like this.

The journey for Tempest and Grubber was long, but thankfully not perilous. As soon as Tempest mastered the ingenuity of her new 'suit' as it were, she drove herself and Grubber far away from any Storm bases as best as possible. And for that matter, keep herself away from her boss which everyone dubbed 'Storm King' as a joke.

Tempest still was trying to keep her mind together. That couldn't have been real, could it? That spirit that approached her the night of her awakening, was it real? No, it couldn't be. Or was it? For her, there was only one way to find out and that was actually follow the directions he had planned for her.

Grubber would have questioned how insane this decision was, but she was in no mood to be questioned. But Grubber was kind enough to offer her food whenever she needed it.

Keeping her eyes on the road, her mouth gasped when she looked ahead. She slammed her foot on the brakes, but it was too late. A bright flash of light blinded the eyes of Grubber and Tempest, but it was only for a few seconds. Once the light had ended, the two opened up their eyes. Thankfully no one was dead, and no one was harmed.

Tempest didn't say anything. In fact, she couldn't even look back to Grubber in the seat next to her. Her eyes were paralyzed as she looked in front of her.

"Tempest?"

Grubber looked in the same direction as she was and his jaw dropped. He blinked a few times, and slapped his own face, making sure he was awake.

"Um, Tempest? Weren't we in a scorching hot desert a few minutes ago?"

Tempest slowly leaned back in her driving chair. "We were."

"But... why are we suddenly in a paradise?"

In the moments of the flashing light, the entire land around them had changed. The desert was no more, and the two had entered on a new land. This land was bright and filled with sunshine. The trees, the trees were... tropical. There were some coconut trees sprouting, and the plants, oh the plants were so lush and green. The sun was a nice bright blue, with only the sun shining its beautiful light down below.

"I do not know. But we're going to find out--"

A siren from a police car alerted Tempest's attention. Moving to the side, and going in front of her was a black and white police car with its siren flashing in their eyes.

"Would the drivers in that unlicensed firetruck, follow me!"

Grubber gulped. "Um, I'm not sure we should--"

"NOW!"

Tempest sighed. "We'll follow him for the time. But only until we find out where we are."

With some hesitation, Tempest moved the stick shift, and she began to follow after the police car who called for their attention.

What Tempest didn't know was the location she was asked to come to, or even who was calling them. Because the guy who called out for her wasn't even a real human. And he was taking her back to the base with the rest of his friends, all of which were non-human too. The hideout was carefully assembled, and while it was still outside with plenty of sunshine, it was in a non-disclosed area. There was plenty of Cybertronian technology laying about, including plenty of guns, explosives and other pieces of tech. In a corner was a giant stack of Energon cubes which were all glowing.

Within this giant hideout, there were a few Decepticons. Most of them were drones; Vehicons to be precise. All of them exactly the same, just working on computer consoles, moving crates full of supplies and Energon.

Elsewhere in the base, there were three other Decepticons. Female Decepticons in fact. Two of them were twins with the same protoform mold with different head formations and few differences in color; Cyberwarp and Skyjack. The two of them were practicing their flying by soaring over the open stretches of water that were outside the beach. The other Decepticon with them just watched them practice; Spacewarp. Spacewarp who was different from the other twins. She had an gray mask covering over her face, with a pair of yellow eyes. Her body was mostly shaded in gray and purple, but she had a few yellow highlights on her body. She was just kicking back and relaxing on a self-built lawn chair, enjoying the nice temperature that Earth had to offer.

The twins came flying back down, and simultaneously transformed into their alternate modes, both of their feet slamming into the sand.

"Nice flyin', girls," Spacewarp grinned under her mask. "Keep it up, I think you might be able to top Starscream."

Skyjack chuckled. "Somehow I doubt we'll be anywhere near second-in-command of the Decepticons."

Just then, the three of them froze to hear a buzzing static come on to the loudspeaker system.

"Attention Decepticons! I'm bringing in somebody. My hunch was right, I got us an Autobot!" A voice yelled over their loudspeaker system.

Skyjack sighed. "Barricade. Well hopefully this meeting with them will be a lot better than last time we ran into the Autobots."

Spacewarp raised a brow. "I thought you two just wanted to make peace with them."

"We do, its just... We never... I don't know. Look, the only reason we're even staying with Shockblast's team is because we have no where else to go," Cyberwarp replied.

"And you're openly telling me your life story, because?" Spacewarp asked, sounding disinterested.

"Because we have to constantly repeat ourselves since you never listen,"

Spacewarp opened her eyes back up, seeing the disappointed look on the blue and yellow twin.

"Well, you two don't gotta worry. Its cool. Sides, I rather like this planet. Nice atmosphere, cool cultures to explore. Plus these humans know how to have a rockin' good time," Spacewarp winked. "Now come on, we better go meet this 'new arrival'."

The gates to their base opened up, and in rolled the police car that stalked Tempest's ride; Decepticon Barricade. Right behind him was Tempest and Grubber still inside the firetruck, proceeding with caution. Barricade transformed into his biped state, and soon the rest of his brethren came by and gathered around their new visitor.

"Well you weren't kidding. You sure found an Autobot," Spacewarp stated.

"What did I say?" Barricade grinned. "Although..."

"What?" Skyjack asked.

"I recognize that Autobot. Its Pyra Magna, leader of the Rust Renegades. But last recorded history states that she was massacred."

All of their eyes bulged.

"Also... I can see a human inside." Barricade said, looking down at the cabin. He pulled out a gun, twirling in his hand and pointed it at the cabin. "Step out now, human."

The door opened up, and Grubber slowly stepped out of the car, keeping his hands up in the air.

"Hey, its cool bro! No need to point your guns!"

Barricade grit his teeth. "Watch it, human."

The firetruck's engine roared, forcing Barricade to back away.

"Well, if you're Pyra, transform then."

The firetruck slowly but surely began to violently transform. Arms and legs unfolded, machines and other parts began to fold up into the shoulders, limbs, and back, until finally, Pyra's cold metal face transformed, her eyes glowing with energy.

The four Decepticons cringed at the sight. So disgusting!

"Girl, what happened to you?" Spacewarp asked.

Pyra's emotionless face turned to Spacewarp, and a voice began to speak.

"Many things have happened to me, Decepticon. If that's what you really are," Tempest replied.

"Um, the name is Spacewarp."

Tempest rolled her eyes. "Whatever... look. I don't expect you machines to believe me, but I'm no Autobot. Whoever this Autobot was has long passed away. She's nothing more than a husk now."

"Um... what do you mean?" Cyberwarp asked.

"There is an organic force within."

All six of their heads turned and looked to the voice that called. The clanking of hard steel boots pounding into the ground, shook the floor below them. The feet moved closer and closer, revealing colors of grey and purple. A pair of treds were on the back of the feet, like a tank. The upper torso had a few panels of slime green, covering over a purple armor. On one arm there was a regular arm. But on the other, the hand was non-existent and instead was a long range tank turret, with a stream of bullets and shells linked to the weapon.

There were no facial features to be found, only a single green eye, and a pair of horns existed.

The Decepticon's eye flashed into Tempest's face, a hum of energy flowing inside.

"The Autobot that you rest inside is in fact, deceased as you have stated. But the organic controlling the husk is a human."

The chest plate opened up, revealing Tempest underneath, hooked to the machines and insides. The four Decepticons, aside from the one-eyed tank, all screamed.

"Oh Sweet Solus Prime, close that!" Cyberwarp screamed.

"Oh, that's disgusting!" Skyjack cringed.

"Do us all a favor, and close that, please!"

The hatches closed up again, making Grubber grin. "What, you never seen a human before?"

"Trust me, we have, but not when they're living inside of our shells!" Spacewarp shook her head, praying the image she had seen would leave her optics.

Tempest didn't react, as per usual.

"Who are you?" Tempest said to the one-eyed Decepticon.

"I am Shockblast. A creation, a clone. Designed specifically by Megatron's head scientist himself; Shockwave. We have been residing in this camp for a long time, away from any Autobot. Until you had been found by Barricade. Which leaves an unanswered question; who are you?"

Tempest stood straight as she could, and with Pyra's head, she looked at all of the Decepticons, providing them with her undivided attention.

"I am Tempest. The last thing I remember was being crushed by a building that was collapsing in on itself. Now I am on life support; trapped inside of this 'Autobot'. I don't expect a bunch of machines to listen, but I have a proposition to offer you all."

"And just what can you offer us?" Barricade crossed his arms.

Tempest waited, before slowly smirking.

"A way to get off Earth."

Shockblast's eye slowly swiveled around, squinting and focusing on Tempest.

"We are listening."

"Here's the deal. I have word of an ancient Decepticon who wishes to make a return, and escape with all of you, off of Earth. Taking your little war and struggles elsewhere, far from all of us. Do as I say... I may be able to help you escape, and destroy your enemy; the Autobots."

Barricade and Shockblast slowly glanced to each other, and then back at Tempest.

"I find your proposition to be... promising."

Tempest and Grubber looked to each other, both of them smirking this time.

"But I find the means of being able to trust you rather lacking. What can you do to make me trust you?"

But before Tempest could reply, a small beeping sound came from one of the control panels.

"Shockblast," a Vehicon announced, "We have something you need to see."

Shockblast turned his head and stomped to the control panel. His hand tapped onto the console, projecting a radar screen.

"Ooh, what's that? You playin' some video game or somethin'?" Grubber asked, staring at the screen.

"It appears an Autobot shuttle is coming into Earth's atmosphere. Its time we make contact," Shockblast said, typing into the controls again.

Cyberwarp frowned, and she slowly backed away, watching everything unfold. Skyjack turned her head, and noticed her sibling stepping away from the area. If she was one of the others, she would have called attention to her sudden fear. But she didn't. She and her sister had the exact same goal, and she certainly wasn't going to make her be the center of attention.

Once Shockblast finished typing, he turned his head and looked to the Decepticons including Tempest.

"I've contacted our allies in the atmosphere. They will handle the shuttle, and take what we've requested. Until then, let us talk a little more about your plan, Tempest."

Tempest looked to Shockblast with a straight face, not even showing any other emotions.

"I would be happy to."

The Autobot shuttle slowly pulled into Earth's atmosphere, now resting high above the clouds. It had made great time, and was now on its way towards the Autobot headquarters. Ironhide and Heatseeker kept their hands on pilot controls, not even worrying about any issues or troubles they would have to face.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the shuttle began to tremor and shake. Even worse, the sounds it made were loud. Louder than they should have been! And it sounded like there was someone trying to bash open the side of the shuttle just behind them!

Ironhide and Heatseeker looked back, just in time as the side of the shuttle exploded, blowing away several panels and wiring. Three forms broke through, all of which transformed into their biped modes and stood ready to fight.

"Decepticons!" Ironhide yelled! "Alright new recruits, its time for you to get a taste of action."

The Decepticons chuckled, and then loaded their weapons.

"And its time for a taste of death, Autobot," a voice chuckled. "See you in the Wells!"

The gun was loaded up, and with a single finger over the trigger button, the gun fired.

Author's Note

So now its been updated! I hope you enjoyed it! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 5: Responsibilities

Author's Note

And we are back!

Sorry for the wait, I hope this was worth it! Enjoy! :twilightsmile:

Chapter 5: Responsibilities

During the time of the next morning, Sunset had finally packed all of her things for her one-week vacation. Suitcases filled with fun clothes, hair products, books, magazines, everything. She hadn't remembered the last time she wore any of her fun stuff, especially since she was working most of the time.

"You know something Spitfire? At first I was kind of hesitant about this... but you know, I have a good feeling about this," Sunset nodded.

Spitfire grinned. "I'm glad. You need this Sunset."

Sunset finished zipping up the last suitcase and pulling up the handle, rolling it on the floor as she dragged it.

"So, do you know where you're going to find your friends?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I did some research on some of their whearabouts, which unfortunately let to a series of failures, but after so long, I did it! I found one! I know where Rarity is!"

"That's good."

Spitfire grabbed another suitcase, pulling it with her as she and Sunset walked.

"So all I have to do is find her office, and if I can, maybe talk to her, and then I can find where everyone is!"

"Good."

But as Sunset and Spitfire walked towards the Groundbridge, Sunset stopped in hesitation.

"Are you sure you can run the base for a week? I don't want to leave that much work on your plate."

Spitfire rolled her eyes, but she still smirked. "I'll be okay. We can keep this base running like a well oiled machine. Everyone will play their parts, I'll make sure nothing spirals out of control."

"Well, okay, but there are a few important things you need to know--"

"--Ironhide and Heatseeker are coming with new recruits, need to show them around and get them alt modes, and keep a constant eye on all of our Decepticon prisoners."

Sunset was stooped. "Very good. But remember, we can't let any of them out. Underbite, Clampdown, Bludgeon, Slashmark, Skulk, Flamewar, none of them!"

Spitfire nodded. "Of course."

Sunset smiled. "Good. Oh, one more thing!"

Spitfire groaned. "What?"

"Okay. Those new mechs we're working on? That are still locked up in the hangar?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you do, do not let any of the Wonderbolts take control of them or ride them yet. Wheeljack and Rigs are still trying to work out the bugs and wiring in them, and I don't want to know what will happen if they malfunction due to the new recruits playing around them," Sunset sternly replied.

Spitfire didn't reply back sarcastically this time. She could hear the seriousness in her tone this time, and she knew full and well how bad it would be if anything went wrong.

"I understand."

"Good!" Sunset smiled. "Now, am I just going to be walking there, or am I being accompanied?"

"I'm accompanying you, Sunset," an older voice called.

Stomping his big black feet onto the floor, was Trailbreaker. Old war veteran, very wise he was. Some said he was as wise as the great Autobot 'Kup'. Some kept messing up his name, calling him 'Trailcutter'. And Trailbreaker was always seen with an arsenal of weapons and guns on his body. One took the place in his hand, while a few rocket launchers sat on his back.

"I haven't been out in the field in years. I missed the days when things were calm, just taking a stroll into the open fields..." Trailbreaker sighed, recollecting the days before the war was back on.

Sunset blinked and tilted her head. Trailbreaker's visor eyes stared back down to Sunset, chuckling.

"Also, I believe my vehicle mode will provide the best alternative for blending in."

Trailbreaker transformed, folding his body inwards as he converted into vehicle mode. Once he transformed, Sunset could see a small sparkle and cleanliness all over his finish. Trailbreaker had converted into 1986 camper car, all in black.

"Hmm... I guess you're right. It would be good to stay hidden while I'm outside of the base."

"Better to look like everything else, so your enemies can't pick you out from the crowds," Trailbreaker added.

The back of the truck opened up, allowing Sunset to carefully place her luggage within. Once her luggage was inside, Trailbreaker closed the back.

"So, remember. Have some fun, relax, do not call, we've got this under control," Spitfire repeated.

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get it. Just try not to blow up anything the second I leave, okay?"

"Okay."

Sunset nodded with a smile. "Okay then. I guess I'll head out then. Rest Q, activate the coordinates. Direct us to Detroit, Michigan."

The medic nodded and began typing in the coordinates for them to depart.

"Oh, Sunset, wait!"

Before Sunset got into the camper, she turned around and saw four Autobots rushing over to her. And instantly she figured out why they ran up.

"Guys, I really want to take you with me, but if we're all outside the base, we're going to become easy targets," Sunset sighed.

"That's not why we high-tailed our butts over here," Jazz deadpanned.

Sunset blinked. "Oh. Well then... what is it?"

Jazz and the other two Autobots looked over to the scout, who sighed but had a hopeful smile on his face. "Tell Fluttershy I said I missed her, okay?"

Susnet smiled. "I promise, Bumblebee."

"And tell Pinkie Pie that this cat's still swingin', right?" Jazz added.

Sunset giggled, hearing his voice. "I promise."

"And tell Rainbow that her big bros are still alive and staying awesome," Sideswipe said next.

"And, also, maybe just say hi to all of them for us. Especially for Knockout and Ironhide. And, Perceptor too," Sunstreaker finished.

Sunset smiled to the four Autobots. "I promise, I will tell them you all said hi."

The Autobots smiled.

"Thanks. Oh, one more thing?" Jazz asked.

Sunset looked back to Jazz, who gave Sunset a very friendly and positive smile.

"Have some fun, okay?"

Sunset couldn't help but smile back at the old lieutenant, feeling a small warmth in her heart. After she waved her goodbyes, she got into the driver's seat of Trailbreaker, and the Groundbridge open up.

"Oh wait!" Spitfire remembered. "What if we really need you back here, pronto?"

"Send those guys!" Sunset called back, gesturing to the four Autobots who were watching Trailbreaker depart.

The window rolled up, and Trailbreaker drove. His camper mode along with Sunset Shimmer disappeared through the Groundbridge, finally off to their next location. Now Spitfire was all alone, with only the Wonderbolts, the Autobots, ex-Decepticons, and an entire base to look after. Her tall and muscular body turned around, gazing at the wide amount of space, seeing the base before her eyes.

Spitfire's eyes closed behind her sunglasses, and she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she grew a confident smile and put her hands on her hips.

"You know what? I've got this. If Sunset Shimmer can do this, then--"

An explosion interrupted her speech. Accompanied by an Autobot collapsing onto the floor, covered in dust and smoke.

"--Oh my god you have to be kidding me, what the hell just happened!?" Spitfire suddenly ranted.

The twins and Bee looked down and all of them cringed, making a hissing sound.

"Ooh... that's gotta hurt," Sideswipe cringed.

"Bluestreak? You okay there, buddy?" Sunstreaker asked, his foot lightly tapping Bluestreak's arm.

A single thumbs-up was all that was given, making them sigh in relief.

"Wheeljack, what did you blow up this time?" Jazz shouted.

"Sorry about that! Tried to fix Blitzwing's faces!" Wheeljack shouted.

"And you only made it worse, you incompetent junkheap!"

"There is an Energon spill in the laboratory. Avoid the laboratory, if sensitive to Energon," Teletraan-2 alerted.

Spitfire turned her head around, her mouth agape. Her glasses fell off of her face, and she looked highly disturbed. Now she was starting to see a problem. But she didn't overreact.

"Okay, its not a problem. We can handle a few accidents, its not like a giant spaceship is going to come crashing down on our base," Spitfire shrugged.

"Spitfire, we have an Autobot shuttle heading down," Jazz said, staring at the monitors.

Spitfire yanked at her hair, "Oh my god, I was just joking, how!?"

Jazz's visor squinted, focusing in on the monitor. "Hey, wait a minute. That's the shuttle Ironhide and Heatseeker are piloting. They said they'd be down today! They're coming!"

Spitfire tensed up, watching the Autobots, accompanied by a few of the Wonderbolts rush out the door, running to the outside entrance. Their running made the ground shake, like an earthquake. It came to an end, and Spitfire relaxed her shoulders. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

Getting a lift from another one of the Autobots, she joined up with the Autobots outside of the base, getting a good look at the shuttle which was coming near their base. A few of the Autobots hollered and cheered, some of them raised their arms up so they could get a look. But as the shuttle drew closer, their cheering suddenly diminished.

Their cheering halted when they got a better look at the shuttle. There were noticible damages done to the shuttle, including several pieces of metal having been torn off, small fires, and a large gaping hole on the side of the shuttle as if it had been broken off. And it was hurling down towards the base with a big blaze.

"Oh scrap! Incoming!!!" A Wonderbolt yelled.

Everyone ran back inside, trying to find a space or something to duck and hide behind the incoming shuttle. But the shuttle didn't hit the front entrance. The shuttle flew over the mountain, slicing off the satellite and radar dish that was mounted behind the mountain, until it finally slammed down onto the ground, slamming onto the paved runway. The shuttle's crash tore apart the runway, decimating several amount of beautifully paved roads for the jets and flying Autobots, and now it had left a big hollow path as it finally settled down from its impact.

Once it slowed down, more pieces of metal fell off the shuttle, accompanied by a few more sparks of electricity emitting. From the hangar bay, Nitro Zeus along with some of his Decepticon friends slowly stepped out, their boots clanking as they stepped outside. Spitfire too, rushing down to see the crash.

Spitfire gripped at her hair with a seething tone in her voice.

"Could this day get any worse?"

Nitro's finger hit the side of his audio receptor, with his one eye swiveling and swirling like a radar scope. He removed his finger and turned his attention down to the captain in charge.

"Spitfire. Hoist and Grapple called, they said we just lost our satellite dish."

And at that moment, Spitfire wanted to take a sledgehammer, and whack it against anything she could destroy with her bare hands.

Chapter 6: Flareup

Several Wonderbolt emergency crews, along with the Autobots and ex-Decepticons ran towards the shuttle that crashed on the runway. The ear-piercing sound of sirens hit the air as every Transformer with an emergency-chosen vehicle came racing down the runway.

The hose on firetruck Inferno sprayed water towards the out of control fires, putting them out. Wonderbolts stepped out of the cars, and approached the gaping hole in the shuttle. Several sparks of electricity accompanied by panels and sheets of metal falling apart continued to befall.

"What kind of 'Welcome To Earth' entrance was that?" Inferno asked, putting out the fire.

"That's no entrance," Arcee said, pushing some of the debris out of the way.

As the Autobots cleared some of the debris off from the shuttle, Spitfire and a few Wonderbolt companions climbed inside to the shuttle.

Almost immediatley when they got inside did they take a step back with precaution. The entire inside of the ship was nothing but a giant crumbling mess. Gunshots everywhere, panels and screens destroyed and in ruins, wiring in shambles, the entire command center was nothing but shambles!

Even worse was when they walked and looked at the back. The cryo-stasis chamber that was in the back was just gone. All that was left were a few wires and tubes that had connected to the chamber, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in the wall. A few sparks of electricity danced from the sprockets, the only sounds emitting.

The Wonderbolts looked behind them and gasped. Three bodies laid about on the ground, all look severely pained and injured. Stepping into the shuttle close behind, was Arcee and Nitro Zeus. The two of them wandered inside and looked around, observing the mess that the Wonderbolts had seen.

"Someone threw a party here," Arcee muttered.

"And they didn't invite me? Shame," Nitro quipped.

But the two Transformers turned around and gazed at the robots that were down. Arcee gasped, recognizing one of them. He grabbed the shoulder and chest of Ironhide, flipping him around on his back. She looked mortified, seeing his state. A gaping hole and several laser shells were through his chest, making him look like Swiss cheese. His skin was darkened and blackened, completely limp and lifeless, and lastly, a small pool of Energon was visibly leaking from his mouth, making the sight even more gruesome.

"Ironhide..." Arcee whimpered.

Nitro shuddered. "Oh that's a dead guy..."

Nitro's eye swiveled around, turning into a scope. Staring down, he looked towards Ironhide's wounds with curiosity.

"Hmm... I think Doc bot needs to take a look at this. I don't guns took Ironhide down," Nitro observed.

"What do you mean?" Arcee asked.

"Look at the wounds. Lasers and guns shot him, but they didn't do anything to hurt him. The only bits of damage were minimal burnt marks on his armor," Nitro said, pointing at some of the holes.

Arcee's eyes looked down at the penetrated armor, and then back to the one-eyed Decepticon.

"You may have a point."

"Of course I do," Nitro shrugged.

"Tell Rest-Q we need him to run an autopsy on Ironhide," Arcee called out.

Nitro stood back up, and his head and body turned around, looking at his surroundings. He looked at the gaping hole in the wall, and then back to the command center. Staring down, he saw two other Autobots who were down as well.

"Hang on a nano-clik," Nitro said, leaning down. He put a hand on the first one, feeling the metal. "This one isn't dead!"

"Neither is he," Arcee said, looking at the twitching fingers of the other Autobot.

"We've got ourselves some survivors, boys! Get the Doc in here fast!"

After the shuttle had been cleared, the three Autobots were taken into the medical center. Rest Q (the only doctor in the base) accessed the mainframe and began typing up a new report.

The Ark:
Report: Shuttle Crash

Cadet Blastwave -- Survivor
Cadet Flareup -- Survivor
Weapons Specialist Ironhide -- Dead
Gobot Guardian, Heatseeker -- Fate Unknown
Special Cargo -- Missing

Rest-Q finished the report, and switched the mainframe over to another screen. As he turned around, he looked to the two Autobots that were laying down on the infirmary tables. Two completely unlike each other.

The first one he identified was a female, very skinny and agile figure at that. Orange, red, and black paint. Tailpipes attached to her arms like they could shoot fire, and wheels built into her heels. The other one was a much more muscular build. He had hulking armor over his body, sharp talons, a samurai-like helmet, and he was mostly colored with green and blue paint, with a few glows of yellow neon emitting his Energon.

Rest Q picked up a holo-clipboard, taking down notes of their injuries. Nothing major, thankfully. Just a few burn marks on their paint, nothing they couldn't fix.

A soft moan interrupted his report. Setting the holo-board down, he noticed one of the Autobots was starting to move. The smaller one, in fact. She groaned as she tried to pull herself up, but Rest-Q stepped in time.

"Easy now. Don't move too fast, or you'll fall over," Rest-Q quipped.

"I think I'll be fine," said the Autobot who held her head. "W-Who are you?"

"Oh, right. I'm Rest-Q, medical officer and sadly the only medical officer on duty. I will be here for every medical emergency should you need it," Rest-Q introduced himself. "You are Cadet Flareup, right?"

"Mmmhmm," Flareup nodded, holding her head. "Oh my aching processor..."

"Easy now," Spitfire called.

Flareup turned her head, and her eyes sunk. It was only Spitfire who walked in, but in an instant Flareup started screaming.

"Oh my god, CREATURES! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Spitfire held her ears hearing her scream, cringing at the ear piercing shriek. Flareup fell off of her bed, and she pushed herself against a wall. Spitfire was being looked at like she was a tiny little mouse, small and innocent. But yet, she still screamed.

Rest-Q only stood and watched as she screamed. He shook his head and sighed.

After what felt like an eternity of high-pitched wailing, Flareup's screams finally died down, and Spitfire removed her ears.

"Are you done now?" Spitfire deadpanned.

"Oh Vector Sigma, she speaks!" Flareup panicked. "Why does she speak!?"

"Easy. Flareup, what you're seeing before you, is a human. They're the inhabitants of Earth who run the planet. Very primitive but also very tame species."

Flareup gulped. "Y-You sure?"

"Absolutely," said a voice from the corridor.

Flareup jolted her head up, blinking to the Autobot who stood in the doorway. At first she was surprised, but then her face immediately changed to a look of joy.

"I... I don't believe it! You're Jazz, the Jazz!"

Jazz chuckled. "Well, I didn't think I have fans all the way back on Cybertron."

"Of course I know you! You're one of the few who destroyed Unicron, your name is practically famous all over Cybertron!" Flareup squeaked. She stopped when she realized how unprofessional she was behaving, and cleared her throat. She gave one single salute to Jazz, "Cadet Flareup, sir!"

"At ease, kid. Its pretty chill here these days, there isn't really much need for the formality," Jazz explained. "And that human you're staring at right now? That's Captain Spitfire, she's taking over the place for the time being."

Flareup blanked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, she--"

"N-No, sir, I understood what you said but... why her?" Flareup asked. "Isn't she... you know, tiny?"

"Small but strong. There is no leader who's too small nor big," Jazz replied grinning.

Flareup gulped. "W-Well... okay then, I guess..."

"Well now that formalities are out of the way, I think we need to hear something new. What happened on that shuttle?" Spitfire asked.

"Huh? Oh, right!" Flareup cleared her vocal processor. "Okay, so precisely at 0600 Earth hours, we arrived on this planet. But as we were heading down towards Autobot headquarters, our shuttle was attacked."

"Any clue as to who attacked you?" Jazz asked.

"No sir. But I know for sure, it wasn't Megatron, or any of his goons. I do remember this, there were three of them. One of them was huge, the other two? Average sized Cybertronians."

"What about physical traits, anything distinguishable about them that you recognized?"

"No sir. I don't know who they are. I had training in identifying Decepticons from the Great War, but I never seen these Decepticons in my life. One of them was black, the other two were red and blue."

Spitfire sighed, "Well, at least we have something to work off of. But that still doesn't answer the other questions. Where is Heatseeker, he was in the shuttle with you, correct?"

"Yes ma'am, he was. But I don't know what happened to him. They knocked me out, along with non-talker here," she said, pointing to Blastwave who wasn't awake yet, "and they ran off with... oh no. The cargo, they took the cargo!"

"What cargo? What are you talking about?" Jazz asked, moving a few steps forward.

Flareup sighed, obviously sounding a little stressed. "Ironhide meant to show you and Lieutenant Bumblebee as a surprise, but he said he found someone. During the cleanup operation after Unicron's destruction, just outside of Cybertron's atmosphere, Ironhide said he found someone in some of the smoldering debris floating in space."

"Who?"

"I don't know!" Flareup said, her hands slapping her sides. "He strictly wanted to keep it a surprise for you guys! But I don't know why, and I don't know who he found!"

Jazz and Spitfire looked at each other with some worried looks. First Ironhide was killed, now Heatseeker and their 'special cargo' was gone too. Their situation wasn't sounding too good now.

"We're going to have to find them then, and fast. Jazz, tell Hoist and Grapple to keep finishing repairs on our radar system, we have to have the satellite back on now! Rest-Q, finish the repairs on Blastwave so he's up and kicking."

"Got it boss," Jazz grinned, walking away.

"Right," Rest-Q nodded.

"In the meantime, I think we should check Teletraan-2's prisoner archives. Maybe the Decepticons you saw weren't ones you were taught in the war academy, because they were captured on the Alchemor."

"I guess they are, ma'am?" Flareup shrugged, unsure.

"Lets go check it," Spitfire said, leading the new cadet out of the room. "In the meantime, tell me a little more about who you think you saw..."

Chapter 7: Cargo Drop

Back in Hawaii, Tempest and Grubber were given a quick tour of their new surroundings. Now stuck on Hawaii, they agreed that they would need to stay with this new group of Decepticons since they couldn't go anywhere else. But to Grubber's delight, they were in paradise! This was the most gorgeous place they could have been sent to, and he wasn't gonna complain.

Tempest didn't have much thought on their current situation. She just kept her head focused on her one objective, which meant working with these Decepticons, much to her displeasure.

"So, dude," Spacewarp said, leaning against a beam, "Temple, Temptress, Temperment..."

Tempest sneered. "Tempest--"

"--right, right, Tempest, sorry. I wanna introduce properly. I know things are kinda weird and all, especially with you being inside of a corpse, but I think you'll do great here helping us out," Spacewarp said, trying to start a conversation.

Tempest didn't say a word.

"Did I say something to offend you?"

Tempest rolled her eyes.

Spacewarp's brow raised. "Not much for talking, huh?"

"No."

Spacewarp shrugged. "Oh well."

The Decepticon just turned around, leaving her be. Tempest just watched as the black and gray Decepticon left the silo, allowing her to think in peace. As Tempest turned around and faced the giant wall of screens, she closed her eyes within the husk, allowing herself to try and think and close all surroundings.

"Ahem?"

Tempest was annoyed when she was interrupted yet again. Turning around, she had expected Spacewarp to have come back, but instead, she was greeted by someone else. Yellow and blue twin, Cyberwarp.

"Oh. Its you."

Cyberwarp nodded. "Cyberwarp."

"I don't care."

Cyberwarp was a little offended by her remark, but she just shrugged it off.

"Look, Tempest. I know you want us off your planet, and you have every right to want us away. But as a far as I go, I'm not going back to Cybertron."

Tempest froze. A scowl visible on her face. Only her head slowly turned to the side, trying to look back.

"Repeat yourself."

Cyberwarp still stood by her word. "I'm not going back to Cybertron."

Tempest wasn't liking the sound of her words. But as much as she'd love to tackle her to the ground and rip out her circuits, she knew she wouldn't go very far if she did something like that. But maybe she could persuade her? Turning around, she looked to the twin jet, looking much more interested, but she didn't smile.

"Now why wouldn't you want to go? You want to go back home, don't you?"

Cyberwarp shook her head. "Cybertron is nothing but a wasteland now, thanks to our war. And as much as I don't like the war being brought here... I like this planet. And I don't want to leave it. Its too great a planet to leave."

Tempest's hands slowly curled up and clenched. "So you want to take it for yourself then..."

"No! That's not what I meant!" Cyberwarp said, interrupting. "I'm saying, I don't want to leave. I've lived on this planet for several years now, ever since the Alchemor crashed here. And I'm happy to be stranded here, because I don't want to leave. I've enjoyed this island, I love flying through the cities, I love the beaches, everything."

Tempest's hands loosened up, and they were no longer balled up fists.

"What, exactly, was the Alchemor, you speak up?"

"A prison ship. Every prisoner of war, mostly Decepticons were locked up and were to be taken to a far away sector of the galaxy. It wasn't just Decepticons, but if you performed something criminal, you would have been branded a Decepticon and then locked up."

"And I care, why?" Tempest deadpanned.

Cyberwarp sighed, looking away. "Not all of us started the war, that's all I'm trying to say."

Tempest huffed. "Maybe so. But your kind still brought the war onto my home, and onto my people."

Cyberwarp did not dare look back at Tempest, a small growl escape her lips, and a soft mutter that wouldn't be heard. "All I want is to be free from war..."

The twin jet walked out of the silo and back outside, no longer in the dark room. Once she hit the outside, a soft sigh of relaxation escaped her vocal processor, happy to be back outside. When she looked back up into the beautiful blue sky and bright sunshine, she smiled.

She sat down on the sandy beaches, smiling even more. Her fingers dug into the sand, feeling the hot soil on the ground. As she lifted her hand up, she could see the sand escape her palm and vanish through her fingers and back onto the beach. Pressing a button on her wrist, she tuned in into Earth's radio, playing some soft Hawaiian music. Very relaxing, very calming, and she couldn't help but slowly bob her head side to side as she listened to it.

In addition, she reached over into a small compartment on her wrist, and pulled out two small metallic orbs. The orbs began to glow with cyan neon, the power turning on. Then they began to float up, and a half on each of the orbs began to fold out and open up like concentrated panels for lights. Then small black lenses began to open up on each orb as they swiveled and turned, focusing on the Cybertronian in front of her. Cyberwarp displayed a small holoscreen in front of her, seeing what the cameras could see. She waved at them as she stared at the screen, watching her precise movement.

"Perfect," Cyberwarp smiled.

The two drones flew up into the air and darted across from the beach, away from Cyberwarp's direction. Splitting up, the cameras began to hover around the base and on some parts of the island to do some quick perimeter checks. Always a mandatory thing, but Cyberwarp began to use the camera for more of a personal touch. While not always doing perimeter check, she did it to observe the people on the island, taking observations of their lifestyles.

But she wouldn't have time to do that for now, as when she turned the camera around, the lenses zoomed in on something she found. Two forms of aircraft were heading towards the island; a jet and a military looking helicopter. One was red, the other blue. But she also noticed that they were both holding many pieces of cargo, some of them hanging by chains underneath, while others were strapped to the top of them.

Cyberwarp's first instinct was to zoom in on them, take a closer look. Once she did, she quickly figured out who it was. The cameras zipped back and fit right back into the open slots of the compartment on her arm, folding up nice and neatly.

Then, getting up on her feet, she scrambled to get off the beach and back towards the laboratory, where the two ships would be coming.

Several Vehicons and the rest of the Decepticons watched as the ships scurried to the silo, and carefully lowered themselves above and down onto the floor, thanks to the roof opening up. Once the cargo was dropped, the two forms began to transform revealing the Decepticons they disguised.

"Shatter. Dropkick. Your timing is impeccable," Shockblast noted.

Shatter was a slender femme, with red paint, jet wings on her back, a pair of headlights on her chest, and a small antenna on the side of her head acting as the radio. Dropkick was a few inches shorter, but the size didn't matter. He was just as tough as his partner, Shatter. Sporting a blue and gray look, a helicopter cockpit for his chest, a pair of doors sticking out of his back, and a small touch of gold on his facial structure.

"You won't believe what we've struck, boys," Shatter said in a very charismatic tone. "Dropkick and I have hit the motherlode, as the humans would say."

"What did you find?" Barricade grinned.

"More Energon, weapons, old data logs..." Dropkick said, opening up some of the boxes.

"Oh, lets not forget..." Shatter added, revealing a piece of tech in my hand, "We've found one. A real one. We have in our possession, a real tachyon transmitter. With this piece, we might be able to track down anyone on the planet."

Shockblast didn't grin, but instead nodded. "I commend you on the theft."

"Oh, but it doesn't end there," Shattered grinned, and dropped a body down before them. "Look at this. We captured one of their crew."

Everyone gathered around and down at the body.

"Who is he?"

"You won't believe this. A Gobot. A Guardian! We picked up an actual Guardian Gobot!"

Tempest's fingers clicked. "Tell me about this... Gobot, you found."

"These guys are an almost extinct species! Cyborgs from a planet far beyond our own, with living breathing organic tissue inside!" Barricade said.

Tempest's eyes squinted as she looked down at the wounded Guardian. Using Pyra's hand, she flipped him over onto his back to get a good look at the face.

"Hmm..."

"Oh, but he's not all we've got. We also found... this." Dropkick said, averting everyone's attention to the stasis chamber. He wiped his hand on the glass, smearing away the cold moisture that was on the outside. Now everyone could see who was inside.

"Who is that?" Skyjack asked.

"No idea. All I do know is, he's currently in stasis. And he has no idea of what's going on in his surroundings..." Dropkick snickered.

Tempest's head slowly looked back up to the rest of the Decepticons. All of which looked to her curious face. Well, Pyra Magna's curious face, but they could tell the emotions on the former Autobot were all displayed by Tempest within.

"Can you turn Autobots, into Decepticons?" Tempest asked.

"I can," Shockblast boomed, "Shockwave's experiments on Cybertron proved it. If we can collect Dark Energon, however."

"Then I suggest you find some then!" Tempest barked. "But there's something else I address... there's not many of you here, outside of those drones. We need more troops, now."

"But, uh, how? Its not like we can just call someone out of nowhere and invite them," Grubber shrugged, looking up.

"I know. Tell me something," Tempest said, ignoring Grubber and looking to Shockblast. "How many of you are there, on this planet?"

"Most of the Decepticon army has escaped with Lord Megatron. But most of the Decepticon forces now remain ever sheltered in the Autobots prison facility. Our attempts to liberate them and bring them to our side have been less than successful, with only minor victories. The Autobots always manage to find them long before we get the chance. Our equipment is rather... unsubstantial."

Shockblast then turned his head to the tachyon transmitter. "But with this device, I believe our chances of collecting more to our side will be massive."

"Then I like to propose you get this equipment online as fast as you can."

"You got a plan in mind?" Barricade asked.

"Yes, I do. If we can't get Decepticons by searching... then we'll get Decepticons by bargaining."

Everyone was now intrigued.

"Tell us more," Shatter said, stepping up.

"If we can find close friends, allies of the Autobots and capture them... we may have our chance to bargain for a few Decepticons. Look into the government databases, find anyone you can."

"Your plan sounds logical... but highly flawed. But if I can tap into this Guardian's memory chips, I believe I can trace the identities of their comrades."

After a while, Heatseeker had been strapped to a table with a few cables hooked to his body and into his head. They were connected to a super computer, and Shockblast began to look into his memory files.

"It appears this Guardian knows a few human collaborators," Shockblast muttered, typing on the keyboard.

Tempest stood by his side, looking at the images of the individual humans that displayed on the screen. Several of them, actually. 12 different ones, to be more accurate. Up to date, all of them were adults with names, ages, birth dates, everything. A small grin began to form on Tempest's lips. She was definitely loving this.

"Start with these two," Tempest ordered, pointing to the first file with a pale skinned girl with indigo puffy hair, and the other one with yellow-tan skin and cherry colored hair.

Shockblast pressed his finger on the keypad again, looking into their files. After some more information came into the screen, some small dots beeped on a digital map of the entire world. Both of which were in the United States.

"We'll send the troops to accumulate them, at once."

"Excellent. But tell them this; I want them alive. If anyone so much as dies, or gets a single scratch... I will need to conduct some serious business."

The one-eyed mech just nodded. Tempest's mouth slowly turned up to a grin. Plan was made, now it was in motion. Things would definitely be going up Tempest for sure.

"You think they'll make it back with them?" Grubber asked, noming down a piece of bubblegum.

"Maybe. But if not... then I will make this much more personal."

"Oooh..." Grubber hissed, trying to add a more ominous effect. But Tempest just glared at him. "Sorry."

"Does it have to be this way?"

Tempest and Grubber's heads turned to the voice. It was Cyberwarp, once again. And leaning against the frame of the silo door was her sister Skyjack, who had a leg tucked back and her arms crossed, kicking back to watch.

"Excuse me?" Tempest asked, raising one of her brows.

"What I mean is... does it have to be so violent?" Cyberwarp asked, with a concerned face.

Tempest admittedly was a little surprised to hear this from her. Especially considering the team she was stuck with, given their very violent and wicked outlook. This soft exterior seemed very uncanny, and especially from a machine of all things!

"We have no other options," Tempest declared.

"Yeah! Destruction's all we got!" Grubber added.

"Believe me, I know you want us back home, but..."

Tempest took a few steps forward, moving closer to stare down into Cyberwarp's eyes. Bigger body of bot added a level of intimidation to her words and demeanor, after all.

"I want the best for our planet. And that means that lives will get hurt. After all..." Tempest's hand finger raised Cyberwarp's chin up to look her dead in the eye. "Innocent people get hurt every day. Especially ones who never deserved it..."

Skyjack leaned up a little bit. She didn't like seeing someone get too close to her sister like that. Sure she wasn't doing anything bad, but if it be the case, she be ready.

Cyberwarp brushed her arm. "I..."

Tempest let out a small growl. "Why are you being difficult with me?"

Cyberwarp looked away, but only for a second. A stern look of confidence built up, and she looked back at Tempest.

"I just don't want humans to suffer like we have. No one deserves to be put through anything that you have planned," Cyberwarp said proudly.

A hush fell over the rest of the silo; Shockblast, Skyjack, Grubber. All of them were now completely quiet in reply to Cyberwarp's objection. Grubber took a few steps back, and Shockblast and Skyjack prepped their weapons.

Tempest could hear them taking precaution, but she only smirked at the small femme.

"Congrats, you're looking a human who's suffered dingus," Tempest deadpanned. Her sneer still didn't change. "Suffering is the only way humans learn to be strong in this world. You should know this, after all... your kind made us suffer, and we just get stronger."

Her hand nudged her face to the side, making her groan from how hard she pushed her head. Stomping past her, she stared off into the horizon.

"If we are to accomplish our goal, it means that others will be getting hurt. Everyone gets hurt on every goal, no matter what needs to be completed."

Grubber grinned. "Mmmhmm!"

"And by tomorrow... we will be collecting a handful of new Decepticon troops at my beck and call. And this time... no machine is going to stand in my way."

The objective had been made clear and two different groups began to move. Well, one was a solo act, the other was one giant group. The first group was filled with many black rally fighter cars, with lift kits to help perform jumps and other possible stunts. Two cars led the pack, Shatter and Dropkick in their alternate forms, consisting of sports cars. They were on the road and raced together, taking total control of the road.

Far on another part of the US was the solo runner. Little did anyone around realize something bigger was hiding in the all in black helicopter...

Chapter 8: Shattering Blackout

Colorado Canyons. 8:00 AM

The canyons of Colorado were quite barren and empty. Great walls and canyons arched high, and if anyone were to sit on many of those arches, they could stare down at small streams of water down below that could be ridden by kayaks. Not much plant-life grew around, it was only around in a few patches.

But out in the open plains and stretches far beyond the rivers was a small military base, taking up a giant plain. Some roads were paved, like a runway. Mostly for fighter jets and cargo planes to land and take off on. And coming down the runway was a carrier plane, holding many US soldiers on board, who were all arriving back to the base after a tough mission in another country.

One soldier in particular was a woman with pale skin, and puffed up indigo colored hair. She carried a pair of signature goggles on her forehead, and piercings on her ears.

"Great work out there Captain," one of the soldiers saluted.

"Thank you, soldier!" Indigo saluted back.

She carried her belongings, hoisted over her soldier and walked with everyone over to the tents and small buildings set up.

"Did everyone leave my jeep alone, like I told them to?" Indigo asked.

"Yes ma'am," another soldier remarked. "Although one of the boys tried to give it a wash, and apparently according to him, the jeep 'went nuts'."

Indigo froze. "How so?"

"I don't know. Said it kept backing up into him, like he didn't want them to touch him, and honked at him a few times the minute he tried to touch the hood."

Indigo rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Sorry about that. Its the little security system I installed in that bad boy. Easily detects who's touching it, and won't freak out if it sees me. Lets just say the machine has a little life inside of it..."

As Indigo walked over to her tent, she waved at a few other soldiers passing by, giving a few salutes and hellos. She opened up the flaps to the inside, and she set her stuff down. Inside her tent was just her cot, a trunk with her belongings, a small table that had her computer and other stuff set up around, along with a few personal knickknacks. But also inside the tent was an old military jeep, aging back to the 1940s from the World War. A small military star was over on the left side, while a faded Autobot logo was on the other.

"Hey Hound, old buddy. I'm back!"

She closed the tent covers, concealing the two inside.

The lights from the jeep flared, and it began to change shape. The jeep it once disguised had changed into a biped who got down on one knee to keep himself from prodding through the tent cover.

"Welcome back, Indigo," said the green Autobot with faded paint. A smile was on the green-headed mech as he looked down to his old partner. "How was the mission in the east?"

"It went pretty well. No troubles, everyone came back alive, and we managed to save some lives," Indigo said, wiping off her forehead.

"Great to hear," Hound smiled.

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Other than your soldiers need to learn not to come at me with a sponge at my undercarriage," Hound grumbled.

Indigo rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I really need to talk with them about that..."

"Other than that, I'm just sitting still and enjoying some recharge time," Hound replied.

"That's good. Any mail, or phone calls come in?"

"Nothing really. Just a few bills, and you've got a package delivered to your home back in Michigan," The retired soldier said.

"Sweet!"

While Indigo was enjoying some much needed reconcile time, there was much trouble to come. At the same time, a black armored helicopter was flying over the area, in a menacing tone. Its blades spun around like one giant saw blade with intent to slice and dice.

"Sir? We have an inbound, unidentified infiltrator a few clicks out East."

The radar screens spun around in circles,

"Unidentified infiltrator, you are entering restricted airspace. You must turn around right now, and proceed east out of the area."

The helicopter's blades still spun, completely ignoring the instructions it received on the radio transmission. Its black paint shining menacingly in the scorching sun.

"Sir, we have no response," the soldier responded.

"Send the Eagles to intercept, bogey is a few miles out."

"Sir, I'm not sure if we can do that," the technician replied.

"Why not?"

"Because he's already here..."

The soldiers looked out the window of the watch towers at the base. Far off in the distance, they could see the spinning blades of the helicopters.

"Send some soldiers out, surround the helicopter once it lands.

Half an hour went by as the helicopter flew, and it was descending down onto the runway. It flew over it, and immediately aimed for one of the big yellow circles marked for their helicopters. The landing gear unfolded and it slowly went down, its rubber tires bouncing on the pavement.

Soon afterwards, some soldiers began to come out with rifles, machine guns, and any other weapon that they had available out and clutched in their hands, ready to use them. They surrounded the helicopter, taking fighting stances and shooting poses.

"MA-53 pilot, power down now!"

The helicopters engines began to slowly power down, softly sounding off. The helicopter blades slowly began to stop spinning.

"Step out of the aircraft, now!" The general ordered.

The blades continued to slowly die down, when suddenly, they slammed right in the middle of the spin, stopping instantly.

"Now! Or we will open fire!"

Everyone waited for the doors to open, a sound of the engines, something releasing or unloading. But nothing. Not a sound, not a movement. But then, it happened. The helicopter began to move.

The helicopter blades raised themselves up, and all folded together, pointing backwards at the back rotor. The two parts underneath the blades began to open up and fold out. Sheets of metal plating and boards began to pull out, beginning to transform. The back of the rotor began to change, forming into a pair of legs. Suddenly arms began to pull itself from within the helicopter, with giant fingers.

The arms and legs held onto the ground and began to push itself up, as the cockpit pushed down and formed into the bottom, like a chest cover. Soon, a head emerged with blood red eyes, and a snare so scary, he could bite you if he could.

"Fire!!!"

Everyone pulled the triggers on the guns, opening fire onto the Decepticon.

The monster let out a roar of anger and frustration, and immediately unleashed his own weapons. He pointed some machine guns at the men, pulling the trigger and firing at them. The blasts went around the men who instantly ducked for cover, but unfortunately they wouldn't have very much cover to hide behind. The Decepticon fired at some of their jeeps and trucks, blowing them up into pieces.

Then with a single foot raise, he slammed his foot into the concrete, creating tremors all around. The resulting tremors send a visible electrical wave that went in all directions like a pebble splashing into a pond. Suddenly all of the equipment and technology instantly shut down. Fried, short-circuited, one giant blackout.

"Get every man out here, get everyone out here now!" One of the soldiers yelled as she ran for dear life.

The Decepticon ignored her cry and began stomping forward, sending more tremors into the ground as he began his mission. Find Indigo, and capture. Simple as that.

He raised his foot back and kicked one of the tanks, throwing it into the air and watching it crash onto a jet, exploding from the impact. As he charged forward, he kicked a few more vehicles into the air, to wit, they exploded once they crashed.

Indigo kicked her tent tarp opened and looked outside. She watched the dangling helicopter blades of the Decepticon dangle as he created the chaos.

"Hound. I think we're both going to have to come out of retirement..."

"Then lets do it!"

The Decepticon reloaded his weapon again, blowing up another tank and a half-track as he did so.

"Hey!"

He turned around, hearing the cries coming from the adult woman who called for him. Then bursting through the tent like a jaguar, Hound performed a roll as he held two pistols in his hands.

"Come and get some, glitch!"

As Hound rolled onto his feet, he pulled the triggers on the pistols and shooting at the taller mech. He covered his face to avoid being shot in the visual receptors, blocking a few of the bullets and lasers. Then pointing his gun back, he pulled the trigger and pounded Hound's armor with his own shells. The shells bounced and pierced his armor, and a few of the shells hit the grille on his chest.

"Never seen you before," Hound commented as he kept his stance. "Who are you?"

The Decepticon spat. "Blackout..."

"Well what do you want, Decepticon?" Hound asked, pointing his pistols.

"The human... give the human to me, now!"

"Never!" Hound answered as he kept firing at the helicopter.

The Decepticon chuckled as he held his arm up, blocking more of the blasts.

"Don't you want to join up with Ironhide?"

Hound froze. "What are you talking about?"

Blackout cackled. "You really don't know, do you Autobot? You've been away for so long... you couldn't stop me from sealing Ironhide's fate."

That one single sentence dropped like an anvil on Hound's spark. There were no words. Ironhide was... gone? A friend he fought beside for so long, a friend who helped save Cybertron's fate from desecration, practically a brother! And now he was no longer in that mortal coil, now moved violently to the other side.

The Energon that flowed inside of his circuits began to boil and bubble up. His teeth grit, and he reloaded his weapons.

"Now you've asked for it!" Hound yelled like a drill sergeant.

Reaching behind him, he pulled out a large Gatling weapon, holding it with both arms.

"Now die!!!"

He pulled on the trigger and a hail-fire of lasers shot at the black robot. Blackout kept an arm up, blocking the lasers from hitting his face, while the rest of the onslaught of fire pierced his armor. Hound kept moving forward, trying to get the lasers towards his spark. He wasn't about to let him get away so quickly, not after being told he was responsible for killing Ironhide. He was going to take him out, and it was going to be today!

Blackout, in an act of quick thinking spun around and let his helicopter blades spin. As they spun rapidly, they bounced off every single laser that Hound tried to take into his direction. Not one came through and hurt him.

Hound kept firing as much as he could until the gun could only spin. No more ammo for that weapon. Angry, he threw it to the side and pulled out his pistols again. He ran forward, and Blackout moved back just in time to thwack Hound in the face. Hound nearly fell back, but regained his composure. The Decepticon charged forward and threw another punch at his face, then to his grille, denting his armor. The last blow came as he gave one giant kick to his chest, knocking him down and making him slide against the concrete.

As he was down, Hound went to get back up, but not until the Decepticon cocked his weapon at his face.

"Rest in peace, Hound. I'm done wasting my energy on retired old veterans."

Hound slowly moved himself back, trying to move away from the incoming blast. But before Blackout could shoot, Hound looked back up at him with a smirk.

"You know something, Decepticon? There's something you should know about old veterans."

"What's that?"

Hound flashed a grin. "They always have a surprise in their gears!"

A small rocket launcher whirred up onto his shoulder and it let out a hum, pointed at the Decepticon. Blackout, realizing how close he was to death, quickly got off and ducked just in time as the rocket launched.

The rocket flew right past him, and it exploded upon impact, blowing up a half-track. Blackout laughed, seeing the failure.

"And you can't shoot--OW!"

Hound shot again, finally getting a shot into his face.

"I just needed you to get up!" Hound smirked, firing some more.

As Blackout got back up, he felt some bullets bounce and ping his armor. Looking back, he saw the military start to release everything they could on him, trying to kill him.

Now that he was distracted, Hound ran back and stopped in front of Indigo's tent, seeing her with a few belongings at hand.

"What does that Decepticon want!?" Indigo shouted.

"He said he's after you!"

"Me!?"

"Over my dead body, he is!"

Hound violently transformed, going back into jeep mode.

"I don't like to run, but our only chances of making sure both of us are alive are getting out of here, fast!"

Indigo strapped what little belongings she had into the trunk of the jeep, throwing another bag into the passenger seat, and sitting in the driving seat.

"Then lets go!"

Hound's tires swerved, and he sped on the pavement. Indigo watched as Blackout fended off against the military, before jumping up and transforming back into his helicopter form, taking off for the skies. He wasn't going towards them, thank goodness, but Indigo and Hound still didn't feel safe going back where chances of being attacked again were likely.

Even so, Hound revealed himself in front of several men and women. If he stayed, they would have shot him too, or worse, tried to experiment on him. He was taking no chances going back, and neither was Indigo. If she went back, boy, her status as captain would have been removed, or worse; thrown off the base and promptly fired. This was the first time someone outside of CHS and CPA had learned of the Transformers existence... and frankly, neither were in the mood to stay.

As Hound's wheels grinded onto the sand, he flipped on the radio for Indigo to listen to, all the while thinking deep in his thoughts.

I won't let you down, Ironhide. I promise...

Back in Oklahoma, Shatter, Dropkick, and a horde of Vehicons kept driving down the open roads, driving past several great plains and pieces of farmland that Oklahoma had to offer. The scenery was rather nice, and very peaceful as well. No one to complain and no one to get mad about the horde of cars that were cruising down the road.

"Very nice scenery," Shatter sighed. "So peaceful, and relaxing..."

"Reminds me of all of those hikes in the Sonic Canyons, remember those?" Dropkick chimed.

"Oh... I remember those. Oh, they were so nice..."

"Remind me, when you and I get off this planet... we're headin' straight for the Sonic Canyons," Dropkick replied in a soothing tone.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm..." Shatter giggled.

The pack made a left turn, creating a few skid marks on the once beautifully paved road. As they drove, Dropkick's windows lowered, and the music he had playing on the radio began to smoke out from within. A heavy beat of rock and roll pumped from the speakers, making the cars dance on the road.

"Now that's the beat," Dropkick chuckled.

Shattered chuckled as well, her inner eyes gazing around at their surroundings and environments.

"Thank goodness its not tornado season. We picked quite the right time to go out," Shatter commented as they made another turn. "Oh, we're almost there."

"Now remember, the people we're talking to are Sour Sweet and Smallfoot, just in case you forget."

"Oh, I never forget. After all, with names like that, who can?"

The couple chuckled again, and they glided across the pebbles on their giant driveway. They had parked in front of their small ranch-house, and big red barn. Accompanied was also a giant cornfield far off to the side, where a sprinkler system was going off.

"So do we lure them out, or we storm their home?" Dropkick asked.

"No. Let us get them outside. I can encourage them to come with us..."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we let their dwelling burn."

Back inside, Sour and Smallfoot were getting their early morning coffee, enjoying the sweet and hot taste that woke them up from their sleepy gaze.

"Ahh... just the thing," Smallfoot sighed.

"mmmhmm," Sour chimed in.

The two of them took another sip from their mugs, until their son called for their attention.

"Mama? Mommy?"

"Yes sweetie?" Sour asked.

"Um... someone's here," Betamax said, pointing to the outside window.

Sour tilted her head, confused. She walked over to the window and looked outside, seeing the red and blue sport cars outside. In addition, she saw three other black cars behind them, their bodies still shaking with the rumbling engines.

"Okay... this is weird. You didn't get any government calls, did you Smallfoot?" Sour asked.

"No, I don't think so," Smallfoot replied, looking out the window.

"Okay... Betamax, stay right here. Mommy and Mama are just going to go see what they want, okay?" Sour instructed.

"Okay," Betamax replied, sounding a bit scared.

Sour and Smallfoot approached the door, but they stopped. Smallfoot looked to her side, looking at a painting hanging on the wall. She removed the painting, which revealed a small compartment. Unlocking the lock, she opened up the compartment, and pulled out two small guns. But they weren't regular guns, the guns resembled more Cybetronian technology.

The two of them tucked them behind their backs, carefully hidden away. Once they were concealed, the two of them stepped outside as carefully as they could, their footsteps crunching the pebbles below them.

"Ahem," Smallfoot cleared her throat.

"May we help you?" Sour asked, raising a brow.

Shatter and Dropkick's engines still rumbled, but they eventually turned their attention.

"Miss Sour Sweet?" Shatter asked.

"Yessss?" Sour asked with some slight hesitation. "You're a Cybertronian, aren't you?"

"Well, I... Yes, yes I am. How did you guess?"

"Because no one can make their voice loud enough to speak from the engine of the car!" Sour snapped. She stopped, realizing she was yelling. "But uh... no, that's uh, heh, kind of what I assumed..."

"Now if I may ask... who are you two?" Smallfoot asked, with curiosity.

"My name's Shatter. And this is my partner, Dropkick--"

"--Very nice to meet ya." Dropkick commented.

"--But we're here because the Autobots sent us. They want you back, they said they needed you."

Smallfoot sneered. "Well forget it, cause we're not! I don't care what you have to offer, Sour and I have specifically said, we're retired from Autobot work, okay!"

"But surely--"

"No, I don't care! You can just tell Sunset Shimmer, that we..." Smallfoot's eyes lingered to one of the rally cars sitting behind them, and her voice droned off. She caught the purple Decepticon logo in the grille of the car, and immediatley shut up. "... aren't... interested..."

"But its a matter of urgency, don't you two even care?" Dropkick asked. "I mean seriously, what if one of your friends is hurt?"

Smallfoot nudged Sour's shoulder, getting her to look at the car she spotted. Sour quickly caught on and she looked to her partner, giving a nod.

"Maybe you're right, maybe someone is... could you just give me and my partner a moment of privacy?"

"Of course. Take all the time you need," Shatter replied.

The two of them turned around, huddling close.

"Decepticons, what are they doing here?" Sour whispered.

"I don't know. Think we should call for backup?"

"By the time we do, they'll be too late! Look, our safest bet is to get Betamax and get down into the cellar. We can't let them near. Lets just get Betamax, grab quick provisions, and get into the basement."

"Right."

The two of them turned around, putting on the most convincing looks they could muster.

"We'll come with you. But uh, we need to get something, I hope that's okay?"

"Of course, just don't go to the bathroom for the 11th time," Dropkick deadpanned.

"Right..."

Sour and Smallfoot moved back inside the house, slamming the door shut. And they could hear the door close with an audible click.

"That's it. The house is going down in flames!" Dropkick snarled.

"Then let us do a little light target practice!"

Shatter, Dropkick, and the rally cars behind them all backed up, making some distance from themselves and the house. Then once by one, all of them propped up small rockets and missiles, ready to launch. The energy charged up with a loud hum on each rocket, and all of them stood mounted, ready to fire.

"Ready..."

"Aim..."

"FIRE!" The two shouted.

All at once, the rockets launched together, aiming for the well constructed house. All at once, they collided right into the home, and exploded upon impact. A big explosion of flames erupted into the air, and the house was reduced to nothing but pieces. Wood planks, brick walls, concrete pieces, they all rained the sky as it was blown to bits.

Some of the bricks and wood fell and hit the hoods of the cars, bouncing off of some of them. But no one flinched, winced, or reacted to being so close to the explosion. And they waited as the explosion began to die down. Flames were still about, but it stopped hailing on them.

"... Tempest said to bring them back alive, didn't she?" Dropkick asked.

"... Yes." Shatter stopped.

Dropkick growled and sighed. "Wonderful..."

"So what do we do now?" One of the Vehicons asked.

"The only thing we can do is head back. Contact Shockblast, tell them its a mission failure," Shatter said, her engine revving.

"What if Tempest gets mad? She's gonna blame us for killing them," Dropkick asked as he and Shatter led the pack.

"There will be other opportunities," Shatter replied.

The pack of cars drove away, leaving the scene. Once they were far away, they kicked up their engines and revved up as fast as they could, speeding away to get to the distance they needed to Groundbridge away.

The house that was once there was no more. All that stood was just a few walls and pieces of what was left of the foundation. The only other piece of building that stayed was the barn, which thankfully suffered minimal damage. But the fires grew in the place of the house, and not a soul or sight had seen the damage. After all, who could when you lived far off in the country, all alone...

Chapter 9: Sour Return

What was once a beautiful dwelling, was nothing more than ashes. Smoldering wood decayed, bricks fell over and crumbled, and the fires began to spread over once happy memories in the form of family pictures. All in rubble, nothing left. You couldn't tell if someone had survived, or even lived through it. No human could.

One of the piles of rubble began to move. Not because it was falling over, but a yellow arm covered in ash began to push it off. Pulling out of the rubble, was Sour Sweet. Her face was visibly scared, hurt, and traumatized. Walking out, one of her legs was limping, painfully. She looked down and only trembled some more, seeing the fracture within. A piece of the plywood stuck in her leg, and she was unwilling to reach down and pull it out. Only would have hurt some more.

"N-Nothing to worry... no, no, no... u-uranium fever has gone and... g-got me down... death and destruction is spreading all around..." Sour's voice shakily sung.

Lifting her left hand up as best as she could, shaking like a leaf, a small remote control was in her palm. Her finger slid over a red button, and pressed on it, praying it would still work. It had to be.

At Autobot Headquarters, everything was slowly getting underway. Blastwave had been woken up, and he was give a quick summary of everything that Flareup had explained and what they knew so far. Nothing else really came to mind of what to do, so now he had to adjust to the new base of operations.

Stomping his green heels onto the floor, he approached the twins who first greeted him.

"Hey, look who's finally awake," Sideswipe smirked.

"Thought you would have drifted off with Sleeping Beauty by now," Sunstreaker joked.

The larger Autobot raised a brow, confused. The brothers joking quickly ended.

"Its a long story. Anyways, welcome to the Ark! I'm Sideswipe, this is my brother Sunstreaker," Sideswipe introduced.

"What's up?" Sunstreaker asked.

Blastwave nodded at the twins, and made a few hand gestures to reply. It took them both a little while, but Blastwave managed to get his message to them. Somehow, Sideswipe managed to still remember all of the sign-language that Fluttershy taught him at one point during their visit, helping him communicate with some of the non-speaking students at CHS.

"Not... a... talker... lost... speech--oh dang..." Sideswipe's mouth drooped.

"Sorry to hear that, bro," Sunstreaker sympathized.

Blastwave gave a small smile, understanding the yellow Autobot.

"Well, hey, if you ever need someone to listen, we'll listen to ya. In the meantime, why don't you just get settled in, there's time to meet everybody here. Or, what's left of everyone," Sideswipe remarked as he and his brother walked past him.

"You think we should tell them about our rogue gallery?"

"Nah, let him find out. Let him figure it out on his own, he'll get the idea. In a bit."

After the two brothers left, Blastwave turned his head around to see a familiar face; Flareup.

"Oh. Hello, Blastwave," Flareup scowled.

Blastwave growled back at the smaller Autobot.

"So. I take it you got notified of our current events?"

The bigger bot just nodded.

"Stuck here, on this rock... and with Ironhide gone... who's gonna stop me from wrestling you and taking you apart?"

Blastwave's claws clashed and a pair of twin blasters unfolded on each arm. Flareup just growled and unfolded hers as well.

You have a lot of nerve trying to pick a fight with me again, Blastwave thought.

Both eyes locked onto each other, and both of them had their weapons out. Any moment, the other could strike and attack. Thankfully, someone interrupted just in time.

"Hey, what's the big idea boys?"

The voice that had spoken sounded like it was from a 1930s program, playing off of some radio. The two recruits turned their heads and what they saw made them both drop into dead silence. The talons of a former Decepticon clapsed into the metal floor, keeping him standing straight as he faced the two newbies.

"I think you need a hug," another piece of dialogue played.

Blastwave and Flareup blinked, right before turning the guns upon Dreadbot.

Dreadbot didn't flinch, but instead kept speaking with the radio transmissions.

"I don’t recognize you. You are new."

"Who are you, Decepti-creep!?" Flareup shouted.

Dreadbot's jaw opened and closed as he stretched his mouth, yawning in between another response.

"Dread... bot."

"Why are you--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey!" Tracks shouted.

Tracks and Wheeljack jumped in between, pushing the two trainees away from Dreadbot, and pushing their guns down.

"Why are you pointing your guns at one of your teammates?"

"Because he's..." Flareup began. Her eyes widened when she heard the response. "Teammate? This Decepticon is our teammate!?"

"Former, Decepticon to be more accurate. I know the scary exterior is a bit frightening but I assure you, he is not one of them. He's on our side," Tracks explained, "Along with everyone else."

"Everyone else!?"

"Yes. Believe it or not, we've got quite a few subordinates on our side, some of which were former Decepticons. Don't let the grotesque appearance cloud your judgement, understood?" Tracks drilled.

Flareup and Blastwave groaned and nodded.

"Good. Now please, try to get along. Like it or not, there's a chance you two are trapped here, and if you're going to survive you must learn to properly communicate!" Tracks finished before leaving the two. Watching the two of them bicker at each other was starting to give him flashbacks when he and Strongarm first arrived on Earth.

And speak of the devil, Strongarm was there, surprisingly. She was leaning against the frame of a doorway, watching the ensuing fight.

"They don't get along, do they?"

Tracks shook his head as he leaned against the other doorway, next to the former police cadet. Watching the two of them made Strongarm giggle.

"I remember when we were like that," Strongarm commented.

"Ah, yes, indeed. I remember almost hating every tiny integrated circuit within you. But looking back... I'm not sure I even know why I did," Tracks replied, shaking his head.

"Yeah... almost makes--"

A small beeping noise was going off on the main computer, interrupting her sentence. She paced over to the computer and tapped the button, checking for the signal.

"Spitfire. It seems there's someone requesting a Groundbridge."

"Any idea who?" Spitfire asked, speaking from another part of the base.

"No ma'am. But it doesn't seem like there's any Cybertronian life signatures."

"Open up the bridge. I'll call over some bots to stand by, just in case it's a trap."

"Roger that, ma'am."

Spitfire walked towards the glowing Groundbridge, looking carefully. Who could be walking through to the other side? She expected a Transformer, as she looked above. Maybe they had some cloaking device or technology that masked their energy signature. But she was very surprised to see that it wasn’t who had walked on through. Coming through the bridge was a limping girl, covered in bruises and scratches. Her hair was disheveled and dusty, and one of her eyes was twitching.

“Ma’am, who are you, and what are you doing here?” Spitfire asked with a loud voice.

“Don’t mind me, just let me get my rolling chair and I’ll be fine,” Sour said, very cheerfully as she passed Spitfire. She was left dumbfounded as she just walked on past her.

“Ma’am, what are you doing here, how did you even—“

“Don’t bother me!”

Spitfire was dumbfounded. Who was this woman who just wandered into the base like it was her own home?

"Ma'am, get back here! Where are you going?"

"I just need a wheelchair, and I'll be good," Sour yelped, falling onto the floor and groaning.

The Groundbridge closed and Spitfire immediately rushed over to lift up the injured girl.

"Who are you?" Spitfire asked. "And for that matter, how did you get a Groundbridge signal?"

Sour just shook and jittered even more.

"Sour Sweet, that's who I was..." Sour muttered, audibly.

"Sour Sweet... wait a minute. I think I remember your name," Spitfire commented. "You served alongside Sunset Shimmer against the Decepticons several years ago, didn't you?"

"Yep. And I got laid several times!" Sour cackled.

Spitfire blanked. "Um... Let's just get you into a wheelchair."

Carefully, she helped pick up Sour and carried her over into a medical booth. The door automatically opened up, allowing her to walk inside. As soon as she did, she found an open wheelchair available for use, and then carefully set Sour down into the chair.

"Okay. So start at the beginning. Why are you here, and what happened to you?"

"What hasn't happened?" Sour said, with a straight face. "I've been married, got laid some more... tried to conceive but that wasn't working... adopted a child with my partner and... just lost them today..."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Spitfire asked.

Sour turned her head and looked the captain in the eyes.

"Half an hour ago, I was enjoying a cup of coffee with my wife. Then five minutes later... they're gone. Several years of dating, planning, chatting, happy talks and times... just all gone." Sour said. "Same goes for my child. Just adopted him a few years ago, and now he's gone too. Everyone's gone, I'm all alone, no family ties, that's all..."

Spitfire's face went from deranged to shocked in the seconds that Sour had spoken. Now she was starting to see a problem. Even worse, she was saying everything completely straight like it was an every day thing! No way she was in any way okay right now.

"Sour. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course I am! I've just lost my family and now I want to go plan some much needed revenge," Sour replied, moving her hand on the joystick of the automatic chair.

"Look, Sour, I understand you're not well, but I think you and I should talk." Spitfire said, reaching for some medical supplies. "People aren't well if they keep these things bottled up, we seriously need to... Sour? Sour?"

“Excuse me, I need to go do something,” Sour said, as she moved the joystick on the chair. And she drove herself away from Spitfire who slapped her hands by her sides.

“Wait, get back here!”

Sour ignored Spitfire's pleas and just kept driving the wheelchair forward.

“You all sure do have a lot of empty orange halls. Especially all of the orange, can’t you afford any other color than this? Why not spruce it up with some dark grays and stuff? Make it a real edgelord home!”

Sour kept moving the chair away from Spitfire who tried to catch up with her. And Sour didn’t even pay attention to her following her. She bumped it right past Soarin who fell to the ground and shattered his lunch tray into pieces.

“That tray was already damaged after they fell there!”

“Sour!”

“Just tell me where Sunset is, Maverick! What else can I even do here, just sit here in this spiny chair and cry and whine about how those I loved are completely gone!?”

“Sour!” Spitfire shouted, trying to get her to stop.

“And even if I was going to, how could I do that because... where the hell is everyone?” Sour ranted. At this point she was now spinning the mobile chair around in circles, not even caring. “Literally all I see are you, the expendable Guardians, and the Suicide Squad wannabes! Can’t hire the real Suicide Squad, so now you have to settle for a poor attempt to be them!?”

Spitfire shook her head, watching Sour continue to spin around in her chair.

"Sour, we need to talk, you're not well."

"I'm perfectly fine, Spitfire. Now give me a mech, I've got some explosions to create!"

Spitfire moved just in time and clutched her shoulders, making her stop moving around.

"Oh so you're moving onto me now?"

"Sour, listen to me!" Spitfire shouted. "You are not well, and this is not how you should be reacting right now. I know what its like Sour, I know how it feels to lose the people you feel close to you! I've lost friends, people I've called family out in the field of battle, people I've loved, people I grew to love have by my side! But holding all of this in, trying to push it back is not healthy! You can't just keep it away!"

Sour's hands gripped Spitfire's hands and her teeth were slowly beginning to snarl.

"Don't you dare touch me... I'm perfectly fine, I'm well enough to take down a frickin' robot!"

"Are you? Punch my face. If you can throw a perfect punch against my face, then we will see!"

"Oh I will!"

Sour's fist raised up, clenched as tight as it could. She raised it back, about to swing. She was gonna do it, this was gonna be the knock out! But as she was about to do it... she stopped. Why did she stop, she wanted to prove herself strong enough, she was going to! She had all the strength, she had it all! But yet, there was a part of her inside that just stopped. A single memory went into her head, remembering the explosion and the impact.

Smallfoot. Betamax. They were just... gone. They weren't there any more. Gone. Off the earth. They were no more. They had gone to meet their makers. Smallfoot, lord knows would probably be off and joining the rest of her departed friends and family. And Betamax? Oh, sweet Betamax... no, that little boy...

Her fist and entire arm began to shake and tremble. Sour's face slowly began to fade from her seething face. What started as an angry war face, began to turn more into the face of a sad little girl. Her eyes slowly began to water, making her immediatley clench her eyes shut. Her head slowly went down, and Spitfire's stern expression dwindled.

"Sour?"

Sour didn't speak. But she could hear a soft whimper emitted from her lips.

"Oh, Sour..."

Spitfire moved closer and pulled her into a hug. Sour's arms wrapped around Spitfire's back, and Spitfire could hear her sobbing her eyes out. Sour held her tight as she could, not wanting to let go.

"They're dead.. they're dead and I couldn't protect them!" Sour balled out.

"Its not your fault," Spitfire rubbed her back.

"I should have called sooner... I thought we could have moved in time, but we didn't! They're gone, and I need them back!" Sour cried. "Oh Smallfoot... she was the only girl who ever loved me. She was the only one who understood me, and now she's just gone..."

Spitfire frowned, hearing her cries. But she did not dare speak, only when Sour had let it all out would she talk.

"Oh and Betamax!" Sour wailed. "I wanted to teach him so much! There was so much I hadn't taught him! I wanted to show him how to get a girl, how to ride a bike! But I can't now..."

"Shhh..." Spitfire stroked her hair as she held her.

Sour cried for a solid few minutes before her sounds turned from crying to whimpering and heavy sighs, trying to breathe. Spitfire pulled out of the hug and helped her back into the wheelchair, looking her dead in the eye.

"You let it out as much as you need to. I'll listen. And as for who attacked you and your home, we're going to help. Whoever those Decepticons were, we're going to find them and bring them down."

Sour sniffled and wiped her eyes. "T-T-Thank you..."

Spitfire gave her a warm smile and patted her shoulder. "Now how about we patch you up? Clean your wounds?"

"O-Okay..." Sour moaned, feeling the pain in her leg.

As she sat back down, Spitfire moved behind and pushed on the wheelchair, pushing her to the medical bay. And as she pushed the poor woman into the bay, only one thought was emitted into her head.

Sunset, I hope you're having a better day than we are...

Chapter 10: Betamax Track

A sunny afternoon. A beautiful sun in the sky, crystal clear skies with a touch of baby blue, and an open road in a grassy plain. It was quite the atmosphere that Trailbreaker and Sunset Shimmer found absolutely relaxing. Right now, the two of them were parked near a campsite, with a perfect view across the crystal clear lake. Sunset Shimmer just sat on a rock near the water, while Trailbreaker sat on the one next to her and gazed out as well. Trees full of life were home for several squirrels and birds, fish were happily jumping across the lake, and across the lake, they could see a family of bears moving towards the water to get their lunch.

"Its been so long since I've been somewhere else... I can't believe I almost forgot how beautiful the planet is sometimes," Sunset gasped in awe.

Trailbreaker smiled as he watched the little cub jump and bounce around, and nuzzle her mother.

"Are all animal's babies adorable as the ones I'm looking at now?" The old veteran asked. "Because I'm not sure anything can top it."

Sunset chuckled. "Just wait until you see puppies and kittens, I'm sure your mind will be changed almost instantly.

"Yeah, maybe," Trailbreaker laughed.

As the two of them stared off into the lake, Sunset's legs slowly moved side to side, in a kicking motion. She leaned forward, looking at her reflection in the lake. The cleaned up face, the beautiful woven hair, and that smile... she still had that friendly smile that let her friends know that things would be okay when the situation was bad.

"Sunset, tell me something. Are you sure you know where your friends are?"

"I do, believe me. I've looked online, I've checked MyStable, SnapGab, everything. I know where they are."

"That's good. Don't want to go off on a mission without knowing where you're going, I've made that mistake before," Trailbreaker commented.

"You have?"

"Oh yeah, lots of times. I remember in the Great War, me and my squad had to go on an Energon supply run, whoo boy, going without the coordinates, not a good idea... we were understandably lost..." Trailbreaker chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "And, well, lets just say a few hours later, we were chewed out by our superiors, and then attacked by Decepticons."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, but it was a learning experience. We're beyond that now," Trailbreaker nodded, slowly kicking his leg into the water, watching it make little waves that went in all directions.

"Yeah..."

"Do you know what you're going to say to your friends when you finally find them?" Trailbreaker asked.

"I'm not sure. I think my first thing is, honestly, apologize to them for not staying in touch like I should have," Sunset frowned in her reflection, "I'm a bad friend..."

"You're not a bad friend."

"Yes, I am."

"Sunset, if you were a bad friend, you wouldn't be regretting not talking to them or seeing them. You still care for them, and that to me, is a sign that you still love them."

Sunset smiled, turning her head to the visor-eyed Autobot.

"Thanks."

Trailbreaker smiled back and patted her head, making her giggle.

"I do hope they'll be accepting of you coming back. They haven't seen you in years, surely they would like to see you," Trailbreaker spoke. "And I certainly know Jazz, and Sideswipe, and everyone else would love to see them again."

Sunset nodded. "Yeah, they would, wouldn't they... You think I should have invited them to come?"

"Yes," Trailbreaker said, bluntly.

"Oh... sorry," Sunset shrunk.

"Don't tell me, tell them. Or, at least when we're back on the road again. Or better yet... call them when you get there, and get the girls to video-chat with them," he said, sparking an idea.

"Trailbreaker, you're a genius!"

Trailbreaker shrugged.

"I'm not a genius, I just think with simple logic."

"Repeat everything you just told me... now."

Shatter and Dropkick both shivered a bit, Tempest insisting them to repeat back the events that they had been through.

"Well, we um... we might have, you know..." Dropkick stammered.

"Blown, up, their... home?" Shatter finished.

The deceased Autobot's eyes glared down at the triple-changers, Tempest coldly scowling at them from inside.

"Look, we know we screwed up this capture, but you know there will be plenty of other people we can--Ow ow ow ow!"

Tempest's hand yanked on Dropkick's face, pulling his face right up into her own, and hissed.

"I need a hostage if this plan is going to work! Destroying homes with the residents inside are not going to solve our mission, and neither is failing to capture someone who was unarmed!" Tempest yelled, glaring at Blackout.

"Its not my fault she had Hound, and there were military coming around on me!" Blackout protested.

Tempest let go of Dropkick's face, pushing him away from her body. Dropkick rubbed at his face, trying to straighten himself out after Tempest's steel grip.

"Hey, hey, we'll find someone!" Grubber called out, looking up at Tempest from behind. "I want your body fixed just as much as you do! You look like a rejected piece of jelly just wrapped in Tesla coils, and you know you don't want a wheelchair!"

Tempest veered around and slammed her foot into the ground, now glaring at Grubber.

"I don't care who stands in my way, Autobot or Decepticon, nothing is going to keep me from getting my body back! Tell Shockblast to send Vehicons out to capture more, and tell them not to kill them! If they do, then I'll be the one next in line for killing..."

Grubber gave a quick wave and ran as fast as he could, going to alert the scientist. Tempest stood straight, watching him leave and she took a deep breath and sighed. "One hostage, out of three people, and you two couldn't capture one..."

While the triple-changers were getting more and more chewing out from Tempest, Cyberwarp watched her continue to berate them from a few bamboo trees.

The jet thought long and hard about the situation at hand. As brutal as the attacks sounded, she desperately wanted to see if anyone was still alive. What they were doing was wrong, and she couldn't stand it! Well if they weren't going to check for survivors, then she would!

Sneaking away without anyone watching, she snuck off into the silo where the Groundbridge was set. After checking if anyone else was nearby, she flicked the controls on, and began setting the coordinates. But just as she was about to leave--

"Where are you going?"

Cyberwarp nearly flinched and let out a ghastly shriek. But when she turned back, she saw Skyjack and Spacewarp just idly sitting and watching as she was about to leave.

"Promise me you won't tell Tempest, or any of the others?"

"Of course," Skyjack nodded.

"I promise," Spacewarp replied, calmly.

"Look, what we're doing... its wrong. I know Tempest's plans require to find a hostage but... I just can't sit here knowing that perhaps everyone at... at that home in Oklahoma is just... gone."

"So, what are you doing then?" Spacewarp asked.

Cyberwarp sighed and with a straight face, she said, "I'm going to look for survivors."

"What!?" Skyjack shouted. "Do you really think anyone could have survived that? What if they're all dead?"

"And if they're not? They could still be alive!"

"With a dozen rockets right in their face, I don't think any human could survive that," Spacewarp shook her head.

"Maybe they did... maybe they didn't. But I'm going, and I'm going to find out for myself. I have to. Something just doesn't feel right..." Cyberwarp said. "And I don't care what any of you say, I'm going and you can't stop me."

Skyjack patted the shoulder of her sibling, and gave her a sweet and kind smile on her face.

"We're not gonna stand in your way. And we won't let Tempest know. Just contact us when you're ready to return, but be warned, it could be awhile, depending on if Shockblast doesn't use the terminal in here."

Cyberwarp nodded.

"Understood."

She pounded her fist onto the control to turn on the Groundbridge, and soon a green portal began to glow. Once it opened, she paced towards it, her body creating a shadow on the ground as she stood in front of it.

"Good luck, navigator!"

Cyberwarp waved at them, and then like a cloud of dust in a magician's act, she was gone.

As she got to the other side, she found herself standing in a big hot desert. Mountains, some small plant-life and cacti surrounding her, including a few creatures here and there.

"Okay, I'm here. Where am I?"

"You're standing in the state of Texas. You just got to get to Oklahoma, and back where you are."

"How come?" Cyberwarp asked, concerned.

"Thanks to our lackluster technology, we can't exactly beam everywhere on the planet. We only have a limited range of where we can groundbridge our buddies, and you're in range. Go off into Texas, you'll be off the grid."

"Understood. I'll just fly and be back. Cyberwarp, out."

She put one foot after the other, beginning to walk. Then slowly, that walk began to turn into a run. And in a matter of seconds she jumped into the air and transformed into her vehicle mode. Her entire body flipped around and converted into her Cybertronian jet form and she took off for the clouds.

Her flight was roughly a few hours or so, but thankfully she made it all the way over to Oklahoma. Now all she had to do was find the exact coordinates where Shatter and Dropkick visited. Surely it shouldn't have been far?

Well luckily the sight of a giant explosion mark in the middle of a farmland was enough to give away the location. She zipped down, and started to land towards the ground, the spinning helicopter blades in her vehicle mode spinning rapidly.

As she got a few inches to the ground, she flipped herself around and transformed into her robot form. She stuck a knee out, and made a fist into the ground as she landed, keeping herself up instead of falling over. Tilting her head up, she looked at the remains of the once beautiful house. More broken bricks, ashes, broken pieces of plywood, it was all in shambles! At least the big red barn was still standing, but it too had received some similar damage. She couldn't believe her optics. She had faced true destruction during the war of Cybertron, but she didn't want to believe it'd be brought back here on Earth! Especially from her own kind, she just couldn't!

"No... no no no no no..." Cyberwarp muttered. "Please... there has to be someone still alive!"

What could she do? There was no way she could see through this smoldering mess! But wait; the camera drones! The hovering cameras she used for spying and surveillance, why didn't she think of this before?

Opening up a hatch on her arm, she pulled out both metallic orbs and threw them into the air. The cameras transformed from the metallic balls they were, and opened up its camera lenses and focusing eyes.

"Hopefully there is still someone alive out here," Cyberwarp distressed.

As the drones flew up to begin their search, the twin turned her attention to the barn. It was a big barn, that was for sure. Barely any damage it hit from the explosion which she couldn't comprehend given how close the barn was to the house. But she could see that it wasn't entirely stable; there had been several amount of walls torn off and away, including some holes in the roof for that matter.

She paced over to the huge barn doors, and using her fingertips, she slided the doors open to get a look inside. As she checked, she could see the inside of the barn wasn't too shabby looking. There were certainly some padlocks and fences inside, obviously meant for holding some farm animals (not that the place even had farm animals to home), along with some piles of hay in some of the pens.

To her left, she saw something of particular interest. A wooden table that had a few pieces of circuit boards and parts strewn about, sitting next to an old computer dating back from the 90s. There was a jar full pf pennies, some candy bars laying on the desk next to the keyboard, and next to the desk was a shelf that had some more parts and tools sitting on them.

And as she looked forward, she saw something that took center stage of the barn; a very rusted, old pickup truck. The paint was faded, the front grille guard was hanging over like it was about to fall off, a headlight was busted, and much more. In addition, as she bent forward and gazed at the grille, she could see a small silver emblem in the center of the grille, all scratched up. And on the doors of the pickup, there was faded images of a heart and diamond graphic, colored in blue and pink. The tires were deflated, tailgate and hood were punched in like someone dented them with a sledgehammer, and the tailgate was punched in as well.

She looked up at the top of the hood, seeing some of the collected dust and faded paint sit on top of the punched in hood. Her hand slowly reached down and wiped away at some of the dust, her hands creating some scratching sounds as she moved it. But as she did, she could hear the gasp of fear. She was so shocked she nearly jumped up and hit her head on the loft above. But wait, where did the sound come from? She wasn't alone in here, no sirree.

As she walked around, cautiously stepping over some of the expensive equipment and parts, she began to look around. Was someone in here? Was someone hiding from the attack, or even worse, hiding from Shatter and Dropkick from earlier that day?

She turned her gaze to the hayloft above, and watched as some of the hay started to jiggle and writhe around. But she didn't bump it to cause it. No, there was something up there? There was. Someone was up there! Using the rockets in her boots, she flew herself up a few inches, granting her a better look. She indeed could see there was something wriggling and hiding in there.

She moved her face a little closer, trying to get a better eye. Somehow, through some of the pieces of straw she was able to see a scared face underneath, shaking and trembling in fear. The sight of the scared creature made her frown and look in awe.

"Hey there... are you hiding in there?" Cyberwarp asked, softly.

The creature hiding didn't reply.

"Its okay... I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk to you. Are you under there...?"

The Decepticon waited patiently for some form of response. Either by simply talking or coming out, she waited. But she didn't get anything. No movements, no response, no nothing. Perhaps another approach would get whoever was hiding out of there?

"I know you're scared. I would be too. But its okay. You don't have to be scared..." Cyberwarp cooed, as she backed up, giving some distance between her and whoever was hiding in the hay. "And to show you that I'm serious, I'm gonna back away now. And if you're comfortable with coming out, just... just do."

She waited again. Maybe now whoever was hiding would come out and say hello. And finally, someone did come out. Slowly out of the hay, was a little boy covered in bruises and scratches, crawling carefully out of the hay with a scared look. He moved slowly, taking stance in case he would have to run again. This gave Cyberwarp a chance to take a full look at the scared child. This poor kid hiding up in the loft of barn, probably having gotten up there when Shatter and Dropkick arrived.

"Who are you?" Cyberwarp smiled, trying to give a friendly look to the child.

Once again, no reply. Slowly, but nicely, she hovered closer to the loft, but not to quick as to scare him. She looked at him, still keeping that friendly smile on her face. She looked like the face of a mother, there when a child needed most.

"M... Max..."

Cyberwarp blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"My... n-name is... Max..."

Cyberwarp's glance kept focused, nodding all the while.

"Max... I like that," Cyberwarp cooed. She slowly moved her hand up, opening up her palm in attempt to properly shake his hand if she could. "I'm Cyberwarp."

Betamax looked carefully to her hand, seeing the open fingers. He could see she was trying to open up a hand to possibly shake, but what if she was tricking him? No way he could just put his hand out to this giant robot that just wandered into the barn. So with no movements, he just kept his hands holding onto the loft boards, unwilling to move them from where they were.

Thankfully Cyberwarp was not one to berate someone for not giving proper introductions, so she just kindly removed her hand away in attempt to not scare him some more. She let out a sigh and she looked at Betamax in the eyes.

"Are you hiding?"

Betamax didn't reply, but just stared blankly at her face.

"I didn't scare you... did I?" Cyberwarp asked.

He shook his head slowly.

"Did someone come here and scare you?"

Betamax nodded. "Mmmhmm..."

"Did you see any cars? Red and blue, maybe?"

The child nodded again, making Cyberwarp sigh in sadness.

"Aww... I'm so sorry..."

Cyberwarp's hand slowly went up and she patted Betamax's head. Betamax nearly gasped at the touch, but she still allowed her to softly pat him.

"I know who those cars were," Cyberwarp whispered. "And I'm not going to let them hurt you..."

Betamax slowly looked up to the Decepticon. "Why are you here...?"

Looking him dead in the eye, Cyberwarp humbly said, "Because I know who those cars were, and what they did here was wrong. I wanted to see if anyone was alive and... you don't know how happy it makes me to see that someone like you has made it out okay."

Betamax slowly backed away, hearing her sudden change in tone.

"Wait, wait! I said I wouldn't hurt you, and I mean it. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," Cyberwarp placed her hand over her spark. "Please..."

"No... I can't! Mommy's dead, and so is Mama! I have no one!"

"That's not true..."

"How do you know?" Betamax cried.

Cyberwarp moved closer and gave the most friendly and heart-felt smile she could.

"You can talk to me, can't you?"

Betamax hadn't really thought of that. But still, this was a complete stranger, a nobody who just showed up from out of nowhere on the farm property. And as nice as she was, he still continued to remember the common rule; don't talk to strangers. But this one showed up right after his home was blown to bits, and his moms gone...

Questioning every ounce of his morals and lessons he was taught, he paced slowly towards Cyberwarp, and Cyberwarp backed up so he could get a little closer without making him scared. Once he was close enough, she slowly moved her hands towards him, about to pick him up. Betamax raised his arms up, allowing Cyberwarp to carefully pick him up and bring him close so she could look closer, face to face.

"Its okay. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you..." Cyberwarp said, holding him close. "Never again..."

She patted his back, and watched as he rest his head on her breast plate, his eyes slowly falling asleep. Cyberwarp smiled and she patted him again, holding him carefully in her arms. Then with a free hand, she pressed it against her audio receptor, making contact.

"Skyjack, are you there?"

"Skyjack's here, Cyberwarp. What's going on, is there anyone alive?"

"You're not going to believe this. I found someone, someone survived!"

"Really? Who?"

"A child! His name's Betamax, he survived the explosion! I'm bringing him back."

"What!? You can't do that, what if Tempest finds out? Also, you don't know anything about taking care of a child!"

"Not to sound hasty, but tell that to the thousands of data files, hours, and surveillance footage I've captured in Hawaii with tons of families interactions, behaviors, and other forms of information."

"... Okay." Skyjack simply said, not even sure if she was going to win the argument. "But again, what if Tempest finds out? And for that matter, how are you going to take care of that kid?"

"I've told you already, she won't know. And if she does, then its not her business," Cyberwarp said with a strict reaction.

"Oh!" Skyjack yelped, shocked at her twin's sudden barking. "Geez, okay, calm down. Just stay calm, okay? Now look, if you're going to babysit some kid, you need some help."

Cyberwarp knew her sister couldn't see it, but she nodded anyway. "I know. But if its all clear, I'm going to head back to Texas so you can pick me up. Let me know you're ready to pick me up."

"I will. And you tell me when you get your mother board back here, I don't know when Shockblast will use the terminal."

"Loud and clear. Cyberwarp, out. Next stop, Honolulu!"

Cradling him close, she looked down. Betamax had fallen fast asleep, his head now using her chest plate like a pillow. Not that she minded, watching him sleep was admittedly adorable. She patted his head as he slept, and she carefully moved him in her arms, so she could hold him with one arm. With her free arm, she pushed the doors open and she walked back outside, closing the doors behind her, leaving the rusted truck inside the barn.

The truck just sat, idly alone. The sounds of a quick transformation and jet engine taking off for the air was barely audible outside, but just enough for the sound to travel inside.

Like a flick of a light switch, the headlights of the truck blared on, hitting the closed barn doors. No driver inside to turn them on, they came on on their own. Inside of the cabin, several knobs and buttons flicked on the controls, and the radio turned itself on...

The truck's entire body began to vibrate and shake as it started to turn itself on, and slowly, the truck began to rise up. The wheels that just laid lip began to inflate with the helium it needed, no longer flat and smoldering. The back end of the tailgate that was punched in, began to buff itself out until it was nice and perfectly aligned right, the sound of clanking metal pushing out from behind. The doors that were dented and slammed in, like someone punched it hard with a support beam began to buff out as well, until it was back into perfect shape.

The rear view mirrors on the sides of the trucks slowly swiveled and adjusted until they were set perfectly straight, in the non-existent driver's view. The front hood of the truck slowly began to force itself from digging into the engine, until it was perfectly smooth and flat, covering the engine inside. Lastly, the grille began to fight against its squeezed formation until it was all straightened out, looking as normal as it should have been, all the while the lights on the side shoved themselves back into their proper places.

More metal moved around, creating loud clanking and grinding sounds as the truck got itself back together in proper shape. The truck that was just sitting there lifeless without a care, was now active and ready. With no more actions in mind, the engine just kept on growling, an audible revving sound coming from the engine, until its wheels began to move and drive on its own...

Chapter 11: Old Friends

The road trip was getting back underway, as soon as the day began. With empty highways, and beautiful countrysides to be viewed. Trailbreaker kept his focus on the road, while Sunset just laid back, relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Occasionally there would be a big rig driving on by, or some regular car, but other than that everything was pretty nice.

The wheels of the camper danced on the road as the knobs on the radio consistently switched, trying to find a station that would have some good music.

"How is it you always find the most beautiful places to drive in?"

"I don't. I just drive and eventually I just find something pretty."

As Sunset laid back, she opened up a small compartment near the cup holders. Inside were a few cassette tapes which held heaven knows how many songs. Taking one of them, she pushed it into the cassette player, turning on the music.

Hey now, hey now,
don't dream its over
hey now, hey now

Sunset's head slowly bobbed to the beat, enjoying the tune. Trailbreaker couldn't help but hum along to the music, but he still kept his focus on the road. It wouldn't have been good if the both of them were in a terrible accident. Turning to the right, they passed by a sign for a nearby produce stand, filled with apples.

"Wait, I think we're almost there! I remember, I took some screenshots from an internet map, there was always a produce stand at that exact spot! We're just a few houses away!"

"Then let's hike up!"

Trailbreaker picked up the pace, and kept driving forward. Instinctively, Sunset gave the instructions and ordered him to turn to the right again, this time now driving on a long pathway that would eventually lead to someone's house. The mailbox on the side of the path proved that theory.

As they drove up, they could see a beautiful rustic house in a big grassy plain just up ahead. Two stories, a few apple trees surrounding the house, widespread of fences surrounding the area. The sun up in the morning sky made the land look even more lovely than ever.

And parked in some of the grassland were a few individual trucks and cars, four to be exact. Not Cybertronian, just normal looking cars that you would see in everyday life. And as they were pulling up, Trailbreaker slowed down a little bit so they wouldn't be startling anyone.

Trailbreaker finally stopped, as he and Sunset gazed ahead. The door to the house opened up, and a woman stepped out to gaze at the uninvited visitors. Sunset felt her heart pounding, the time was now. But she didn't move.

"Sunset? Aren't you going to say hi?"

Sunset took a deep breath, her voice shaking like someone was pointing a gun to her head.

"What... what if they don't want to see me? What if... what if she tells me to leave?"

"Sunset, you won't know unless you try. Just give it a shot, it'll be okay," Trailbreaker said, with a sympathetic tone.

Sunset swallowed her pride and nodded. The car door opened up on its own, and Sunset got out; sporting an orange tank top and blue jeans. She grabbed her bag, and started to walk up the path, going towards the house. The first person she could see was an orange skinned girl, dressed in a plaid button-up, and long jeans. A signature cowboy hat on her head made it stand out even more, making her recognize who was there.

Sunset gulped. "Hey, Applejack... its... its me. I uh, I know we haven't talked in a long time but uh... I'm back!"

Applejack was still silent, but Sunset didn't stop.

"I know you weren't expecting me to arrive, and I know I am such a horrible friend. I'm probably the worst friend you ever had, I should have stayed in contact with you guys after we graduated but... no. There is no excuse for me not calling you. Applejack, I don't expect you to forgive me, but I need you and everyone to know from the bottom of my heart, I am so, so, so sorry," Sunset said.

By this point, Sunset was so distraught she felt like crying. She was pouring her emotions all out onto Applejack's front path, and she didn't know when she would stop! Her legs started to shake and she felt her skin turn cold. She was anticipating Applejack to start yelling and scare her off. But she didn't. Applejack didn't say anything.

Applejack took a few steps down off her porch and walked towards Sunset Shimmer. Her face looked blank and neutral. Sunset couldn't tell if she was secretly mad or just really unhappy.

"Or, I could just go, and then you won't have to worry about someone trespassing on your property," Sunset squeaked, feeling a bucket of tension weigh her down. Sunset slowly backed away, turning her head feeling her face clench up. But a hand was brought onto her bare shoulder. She turned her head, looking at Applejack. Applejack's blank face turned upside down, into a welcoming smile.

"Welcome back, Sunset."

Sunset felt her eyes water. Not out of sadness, but joy.

"A-Applejack?"

Applejack wiped a tear that came from her face.

"I never forgot you, Sugarcube."

Sunset sniffled. "I'm... I'm so sorry..."

"Aww, come here," Applejack opened her arms.

Sunset collapsed into Applejack's offering hug, allowing her to embrace her. Applejack gave her a big hug, and patted her back. She could feel Sunset's body shaking and trembling, but she still hugged her. And soon, Sunset found herself smiling. After what felt like an eternity from being gone from one of her best friends... she was here with her again.

After a few more minutes of a reuniting hug, Applejack and Sunset pulled out.

"You feeling any better now?"

Sunset slowly nodded before clearing her face.

"I... I don't know what to say..."

"Hey Applejack! Who's out there?" A masculine sounding voice called out.

Coming at the door was another familiar face. Cyan colored skin, skin-tight running pants, and black jacket with a few streaks of neon, accompanied by rainbow colored hairstyle that was still grown out like it was full of energy.

"Rainbow Dash...?" Sunset gasped.

The formerly CHS's team captain smirked and skipped down, allowing Sunset to attack her in a hug as well. Rainbow Dash just smiled and hugged her all the while, embracing her.

"Rainbow, I'm--"

"Its okay. I know," Rainbow said, patting her back.

"Wha.. h-how?" Sunset asked, in surprise.

"I heard you. You weren't exactly quiet," Rainbow said, smirking.

Sunset chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry..."

"Don't be. Look, you not calling us for all of this time is... not cool, but from what we heard you say to Applejack, you sound sincere. If you really do miss us, then I think maybe we can try being friends again."

Sunset appreciatively smiled and hugged her again. "I would like that." But wait. She pulled out of the hug with a confused look. "What do you mean, we?"

"Darling?"

The next person to emerge from Applejack's house was none other than the generous fashionista herself; Rarity. Still had that beautifully woven hairstyle and that cleaned up look that always made her look divine and classy. Followed right behind was a familiar wallflower with the shyest of looks, and that energetic party animal known as Pinkie Pie.

"Sunset?" Fluttershy said, smiling.

"Sunset! You're back!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Whoo!"

Sunset blushed.

"I told you girls, I said that one day Sunset Shimmer would be back, and here she is now!" Pinkie Pie smiled, and then turned her head. "Oh, and she brought an Autobot!"

Sunset's shoulders tensed. "Um, no I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't!"

"He's the only car out there that looks clean as a whistle!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

Sunset Shimmer gazed back, and she was right. All of the cars that were parked were mostly regular, but she could tell they were not spick and span like they could be put on display for a car show or auction. Trailbreaker was the only one out of all of them that looked fresh and new like he just rolled off the assembly line.

"Um... I just have a really clean car," Sunset lied, rubbing her head.

"Sunset, you don't need to lie to us. We know you didn't come here alone," Applejack shook her head.

Sunset squeaked and sighed. "Okay, yes, I did come here with an Autobot. But the only reason I was with him was because I didn't know if there would be any... um, trouble, out here in the countryside. Best to someone close, right?"

Everyone gave a few short nods.

"Actually, wait. Where's Twilight?" Sunset asked.

"Oh, she's not here yet. She said she'll be here in two hours or so," Applejack nodded. "In the meantime... how about we come inside and we catch up on old times? There's so much you need to tell us."

Sunset chuckled. "I'm not really sure there's much to say girls. Nothing's really happened since we went our separate ways. Buuuut... we do have two new recruits now with the Autobots, that I can say. Other than that, nothing's really new. But if you girls don't mind, maybe we can talk about something that's not around the Autobots? What have you guys been up to?"

"Man, you really have missed a lot, haven't you?" Rainbow crossed her arms.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, let us not rub it in any more. Lest we bring up the Fall Formal incident for the umpteenth time?" Rarity piped up.

"Heh, right," Rainbow agreed, rubbing her arm with a little bit of embarrassment.

"Anyways, come, come! There's so much to tell you!" Rarity cooed, leading them to Applejack's house. "I have so much to tell you. Do you know I've finally got stores set up in Manehattan, darling?"

"You got some stores set up after all?" Sunset smiled.

"Yes!" Rarity squeaked, happily. "Top of the fashion world now!"

"That's amazing, Rarity! What about you, Fluttershy?"

The woman grinned, flashing her pearly whites. "You can now call me, Dr. Fluttershy. I now run the leading veterinary services in Minnesota, oh and some adoption agencies..."

The girls took their conversation inside the house, closing the door behind them. Trailbreaker sighed in relief, and even though he was still in vehicular form, he was smiling all the while.

"I knew you could do it, Sunset. I just knew it."

Lowering his windows, he flipped on the radio. Fast forwarding on the cassette, he found a particular track he was interested in, pressing play.

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do

And so, Trailbreaker just sat still, humming alone to some classic tunes. Maybe Sunset and her friends would come out of the house and talk to him. He know they would. But now, they needed their catching up time. She earned it.

Chapter 12: Tempest Negotiations

Once Cyberwarp was within range of the Groundbridge, a portal opened up, clear for her to pass on through. She quickly transformed into robot mode, still holding Betamax close who was still fast asleep. Thankfully the trip over didn't wake him up or make him sick.

She patted his back and smiled. Seeing him peacefully asleep, so cute. Looking around for anyone watching her, she walked through the Groundbridge, passing right through back to Hawaii. Awaiting her on the other side was Skyjack and Spacewarp who were waiting for her.

Needless to say, the two of them were quite surprised to see that she wasn't kidding; she really did bring back a survivor.

"You actually found a survivor?" Skyjack said, flabbergasted.

"No way someone can survive an explosion so close. Especially if you're closed up in a tight space," Spacewarp shook her head.

"Yes, well, he survived!" Cyberwarp chirped, very happy.

"I guess this leads to my next question; do you know what you need to take care of that kid?" Skyjack asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Earth children are different."

Cyberwarp nodded. "I understand, believe me. But I have to try, don't I?"

"Well, well, well--"

"Ah!" Cyberwarp almost shrieked. Spacewarp and Skyjack jumped from the sudden talk, and when they turned their heads, their sparks just dropped. Cyberwarp's too.

Standing at the silo doorway was Tempest and Grubber, staring heavily at Cyberwarp.

"So you found a survivor, I presume?" Tempest asked.

Cyberwarp gulped. Without even thinking she just nodded. At this moment she expected Tempest to bark at her, or even worse attack. But Tempest didn't. Tempest started smiling. Menacingly!

"Two Decepticons were sent to capture someone, and they failed. But when you're out... you actually found someone. Well done, Cyberwarp."

Cyberwarp felt her fingers clash. "The only thing I followed through was making sure that there was still someone alive!"

"Ohohoho, but now there is! And now that we do, we're gonna... um. What are we going to do?" Grubber asked.

Tempest took a few steps forward, her feet pounding into the silo floors. The pounding was so loud that Betamax started to stir a little bit. Cyberwarp covered her hands over Betamax's head, acting on instinct.

"Tempest, I'm not letting you harm him! He didn't deserve this, he doesn't deserve any of this!"

Tempest's head leered down, making herself look tall in the process again. But Cyberwarp didn't back down. She wasn't going to let Betamax suffer Tempest's wrath.

"Let me make you a proposition, Cyberwar, whatever your name is. You give me the child... and I take him back to the humans," Tempest offered, "No human is harmed... and we can continue on our plans as scheduled."

Cyberwarp wanted to say no. But she wasn't sure what to say right now. This child was hurt for sure, but she didn't trust Tempest in this. After all, she was the one who ordered the attack on the child's home.

"But of course if you refuse... then I will still go along with the plans. With your body reduced to spare parts," Tempest sneered. "So make your choice, and make it fast..."

Cyberwarp still covered up the child in her arms, protecting him from Tempest. She didn't care what Tempest said, she'd have to pry the kid from her claw like hands! Tempest, seeing that Cyberwarp wasn't going to give up so easily, just smirked. She stood back up, and backed away from Cyberwarp to give them some distance.

"Tell you what. I'll give you half an hour to choose. By then you need to decide how his fate will go. Until then... don't try and escape the island, okay? Because I will find you. And I will take. You. Down."

Tempest walked out of the silo with Grubber, leaving Cyberwarp alone with Skyjack and Spacewarp. Cyberwarp's voice sounded stressed the moment she talked.

"I don't know what to do... I want Betamax to be safe, but he shouldn't be anywhere near Tempest's vision," Cyberwarp's eyes clenched tight.

"But if you refuse, she'll kill you," Skyjack pointed. "I don't want to lose you Cyber..."

Cyberwarp sighed. "I understand. But I can't just let Tempest take him without anyone there to help him."

"Why not just go with them?" Spacewarp asked. "Accompany them, and be the one to hold onto him when Tempest has her little negotiations."

"You're out!"

That voice came from Barricade, outside of the silo. Turning their heads, they went to see if he was there standing at the door. But he wasn't.

"Were you listening to us the entire time?"

"Yep! And Cyberwarp isn't coming along, she specifically said me, Shatter, and Dropkick would be going with her!"

Skyjack rolled her eyes at the blunt response.

"What do I do?" Cyberwarp panicked.

Spacewarp snapped her fingers. "I got an idea!"

"Oh, please tell me its something good!"

Spacewarp nodded.

"Few Decepticons and Autobots know this, but I have a little friend that's currently imprisoned with the Autobots here on this planet. I tried to rescue him when he escaped from his stasis chamber upon awakening, but unfortunately there were too many Autobots and then, well, he was captured. Buuuuuttt... if I can convince Tempest to free him, I think I can fill him in and get him to help protect this little guy."

Skyjack and Tempest stared at the masked Decepticon.

"How do we know we can trust him?"

"You trust me, don't you?" Spacewarp asked. "I can guarantee this Con can help us, he's one of the nicest Decepticons you'll ever see."

"You have a name, or a picture of him?" Skyjack asked.

Spacewarp held her wrist up and projected a small holoscreen of her and the other Decepticon together. The two of them were a little goofy looking, taking a picture together on the edge of a mountain cliff.

"Wait... is that--"

"Yep."

"But he's--"

"Yes."

"... do you know this Con's nothing but a punching bag to the Decepticon army?"

"Yes, but unlike the rest, he's got some actual brain cells to think before doing," Spacewarp pointed out. "So. What do you say?"

Cyberwarp stared down at the picture yet again, staring off into space as she pondered all possible outcomes of the option presented to her. Meanwhile, back outside...

"So tell me Barricade... you say you know the exact coordinates of the Autobot headquarters?"

"Mmmhmm. Before I was left stranded here on this rock, I was a part of Lord Megatron's Decepticon forces. We raided an assault on The Ark, thanks to placing a tracking signal on one of their allies. And to this very day... I still kept hold of it." Barricade grinned. "Find The Ark..."

Tempest's face was neutral. "Find the location of the remaining Decepticons on the planet."

"Oh yeah," Barricade snickered. "All of them. Bludgeon, Slashmark, Thunderhoof, many others! We rally them together, we can finally destroy the Autobots!"

Tempest turned her head, staring off at the beach and the open water. Their base operations were so close that she could just walk a few steps over, and she'd be on the beach!

"All in due time. Let us get some Decepticons freed, then we'll see about finishing them," Tempest said, staring off into the blue skies. Grubber stood by too.

"You think the Autobots will actually give you some Decepticons?" Grubber questioned, nibbling on a small piece of steak that he brought along, all from the supplies of food that were packed into the firetruck.

Tempest scoffed. "They'll have to. They wouldn't let a child suffer, now would they?"

But as she stared off into the distance, gazing at the beautiful atmosphere that they were lucky to be homed in, a light-bulb flickered in her head. Something she didn't ponder before. She turned around and she walked towards a small open workstation where Shockblast was, who was organizing some parts and tools around.

"Shockblast."

Shockblast's head titled up and the horns on his head moved much like an ant's antenna.

"That special cargo that the Autobots were holding... I don't suppose you can make good use of it? Perhaps turn whoever is in that pod into one of us?"

Shockblast stomped around, his only green eye swiveling as he gazed to Tempest.

"Your request is sonorous, desirable. But... scintillating."

"In English, Shockblast. What are you telling me?" Tempest groaned, rolling her eyes.

Shockblast's body didn't respond. But only for a second.

"I find your request to be, logical", Shockblast answered, still sounding as cold and emotionless as ever. "I have an adequate amount of supplies, Dark Energon included, that can turn this once virtuous Autobot..." Shockblast gazed at the robot that was locked in the stasis pod, now strapped onto his workbench table, arms and legs restrained. "... into, a cold, heartless, Decepticon."

"Then get to work. I may need him on standby, in case our little negotiation should go a little... awry."

Spitfire held her face as she just tapped her fingers against the keyboard. She was having an exhausting morning, which she only imagined would turn into an exhausting day. First she had to make sure everyone was still accounted for which took heaven knows how long. Secondly, she had to make sure all weapons, gears, gadgets, and prisoners were still in their cells which was more than enough of a hassle to begin with! Third, dealing with an uncontrollable and unstable woman who just groundbridged out of nowhere? Dear lord, how did Sunset handle all of this stuff!?

Her finger tapping continued to drone on until her face just slammed into the control panel. She moaned into the boards, out of frustration. Just then, someone walked into the room. Wheeljack, to be exact.

"You okay there, Spitfire?"

Spitfire just moaned and slammed her first into the panel.

"Mmm. I see. Can't balance Sunset's work, can you?"

Spitfire leaned her head back as she spun around in the rolling chair she was sitting in. She spun herself in circles, not even caring if she would get dizzy. Not that she could, having done tons of work like this when she was in the army.

"How did Sunset even manage to balance all of this crap? No one should have to balance all of this stuff!" Spitfire slapped her forehead.

"You want my advice, and I know you didn't ask for it. You just gotta take it nice and easy; don't rush into it, or else nothing will get done."

Spitfire sighed. "Yeah... I get it." She titled her head to look up at the scientist. "How's our newest guest holding up?"

"She's currently on a treadmill, trying to burn off all the calories from the hordes of ice cream she dug into last night," Wheeljack said. "Is it normal for someone to eat through an entire tub of it?"

"For some, yes. For others, its an unhealthy eating desire that they use as a coping mechanism to get through something depressing," Spitfire nodded. "At least she's getting the exercise. Though if I can be honest..."

The captain in chair got out of her chair to wake up her legs.

"I think Sour just needs a friend right now," Spitfire said. "Maybe I should talk to her."

"There you go. Take a break, you need it just as much as Sunset does."

"Do you mind monitoring Teletraan-1 in the meantime?"

"I don't mind at all. Just help that--"

Their thoughts were interrupted. A small series of beeps flashed on the monitors, alerting their attention. Nearby Autobots and Wonderbolts gathered as well; the newest recruits too.

"Who is it? Cons?" Flareup asked with some excitement.

"Not sure," Wheeljack said, typing onto the keyboard. On screen, they could see four visible red dots flashing. "Cybertronian signals, that's for sure. Although..."

One of the glowing red dots grew bigger, and a small square image appeared on the screen. Inside the screen was an old picture, a headshot of Pyra Magna.

"That's strange... Pyra Magna's life signal is back online. But that's impossible, Pyra Magna was... was..."

"Was what?" Flareup asked.

"Killed," Strongarm droned.

Flareup and Blastwave's faces blanked with dread.

"But if she's dead, then how come her signal is back online?"

"It could be a malfunction, perhaps a loose wire or panel that's out of place," Wheeljack said.

"And if its not a malfunction, then we have to go find out," Spitfire said. "Arcee, Strongarm, we're going. Newbies!"

Flareup and Blastwave clenched from the yelling. So much so that they stood straight like they were about to get chewed out by a superior officer at bootcamp.

"If you two want to see some action, then I suggest you come with us! We may be dealing with incoming Decepticons posing as Autobots, we've had that happen a few times!"

Flareup and Blastwave flashed grins, ready to hit the field. Now was their chance to see some real action for the first time. Spitfire, ready to move out, quickly jumped into a fighting outfit and swung two pistols into her holsters.

"Autobots! Lets transform and roll out!"

Arcee and Strongarm transformed, and Spitfire climbed on top of Arcee in vehicular form. Flareup and Blastwave transformed into their respective vehicles as well, forming a Cybertronian sports car and tank. All together, they roared out of the open doorway of the base, driving right onto desert sand. But to their surprise, their trip was ended real quickly. The four signals that were on the radar screen were all right there in front of them, feet away from the entrance of their base.

Carefully, Spitfire stepped off of Arcee, allowing her to transform into her robot mode. Strongarm, Flareup, and Blastwave all followed, each of them taking fighting stances just in case.

Spitfire stomped towards them, her boots making some trails into the sand.

"Ahem? Pyra Magna, is that you?"

The turquoise and red firetruck sat still, its engine humming idly. The exterior of the truck looked very grotesque; rusted parts, faded paint, it was a wonder how that thing was still functioning after all of this time. It was even more of a wonder when the firetruck transformed to reveal the once alive Pyra Magna before their eyes. Still as disgusting and grotesque looking as she was in vehicle mode. A small piece of plating falling off one of the shoulders being clear evidence.

"Pyra Magna, ma'am? Are you okay?" Spitfire asked.

Strongarm and Arcee felt themselves throwing up inside.

"Pyra? What happened to you?" Arcee queried.

The tall mech didn't say a word, but instead just glared down at the human with a blank face. It was a little painful to stare at Pyra's face, what with the giant hole where her eye should have been, and the degrading outlook she had on her body.

"I don't recognize you. You are new. But you might remember... them."

One by one, the three cars beside her began to transform. The first one, the police car transformed to reveal himself to be Barricade looking as nasty as he was the day he was sent to prison. Next to follow was Dropkick who pounded his fists into the ground, creating a soft explosion of sand to show he wasn't messing around. Last to transform was Shatter who took a little longer to form, but not too long to show that she had a hostage with them. In her hand was none other than the little boy that Cyberwarp had brought back; Betamax.

Spitfire and both Arcee and Strongarm took a step back.

"That's not Pyra," Arcee clenched her fist, "Who are you and what did you do to her?"

"Whoever this Pyra was is long gone," Tempest looked down at where her spark would have been with Pyra's head, smirking all the while, "But she makes an excellent freezer to keep me safe."

"You dissected her!?" Strongarm gasped.

"No. We found her dissected, we just simply put her back together," Tempest grinned at Strongarm.

Strongarm reached for her weapon, but not before Tempest continuing to taunt them.

"I wouldn't advise taking another move. Any more, and the child would be in more danger than he should be," Tempest insisted, pointing at the hostage in the red triple-changer's arms.

Spitfire hissed. "Who is that kid, and what do you want?"

Tempest chuckled before taking a few steps forward to make herself the center of attention. “Here’s the deal ladies. I need some Decepticons out of your prison, and I need them now,” Tempest instructed.

Spitfire’s crew took a few steps back, cautiously. And one by one, they slowly started to put their weapons away.

“Look, there’s no need to hurt the child, we can talk this out,” Strongarm said, keeping her attention.

“So are you all going to listen to my demands then?”

Flareup sneered. She moved forward like she was about to attack, until Arcee held a hand in front of her, keeping her from trying to make any moves.

“Let me make this clear. I have no real burning desire to hurt this brat, I never even wanted this brat as a means of a hostage for our negotiation. In fact, I like to return him to you all as soon as possible. But I can’t give him back until you all give me what I want. Understand?”

Everyone slowly put down their weapons and nodded. Tempest smirked.

“Good. Now listen up. My associates know you have many Decepticons in stasis. I am in need of five of them. If you don’t have the Decepticon I desire, I suggest you demand proof that you do not have them in custody. Or, if you so much as refuse… I will only make things much harder for this boy.”

Betamax whimpered, feeling the hard steel of Shatter's fingers press against him.

“Look, just stop. We’ll listen,” Spitfire said.

Tempest stared down at Spitfire. “Good. Now let’s talk. We have very much to discuss…”

After some time to alert the Autobots and let them know of their current sitation, everyone back at base stood by to prepare for when Tempest made her choice of Decepticon to be freed. As they stood to get Decepticons ready, Tempest and her crew stood close together, huddled like a pack. They stood by Tempest, all the while Spitfire and some Wonderbolts set up a small table with their computers, ready to look into any files for any Decepticons that they would be requesting. Strongarm and Arcee stood by their sides, prepared to take any evasive action they could, but also so they could carefully get the child back in their palms.

"So, are you ready to begin?"

"Yes, we're ready," Spitfire hollered, standing before the Autobots, sunglasses resting on her face, and staring up at Tempest's metallic masked face. "Now before we can discuss the release or not, we need names of the Decepticons you wish to have out."

"Just as I suspected," Tempest replied.

"So." Spitfire said. "Give us names."

Tempest blinked and looked down at Spitfire, spitting the first name.

"Thunderblast."

Spitfire looked back to Soarin who sat at the table, nodding. "Thunderblast?"

Soarin and Fleetfoot shared a glance, worried.

***

Inside the base, Thunderblast's cell was opened up, and she stepped out in cuffs.

"Oh, hey Autobots! Is it time for my Energon break?"

Nitro chuckled. "Guess what kid, you're getting out of prison."

"Wait wait wait wait! I'm... I'm free?" Thunderblast asked, curiously.

"You're free. Someone's made your bail."

"I'm free!" Thunderblast squeed with excitement, jumping up into the air. The rogue Decepticons just chuckled, she had the personality of a bubbly happy-go-lucky teenager. As dumb as she was, she was somehow smart enough to cooperate with the wardens and guards as they transferred her from her cell and forced her to walk out.

***

Back outside, Soarin and Fleetfoot finished logging the information. And Thunderblast was seen being escorted outside by some Autobot guards, still cuffed.

"She's clear!"

"Alright. Continue," Spitfire barked.

***

"Flamewar..."

Flamewar's cell opened up, showing the insane Decepticon struggling against her bonds. Strapped to a bed, arms and legs tied tight, and angry as ever. A mouth clamp was tightened, to keep her from screaming. Every word that would be uttered from her was nothing more than a violent temper filled with desire to kill.

Two of the guards moved closely and slapped the mouth clamp off her face, only for some tiny bits of drool to leak from Flamewar's mouth. Her anger seething from her fanged teeth.

"I'll tear your processors out, and swallow your T-cog whole!" Flamewar growled.

***

Soarin searched for Flamewar's file, and grimaced.

"Flamewar, she was arrested a few days ago. Caused several amounts of property damage, car crashes, murders, and industrial accidents on both Earth, and Cybertron. Incredibly unstable, no sense left in her mind, no."

"We're not letting her out, no!" Spitfire shouted.

Tempest snarled and she slammed her foot into the ground.

"I said, Flamewar. Do you want this boy to die?" She held her fist up, her grip moving slightly to get a little tighter, making Betamax cry out in pain.

"Okay, okay, stop! We'll let her out! Someone tell them to transfer her onto a mental cart, she's too unstable to be let out."

"Got it!" Fleetfoot and Soarin called, before burying their heads into their keyboards.

But without Tempest knowing, Spitfire whispered over to the Wonderbolts. "Tell them to place a tracking device on Flamewar, we'll need it for later."

Raising a gun up into the air, Tempest continued further names.

"Slashmark..."

***

The cell opened up, and released was Slashmark; red, white, and blue body corresponding with a red face and yellow eyes. Small glows of yellow neon on some parts of his body, amplifying his energy. A Stunticon, he was, but a lonesome one at that. And a good reason for that too;

"Keep your disgusting hands off my arms, law-bots! Or do you want me to make it difficult for your superior officer!?" Slashmark complained.

Arrogant, full of snark, and considered everyone who wasn't as fast or strong as him, deemed as lesser than him.

"Ugh, please, stop complaining," Tracks groaned as he helped escort him out. "And I thought I was the narcissist."

***

"Though we strongly request that you don't touch him, he'll just keep insulting you if you do and he never shuts up," Spitfire advised.

"I'll keep it in mind," Tempest acknowledged.

"Wait, I thought Thunderblast was the one who never shut up?" Soarin asked.

"Decepticons just don't shut up, period. Anyways... continue?"

Tempest cleared her throat and continued.

"Bludgeon..."

***

The Decepticon was found sitting cross-cross on the floor, meditating in silence. The guards pointed their weapons towards the sitting Con who didn't flinch.

"Your bail has been made, time for you to get out, dude," Nitro barked.

A soft glow of red eyes emitted from his face and he got off the floor. Turning around, he revealed a neutral face. A skeleton looking face covered by a samurai helmet, and samurai armor dressing the body.

"So I have been freed? By who, Nitro Zeus?" Bludgeon whispered.

"You'll see when you get out there. Come on."

***

"Can't believe we're bailing him out, him of all bots," Soarin moaned.

"We have no choice," Spitfire said, knowing the outcome if they would refuse.

By now, all four of the Decepticons that were chosen were now huddled together, freed from their cuffs and weapons given back to them. Barricade and Dropkick standing beside them, awaiting further orders.

“—And… last but not least… Lugnut.”

Both Soarin and Strongarm glared at Tempest.

“Absolutely, not!”

“No, uh-uh, no, sorry, not happening.”

“Yeah, no, no… you’ve got limits!” Spitfire yelled.

“I said, Lugnut! If you—“

“Hey, hey, Tempest, chill out. No need to keep ranting. Besides, I know just who you can get instead…” Spacewarp sing-songed through the radio.

Tempest rolled her eyes, and then looked back. “Very well. I will settle for someone else…”

“Your last one,” Strongarm chewed out.

“My final Decepticon… last but not least—“

***

The cell opened up inside the paddock, and out came a normal looking Vehicon drone. Purple colors, tires built into his shoulders and legs, and a red visor for a set of eyes.

“—Steve!”

***

Tempest blinked and sat in complete silence. She put her finger up to the auditory sensor, talking to Spacewarp again.

“This is an actual—“

“—This is an actual Decepticon, yep!” Spacewarp chirped on the other line.

Tempest sneered and turned her head so she could take the call.

"Spacewarp, is this your idea of a joke? Because I am not laughing."

"Hey, Tempest, chill. I swear, this guy's worth it."

And right at that moment, Steve was seen being escorted by some Autobot guards right up front to where Spitfire and the others were. As their heads turned, some small grins came onto Strongarm and Arcee’s face.

“Hi Steve!”

“Hi Strongarm!” Steve waved hello. He would be smiling right now, but there was no visible emotion or expression to be seen on his face. Especially since a Vehicon's face was nothing more than a red visor and gray head.

Tempest stared in complete silence as she looked at this Decepticon, still trying to comprehend why he had such an Earthly name.

"Spacewarp, you said he was worth it. Well I am staring at a completely generic Vehicon troop, where is the value in collecting him?"

"Just talk to him, you'll find out!"

Tempest groaned, rubbing the little bridge on what would have been her nose.

“Well then… Steve, do you have any special abilities or powers…?”

“Uh, no… I uh, I don’t have one,” Steve shrugged. “Most of the time I end up getting shot, blown up, ripped to shreds, decapitated, shanked, grinded, melted, or any other forms of death you can think of. But yet somehow, I always find a way to walk it off. Use me as a punching bag all you want, I'll just keep coming back.”

“So you’re immortal…” Tempest blanked.

Steve paused. "That's not exactly how I would interpret it, but sure, whatever makes you happy."

And with one sentence, she made her choice. “You’re in.”

Steve paced to the rest of the freed Decepticons and was greeting by a squeeing Thunderblast.

"Hi Steve!"

"Hello Thunderblast," Steve greeted. "And very nice to see you guys. Bludgeon, Slashmark."

Slashmark scoffed. "Why on Earth did they settle for a common Vehicon?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Steve protesting.

While Steve and his freed collaborators talked, Tempest was ready to finish her little meeting with Spitfire. She had all she needed, now she just needed to toss the little brat back to them. His use was over.

"Now, can we please have the child back?"

Chapter 13: Fighting New Faces

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 14: Catching Up

Author's Note

Sooo... I had to take a hiatus cause of other stories in the works, and I was kind of drawing a blank on content wise for this chapter, but now I've got some up, I think inspiration is kicking back inside of me. Hope it was worth the wait, and thank you all for your patience. :twilightsmile:

Chapter 14: Catching Up

Sunset Shimmer stepped out of the bathroom, finally relieved to have gotten to use one. She took no rest stops on the trip over. Well, okay, she took a few stops when driving into the state, but she didn't want to waste any time and fail to meet all of her friends who would probably be at Applejack's for only an estimated time.

"Took no rest stops, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, no, I wanted to get here in time, I thought I'd get here late."

Rainbow chuckled, "Now you sound like Twilight."

"No I don't."

"Yeah, you kinda do."

"Lets meet in the middle and say yes and no," Applejack finalized.

"Deal," both of them agreed.

As Sunset walked with her reunited friends into the main room (which was a kitchen connected directly with the living room) she took a look at everything around her. A coffee table in front of a couch and a big-screen TV, small console station with video game controllers, a shelf with DVD's, this girl didn't give up anything!

And on the shelf there were a few pictures. Some of them were from when she was a little kid, to pre-teen, and all the way to high-school and graduation. And some of the newer photos she saw were showing some more detail she didn't see before. One of which was a picture of herself and a man she had never seen before in a wedding photo, sharing a kiss.

"Oh... Applejack, did you..."

Applejack looked over and chuckled. "I see you're eye-ballin' my wedding photo like a little girl starin' at some lollipops."

Sunset rubbed her head. "Sorry. I never saw him before, who is he?"

"He's her husband, silly!" Pinkie giggled.

"Well, no, I got that, but... who is he?"

Applejack smiled, looking at the picture. "A few years after college, I started to look at jobs with my kind of handiwork, and that's when I met him. He was a city boy, but he wanted to be away from the city, and, well... that's when he met me. Over 200 dates later, we... we got married."

"Oh, Applejack... that's so sweet," Sunset's heart melted. "But wait, where is he now?"

"He's in New York, visiting family for a week," Applejack answered.

"So I guess I'm catching everyone at all the convenient times then?"

"Apparently," Rarity thought.

"Yep!"

Sunset then turned her head and took a seat on a chair, over at a countertop in front of a stove. Rarity was busy cooking some food in a pan, with the help of Applejack of course.

"So I still don't know, if you're running new boutiques, and Fluttershy's now a doctor, and Applejack's now running a new farmland, what did you ever do?" Sunset asked, looking at Rainbow Dash who had sat down on the countertop chair next to her.

"You're talking to the new coach of an undefeated high-school baseball team," Rainbow Dash smirked. "The Blazing Pegasi to this day have reigned victorious thanks to me."

Sunset rolled her eyes, smiling. "You always were the captain of every team at Canterlot High."

"Yep! Though being a coach isn't as interesting as being leader of aliens from outer space," Rainbow winked.

"Heh, I suppose," Sunset replied, sounding a little sorrow.

Rainbow frowned. "Sunset? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am, its just... I don't know, I guess that's part of why I went to try and find you guys. Its not easy being boss but... its honestly lonely."

"But don't you have all of those Autobots around to talk to?" Pinkie Pie asked. "There has to be over 50 of them by now!"

"That's actually the other thing... ever since we all went our separate ways, and with the lack of activity from any Decepticons or even Megatron for that matter, Bots and ex-Cons started to drop out and call early retirement, so now there's just a few of us left."

"Really? So, how many are even left? Two of you?" Pinkie Pie twisted her head around in spinning motion like a top.

"No, there's... okay, I don't know. I stopped counting as soon as more and more began to leave. The only thing I do know is, there are some who still stuck around, just like... me."

Pinkie Pie couldn't help but frown, and offered a hug to the former bad girl. Sunset accepted the hug, feeling some soft pats from the party girl's hands.

"Its okay. You still have us!" She squeed.

Sunset smiled, giggling. "Yeah... I guess I do."

Pulling out of the hug, Pinkie Pie sniffed the air, and jumped. "Oh no, the steaks!"

In a flash of smoke, she rocketed out the room to the outside and to the back porch to a grill that had been turned on. All that was left was a trail of fire behind her. And then came back literally 2 seconds later.

"Never mind, steaks are okay!"

"Just keep em grillin' for a few more minutes, Pinkie," Applejack said.

"Okay!"

As Pinkie went over to wash her hands, Sunset cleared her throat.

"So, Pinkie, what are you doing these days?"

"Oh, I'm now running a super-duper fun party planning committee! We get to party almost every day of the week, and its so fun!" Pinkie Pie squeaked, still bubbly as ever. "--Also I'm a children's birthday party entertainer!"

"That's great, Pinkie!"

A solemn of silence had fallen, everyone not sure what to even say now.

"Say um, I'm not sure I asked but... is Twilight doing okay these days?"

Everyone stopped whatever it is they were doing and all looked at Sunset like dogs.

"Um... did I say something wrong?" Sunset sunk in her chair.

"Well about that..." Pinkie took a sharp hiss. "Yeah, um... Twilight's not really... wanting to... see. you?"

Sunset's face fell into her hands. "Oh..."

"I'm afraid the poor dear's heart had been broken when you stopped talking to her. In fact, the poor girl hasn't even said or mentioned one part of you."

"And she has no idea that you're here..." Rainbow said, realizing the situation.

"Oooh..." Pinkie Pie hissed again. "This is going to be sooooooo awkward..."

And speak of the devil, they could hear the doorbell ring.

"That must be her right now," Applejack said, standing up.

"Wait, allow me. Perhaps I could try and prepare her," Rarity said, walking to the door.

"No, let me. Its my fault for not calling her."

"Already at the door!" Fluttershy called.

"Dang it!"

The veterinarian opened up the door, greeting the woman on the other side; Twilight Sparkle. And there she was, in a cute sleeveless blouse, purple jeans with a little sparkling star graphic for her belt buckle.

"Twilight!"

"Fluttershy!"

The two of them shared a hug, bigger one than the ones at Canterlot High.

"Its so good to see you, I haven't seen you in forever!"

After breaking from the hug, Twilight let out a soft giggle. "How's everyone else doing?"

"Really good, actually. But, um, there's something we should warn you about..."

"Fluttershy, if the food's running behind, I don't mind waiting."

"No, not that, its just... well, someone else is here as well."

"Really? Who?"

As Fluttershy led her to the kitchen, Twilight immediately went quiet. Just one glance was enough to confirm who was right there in front of her. That same fiery hair, yellow sun colored skin, and the teal eyes... all added up to one.

"Twilight, hey! Its so good to see you!" Sunset said, reaching up out of her chair and approaching her with a warm welcome. Twilight however didn't reciprocate the warmth.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you guys! I came to see all of you, I... I missed you."

"Surely not enough to even call us when we said we'd stay in touch," Twilight passive-aggressively replied, ignoring her and brushing right past her.

"Twilight, please, I..." Sunset stopped herself, thinking of what she was going to say. "Okay. Twilight, I know why you're upset. I know. You have every right to be mad at me, and I should have stayed in touch with you. I let everything overwhelm me, and I didn't think maybe talking to you or anyone else could have helped. But believe me when I say I want to be a better friend."

Twilight stopped. The bespectacled girl turned her head half-way, enough so her eye could look at her.

"Please, Twilight. I want to be a better friend."

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "Well its hard to just say yes when you haven't seen someone in years."

Sunset nodded. "I understand."

Not even looking back, she looked to Rarity who offered to find a place to set her things. After taking her belongings and hanging them over a chair where she'd be sitting at the dinner table for lunch, Rarity yanked Twilight aside so they could be out of hearing range.

"Darling, I understand its hard, but Sunset means well. She just wants to be friends again, she didn't come here to hurt you," Rarity said, rubbing Twilight's shoulders.

Twilight sighed. "I know, but... how can I talk to someone who wouldn't even bother to try and talk to me in 6 years?"

Rarity smiled, putting on a positive face. "Because I know those you haven't seen in a long time can still be your friend. Times may have changed, but she hasn't forgotten you, or me, or anyone. Can you just try to talk to her?"

Twilight couldn't argue with her. Rarity was right after all. So hesitantly, she shrugged and nodded. "I suppose I could try... but I'm telling you, its not going to be easy."

Sunset sighed, heavily. She could hear everything from where they stood, trying to sneak and listen in on their talk. Shameful for sure, but she wanted to know. And she could already figure out that this was going to be harder than she thought...

Texas, 1:00 PM

The sun was setting down, as the day was soon coming to an end. The sun was hanging above the end of a road, ready to give day-light to another end of the planet, and begin nighttime for the people in the United States. In an empty plains, there wasn't much to be seen. There was a wide spread of growing wheat, and a flat straight road. Occasionally you'd see a few people driving on it, mostly some truckers or bikers, or just regular people who were going home for the day. Never would you guess that an alien would be traveling on this road.

A hangin' grille guard, buffalo skull mounted on the front hood like those bull horns that game hunters like to show off, busted headlights, rusted wear, faded paint, covered in dust, chains hanging out the back for securing loads... If you looked at it from the outside, you could probably guess the truck belonged to a big game hunter like maybe Lord Chumley or maybe one Quint Quarry who held onto a family treasure. But to the Lone Stars of Texas, they had no idea of the girl underneath the rusted exterior.

The truck's rear-view mirrors adjusted and tilted around, looking at all of its surroundings. No one in sight, no civilians or a single passer-by. Not even ahead of her. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to boost up her speed? Pedal slamming to the floor of the cab, the truck drove faster. It flashed by a field, the growing wheat blowing to its side from the speed. The engine roared, and the truck raced harder and harder. But a few flashing lights grew its attention. The rear-view mirror adjusted, looking behind. An older police car, flashing its siren and lights were behind her.

Where did that even come from, the truck thought. Wait a minute... I recognize that car.

"Pull over to the side of the road, right now!" A voice shouted from the police car.

The pickup's tires swerved and grinded on the road, creating a few skid marks as it's wheels sprayed gravel and dust in all directions. Just in time, as the police car had finally caught up, slowing down. Its siren lights continued to spin around, flashing blue and red towards the dusted truck.

"Sir, may I ask what you are--"

"Hans-Cuff, I know its you. You don't have to pretend," the truck replied, bluntly.

The police car's lights, seeming to blaze brighter, flickered off. A soft whirring sound emitted from the police car, converting into an 12-foot tall robot, which stared down at the truck.

"Smallfoot? Is that you?"

Smallfoot sighed, dejectedly. "Yeah, its... its me."

The former car smiled. "Its so good to see you, I didn't think I would be seeing a friend out here. Say, why were you racing to begin with?"

"I'm on a mission, Hans-Cuff. And I've got to get going, so--"

"--No, no, hold on. You can't just go racing like that, someone could get hurt. Tell me what's going on. And why are you covered in all of that gear, you look like... like... oh what's the word, I know the name, there's a franchise name that describes you... um..."

"--That's not important. What's important is me tracking down the Con who took my son... and then, the ones who killed my Sour."

The news dropped like an atom bomb to the Guardian.

"Wait... Sour, is... gone?"

"Yes," Smallfoot said, dryly.

"Oh, no... Smallfoot, I'm so sorry, I didn't know. But wait, you said you're tracking someone down?"

"Yeah, and if you'll excuse me--"

"--Whoa, now, hold on," Hans-Cuff jumped in front of Smallfoot's headlights, blocking her direction. "You're not thinking of taking them head on, are you? Let me help you track them down."

"Hans-Cuff, there's nothing that you can do. Its my responsibility that I lost them, and its time I get them back!"

"Smallfoot, I can--"

Hey ya'll prepare yourself for the rubberband man...

Smallfoot completely ignored Hans-Cuff's request by turning on her radio station. A cassette tape that was still left in the player turned on, and a song began to bleed from the speakers inside. Bad that she played it to ignore him, but she turned it up louder and the windows lowered to let the song play. Hans-Cuff, unamused, crossed his arms.

"Blasting your mix tapes aren't going to make me go away any faster, Smallfoot! Can you just--"

Smallfoot reversed, backing away from her old war mate. Then with a single push of the stick-shift, she raced around Hans-Cuff and charged down the road once again. Hans-Cuff coughed as dust kicked in his face, and as the cloud cleared, he watched as she vanished off into the horizon, determined to never give up on her quest...

Chapter 16: Misconceptions

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 17: Magic Fight

Author's Note

I'd like to give a shout-out to The Bricklayer for the element that's at the very end of this chapter. All credit goes to him, and I like to thank him personally for suggesting that idea to begin with. So I wanna say, thank you Brick, this is definitely gonna make the story interesting. You keep on rockin' and stay awesome! :twilightsmile:

As for everyone else, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and have a great day.

Chapter 17: Magic Fight

The smell of hot steaks whiffed into the air, filling up the dining area. Lunch had finally be prepared, and now everyone was sitting down for their cooked meals. Plates and silverware sorted all about, and the food all over on the table in their own plates.

Needless to say, it was a little quiet. Ever since Twilight's arrival, things had gotten quiet to the point where no one knew what to even say. Not even Sunset herself had an idea on what to tell her. What could she tell her? She wanted desperately to try and make things up, but she knew it would take time.

"So..." Sunset said, trying to break the awkward silence. "Um, Twilight, what are you doing these days?"

Twilight's eyes looked up with a little glare. Sunset sunk in her seat a bit.

"Well, if you want to know, I'm currently headmistress of a new boarding school in Canterlot."

"Oh really? That's amazing," Sunset genuinely complimented.

"What about you? Are you pursuing a dream, or are you still running command of the Autobots?"

Sunset frowned. "Honestly... I haven't pursued anything. I've been trying to keep things in shape as commander since Optimus Prime is back on Cybertron, along with a handful of others."

Twilight took another bite of her steak. "I see... So I guess the war's still on?"

"No, actually. Honestly, I think at this point in time, the war is over. Megatron and his forces are still out in space, and we haven't seen them in years, so, yeah, its kind of over."

"Well if he's still out there, then its not over then," Twilight put her fork down.

"No, it is. The only reason we're still staying here on Earth is because there's so many Decepticon fugitives that we haven't caught, we couldn't just leave that alone," Sunset pleaded.

"Hey, maybe we should talk about something else, alright?" Applejack intervened. "Twilight, tell us, do you teach at the school, or..."

"She's a headmistress, silly!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "She runs the school."

"Well, Applejack's not too far off. Once in a while, if there's a teacher out of commission, I do volunteer to help teach," Twilight smiled.

"Well that's good," Sunset smiled.

An uncomfortable moment of silence fell. Twilight didn't say another word. To be honest, she didn't even really know what to say after that."

"Um... Okay, this may be odd of me to ask, but do any of the Autobots back at Nevada ever, you know, talk about us?" Applejack asked.

Sunset gave a friendly smile. "There doesn't go a day without them bringing any of you up. In fact," Sunset said, looking to Applejack, "I think Ironhide is coming back here, so I imagine he would probably like to say hello."

Applejack smiled. "Maybe I should say hello to him."

"It's not just him. Jazz misses you too," Sunset continued, looking to Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie squeaked with a happy grin, remembering all those parties they threw.

"Bumblebee."

Fluttershy smiled, thinking back to all those times they helped out hurt animals together.

"I even got some calls from Knockout asking how you were doing, Rarity," Sunset continued.

Rarity blushed. "Did he...?"

"Mmmhmm. And he's still showing off his new paint job."

Rarity giggled.

"And Sideswipe and Sunstreaker desperately want to catch up on some old times with you, Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash smiled as well. She considered Sideswipe the closest thing she had to a brother, someone who she was proud to call family. And while she thought back to her old times, she didn't even realize where she was cutting into the plate.

"Uh, Rainbow, you're cutting too fast, Rainbow you're cutting too--!"

Rainbow quickly snapped out of it, just as the sound of a single crack was heard. She looked down, noticing that she had cut right through the plate, shattering it, actually.

"Oops," Rainbow blushed, chuckling bashfully.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "I'll go get another plate..."

She took the shattered remains and walked to get another plate.

"Heh, sorry!" Rainbow called back, placing her hand near her neck.

"Wait a minute, Rainbow... you... you still have your geode?" Sunset asked.

Rainbow Dash moved her hand away. There it was, still around her neck, was the magical geode collected from their time at Camp Everfree. Now the powers that had come from their visit could be used at any time with the help of those geodes.

"Yeah, I... I never got rid of it. Something inside just said I shouldn't get rid of it."

"Me too!" Pinkie Pie smiled, showing hers off.

"Me three," Fluttershy nodded.

"Its too dazzling to just toss away."

"I couldn't give it up either."

Sunset was astonished. They would not dare give up something as valuable as those trinkets. Especially remembering all of their adventures from the past, they held onto them like memories. Memories they dared not to forget.

"Hey um, girls? I hate to break the trip down memory lane, but... you might want to see this," Applejack interrupted. The fear in her voice suddenly sounded ominous.

Everyone followed Applejack over to the main living room and stared at the TV. A news report was playing, and just from the look of it, they could tell it wasn't good.

"... At around 8:05 this morning, a US military base in Colorado came under heavy attack by what could only be described as a giant robot. Soldiers from around said that they saw the source come in from a helicopter that landed in the base, only to change its shape into a giant robot."

The girls stared heavily at the screen, realizing in full of what they were talking about.

"Decepticons?" Fluttershy stuttered.

"I really hope not..." Sunset truthfully said.

"None of the soldiers have been killed, but the results of the impending attack have left many of them injured. The only thing we do know is that one soldier in particular by the name of Indigus Thunder Zap fled the base with her old jeep," the news reporter continued. And as she spoke, a photo that was taken of Indigo Zap and Hound (in jeep mode) was put on screen, with some military men next to her.

Rainbow and Applejack gazed to each other.

"You don't suppose that was Indigo Zap..."

"... and that jeep was Hound?" Rainbow Dash finished.

"Shhh! There's still more!" Sunset said.

"... and speaking of dreadful morning news, it seems things have also taken a dark turn over in Oklahoma." The camera changed to a shot of the remains of the Sweet household. All the remains still blackened, smoldering, and ashed. The camera panned around the entire house, capturing its remains and the fields behind it. The camera panned to some of the barn house still standing, and the doors slammed down. "No one seems to know when or what, but the household belonging to 27 year-old woman Sour Ann Sweet and wife, Smallfoot Sweet has been destroyed. Police investigation says they don't know what blew up their house, or what their fates have become. But a search party has been sent to find what has become of their fates, along with their adopted eight-year-old son."

"Turn it off," Sunset said.

Applejack quickly shut it off, and looked at her friend. She looked distraught; eyes widened, jaw gaping. She felt her stomach churn just seeing the news.

"Sunset? You need a trash can? You look like you're about to throw up," Pinkie Pie asked.

Sunset was flabbergasted.

"I... No..."

"Sunset, I'm sure they're okay," Rarity comforted. "Sour Sweet and Smallfoot are a power couple, I'm sure they weren't hurt."

"Decepticons..." Sunset muttered. "I... they... they knew. They knew where Indigo and Sour lived..."

"Sunset, what are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Rainbow, whoever launched those attacks were obviously Decepticons! Didn't you hear? Someone transforming into the military base, that can't just be a new weapon. Only a Transformer fits that description... and think about this. First someone attacks a base where Indigo Zap was... then Sour Sweet's home is blown up... This is too scary to be a coincidence..."

Sunset looked up at her friends who were looking away, oddly. "Girls, come on, I know you don't want to be involved, but--"

"--No, shh! We're hearin' something..." Applejack shushed.

Sunset shut up, trying to listen for what was the sound. But she couldn't hear it. But something filled the air, hitting her earlobes... She heard it too! Something was coming close outside. Maybe it was just an airplane passing by, but she didn't feel like taking that chance.

Instantly, she got up on her feet and ran to the front door so she could look outside. The girls followed too, and all got a look outside. They saw and heard the noise coming from high in the air, just above the clouds. A gray jet zooming overhead was the source.

"Someone's in a hurry," Twilight commented, looking above. "Where did they come from?"

"I think that's the least of our problems," Sunset gulped, pointing up again.

The gray jet burst through some clouds, and emerged back into the light, accompanied by something they never saw before. A large buzzing noise hit the air, like a group of bugs in the microphone connected to a baseball game's loudspeaker. A giant wasp was hovering above, accompanied by the jet. But the worst was yet to come.

The two flying objects zoomed around the area until they were suddenly skydiving head down onto Applejack's land. Quicker than you could say 'transform', the two transformed into their alternative forms and slammed their feet into the ground, sending a soft tremor to the girls and kicking up dirt and grass. A soft gust of smoke and dust and mist filled the area behind them when they landed.

Waspinator's wings and teeth clicked, staring at the girls who stood in fear on the front porch. Momentary clashes stroked against the gravelly path leading to the front of house, accompanied by a few more that continued to repeat. In the fog, a shadow of a samurai looking warrior and glowing red eyes could be seen, and they were getting closer. His hands twirled the swords around, striking against the ground and slicing pieces of the grass. The samurai took a few more steps, standing in front of his two compatriots, and smirking as he looked to the fiery haired girl.

"Sunset Shimmer. We meet again," he addressed.

Sunset gasped. "Bludgeon... Thunderblast... but we put you in prison, how did you get out!?"

"Sunset, surely you must have known about our little friend's arrival?"

Sunset was at a loss for words. The sight of her struggling to speak made him chuckle.

"You really don't know, do you? Not a very good leader, are you? Miss important events going on right before your eyes," Bludgeon said, still swinging his swords around.

Sunset growled, cracking her knuckles. "So who broke you free then, Bludgeon? Thunderblast?"

"Ooh, can I tell her, please, please?" Thunderblast begged.

Bludgeon rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"EEEEE!" Thunderblast squeed. "We have a new boss, and she's so awesome! Though she's kind of stinky, she's wicked fast! She took down Blitzwing without so much as even a scratch on her armor!"

Sunset stopped. "Blitzwing..."

"Enough talking. You're wasting our time," Bludgeon said, stopping the sword singing. The handles flew back into his grips with a loud clank. "And when you're gone... then the Autobots will fall."

"Sunset, who are these two?" Rarity whimpered, backing away.

"Fugitives. We found them here on Earth from the Alchemor's crash and put them in jail. But I don't know who he is!" Sunset said, looking at Waspinator.

Waspinator's pink eyes flashed, looking at the girls. And his teeth clicked.

"Enough chatter," Bludgeon barked. "You're going to die. No leader, no team, and everything falls apart..."

Bludgeon took a step forward but as interrupted by a gunshot firing at his foot, making him nearly fall back. He looked to the source and watched as Trailbreaker finished transforming into his robot mode and stood in fighting stance.

"Don't get too cocky, Bludgeon," Trailbreaker bantered. "You forget, I'm still here!"

Thunderblast giggled. "Really? There's three of us and just you! and you're like... old!"

Trailbreaker's visor flashed. "Did you just call me old?"

Thunderblast paused. "Well... yeah. I mean look at you, you're an outdated model!"

Trailbreaker looked behind to Sunset and the girls, and gave them a smirk. Then he looked back at Thunderblast, intentionally walking slow like he was much older than he was.

"Well my little friend, I really prefer the term experienced!"

Trailbreaker's left leg raised up and kicked Thunderblast in the chest, throwing her behind the group. He threw the next attack by knocking the block off of Waspinator's face, making his body collapse to the ground. The last throw was grabbing Bludgeon's arm and swinging him over his shoulder and slamming him into the grass.

His head jolted to look back to the seven girls standing in shock.

"This isn't gonna keep them down for long, get back inside, now!"

"No way! What if we use our powers, we can help take them down!" Rainbow Dash grinned, about to place her hand over her pendent.

"We don't have any protective suits to cover our skin! You really want to try and mash your bare first against all their armor?" Applejack queried.

Rainbow Dash looked back and her lips drooped, and eyes bulged. "Oh. Right. Never mind, uh, kick their cans Trailbreaker!"

Trailbreaker waved back and moved just in time for an almost cold knockout from Bludgeon's fist. The punch slammed him hard against the grass, pushing it against like a meteor crashing into hard solid ground. Trailbreaker groaned and got back up, laughing a little bit.

"What's so funny?"

Trailbreaker still laughed. "I haven't been punched so hard in years! Ah, the memories of kicking your skidplates are coming back to mind."

Trailbreaker stretched his arms out, a few joints making some slight cracking sounds. Or cracking sounds to him, but to the humans it just sounded like some robot joints scraping against hard metal. He readied his right hand which clenched up into a fist, while on his left arm, a single nozzle of a gun barrel made a slight clicking sound, like he was loading up with ammo.

Bludgeon growled and he swung his swords around. He made a running dash to Trailbreaker, ready to cut him in half like a piece of sushi. But out of nowhere, on the top of Trailbreaker's shoulders, two different pieces of weapons emerged. One of them was a three barreled weapon, and the other one was a single shotgun type of weapon. Both of them were mounted behind him, and he was ready to unleash them. Just as Bludgeon was racing closer, Trailbreaker used his left arm to fire a few rounds to Bludgeon's path.

The swords swinged and slashed at every oncoming fire that was heading his way. Bludgeon was ready to jump up and strike Trailbreaker down at his head or his chest, but it would be where he stood. But as he was about to jump, he felt a hard force bounce his sword and his body away like he ran into rubber. He saved himself in time just before he fell, and looked up.

"How!?"

Trailbreaker smirked. "Not bad for an old timer, huh?"

"Old timer? That's something you'll never be when I'm through with you!"

"That makes no sense!"

Bludgeon raised his sword up and he swiped it down to try and slice the Autobot again, this time being blocked by another force-field projection.

"You cower behind your force-fields. Fight like a true bot!" Bludgeon snarled as he was getting ready to start to circle around him.

Trailbreaker smirked. "Fight like a true bot, huh? Then how about you drop the swords, and bring up your dukes?"

Bludgeon stopped talking, trying to come up with a comeback.

"No! That wouldn't be fair."

Trailbreaker sighed and shook his head. "You Decepticons make no sense sometimes, I swear..."

While Trailbreaker kept on trying to keep up a good fight against the samurai warrior, the girls could only stand and watch and participate in this ensuing chaos as a cheering crowd.

"Go Trailbreaker!"

"Kick his butt!"

But the cheering died real fast when they saw a recovered Thunderblast starting to circle behind Trailbreaker with two loaded pistols.

"Oh no! Trailbreaker, look out!"

Trailbreaker turned just in time to see Thunderblast take the first shot. Trailbreaker took a few lasers to the chest, but he managed to move away in time as Bludgeon was going to try another slice attack. Trailbreaker's three-barreled weapon loaded up, and he let loose some lasers. They fired several times at Thunderblast who shrieked and ducked for cover as he fought back. The old war vet was about to move towards her some more, until he saw Bludgeon charge again. He was ready to pull up the weapon again, until Bludgeon jumped up high in the air like a ninja. He spun over the older robot and swung his sword around, almost hitting his neck. But the sword instead sliced off the three-barreled gun that was prodding from Trailbreaker's back, leaving nothing but bare circuitry.

"Ah!" Trailbreaker grunted from the incoming attack. He moved his head back a bit to try and see what was become of it, until he heard the samurai's stomps. Turning again, he witnessed Bludgeon dismember another weapon from his body, this time slicing off the small shotgun mounted on his shoulder.

The barrel dropped to the ground, and Bludgeon chuckled with malicious intent.

"Not so strong without your toys, Autobot?"

Trailbreaker scowled. "Very well. Want to fight? Lets fight!"

Bludgeon was the one to smirk. "Finally, a real challenge!"

Trailbreaker and Bludgeon ran head to head at each other and began to throw fists at each other. Trailbreaker double-punched the samurai's head, but Bludgeon punched harder. Small pieces of metal were blown off of Trailbreaker's head, like tiny little crumbs. Worse, Bludgeon didn't let up. He punched the older veteran in the face multiple times, and went for the gut, as well as going far as to kick him down and then continue to kick him while he was down on the ground.

Thunderblast giggled and she pulled out a gun and started ot shoot at Trailbreaker's fallen body. But as hurt as the warrior was, he wasn't about to let that sink him down. He managed to pull himself up, and fired a blast at Bludgeon's chest with his blaster hand. He blocked some of the blaster shots from burning his face off, but Thunderblast kept shooting.

The girls could only watch in terror.

"Is there anything we can do?" Fluttershy asked, trying to assess the information.

"I don't know but... wait a minute. Someone's missing," Twilight said, looking at the field. "There were three of them... where's the third one!?"

The tremors in the ground quickly interrupted that question. Towering above them like a giant, was the new addition to the Decepticon team; Waspinator. The clicking sounds from his jaw made them all quiver in fear, seeing the monster before their eyes.

"Who is he!?" Rarity screamed. "He's so disgusting!"

Waspinator screeched. "Disgusting... only human disgusting!"

His claw clashed together and tried to reach down to grab Rarity. But Rarity would not allow that to happen. With quick thinking, her hand clutched her pendent, which sent a surge of energy coursing through her veins. Her eyes opened up with a bright white glow, and a blue aura surrounding her body. A long, lustrous ponytail flowed from behind her head, and a pair of pony ears transformed on the top of her head. Waspinator was too distracted by his plan, he didn't even acknowledge the diamond shaped shield that shelled her surroundings, protecting her from being grabbed. Waspinator only clicked and buzzed in anger.

But as the girls were trying to think of a plan, Fluttershy looked a little closer at the new Con. Something seemed vaguely familiar about him. That bug-like voice, the dark pink Energon glow in his chest and eyes, and that green color scheme... only one bot she knew fit that description. But could it be? Would it actually be...?

"Hey!"

Waspinator stopped, hearing that call. His head slowly turned to stare at Fluttershy, intently studying her. Inside his eyes, several screens which included scanning and identification readings flashed into his memory core.

"Wasp... is... is that you?"

Waspinator didn't speak. But his body did. Turning his attention on her, his legs stomped into the ground and he bent down some more so he could look at her closer. His face was ever so close, like Fluttershy was right in front of the face of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Those long mandibles certainly didn't help either.

"W-Wasp..." Fluttershy whispered. "Please... please tell me that its you..."

Waspinator's giant screeching suddenly started to quiet down a little bit. His head slowly tilted side to side, studying her. His now four arms held his body up so he could face her, but still tower above her.

"Wasp... if there's a chance that's actually you... please, say something, anything!" Fluttershy quietly pleaded.

Waspinator's eyes flashed. For a brief second, that quiet voice emitted something inside his head. A voice that he never forgot all those years ago. A single whisper that called to him. Wasp...

"Wasp... not... bad..." a voice spoke from the bug, sounding much more clear than before.

Fluttershy felt a glimmer of hope twinkle. "Yes, that's it, that's it, stay with me!"

Waspinator's head shook a little bit, trying to wake himself up. But that clear voice did not come back. "No! Waspinator not friendly, Waspinator kill!"

Fluttershy's smile slowly faded. But as she was about to go backwards, something large and massive slammed into Wasp's body, kicking him away from Fluttershy. The punch was so massive that part of his mandible jaw scraped against Fluttershy's skin, making her cry out in pain.

When Waspinator looked to what hit him, he saw a car was the source of the toss. A car that had been previously parked on the front path, from one of the girls.

"Rainbow, I'm sorry, but I gotta borrow your car!"

"Wait, what!?"

Waspinator growled and shoved the car off his body. "Waspinator remember. Waspinator destroy all!"

But Waspinator's sentence quickly ended as soon as a sports car was collided with his body. The result left the car severly damaged and with a massive dent on the top of the cab. The Decepticon screeched from the attack, and he picked up the car to use to attack back. Looking ahead, he saw Applejack starting to raise another car up. A magical aura surrounding her body as she did so, and a set of pony ears and a long ponytail accompanied her movements.

"Get away from my friends, ya big green varmint!" Applejack hollered, tossing another car towards Waspinator's direction. Waspinator raised his four arms up and fired multiple green lasers, blowing up the car before it could even hit. The result left tons of smashed and charred remains raining, and it left an embarassed Applejack standing. "Uh... Pinkie? I'm not sure insurance is gonna cover for your car being, uh... blown up."

Pinkie Pie however was not fazed. "That's okay! Besides, I just bounce around!" She sprung up into the air like she jumped on a trampoline, ponytail and ears visible. Waspinator kept turning around, trying to blast her at every given opportunity, but she was too fast. Every time he tried to shoot her, she just got away again and again and again.

Waspinator missed again, and felt a hard bullet hit the back of his head. Looking back, there behind him was Rainbow Dash with a high-powered rifle in her arms, loaded with bullets.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your rifle, Applejack!"

"Just don't waste those bullets!"

Waspinator roared and erupted a laser from his breath, in attempt to attack. Just like the others, Rainbow Dash had her superpowers active and ready. She dashed from the attack, in just a flash of blue. While Rainbow Dash kept running circles around Waspinator, and using only the rifle as a means of attacking, Rarity and Sunset helped tend to Fluttershy's wounds.

"Darling, are you alright?"

"I will be, but... that Decepticon... it's... it's Wasp!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"What!?" Pinkie Pie shouted as she kept bouncing.

"Didn't he die ten years ago?" Applejack shouted, trying to look for more giant objects to throw at Waspinator.

"Yes, but I know its not him! I can feel it! Wait... Sunset, can you still read minds?"

Sunset nodded, trying to help wrap up the cut on Fluttershy's arm. "Yeah, why?"

"If we can get to you over to him..."

"... We find out what happened!" Sunset finished. "Fluttershy, you're a genius!"

Sunset finished the bandages, and she ran back into the grass again, joining the fight. "Okay, Rainbow Dash, keep doing what you're doing. Pinkie Pie, see if you can throw something to knock him down long enough!"

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "Time for some explosions, Pinkie Pie Style!" In one of her hands was a set of fireworks which she intended on setting off. Grabbing them all at the fuses, making them start to glow. With another jump up, she hurled the fireworks at Waspinator's face, just in time. The fireworks went off, exploding, creating a ton of light and sparks in his eyes.

"AHHH!!!" Waspinator shouted, one of the sparks exploding right at his head. The explosion was out of nowhere, that he fell back again, almost out cold from how close it was. Sunset took her chance and ran towards Waspinator, going for his head. With a single hand, she touched a side of his head, and gazed right into his head, her eyes going blank. When she pulled away, she gasped. "Oh sweet Celestia... Wasp, what have they done to you?"

Waspinator heard her voice, and immediately swiped at her, knocking her to the side like it was just dust. He quickly rose back up, and growled. "If Waspinator not do well in robot mode... then Waspinator attack with upgrade!"

Waspinator transformed, converging into his giant wasp form. His wings flapped hard, and he hovered up into the air with a new strategy in mind. He stared down to a new enemy in sight; Twilight Sparkle. She was ripping pieces of some of the fence surrounding the farmland, and using it as arrows to launch at Thunderblast who was cowering from every one of them. Waspinator's jaws clicked, and his antennae twitched. His purple eyes glowed, and he locked on target.

Sunset who pulled herself back up, saw what was happening. Not even wasting time, she acted upon instinct and ran to try and save Twilight from a fate she couldn't imagine. Just in time, Sunset Shimmer tackled Twilight Sparkle to the side, stopping her attack on Thunderblast. Waspinator's lasers struck down, creating a small tremor of an explosion, creating big dirt marks.

Twilight looked up, and watched as Waspinator shrieked. Now he was about to blow a fuse. But wait; Sunset saved her. She saved her from almost being shot. She didn't see Waspinator, but Sunset did...

"Twilight, are you okay?" Sunset panicked. "Please, say something!"

"Sunset, I'm okay!" Twilight stopped her. "I'm... I'm okay. You... you just saved me."

Sunset panted, trying to catch her breath. "Well... of course. I'm not going to let my best friend go away like that!"

Twilight, for once in that visit, smiled at Sunset Shimmer. Sunset smiled too. The two were so lost, they didn't even catch on to Waspinator about to close in on them.

"Sunset, look!"

Sunset and Twilight gazed up at the giant bug that was hovering above them, a loud buzzing noise pitching their ears.

"Waspinator tired of losing, Waspinator is not wasting more time, Waspinator will kill if it ends this battle!" Waspinator's bug face looked down with his jaw open, and he lunged down at Sunset, about to just start ripping her face off. She raised her arms up in time, grabbing Waspinator's mandibles and trying her best to not let them get near her head. They were sharp and painful as all get out, but no way she was going to bite the dust so fast. But Twilight wasn't going to let it happen either. With her pendent, she created some auras which engulfed Waspinator's mandibles, and tried to provide some extra leverage to push Waspinator off of the poor girl.

Thunderblast, who watched the display pointed a gun back at Twilight again, this time going to get a little personal payback for all those fence pieces she threw.

"Hey!"

A soft gunshot pounced on Thunderblast's head, which only made her annoyed. She looked back down and watched as Rainbow Dash cocked the rifle again, ready to keep shooting. But as she pulled the trigger again, she noticed something. No bullet. No fire. Nothing.

"What?" Rainbow panicked, checking the barrel. No more shells, and no more ammo to use. Now she was out of luck.

Thunderblast chuckled and got ready to shoot again. "Bye blue, pony, bird, thing!"

Her pistol cocked, but a strange sound went to her audio receptors. Turning her head, she was punched in the face by a hard cold iron fist. She came falling down like someone chopping a tree in the woods, and fell right beside Rainbow Dash. But when she looked up, she couldn't help but smile.

"No way..."

A black fist, connected to a red and black body was the source of the attack. And a smirk came from the face of who performed it.

"That's my best friend you're trying to shoot. And no one, shoots my best friend."

Thunderblast looked up, and snarled. But getting up didn't work, as a foot kicked her in the stomach and pushed her away for a bit. A yellow foot about as long as the other robot. Both robots smirked and looked back to Rainbow Dash.

"Its good to see you again, Rainbow."

"Its good to see you too, Sideswipe."

As Trailbreaker continued to duke it out with Bludgeon some more, he was starting to tire out. And this only gave Bludgeon the upper hand. More hard pounding to his gut, until a leg sweep just made the poor Autobot fall. He tried hard to pull up, but Bludgeon rested his foot on his chest, pinning him down.

"Its time for you to take a rest, Autobot. Forever."

"Ugh, that line is so cliche, can you not come up with something better?"

Bludgeon blanked. Who even said that? And right before he could question it, a fist came hurling towards his face, getting him off of Trailbreaker's body. The older Autobot looked up, and watched as another familiar face came to fight. Tracks.

And someone was starting to walk in front of him with an open arm. He bent down a bit so he could give Trailbreaker a hand.

"Wheeljack?"

"Lets get you back on your feet."

Trailbreaker accepted his hand, and was pulled back up again. He watched as Tracks was going all out on Bludgeon, having much more success than him. He dodged, he kicked, he flawlessly performed every attack with the right precision and accuracy to fit Bludgeon's skills.

Waspinator who was still trying to eat Sunset's face off, was also baring another attack. A gun fired, shooting him in the face which made him let go of Sunset immediately, and howled from the burning sensation. The steam from Bumblebee's gun went up, and he blew the smoke away.

"This farmland isn't big enough for two bugs, so why don't you buzz off?" Bumblebee twirled the gun around, ready to shoot again.

Waspinator shook his head, and transformed back into robot mode. He stared down at Bumblebee with a click and buzzing chatter, wanting to squish him like a bug.

"Waspinator not afraid of you, Bumblebot!"

"Then are you afraid of this?"

A high pounding boom sent Waspinator flying through the air and crashing right into a recovering Thunderblast, who both crashed right into a tree. That boom was sent by the stereos built into the final Autobot who arrived, none other than the music lover himself; Jazz.

Jazz and Bumblebee smiled and both of them shared a mild fist bump.

Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing around and froze in mid-air.

"Jazz!?"

Jazz grinned. "Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie jumped up in down out of excitement, full of joy. "Oh my goodness, Jazz, you're here, I'm so happy, we've got to throw a 'Welcome Back, Autobots' party, whoo-hoo!" Her next jump sent her right above Jazz, until she just plopped down on his shoulder, to get a good view of the unfortunate Decepticon failings.

Bludgeon who got back up on his feet, scrambled to get back up, until he froze. Now there were seven Autobots before his eyes. And Thunderblast and Waspinator were down, again. The odds were completely against them. Angered by the defeat, he transformed into tank mode, and scrambled to get out the front gate. "Decepticons! Fall back!"

Waspinator and Thunderblast fumbled about, until both of them transformed into their alternate modes and took off to escape as well.

Finally clear from the vicinity, the Autobots and the former Rainbooms all cheered at their victory.

"Yee-hah! Yippie-ki-yay!" Applejack shouted, throwing her hat up into the air.

"Now that's what I call a victory," Sunstreaker smiled.

"And just in time too," Rainbow Dash nodded. "What took you guys so long?"

"Police officers," Jazz replied. "They're everywhere."

Bumblebee nodded. "But I'm just happy we made it back." The scout then looked over to his old friend. "Fluttershy?"

"Bumblebee!"

Fluttershy was so excited, she almost sent Bumblebee falling backwards from her surprise hug. But he didn't fall, and instead reciprocated the hug, patting her back.

Sunset was shocked. "Guys, what... what are you all doing here?"

"We came to get you. Right now, we have a bad situation back home..." Wheeljack bent down.

"How bad?" Trailbreaker said, while being helped by Tracks in standing up.

"Real bad," Sideswipe said. "Almost Megatron levels, bad."

Sunset's heart sank. "Oh no..."

"And I have a definite feeling those Decepticons were intending to axe you off, as part of their plan," Jazz stated.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Applejack shook her head.

A small pause of silence fell among the group, as all of them looked at each other. Friends reunited again, an enemy stopped from wrecking more havoc upon them, everyone was okay.

"You know something? I'm glad we came. I mean, if we didn't stop those three goons, then I'm not sure what would," Bumblebee quipped. "And look us now, the gang's all back together again."

Twilight and Sunset looked at each other, and shared a smile.

"Yeah... looks like we are," Twilight cooed.

"Now, I don't know about you girls," Wheeljack began, "but I think you all would be safer back at Autobot Headquarters."

Twilight Sparkle glanced over her shoulder to see Sunset Shimmer who looked a bit worried. But all she could do was give a single smile to her old friend, lifting a weight off of Sunset's shoulders.

"You know Wheeljack? I think you may be right."

Bludgeon's treads left tracks on the road as he fled, Waspinator and Thunderblast barely hovering above. Waspinator kept flinching side to side like there was something surging inside his systems, about to pop out and burst. And poor Thunderblast; one of her wings was left mangled and bent, making flight almost impossible.

"Can't we just take a break? Please???" Thunderblast whined.

"We have to get out of human territory," Bludgeon barked.

"There aren't any humans around, this place is empty!!!"

Bludgeon violently transformed and hissed. "Listen, you obtuse excuse of a protoform... you can take a break when we get back to Hawaii, but right now, we need to depart as far as we can!"

Thunderblast transformed into her robot mode, and slammed onto the ground with her heels. She winced and her face scrunched up from the pain. The pain rocketed all the way over her body from just her left heel dropping.

"Bludgeon... Can't you at least carry me?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please??"

"Shut. Up." Bludgeon turned around, now just walking on his own two feet.

Waspinator interrupted them with a high pitched screech, grabbing his own face with his claws. "Waspinator... angry. Thunderbot shut up, or Waspinator shut up Thunderbot!"

Bludgeon and Thunderblast blinked and immediately shut up.

"... Very well. We're wasting time anyway," Bludgeon shook his head. He turned his entire body around as he gave Waspinator and Thunderblast their attention. "I understand you two are vastly injured, and have sustained very little Energon. But if we move faster, we can make your Energon levels thrive again."

The two of them listened, but immediately stopped after that last sentence. The compatriots looked behind him, and their eyes widened a little. The two of them took single steps back and pointed to what was in the direction that Bludgeon was.

"Ah! Monsters!" Thunderblast shrieked before jumping up from panic and jumping into Waspinator's arms, her own arms clinging around Waspinator's shoulders.

The samurai turned around from the confusion. What was she getting worked up about this time? Well this time, he quickly understood what she was freaking out about. A single gasp escaped his skeleton-like jaw, and he looked in shock and awe.

"By the Allspark..."

Tempest and company stood by in the hangar where the Groundbridge was set up. Tempest was pacing back and forth, growing impatient with every passing hour. No report, no comment, no transmission.

"You really think those three could beat one Autobot?" Grubber asked, standing by.

Tempest's brow raised, looking back at Barricade and Blackout who looked with protest. "Oh, for sure."

"Tempest, are you there?"

"Yes. Now what is it?"

"We are here for a return back," Bludgeon said on the other line. "And we brought something you may want to see..."

Tempest turned her head to Shockblast, and gave a single nod. Shockblast nodded too, and flipped on the controls and opened up the Groundbridge. The bridge opened up, and walking through were injured Waspinator and Thunderblast, and a slow but stable Bludgeon.

"I was told you had brought something. But here I see you have brought none other than almost wasting more warriors."

Bludgeon's eyes hummed. "I do indeed bring good news. You may not have known this, but we know who's leading the Autobots... as well as some more accomplices to her side."

"That's all you've got to tell me?"

Bludgeon's face slowly grinned. "Oh no, mistress. Tempest, we ran into some bots who I am sure would be of massive valuable help..." He slowly stepped to the left side with a hand extended out, as if to introduce them like he was on stage for a play.

Tempest took a few steps forward to get a closer look, and she could see someone coming through. The first thing she could see was a white body with some black and dark purple paint. A head with a red visor and dark purple helm stomped first, with a small snarl like a beast. But he was not alone. More faces came with him.

The second one was white and blue, a shark head visible sticking behind his head. Third place was dark blue and purple Decepticon with a few smaller legs visible on the sides of his ankles, like animal legs. Fourth Decepticon was yellow and green, with two animal heads hanging behind his back. The final one was a dark green and yellow predator, with the top of a vulture-like monster's head prodding out of the chest.

Barricade let out a gasp. "They... they're back?"

"Tempest... I introduce to you... The Terrorcons."

Chapter 18: The Terrorcons

"Tempest... I introduce to you... The Terrorcons."

Tempest's eyes blinked a few times, just trying to make sure she wasn't seeing anything. "Terrorcons?"

"Beasts, aren't they?" Barricade said with some disgust.

The leader of the pack stomped his foot into the ground. "I am no beast. And neither are my pack."

Tempest let the Decepticon speak, and took a few steps forward so she could be face to face with the leader of the pack. She showed no fear, but only curiosity. A soft growl could be heard from the Decepticon who's personal space she invaded.

"Who are you?"

"The bigger question I think needs answering, is what are you doing here, Autobot?" The leader growled.

"That's no Autobot," Dropkick piped up. "She's dead."

He looked towards the triple-changer, and then back to Tempest. "You say she's dead... but yet, here I am standing before her. And she stands alive."

One of the Terrorcons next to him moved a little closer and sniffed the air. His eyes locked onto Tempest and sniffed some more, much to Tempest's own dismay.

"Organic... An organic is in her spark... she's a shell! A human... a human, wears this Autobot like a shell. Innards scooped out, to make room for this human's body, and their technology," the white and blue Terrorcon said.

"The analysis of the aroma is correct," Shockblast interrupted. "But our query requires answer. Who are you?"

The leader spoke. "I am Hun-Gurr. And this is my pack; Rippersnapper, Blot, Cutthroat, and Sinnertwin."

The Terrorcons all growled and screeched in harmony.

"B-B-But wait, you were... I... I saw you brutes leave with Megatron. How are you back here, on Earth? ... Is Megatron here with you?"

Hun-Gurr raised his left hand up, which made Barricade stop talking. Politely, he put his hand back down and spoke. "Megatron is not with us, or are any other of his compatriots. We come alone..."

"We stayed with Lord Megatron after our battle against Unicron, and were content with spending some days without fighting. But alas, our impatience, and lust for the hunt began to crave. Megatron's focus was intending on hunting down the one who took away half of his forces; Cy-Kill."

In the depths of space, two massive ships in the forms of cities were orbiting outside an unidentified planet. A ring of asteroids surrounded the planet, and its sphere was in a shade of baby blue.

"We were excited to hunt, but alas, our chance never came. Our energy, our resources were squandered, in attempt to find the last remnants of the Renegade Gobots. We grew tiresome, and our loyalty to Megatron began to diminish. So with a single vote, we all decided to leave the Decepticons to go on our own way. With Unicron destroyed, we didn't have to fear what would become of any more worlds..."

A soft boom pounded on the back of one of the cities, and a single shuttle was found exiting. A trail of fire escaped its thrusters, and it fled the surrounding atmosphere. And not a single city moved from its current position to try and track, or follow. All of the Terrorcons sat in their assigned chairs, buckled up, preparing for light speed. When the shuttle was far enough from the cities, it began to prepare to leave.

"Terrorcons, prepare for light speed," Hun-Gurr announced, adjusting one of the levers.

And with one BOOM, the ship vanished from the planet's atmosphere, and entered hyper-space.

"Cybertron was slowly being rebuilt, and the Autobots had taken over since the Decepticons departure. It became clear that Cybertron's atmosphere wasn't an option. So we came to the only other planet that was inhabited with Autobots to hunt; Earth."

The Terrorcons all stomped and charged through a series of swamps, looking for their prey. Rippersnapper sunk into the water, and swam as fast as he could. Just up ahead, there was a robot running from the pack. A Guardian, to be exact. He struggled to try and run from the pack, but it was slowly getting harder. They kept up the pace, and he was barely able to keep up the run. He turned around, and he readied his blasters by clenching his fists. An action, he would soon regret.

Rippersnapper jumped up, and pounced on the Guardian like a panther, pinning him to the ground. The Guardian fought to try and get off, but it was no use. The rest of the Terrorcons surrounded like vultures, and all of them pounced at once, tearing him apart. Limbs were being chewed, armor was being mashed up into iron fillings, and big bites were taken out of his side.

Cutthroat spit out a small circuit, but when he moved his head up to spit out the circuit, he caught something. His beak slowly opened up, and a small piece of a gear dropped into the swamp water. The little splash was all it took for the Terrorcons to stop feasting on the remains of the cyborg. All of their monster heads raised up and focused on the three Vehicons in front of them. All jaws opened up with fangs and teeth bared. Now a new prey had just walked right towards them...

"We didn't care what became our prey. The only thing that mattered to me was making sure that my pack had gotten the energy they need. If all members of my pack are functional, then he is functional."

The Terrorcons came running together on the empty roads, brisking through the wind. But as they charged, Hun-Gurr lead the pack. In his beast form, he ran on all fours, claws kicking and digging up the road as he ran. The two double-heads swayed back and forth like a horse as he ran. Hun-Gurr let out a mighty roar that pierced the skies, making the rest of his pack roar with him. But their roaring of the wilderness stopped as soon as Hun-Gurr used the heels of his feet to try and stop running.

He flipped forward, transforming into his robot mode in the process. Everyone else converted as well, freezing in front of Bludgeon, Thunderblast, and Waspinator. Hun-Gurr studied Bludgeon's expression the moment he gasped. A little bit of shock, but no fear. Was a mark of a Con that wasn't someone that should be fought so quickly. No running away either.

"We went on the run for awhile, until we ran into Bludgeon. I would have sent my pack to rip him limb from limb, but Bludgeon gave us an offer that we couldn't refuse. He told us highly that you were putting a plan together that included hunting down any remaining Autobot refugees on this planet. That sparked the interest in all of us..."

"Which leaves me to ask this; if you truly want to keep more troops... perhaps we could join your team. We would be more useful with you than against you, and it would be unwise to unleash the inner beast inside all of us."

Tempest sat in silence, listening to Hun-Gurr's entire story unfold before her eyes. To be frank, she coudln't really care, in fact, it mostly irritated her that more Decepticons came down onto the planet. But to know that they were responsible for some more Autobot demises? That tidbit made that little dark part of her willing to listen.

Tempest...

Tempest's head jolted. "What?"

Hun-Gurr paused. "I said, perhaps we could--"

"--Shut up!"

Tempest turned her head to listen again.

Tempest...

She looked back at Hun-Gurr who was a little insulted by her interruption. "You're in. If you can hone your hunting skills to the Autobots and not your own allies."

Hun-Gurr bowed. "It will be done."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a moment. Everyone else... make our guests feel more comfortable," Tempest said before brushing past some of her troops.

As soon as she was out of the hangar, she moved herself under a patch of trees that provided some shade from the moonlight.

Tempest.... Tempest...

"I hear you, Megatronus. Show yourself."

A ghostly apparition manifested itself before her, created out of nothing. She only could look at the Decepticon logo shaped face that was Megatronus, but nothing else.

"You have done well, Tempest. I am pleased with your progress. You move quite efficiently."

Tempest didn't smile at the compliment, but she kept a straight face.

"Let me ask you something, Megatronus. Why do you wish to leave this, realm, so badly?"

Megatronus's face didn't change. Not that she could tell, since the only emotion that could be seen conveyed on his face was his eyes.

"That is a question I never thought you would ask. My history ages back to nearly the dawn of time..."

Before Tempest could say a thing, a strange blast of energy phased right into her body, coming from the specter in front of her. She jolted her body back as her mind was slowly getting sucked into the visions in front of her. Her eyes within the suit went blank white, as all she could see in front of her were the visions of Megatronus's past.

"Before the dawn of time, there were two gods. Unicron and Primus. Primus believed in creation and life, but Unicron believed in destruction and chaos. Unicron wanted power, more than he could ever want. So Primus, with his last dying breath, created the 13 Primes, one of them included myself. We fought together, and Unicron was left defeated... he ran for good, but we stayed. But our time of peace came to an end... The Primes, my very own brothers, were left corrupted and vile... Unicron left a curse upon them, and they wanted to spread chaos. I had no choice but to fight. I fought with all my spark, but they gained the upper hand. I was cast into an alternate dimension, one that would not allow me to escape. I couldn't do anything but watch as everything unfolded before my optics."

New images flashed in front of Tempest's eyes.

" But the passing years, decades, centuries, millenniums to come, only would get worse... The Allspark... was destroyed..."

Seven teenage girls were surrounding the Allspark in a lab that looked like it was inside a public school somewhere. Without warning, all of them were being zapped with beams of blue energy, shooting from the cube shaped obstruction, going right through their bodies, making all of them collapse onto the floor and black out. But what they didn't see is that the cube suddenly made a small explosion and it fell apart into several pieces onto the ground into little shards.

"... I watched the strongest Decepticon, the one who resurrected the Decepticon branding, the one who tried to coin my title, die..."

A fiery colored Transformer with a body-type similar to that of the leader Optimus Prime stood above a beaten, wounded, and hurt Megatron who was begging for mercy.

"You've terrorized my home, kill many of my friends without mercy, and now you're here, begging me for mercy? Well... You don't deserve it. I'm not going to let more innocent people and worlds fall to your hands."

No one saw her shoot, but Megatron's body was seen being thrown off the roof of Canterlot High, slamming onto the ground with a loud slam. The Decepticons surrounded the fallen leader and looked at the Autobots with deathly stares.

"You may have won this round Autobots, but we will be back. And you will pay for this insolence!" Starscream shrieked. "Astrotrain, Octane, transform for transport modes and get us out of here!"

"... Even those who tried to take control as leader, could not stand and rise to power!"

Starscream was heaving in utter anger at the failure of their battle. Even an entire army brought onto Earth all the way from Cybertron couldn't defeat Optimus Prime and his Autobots.

"We will be back Autobots... and unlike our failure today, we'll gain victory next time. You won't always have your pets to come to your rescue!"

As the city of Trypticon took off for the sky, the Autobots accompanied by the Rainbooms and the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts watched them leave.

"They've left, but they'll be back. And we'll be ready..." Optimus murmured.

A flash of white light flickered in Tempest's eyes as a new image appeared on screen. A purple armored Decepticon, standing before a robot of similar size; blue boots, red chest, gray tube-like arms, and a dome-head with a nasty face with yellow eyes.

"You Renegades are a disgrace to the Decepticon cause. The Decepticons need a new leader, one who can actually destroy the Autobots, the Guardians... and Sunset Shimmer," Galvatron griped.

"Let me guess who you have in mind," the other robot said.

"Yes... me."

"This is absurd, I am the one and only leader of this outfit."

Galvatron unfazed, aimed his cannon at the Renegade and fired a laser round, trying to obliterate his body. But the Renegade leader quickly moved out of the way just in time to avoid the fire.

"You were the leader," Galvatron said.

Cy-Kill moved back on his feet and snarled, "I'll crush you Galvatron, you're nothing!"

"These new Decepticons, and those Autobots... they desecrated my very name. Tempest Shadow... do you seek to free us from your world?"

Tempest slowly gazed up at the specter and growled. "I do..."

"Then listen to my words. You and your army must create a machine... but its not just some machine. You need specific parts to help create it. In my seemingly limitless spare time, I was able to track down some alternative components here on Earth for this contraption to work..."

A surge of energy phased from the apparition and straight into the chest of Pyra Magna, going straight for her forehead. Tempest's eyes went completely blank, but only for a moment. Then her iris's returned to normal.

"I understand."

"Very good. I will speak to you, when the time comes..."

And like that, the spirit of Megatronus before her eyes just vanished into thin air. Tempest chuckled to herself, the knowledge of the parts and the locations now embedded in her brain; like a ghostly imprint. A ghostly imprint that only she received. And tomorrow, the hunt for the parts would begin...

Some hours had gone by since the Terrorcons arrival, and things were calming down. Tempest decided that she'd tell everyone the plan for the next day, now it'd be time to recharge. Even for herself. So while she went to go sleep, everyone else just went to do their own thing. Some of them went to power down, some of them continued to do some work, or some other activity to keep them stimulated during the night.

The moon radiated the night sky, providing some light. But some of the torches mounted also helped with visibility as well. The beach that was just outside the hangar was empty. Only the waves crashing were the sounds heard. And all that could be seen was just the waves, and the little boy sitting by himself, near the water. Feet bare to feel the cool water, while head rest in his crossed arms.

Skyjack stood underneath one of the palm trees, watching the poor child sit by himself, all alone. Behind her, Steve and Spacewarp were gathered around a burning campfire they had going to provide some warmth, if Betamax ever came back to them. But none of them had a feeling he'd be coming back to them anytime.

Cyberwarp during all of this, was flipping through several screens and images displayed on a holoscreen. She had been scurrying to try and find something, anything that would be helpful with her situation.

"Really? Still flipping?" Steve asked, watching Cyberwarp's finger continue to flip through the screens.

"Yes."

"Can't you just talk to him?" Spacewarp said.

"Its not that easy," Cyberwarp replied.

"Cyberwarp."

Steve put his three-fingered hand on Cyberwarp's massive wrist, stopping her. She stopped moving the screens and turned turned her head to the Vehicon.

"Do you want my advice?"

Cyberwarp sighed. "Sure."

"I may be a generic Vehicon, but I know a lot of stuff. This situation right here, isn't different from any other. The kid is dealing with a loss, and he needs someone right now."

"Its not that easy. I can't just--"

"--Just what? Talk to him, interrupt his alone time?" Steve interrupted without regret. "Listen to me. He's just like you. He's a living, breathing thing, with emotions inside and out. Talk to him, get him to open up. Kid's gotta let all of that stuff out."

Cyberwarp adjourned herself, and thought. She looked at Spacewarp, who gave a nod. She looked back to Steve, who gave a nod. She turned her head forward to her sister who gave a single nod as well.

"Alright. I'll see if maybe that'll work."

"It will. I'm sure of it."

Cyberwarp walked past Skyjack and paced down the beach to the water where Betamax continued to sit. Her footsteps slowly shook the ground as she walked. Taking a few more steps, she stopped on the left side of Betamax. She looked down, seeing the boy unmoved from his current position.

Slowly, she bent down, until she lowered herself all the way to the ground and sat down, stretching her legs out so they were touching the water. The splashing waves made the water move up to her knees, but that was as far as they went. Her arms slowly dropped, resting at her sides and on the wet sand. Her body relaxing as she sat still. Optics locked onto the splashing ocean, watching them crash against the rocks.

She looked back down, and Betamax still wasn't moving.

"Hey."

She waited for a moment or two. Not audible response, or anything. But a few moments later, Betamax lifted his head up, seeing Cyberwarp sitting right next to him.

"What do you want?" Betamax sulked.

Cyberwarp frowned. "I noticed you never came back to sit with us, or, even had dinner."

"I'm not hungry," Betamax said, facing the ocean.

"Max."

Betamax stopped talking, but he didn't look back up at her.

"I know its hard to take all of this in. Really, I do. But I want to make sure you're okay, I promise to make sure you stay safe. Please... just tell me what's going on."

Betamax's fists clenched a bit, and a soft growl escaped his lips.

"You want to know? You want to know!? Today, I just lost both of my moms! They were all I had, and now I have no one! My home is gone, and I have no where else to run! No one knows that I'm even here and a prisoner of evil robots from outer space, no one's out there looking for me and you think I'm okay!?"

Betamax felt like exploding, right there, right now. Cyberwarp didn't flinch, and could only listen as he burst. But Betamax couldn't bring himself to say anything else. Just like with Sour Sweet, the reality pounced on his heart, hard. He was all alone, on Hawaii, and with no one around that even knew what had become of him. He was now prisoner of alien robots, and no one even knew. No one would come to find him, no one would come to try and save him. He was alone... all alone...

The truth sunk in like an anvil to the foot. The pain, the anger, the reality all rolling into one. His fists just dropped, and he sunk his face into his knees.

"Max?"

She listened, and could only hear a soft whimper.

"Are you okay?"

"... Noo..." Betamax whimpered.

"Oh, Max..."

Cyberwarp slowly moved her fingers around the child and lifted him up and held him in her lap. She moved close and gave him a hug, to wit, he reciprocated. His arms wrapped around her neck, and rested his head on her shoulder. Cyberwarp patted his back, hearing him cry.

"Mommy's gone... and Mama... I don't have a mama anymore..."

"Shh..." Cyberwarp stroked his back, giving him the most comfort she could. "I'm so sorry..."

For a good seven minutes, she did not dare break from the hug. She let him release the feelings he had bubbled up inside, finally freeing what had hurt. She had never had to handle this kind of situation before, not once. She comforted friends when they were dealing with losses, but a child? That was another story.

Once Betamax had calmed down a little, she pulled away from the hug, looking at his sad face. Cheeks red, eyes puffy and watery, he had let out a lot. With just the tip of one of her fingernails, she wiped a small tear that had escaped from his eye.

"I'm so sorry Max... If I could, I would go back and make sure that never happened, but... I can't."

Betamax whimpered some more.

"Max?"

The boy looked up.

"I know what its like to lose someone you love. I do. But I'm here to tell you... you're not alone. I'm here for you."

The child wiped away another tear from his eye and nodded. "T-Thank you..."

"Its not just her."

Betamax looked behind Cyberwarp, and saw another robot approach them; Skyjack.

"I mean, I was kind of hesitant to the idea of her bringing you here but... maybe it'd be nice to talk to someone who could maybe teach a thing or two to us aliens."

Betamax for once, smiled. Skyjack smiled back, along with giving him a little boop on the nose, giggling at him scrunching up. And Skyjack wasn't alone either. Steve was also found, walking towards the small huddled group as well. He bent down, so he could be a bit more eye to eye with the human.

"I'm a punching bag, but I'm not blind. I'm here if you just need a guy to hang out with," Steve smiled, invisibly.

"And you got me too."

The three Decepticons looked back and watched as Spacewarp was now approaching them. Just like Steve, she took a knee out so she could see him eye to eye.

"Kid, I'm sorry about what I said before. I knew you were hurt, and I didn't help. Forgive me?"

Betamax didn't say anything, but instead, got off of Cyberwarp's lap and started walking to her. He just simply hugged her foot, trying to show his understanding.

"Umm... is that normal, or is he secretly a leech?"

"Its just a hug, Spacewarp."

Spacewarp looked back down. A soft chuckle escaped from behind her mask, and she patted Betamax's head. "Reminds me of Howlback, he was a nice kitty."

Spacewarp waited for a moment or two. Betamax should have gotten off her leg by now. But he didn't. She bent forward to take a closer look, and could only hear the sound of soft snoring.

"Um, Betamax?"

Cyberwarp smiled. "Poor guy must have tuckered out."

She reached for him, carefully picking him up with her fingers. As gentle as a fawn, she cradled him in her arms, and got back up on her feet. She turned around to the small patch of palm trees where their campfire was set up, underneath the shade. But as she and her friends were walking back, they saw something small run away from the patch and towards the Decepticon base. At first, they were alarmed, but they could recognized that charcoal colored skin and white mohawk.

Cyberwarp pushed through some of the trees with her shoulder pads, and stopped. Near the campfire was a beach lounge chair, set up with a pillow and blanket sitting on them. She looked back to see Grubber struggling to get away as fast as he could so he wouldn't be seen, but he knew they saw him. He looked back to see Cyberwarp's smiling face, and gave a nod to her, looking back to the almost bed-like chair. She nodded back, and Grubber rushed away to get back to his own activity.

Her metal digits placed the sleeping child on the bed, and pushed the pillow under his head for comfort. Her fingertips grabbed the blanket, draping it over him to provide some more comfort in the cool air. She patted him, with a sigh of relief.

"I'll protect you Max. I promise."

Chapter 19: Truth Bombs

Earlier that day after Bludgeon and his crew made their raid, the girls all packed their things that they had took over to Applejack's, and loaded them into the trunks of their Autobot partners. The Autobots had offered to do the luggage carrying, especially from all the fighting that had just occurred at Applejack's farm, no less. In all the recovery, they were able to wrap up Fluttershy's wounds, and patch up Trailbreaker a bit. He was still functioning, but he needed to get some more repairs back at base from Rest-Q.

"So guys, I know I was only gone for a day--"

"--technically a couple of hours!" Pinkie interjected.

"--but you haven't even told me, what happened since I left?"

"Its an awful lot, Sunset," Jazz called, just as Pinkie Pie closed the door on the shotgun side for her luggage. "And I think it'd be better if you heard it from all of us."

"That's kind of vague, isn't it?" Applejack observed.

"I'm just sayin', its pretty bad."

"Well, lets get going then."

"Right!" Wheeljack replied.

He tapped a control console on the side of his arm, entering in the commands to go back at The Ark. Just then, a Groundbridge appeared before them, ready to go back home. The girls sat in the shotgun seats of the cars, and once they were all strapped in, they were ready to go. And as smooth as butter, the Autobot guardians passed through the portal, vanishing from Applejack's homestead.

On the other side, there were a few Autobots waiting for them. Sunset instantly recognized them; Arcee, Strongarm, Hoist, Grapple, Bluestreak, just to name a few. All of them looked a little displeased, and even a little mad. She could only imagine because of Jazz's group's sudden departure without letting any of them know.

"Whoa, talk about small. Is this really all that's left?" Rainbow Dash asked before Sideswipe's door opened up. Sideswipe transformed first.

"That's not it, but there isn't really many of us left, I can guarantee that," Sunstreaker answered.

Everyone transformed and the girls all stepped out.

"Hey guys, we're back!" Rainbow hollered.

The five Autobots standing before them didn't change their faces. For about two seconds.

"You're back!"

"Welcome back girls."

"Great to see some familiar faces again."

The girls walked up and shook hands with some of their old friends, greeted with some friendly smiles and warm welcomes. Sunset couldn't help but smile too. It was nice seeing them still being friendly to each other, even after all those years.

"Sunset, you're back early. Shouldn't you be on vacation? Or are you just here for a visit?" Hoist asked.

"Guys, I'm afraid vacation's cut short," Sunset said. "You can thank the three Decepticons who attacked us a few hours ago."

The Autobots stopped.

"Who exactly, attacked?" Strongarm wondered.

"Thunderblast, Bludgeon, and I have a strong feeling the third one is someone else we know. Now... I'm not going to ask why they're out of jail, I just want to know how," Sunset said with some disappointment.

"You want to know how?" A new voice interrupted.

Arcee and Strongarm moved out of the way, letting Mohawk pass through. Being such human size, the tiny two-wheeler was just face to face with Sunset when he got her attention.

"We got our cans handed to us, that's what happened. And in a few hours, I've lost three of my best friends to a psychopath!"

Sunset stopped. "Wait, what? What happened while I was gone, what did I miss?

"What didn't you miss?" This time, Blitzwing was the one to step forward. And almost immediately his face changed to complete rage."You bitch! You leave for one day and everything falls apart! We lost seven teammates, the Decepticons got away, and the compounding clunk that's leading them is one of your own who we thought was dead!" Then switched over to crazy. "But at least with you back, we'll have better help taking down a zombie uprising! AHAHAHAHA!"

Sunset raised a finger, and let it droop.

"Um... I'm sorry?"

Spitfire pushed some of the Wonderbolts out of the way, only to be right up in Sunset's face with a face of rage. Skin was turning red and her hair was on fire.

"Only after a few hours when you left did things fall apart! First off, we've lost a lot of people! Inferno, Roadblock, Berserker, Dive-Dive, a lot of them! Not only that, but a new threat has their hands on a few dangerous Decepticons!"

Sunset flinched from her yelling. "H-How many of them?"

"FIVE OF THEM! ... Okay Steve's actually not that dangerous, he's actually okay--FOUR! FOUR DANGEROUS DECEPTICONS!" Spitfire started up again. "And on top of that, our new recruits that arrived did a pretty damn good job of making sure they escaped! Their interference led our negotiations to just die, and they made sure the enemy got what they wanted, and we couldn't even save their hostage!"

"Who, what--who were they holding hostage?"

"How the hell should I know!? It's not my kid!" Spitfire continued to scream. She was only getting more and more riled up. "All I know is that those Decepti-punks now have a freakin' eight-year-old kid as a hostage, and they still have him!"

The girls gasped.

"WHAT!?" Pinkie Pie gasped.

"And on top of all that, the shuttle that came down here has taken out our only means of communicating with Optimus Prime, Heatseeker's missing, Ironhide is dead, we have no special cargo, and I had to deal with an out of control psycho woman who wants to go on a killing spree! all of this went down in the few hours you left, and in other words; WE ARE ALL SCREWED!!!" Spitfire yelled in the biggest yell she could possibly let out. She yelled so much that if glass could shatter, it would. And it actually did, the windows hanging off of Strongarm's back shattered to broken glass. She jolted from surprise,.

A blanket of silence was dropped. Now that Spitfire had let everything out, she was just trying to take a few deep breaths to calm down from her rage. Sunset couldn't believe her eyes. All of this? One day, one day and everything was starting to fall apart. This was too much for her to handle.

"Oh, no..." Sunset put her face in her palms.

"Spitfire, hey, come on, that's not completely necessary," Wheeljack spoke up.

"YES IT IS!!!" Spitfire shouted.

"Enough," Jazz boomed. "We all agreed that Sunset needed a vacation, and it was the right thing to do. Sunset needed a break, and guess what; none of us knew this was going to happen. We never know when something bad is going to happen, not when Megatron returned, not when Galvatron came down on us with an entire army, and certainly not here."

Spitfire's arms crossed.

"You know we're not denying anything that's happening, do you?" Tracks asked.

The captain's eyes rolled in the back of her head. Right now she just wanted to throw herself into something comfortable and just forget all her issues right here and now.

Twilight however noticed that Sunset wasn't exactly taking it all in so easily. She looked distraught, like someone had just rejected a gift, or yelled at a child. Eyes were blank, but her jaw was hanging a bit, just trying to let everything sink in.

"Sunset? Are you okay?"

Sunset didn't say anything. Instead, she just walked away. She walked straight into a different room, and closed the door behind her. Twilight and her friends couldn't say or do anything but just watch her step away.

"I think the poor darling needs some time alone," Rarity observed. "Perhaps we should give Sunset her space until she's completely recollected."

"Agreed," everyone chimed.

"Wait, where did Applejack go?" Fluttershy asked.

When the news struck about Ironhide's demise, Applejack almost immediately went to look for him. It didn't take long, as he was found just resting dead inside the medical ward. Rest Q was hesitant, but allowed her to come inside so she could see him. Applejack had no words when her eyes were dead set on the deceased Autobot in front of her. She couldn't comprehend it, the fact that Ironhide was... dead. He laid cold as ice before her eyes, and there was nothing she could do or say to bring him back. He was completely offline, and now was in the well of the Allsparks.

Applejack's eyes closed, and she took her cowgirl hat off her head. She placed her hat over her heart, and closed her eyes. But they didn't stay closed for long, with the pat on her shoulder. She looked up; it was Trailbreaker.

"I'm sorry Applejack. I really am."

Applejack couldn't help but sigh. "I just... I can't believe he's gone. My best friend is... just gone like that."

Trailbreaker nodded. "Neither can I..." But he looked to Applejack with a small but friendly smile. "But you know, I have a feeling that if he was here... he'd be proud knowing how far you've come."

Applejack's hand patted the fingertip of Trailbreaker. "Yeah. I guess so."

Trailbreaker kneed down, trying to move closer so he could get face to face. "And I know it's hard. Really, I do. But if you ever want someone to talk to... I'll listen."

Applejack smiled. "Thank you."

Half an hour passed since Sunset went into her own room, and she still hadn't left her room. The girls waited, hoping she would step out, but she hadn't. Twilight in particular wasn't going to sit and wait anymore at this point. She had to know she was okay, she just had to--

"Twilight."

The girls looked at Spitfire. She sounded a lot more calm than she did a few minutes ago, and she was now talking normally without any rage or anger in her voice. Her words were sounding more genuine now.

"Wheeljack caught me up on what happened. If you girls need to stay here, then we'll provide any accommodations we need. But I think right now, Sunset needs some time alone. And maybe some sleep."

"Sleep?"

Spitfire shook her head. "That girl never sleeps. Almost every night I swear she gets up in the middle of it, and never goes back. But with you all here... maybe she'll finally get some rest."

"Well I'm checking on her anyway," Twilight said, almost ignoring Spitfire's warning.

Sunset sat in silence, sitting on the edge of a step in her room. A few pictures and memories laying all about, cluttered. Some piles of paperwork scattered about on a desk next to a personal computer, a few trunks laying with some of her clothes, and so much more. It'd be hard to try and find anything in that mess of a room.

In one of her fingers, she was twirling around a pen, something she always did to keep her fingers occupied.

"Sunset?"

Twilight walked into the room and sat next to her friend, observing her down state. She patted her shoulder.

"Sunset, I know that's a lot to take in. But its not your fault."

Sunset sighed heavily. "But it is. Its my responsibility to make sure nothing goes wrong, but... I let it happen. Seven of our friends are dead, we have a new Decepticon menace who now has his or her hands on bunch of convicts, and a child's life is at stake!"

"Sunset!"

Twilight turned Sunset around to look her in the eye, holding her shoulders. Twilight didn't reply with much anxiety as Sunset was showing. In fact, she didn't look anxious at all, she seemed more calmer than ever.

"I know you're worried. I am too. But you've handled situations like this before, and you've always succeeded, haven't you?"

Sunset nodded.

"And we faced bigger challenges before, didn't we? Remember when we first met Optimus Prime and the others?"

Sunset couldn't help but smile. "And we had all those issues trying to blend in with them..."

"Or what about when the Shadowbolts joined us and Starscream took over as leader?"

Sunset chuckled. "The looks on their faces when the Shadowbolts came..."

"Or even... Unicron?"

Sunset's smile faded.

"It took all our willpower to take him down, I didn't even think we would make it," Sunset's head lowered.

"But we did. And you know something? If we can handle all of them, then I'm sure we can face them too. I know we wanted to go our own ways, but maybe just this once we can..." Twilight stopped. "Sunset?"

She looked down and listened to a soft snore coming from her. She almost sounded like a horse when she snored, so cute! But Twilight couldn't get mad. She remembered Spitfire's warning. And so carefully, she lifted up Sunset and tried to push her onto the bed, giving her a more comfortable place to lay down.

She smiled, pulling the covers over her, and gave a brief hug. "Sleep tight, Sunset."

She got back up, quietly walking out of the room, and closed the door. On the other side, she saw her friends waiting.

"Is Sunset okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"She is, but I think its safe to say she's tuckered out."

Applejack shook her head. "Sleepless nights, that'll do a number on you."

"Right. But I think we should let her sleep. From how quick she fell, it sounded like she hadn't slept in days."

"Well how can you? You've got a big super-duper responsibility running everything at a secret base that can't be known to the public eye, because if it does, then the entire world goes into super-duper freakout mode, and then Sunset will never be able to sleep again knowing that she couldn't protect the biggest secret of the planet, and then the Autobots are all going to be hunted down by the military who hates all machines, and then Optimus Prime will go into super rage mode over the loss of his friends, and then they'll start acting like how the public is going to view them, and before you know it, the entire world spins into complete chaos!" Pinkie Pie rambled.

Everyone blinked.

Pinkie's head sunk a bit. "I uh... I think a lot."

"Well, what do we do now? I mean, we can't back out there with those Decepticons out there," Fluttershy said.

"And we can't just stay here either. I don't know about ya'll, but I've got a feelin' whoever's leading these Decepticons are after somethin' big. Remember the news a few hours ago? Sour Sweet's home destroyed, Indigo and Hound chased out of the military cause of a 'mysterious helicopter'? Someone out there, is huntin' down our closest friends and Autobots like poachers in Africa," Applejack replied.

"But if we can't leave or stay, then what do we do?" Rarity wondered. "We have families that need us, we can't just abandon them!"

"We're not going to. But if we don't stop these Decepticons, then we won't be safe again."

"What are you getting at, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, leaning against a wall.

Twilight took a deep breath and looked at everyone in the eye.

"We stay, and we fight."

"WHAT!?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"I know we all wanted nothing to do with Decepticons anymore, and there's nothing wrong with that. We just wanted to live in peace, but the only way we can is if we take them down." Twilight spoke. "I know its a lot to ask. And no one has to say yes. But I have to, Sunset needs my help, and I can't let her do this alone."

Everyone looked at each other, sharing a glance or two. Some of them looked a little concerned with the overall idea, especially knowing they would have to go back into the world of fighting and possible death. But this wasn't new to them. These were the same kind of bots they battled all those years ago.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. You're not going to take all the glory, are you? We're in this together!" Rainbow Dash smiled.

"We've always got each other's backs," Applejack grinned.

"Indeedy!" Pinkie Pie smiled, popping from underneath one of the grates in the floor.

Rarity smirked with a battle-ready smile. "I am ready to save our planet once again!"

"Yay," Fluttershy squeaked.

"Then its settled! Tomorrow, we get back in the field and take down the Decepticons!"

Everyone let out a cheer, accompanied by a few laughs and smiles. They were ready to get back in action, and save the world once again!

The Kansas plains at night were lively with tons of lush green and farmland. The sounds of crickets filled the air as far as anyone could hear if they walked. Only one car was driving late at night, the 1940s World War jeep that disguised Autobot Hound. He had been driving non-stop since the attack on the early sunrise, so much so he didn't take a chance to stop. Not once. He had been so focused on trying to get as far as he could he didn't even think about how Indigo Zap was. But even she didn't question him. Most of all, she was just worried about her friend. But she was slowly drifting away.

Indigo Zap held an arm up to the side of her face as Hound's engine roared on the open road, the wind blowing through her hair. She was slowly dozing off, almost ready to go to bed. But she knew falling asleep in that car was unlikely. She never slept in a car, she never was able to anyway.

"Hey Indigo? You hungry? There's a town a few miles ahead, we can take a rest stop."

Indigo's head jolted up, from Hound's sudden response. The first thing he said since they arrived in Kansas in fact.

"No, its okay. I'm not hungry," Indigo said, looking into the rear-view mirror.

"I'm pulling over anyway. I need to stretch."

Hound's wheels turned to the right, and drove through a cornfield. Just up ahead, Hound could see a farm house, standing there. A sign was perked in front of it, for sale. Checking all around, Indigo and Hound looked to see if there were any humans nearby. Not a thing. And there wasn't any cars parked around near the house. Seemed to be safe for now.

Indigo jumped out, and Hound transformed into robot mode. "Ah, finally..." He raised his arms up, cracking his knuckles and servos. He shook his legs and tilted his head around in all directions. When he opened his eyes, he could see Indigo standing still, staring off into the distance, over a fence that was blocking off a section of the field.

Hound walked over to where Indigo stood, and took a knee out so he could get down close to the ground. Indigo's face was just pointblank neutral, gazing off at the horizon.

"Admiring the scenery?" Hound asked.

Indigo didn't answer his question. "Hound. Are you alright?"

Hound stopped. "What? Well, aside from a few of the shells still stuck in my armor, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Indigo looked up to her military friend with a frown. "You didn't say a word since we left Colorado."

Hound's spark sunk. Now he understood. The veteran sighed, and put a hand over Indigo's shoulder, patting her.

"I don't really know Indigo. I mean, I didn't see it happen, but... something inside me just feels wrong. What if Ironhide did die? That's not something the Decepticons joke about."

"You don't believe that Decepti-creep, do you?"

Hound sighed. "I don't want to. But I'm also scared to find out if its true or not..."

Indigo blinked. "Then what if we go back to Nevada? We find Team Prime, and join them once again."

"We're too far out. Any more hours we spend trying to go back to Nevada, another Autobot or close friend of ours could be the next victim. And I have a good feeling that Blackout is not alone."

"Well, what do we do then?" Indigo asked with a yawn.

Hound looked to Indigo and ruffled up her hair a bit. "I'll figure something out. You should get some sleep." Hound reached into his back, pulling out a few of the bags that was just thrown into his trunk. Indigo, despite being tired as she would get out, managed to set up a cot and winded up falling fast asleep as soon as she laid down on it. Hound just smiled and put a blanket over her.

"See you in the morning, partner."

Indigo didn't hear his statement. She was already leaving straight into the dreamland for a nice peaceful rest. A sight that Hound found admittedly adorable.

A few minutes was all it took for Hound to finish up setting up some covers to keep Indigo Zap warm, the covers set up like a tent. Once she was all secure and safe for the night, Hound stood back up and stared off into the stars. A finger tapped on the side of his radio frequency, and he began to speak.

"Calling all Autobots. This is Hound. I have reason to believe we are under targeted attack. If there are any Autobots out there, anywhere in the world, find any surviving Autobot within proximity, and keep in close contact. Best of all, do not let the Decepticons hunt you down. Stay safe, Autobots."

And when his transmission ended, he just stared off into the night sky. Blissfully waiting, and hoping that somewhere out there, the Autobots would hear his call...

Chapter 20: Fresh Morning

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

The morning sun was rising once again, a new day falling upon the US. The little corner of Eureka Springs was very well known for its preserved Victorian buildings of its Historic District, including the Palace Bath House, Basin Park Hotel and Crescent Hotel, all of which were built around the city’s natural springs.

And in one of the studio apartments, a woman attempted to crawl out of bed. A woman with flowing long white hair, with dark grey-blue skin. She jumped out of her bed, feeling the cool air against her skin. She frizzled with her hair, trying to straighten it out from the raggedy mess it was.

Sticking her feet into a pair of slippers, she stumbled over to a chair where a robe was hanging. Finally concealing her nude body, she stumbled out of her bedroom and to the bathroom. After that pit stop, she swung around and almost fell on her way to the kitchen.

When she stumbled into the kitchen, the smell of fresh hot coffee hit her nose, almost snapping her out of it. And another sight was brought to her eyes; the small robot the size of a human baby which was pouring the coffee into the mug on the counter. The robot's body was mostly gray, but the biggest piece that stood out was the cyan head and yellow eyes that welcomed her.

"Ah, good morning mum! Here's your coffee, brewed to perfection!" The robot greeted with a very cheery British accent.

Sugarcoat smiled. "Morning Brains."

"Oh, and before I forget," the little robot rushed over, managing to grab the newspaper and just barely made it over to the coffee mug without dropping it, "today's newspaper, just delivered."

She took a sip of her coffee, with a delighted gasp of relief. Just the stuff she needed.

"Thank you." Sugarcoat took the newspaper and took a seat in the countertop chair, parking her shoulders on the marble countertop just near the stove. She unfolded the paper, looking to see latest news. "Alright lets see, lets see... What is new today..."

"Oh, how did that concert from that friend of yours go? What was her name, I swore I remembered it... Lemon Tart, Lemon Sweet, I almost had it."

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Lemon Zest. And it says... ah, as I thought. Her concert performance was top notch, and raised a lot of charity money for the children's hospital in New Orleans."

Brains chuckled too. "Even as a lady she still finds her way to keep herself young."

Sugarcoat laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. Brains?"

"Yes mum?"

"Did we get any mail today?"

"Oh yes, you got four pieces of mail today."

"Great, we do we got?" Sugarcoat asked as she took another sip of her coffee.

"You have a letter sent from Crystal Prep Academy asking if you're interested to make an appearance and talk to some of the students, the Bon Mot Peanut Butter Praline Crunch Bars six-packs are on their way, you have two bills, both from the Happytime Diner," Brains explained as he turned on the small TV in the kitchen. The little robot then parked himself on the kitchen table, near Sugarcoat.

As Sugarcoat finished the last of her coffee, she kept moving her eyes back and forth through the paper. There wasn't much else to read in the paper, just more politics and sports, nothing really that made her interested or want to keep the coffee in her stomach.

"So mum, what's the plan for the day?" Brains asked, peaking over her newspaper.

Sugarcoat looked back up, admittedly smiling. She gave the small robot a pat on his head like one would do to a dog.

"Well I need to go to the store because I'm running out of milk and eggs, and there's an office party I'm supposed to attend and apparently I'm the one who needs to bring in the baked goods. Did I forget anything?"

"Later, you are to call your mother. Its her birthday. Oh! I almost forgot, you did get one new phone message this morning."

Sugarcoat put her newspaper down. "Really? Who was it?"

"I don't know mum. There wasn't a clear indication, and I was afraid it was another telemarketing person trying to sell you snake oil. But I thought maybe you should hear it for yourself, just in case."

Brains' tiny finger pressed the button on the phone, playing the message that had been sent.

"You have one new message. To listen to your messages, press one."

Brains did just that.

"Calling all Autobots."

Sugarcoat's skin drew cold. She knew that voice. And that first sentence did not help her feel okay.

"This is Hound. I have reason to believe we are under targeted attack. If there are any Autobots out there, anywhere in the world, find any surviving Autobot within proximity, and keep in close contact. Best of all, do not let the Decepticons hunt you down. Stay safe, Autobots."

Once the message stopped, Sugarcoat placed her hand over her chest. She felt her heart start to race. The memories of the battles before fast-forwarded inside her brain.

"Mum? Are you alright? Your skin is looking rather pale."

Sugarcoat gulped and looked to Brains.

"Pack your things, we need to leave at once."

Sunset Shimmer's eyes slowly opened up, adjusting to the light in her room peering in. When she looked down, she saw she was still wearing the same clothes the night before. No PJs, nothing. But she didn't even know how she got there. What even happened?

"Wait..." She looked at her clock on the wall. The time was set at 9:30 AM. "Oh scrap!"

She struggled to get out of the bed, fumbling with the sheets that were over her body. Nearly tumbling over some weights on the floor, she pushed out of the door. She ran out of her room, scurrying past a corner, trying to get to the lounge.

"Oh I'm late, I'm late, oh so very late!" She tapped the controls for the lounge doors, opening them up. But when she stepped through, she stopped. All of her friends, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were in the kitchen. All of them were cooking breakfast, and were very hard at work.

Applejack was the first to notice her awake. "Hey now, look who finally woke up."

"I... Oh," Sunset held her head.

"I hope you slept well, Spitfire said you haven't been sleeping these past few months," Fluttershy asked with some concern.

"No, I..." Sunset stopped. "I can't believe it, I actually slept this time."

"Good. You're gonna need your energy if we're going to kick some Decepticon butt," Rainbow smirked. She picked up a plate with some toast and bacon, and sat down at one of the tables.

"We thought after how tired you were from all the fighting yesterday, we would just let you sleep."

"And while you slept, we got to catch up with everyone here! Though Mohawk's kinda ranty," Pinkie Pie said with a finger drooped. "And Blitzwing's crazy! Even for me! Hehehe!"

"And Spitfire caught us up on how many Autobots are remaining, and who's free. You had a Decepticon named Steve, locked up?" Twilight asked, with a raised brow.

Sunset couldn't help but chuckle. "His real name is Unit ST3V3. We just call him Steve for sure, it's easier to remember. Plus for a Vehicon, he's actually really nice. He didn't complain when he was arrested, and he was actually pretty nice to his wardens."

Rarity passed Sunset a plate with a pancake, which she accepted.

"Well that's one more Decepticon we don't have to worry about," Pinkie Pie asked. "Now we just have... um... I don't know how many there are at this point."

"Neither do we," Rainbow shrugged.

After everyone else got their breakfast, they all sat down at the table, ready to eat.

"So Sunset, if you don't mind us asking," Twilight began as she sat down at the table. "Those Autobots that we saw last night... is that really all that's left?"

"Sadly, yes," Sunset frowned.

"Sooo... No Mirage?"

"No," Sunset bluntly replied.

"Gears?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nope."

"Beachcomber?" Rarity asked.

"Nada."

"Road Rage?"

"Left to do some Decepticon patrols in another state, we tried to contact her. Nothing. No response, no call, nothing," Sunset sighed, holding her face with her left hand, elbow on the table.

"Man, Sunset, you're not kidding. Best to my count, I only saw like 20 of ya'll at the most." Applejack exclaimed.

"Well, like I said, everyone decided to just drop out from the team," Sunset rolled her eyes. "Some of them, I swear, left without even saying why or giving us a reason why. I mean, I understood Hound, he wanted to stay with Indigo. Blaster, obviously, stayed with Lemon Zest. Smallfoot's..."

Sour Sweet tapped her foot. The girls turned their heads in shock, not even realizing she had entered into the room. Sour gave a deadpan expression to Sunset who was admittedly embarrassed. Sunset's cheeks went red and she immediately stopped.

"Well, um, we know she left the team cause it was her choice in the matter!"

Sour rolled her eyes and stomped away, leaving Sunset to sigh in relief.

"You heard the news right, about what happened to Sour?" Twilight asked.

The girls shook their heads.

"Those Decepticons from yesterday? They... they..." Twilight tried to say. "They killed Smallfoot."

"Oh no..."

"Oh..."

"Aw..."

"She's... dead?" Fluttershy whimpered.

Twilight nodded.

"Oh, that poor sweetie..." Rarity frowned. "And--oh, poor Sour..."

"Ya'll think maybe, maybe we should talk to her?" Applejack asked.

"No need," Spitfire said.

Their heads turned to look at Spitfire who came approaching them; dressed only in a tank top and pajama shorts.

"When she showed up, I somehow managed to tame the lion in her. She's let out all her tears. But let me tell you, she's impossible to talk to. Half the time she's nice, and then the next minute you get some grouchy or deadpan statements.

Pinkie giggled. "Sounds like Sour!"

"The point is... she's already clean. But she's taking it hard," Spitfire said, standing next to Sunset.

"That's understandable," Sunset cooed. "But wait, why are you here? I thought you would be having breakfast with the rest of the Wonderbolts right now."

"Yeah, well... your friends pulled some guilt-tripping on me. I thought about what I said yesterday, and, I think I said some things that were out of line. I told you to take a vacation, and you did. You didn't know about the Decepticons coming, and neither did any of us. So... I'm sorry. Boss." Spitfire attempted to say.

Sunset smiled. "It's fine."

"No, its not. I came at you with a lot of anger and that was unnecessary--"

"--Captain. You were stressed out, and trying to juggle too many things at once. I know how that feels." Sunset said. "But look, my friends, myself, we're all here now. We're here, we're going to find out who's leading those Decepticons, and we'll figure out what they're planning. Okay?"

Spitfire said nothing but nodded. Sunset smiled and opened her arms up, offering a hug to the captain. She just looked confused.

"W-What are you doing?" Spitfire blanked.

"I'm offering you a hug."

"Eh..."

"Oh come on," Sunset moved closer and gave Spitfire an actual hug. She patted her back, and then pulled out. "Now just promise me you'll relax, and stay calm?"

Spitfire took a deep breath, sighing in and out. And she tilted her head back at Sunset.

"Good. Now you just go get breakfast, I'm just going to have my food here with my friends."

Spitfire saluted and simply walked away. Sunset just watched her leave, and took another sip of her coffee.

"Ah, that's the stuff... So, um, where were we?"

Sunset reconnected her thoughts, and continued to speak. The girls all listened in, and eventually the conversation started to derail. But it didn't matter to them. Sunset just felt happy to have her friends there, all there for her to talk to and communicate with again. And knowing they were going to stay and help take care of those new Decepticons, her hope for the future grew brighter.

What Sunset didn't realize is back on Hawaii, the Decepticons were already up and at em, getting work and prepared for the day. Everyone was up and at 'em, and they were eager to get a start on their next attack on the Autobots.

"Grubber."

The small human looked up to the cold metal husk.

"My Decepticons will be departing this island for the first piece of the machine. I need you to stay here with Shockblast and anyone else who decides to stay. And above all--

"Tempest?"

Tempest was agitated from the interruption, but her body didn't move from its current spot. But regardless, she listened.

"If its okay with you, I wish to stay here and watch over the boy. Someone should watch over him and keep him distracted after all," Cyberwarp offered.

Tempest still didn't move. "Very well. As long as you make sure the boy doesn't escape your watch. I have no interest in harming the runt, but he's seen too much. He can't leave this island."

"I know, I won't. Thank you, ma'am," Cyberwarp nodded before walking away. Tempest didn't even see the small joyous smile on Cyberwarp's face.

"Never mind, Grubber. Just make sure nothing goes wrong while I am gone."

"Got it boss!" And Grubber vanished in a puff of smoke.

The Decepticons however weren't so calm and collective as Tempest and Grubber were. A stench hit the air, making Shatter and Dropkick cringe.

"Whoever's stench that is coming from, could you please take an oil bath?" Shatter asked, calmly while holding onto her nose, or what would have been her nose.

"Hey!" The Terrorcon Blot whined. "I can't help the stench, it's not my fault!"

"Could you at least stand over there?" Dropkick pointed to a corner of palm trees, far from where they stood.

"Even if you tell him to, there's no point. But don't worry, you won't get that from me. Unlike him, I don't stink, and am far superior," Rippersnapper quipped with his hands on his hips.

"You are not superior," Hun-Gurr growled, stomping towards him. Rippersnapper looked up, feeling a bit smaller than he was, compared to his boss's size. "And I would save your boasting skills for when we face the Autobots."

Hun-Gurr stomped away, letting Rippersnapper watch. He just held his arm and mumbled to himself. "I'm superior in every way, I know it..."

"Decepticons! May I have your attention?"

The Decepticons, hearing Tempest's call, stopped whatever they were doing and came to the main center of the base. All stood up straight, facing Tempest and little Grubber who was next to her. And to everyone's surprise, the Terrorcons went from angry savages to calm soldiers in a split-second. But no one would pay attention to it for long, Tempest had the grounds now.

"Decepticons," Tempest addressed. "I know most of you are getting adjusted to your new surroundings, especially with five more of our visitors, but we have much to do today. While some of you were getting acquainted I received some new information from the one who calls for us..."

"Who? Who is it, Megatron?" Blackout asked.

"No," Tempest deadpanned. "He is known as Megatronus, I hope you are all familiar with his name?"

No one replied.

"Not one of you?" Tempest waited. She shook her head, but kept talking. "But to keep it short, Megatronus is the first Decepticon, from the dawn of time. And we have to free him. We will be hunting the parts we need to build his machine which will get him and all of you off this planet and back to your own kind. And once he's freed... I will have my body restored to its former glory."

The Decepticons couldn't help but grin at the idea. Not at Tempest's body being restored, but dreams of finally getting off of that mudball Earth. They could only hope to get off. But their slow excitement was quickly stopped when Steve spoke up.

"So let me get this straight. We're talking about a Decepticon no one has seen in several million years, a Decepticon who's been around since the dawn of time; and now you want to bring him back from wherever he's trapped? Am I the only one who sees a problem?"

All eyes and heads turned to stare at the generic Vehicon who questioned the practicality of her plan. Some of them snickered like he was a buffoon, others stared at them with unamused glares, calling him an idiot on the inside.

"Oh come on, I can't be the only one, can I?" Steve asked.

No reply.

"That's an excellent point, Steve," Tempest finally said.

"... Wait, you're actually agreeing with me? But you're the one who wants to bring him back."

"Yes, but even then, you raise a valuable point... and I know just what we're going to do. Everyone, gather your weapons. We must prepare for departure."

"Tempest."

Tempest and her crew stared at the cold and souless Shockblast who summoned her.

"I have good news and bad news. Waspinator will not be functionally apt for your mission. But that is why I am deploying my finished creation..."

Tempest and her crew gave confused looks. As they all gathered close, they watched the newest Decepticon slowly stomp towards them. Everyone gasped at the sight.

"Shockblast, what did you do to him?"

"Dear heavens, he, he... he looks like me," Slashmark gasped.

"You could be twins!" Thunderblast squeed.

After an hour or two, the Decepticons were already on their way to the first location. Their heist had begun, and they were ready for action. Spacewarp had to come along for this journey, as she needed to carry everyone's weight over to their first stop.

Luckily for all of the Decepticons, her alternate mode was a shuttle that enlarged to just the right size to carry all of them. The Cons often compared her to Astrotrain or Skyfire, with her massive shuttle size.

Inside the shuttle, Tempest and her crew all sat along the sides, sitting on the benches inside her cabin. Tempest sat near the front, peering through the cockpit glass. Lined up on the right side on the bench was Shatter, Thunderblast, Barricade, Bludgeon, and Steve. While on the other end there were the five Terrorcons, Dropkick, Flamewar, Slashmark and their newest addition to the team.

Everyone for the most part was quiet as they took off, alas not Steve.

"That's an excellent point, that's an excellent point," Steve mocked, "Remind me again, why are we going through with this? How does she even know if whoever she's calling is going to go through on the deal?"

"I don't know, I'm not the one to ask," Barricade replied.

"We're getting close guys, almost there!" Spacewarp called to the entire crew within her.

Once Spacewarp made that call, Steve spoke again, this time sounding a little worried. "I hate to interrupt but, is anyone else a little nervous about the Autobots coming back?"

"Look, Stan—"

"Steve!"

"I know you haven't been out in the field in a decade, but relax, you've been chosen by higher powers!

Slashmark looked at Hun-Gurr with a deadpan look. "Did that Earth-loving glitch just refer to herself as a god?"

"Yes, yes she did."

"Couldn't I have stayed back at Hawaii and watch over our hostage?" Steve panicked.

"You're going to be fine, Steve, stay calm! And actually... everyone, we have arrived."

The entire shuttle stopped, just miles high above the sky. And after a few seconds, a hatch on the floor slid open, creating a big drop-off point for fliers to jump and take off.

"Okay guys, its just a single skydive and then we will be at our destination!"

"I-I don't know guys, I'm scared of heights," Steve shivered. "Can't we just land down there?"

"I don't care what we do, just get off the plane!" Tempest snapped.

"But there's a high chance of--"

Dropkick stomped on Steve's foot, and then gave a swift kick to his knee.

"OW! Dropkick, you son of a--AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

That single kick made him fall, and fall he did. He fell straight through the open hatch, hurling through the clouds and towards the drop point. Everyone watched as he fell, and giggled a bit.

"Everyone!" Tempest ordered. "Go! Go! Go!"

Chapter 21: Terror On Refinery Grounds

"OW! Dropkick, you son of a--AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

That single kick from Dropkick made Steve fall right out of Spacewarp, and fall he did. He fell straight through the open hatch, hurling through the clouds and was now hurling straight down to the drop point. Everyone watched as he fell out of the plane, screaming at the top of his vocal processor, giggling all the while.

"Everyone!" Tempest ordered. "Go! Go! Go!"

A small alarm system went off inside of Spacewarp's cockpit, blaring loudly. A few seconds later, Spacewarp started to blare a high pounding electric guitar through a set of speakers inside the bay, loud for all the Decepticons to hear.

"Aww, yeah!!!" Spacewarp cheered.

Shatter and Dropkick were the first to jump, jumping like they were about to cannonball into a pool. Barricade jumped too, followed by Bludgeon and Blackout. Flamewar and Thunderblast were next to follow, arms and legs spread like eagles. Heatseeker and Slashmark soon followed, both of them divebombing through the open hatch. All five of the Terrorcons jumped as well, and Tempest was the last to dive. As soon as she was out, Spacewarp's entire shuttle mode transformed, shrinking back to her original size and she began to skydive with everyone else.

Her arms and legs were spread, as she pushed through some of the clouds, quickly catching up with the rest of the Decepticons. As all of their bodies were hurling through the air, the Decepticons were slowly becoming in sync with how far they were falling. All falling as a team, in a star shaped formation, with Tempest dead at the top point. Everyone was equally excited as they were falling through the skies, diving with style.

"Lets get some!" Barricade cheered.

"Whoo-hoo!" Thunderblast squeed.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Steve screamed at the top of his lungs, flailing around like a rag-doll.

"Yea-haw!" Heatseeker bellowed.

Barricade and Thunderblast's heads tried to look back at Heatseeker who was hovering down with them, both giving deranged faces.

"He sounds weird!" Thunderblast shouted as the wind brushed past her plating.

"The humans would refer to his vocal processor as a gangster from the Earthly 1940s!" Barricade replied back, trying to yell over the wind.

"The landing site is down below! Everyone, on my command!"

Everyone listened for Tempest's commands.

"Ready?"

"YEAH!!!" Everyone shouted.

"Deploy parachutes!"

A parachute fired out of Pyra Magna's body, jerking Tempest inside up as she began to slow down. Barricade and Flamewar's parachutes released as well, along with most of the Terrorcons. Shatter, Dropkick, Thunderblast and Blackout all transformed into their flight modes, slowly easing into the wind as they began their descent to the ground. Helicopter blades chopping up the air, taking control and hovering down to the ground. The sound of high powered jet engines bursting and soaring down like bullets.

First to land was Barricade, whose feet hit the ground with a slam. Then Bludgeon was next, landing safely next to him. The Terrorcons all landed safely as well, and others began to follow. Everyone slowly started to hit the ground, all sticking the landing like pros. But not everyone had arrived on the ground just yet.

"Where's Steve?" Tempest asked.

The soft sound of a screaming man was heard up just high in the skies. All of their heads tilted to look up, hearing the screaming. They didn't see his body, but they could very well hear him spiraling through the air.

An awkward silence hit among the group, as they all just stood and waited for Steve to finally collide with the ground. Thunderblast's arms went behind her back and she lightly kicked some rocks on the ground, Flamewar tapping her heel beside her.

A minute or two went by and he was still falling, until finally they saw him push right through a cloud, coming towards them. Tempest looked back down and she took a step back. And before anyone could react, Steve slammed right into the ground in front of her, creating a big cloud of dust in the process. Everyone coughed and tried to push the smoke out of the way, until it started to become clear.

Steve's body was spread out, arms and legs as far as possible, and he was flat on his stomach. In the process of the fall he had created a giant crater just big enough to fit his body, pushing through the rocks he had crashed through.

"... Owwww..." Steve moaned.

"Come on buddy, it's okay," Spacewarp said, grabbing Steve's arms and pulling him out of the hole like a piece of gum that got sticky.

Steve was eventually back on his own two feet, but quickly collapsed and fell again.

"There's a reason why I like to stay behind on missions, and it's because of things like this!"

Tempest rolled her eyes, and took a few steps forward, before the front of her foot reached the edge of a cliff. She took a knee down to gaze below, eyeing the area. A fence surrounded the outside of an oil refiniery, and it had just all the materials they need to do a little Energon harvesting.

Blackout whistled. "That's a lot of oil being processed..."

"Enough to make the Energon required," Bludgeon added.

"You sure we should go here?" Steve said as he looked down at the site below.

"Yes, and it's the first location the Fallen put in my head," Tempest said, staring back at the faceless Vehicon.

"... okay, you're sounding CRAZY right now!!! I think maybe you should have just left me back at base... I wish to go back, please!"

Without warning, Spacewarp started to grab Steve by the shoulders and stared him right in the eyes. "Yeah? Well I wish EnerGulp didn't go out of business 6,000 years ago! But you know sometimes dreams don't come true! I spent 10 years on this planet, you think I stayed safe by staying still in one place!? You're in this now, Vehicon!"

Steve was a bit confused and albeit disturbed from Spacewarp's yelling, until he felt her soft fingers stroke his cheek.

"I'm only yelling to impress the other guys. I'd never let anything happen to you buddy," Spacewarp whispered with a wink. "Just kick back here if you don't wanna fight, it's cool."

"Okay," Steve whispered back.

Spacewarp eventually let go of his shoulders, and looked back to the others who were all staring at her with brows raised, but out of confusion and disturbance.

"What?"

"... Anyways. Look."

Tempest and the Decepticons stared down at their target. Only one problem; humans.

"How are we going to get them to leave? We cannot storm down, and under no circumstance can we be seen," Tempest ordered.

"There's so many of them. Please, let me attack them," Dropkick begged.

"No. Not yet. We have to do this quietly. I have an idea..." Shatter extended her hand out, revealing a small orb in her palm. It was flowing with Energon, and with a small amount of light.

"What is that?" Tempest asked.

"Something that will get them all to leave... and without giving ourselves away."

"Promise me you won't break it," Spacewarp said, pushing Shatter aside to look her in the eye. "I don't have any more of them, and I lost the blueprints to make them."

"I promise," Shatter winked. The triple-changer attached the light bender on her shoulder, and a flash of light beamed in everyone's faces. When they looked back, Shatter was no longer there. They noticed a small human was now standing before them, just below. Shatter looked up at them, chuckling evilly.

"My appearance has changed... but my actual structure hasn't."

To prove her point, an invisible hand patted Dropkick's shoulder, making him tense up.

"Don't do that, that's creepy," Dropkick shivered.

"Tempest, if you can wait.. I will have the entire plant evacuated so we may do our job."

Shatter transformed into her car form and drove off to the right side of where they stood, driving down a little path that just went down to the main gates rather smoothly. As soon as she was down, she moved herself to a structure where the security guard at the front gate wouldn't catch her. She transformed into her robot mode, and activated the device, creating the illusion.

She dashed over to the front gate, completely inconspicuous. And with a clear throat, she called for the guard.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The guard looked and saw the new woman standing at the front of the gate. Taking precaution and coming out, he walked up to meet this woman, face to face. Her appearance seemed normal, but she looked more like a businesswoman filing taxes than someone working at this refinery.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Dr. Shatter, I work with the board of Health and Security. I'm afraid you need to call your superiors and evacuate the premises, at once."

"And why is that?"

Shatter mimed a clipboard in front of the man, showing the documentation that looked like it was on a real life clipboard.

"We have run tests on the grounds, and I'm afraid some toxic vapors have started to fill the air. It's highly contagious for the human lungs, and it could lead to inhalation, pain... death."

The guard read the document up and down, making sure that every ounce of it wasn't fake in the slightest. Not once did he get a feeling that Shatter wasn't a human.

"I see... okay, I'll contact my superiors, and we'll have this place vacated."

"In 10 minutes?"

"... Yes. Why?"

"Any longer, and I think more of your fellow co-workers will suffer. You wouldn't want them to die, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Good. My bio-hazard team will arrive shortly to try and contain as much as we can to make this area less toxic for your lives. And tell your workers to just go home for the day, we'll alert you as soon as everything is clear."

And just like that, the guard went to go inside to inform his superiors. And as he left, he didn't see the smirk on Shatter's face, and the chuckles that followed.

"The workers will be out of the refinery in ten minutes. Until then, I suggest we standby and wait until they have cleared..."

Back at Autobot headquarters, everyone was moving right along smooth as can be. Everyone was dressed, ready to begin another day of action, and things were getting underway. Sunset and her friends mostly just talked the time away, enjoying some momentary peace until they knew they would have to get back onto the mission. But when time came, they went straight away.

Just then, Teletraan-2's monitor blinked, with a new map and location flickering on its screen. Wheeljack quickly rushed over, looking to intercept it. And just like before, the energy signature belonging to their departed ally was the first thing on screen.

"Sunset. We've detected Pyra Magna's tracking signal again. Went out of range for awhile, but we found her located somewhere in Utah," Wheeljack said.

"And where she is, I bet the Decepticons are too," Sunset nodded. "Spitfire!"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Page the Autobots to come into the main center, we need to get moving."

"Yes ma'am!" Spitfire saluted.

Sunset quickly rushed over to a nearby hangar door, and pressed the button. When the door opened up, there standing was a mech. A power suit for her, one that had been locked away for years. That mech was roughly the size of Optimus Prime, with a similar looking body, but it was mostly colored in her own skin colors; yellow, orange, and red. There was no head to the mech, at least, not yet.

She struggled to get her suit on, and she allowed the metal on it to transform around her body and form the suit. A head transformed over her face, one that resembled Optimus Prime's.

"Okay. Now... Head On!"

Sunset sprung up into the air like a gazelle, and the suit transformed around her body. It expanded in size, and it snapped on top of the power suit, turning into the head and completing the robot.

"Phoenix Prime, activated."

Sunset slowly started to move, and she stepped out of the hangar, approaching the main center. But not as fast as she would like it, unfortunately. The movements in the joints and the body were very slow, and she wasn't moving as fast as she should have been.

"Okay, this suit's running a little slow, but right now, we can't worry about that."

"So Sunset, what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash called out. She and the rest of the girls dashed into the main center, looking up at the mech.

"I'm taking everyone out to Utah, we've got to stop them."

"Great! So where are our mechs?"

"Locked up."

Rarity raised a finger. "What do you mean?"

Sunset sighed, "Girls, I know you just came here but, I can't take you on this one."

"What!?" Pinkie exclaimed. "But we can kick their butts, there's more of us now!"

"I know, but these mechs are out of date, I don't know how well you girls can fight! I don't want you girls going into the fight unprepared. Okay?"

Rainbow threw her head back and groaned. "Finnnneee..."

"Just stay safe out there, alright?"

"I will," Sunset's mech eye winked. "Autobots! Transform!"

One by one, the Autobots began to transform. Everyone lined up together, and converted into vehicle modes. Sunset's mech then transformed into it's big rig mode, and she flew off the mounted shoulder and back into her normal suit. She climbed into the driver seat of the truck, and buckled herself up.

"Alright good, now we can go."

Sunset's head jolted up and turned to stare at the woman who was moving into the seat next to her. Equipped in some protective armor, including a set gloves that covered her hands and with a bow and quiver full of arrows sitting in her lap.

"Sour? What are you doing?"

"Just playing god, it's going great!"

"I'm serious."

"Oh, that's right... well I'm coming with you guys, I've got asses to kick," Sour replied.

"Sour, are you sure you're okay to come? I mean you're not even wearing the proper gear to--"

"Listen, Sunbutt!" Sour interrupted. "I've got the armor, I know what I'm doing! Besides, I got the boys to equip my new suit with some Cybertronian armor so I'm protected just like you! And my arrows are Cybertronian too!" She giggled.

Sunset paused for a moment, and looked at her with a stern glare. "Sour, look, I know you want to go after them to get revenge, but a wise man once told me--"

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Sour stopped her.

"No, Sour, he said--"

"You've got a nice ass."

"Okay now you're just pushing my buttons."

The other truck door opened up, and Sour was found pushed out of it, falling on her back. Arrows and bow with her as well. Sour gave an unamused glare to Sunset as she picked up her weapon.

"I could have just climbed out on my own," Sour grumbled.

"Sour, listen to me. Revenge isn't going to bring them back. I know. And I know you're hurt but--"

"--No, you shut up!" Sour interrupted again. "I'm not going to sit by while Shatter and Dropkick are still out there! I'm coming with you whether you like it or not, and I'm going to stop them before they kill more innocent families! Smallfoot and Betamax are dead because I didn't get them to safety... and damn it, I'm going to do what it takes to prevent more from dying."

Sunset could see genuine care lingering on the sarcastic girl's face. Even a hint of fear. And as much as she wanted to say no, she knew Sour Sweet would be coming regardless of her orders.

"I can't believe I'm saying this... okay, you can come with us. But you're staying close to an Autobot, and don't leave their sight. Understand?"

"Aye-Aye, Captain."

Sunset shook her head, groaning as she pulled the passenger door closed. This was going to be a long day. Sour, grabbing all of her weapons and gear, slowly stood back up, trying to stand on her own two feet. She could move, for sure, but not as fast as before thanks to the explosions and injuries to her leg.

"Hey, Sour. Over here."

Sour turned her head to the gray motorcycle that was just sitting idly. "You need a lift?"

Sour smirked and she hopped onto the riding seat. "Thanks... whoever you are."

"Mohawk. And trust me, I want payback just as much as you do. Those creeps killed my friends, and they've got another thing comin'."

Sour frowned. "Sorry about that. What do you say you and I work together for a little... revenge?"

"Ohohoho, you're speaking my language," Mohawk chuckled.

Rest Q activated the Groundbridge, and the portal opened up.

"Autobots, lets ride out!"

Engines revved up, and everyone charged through, entering Utah that was waiting for them on the other side.

The oil refinery was cleared out, and now the Decepticons were beginning to convert the oil into Energon cubes. Everyone was moving to work, all over the vicinity.

"Move! We need to grab as much as we can," Hun-Gurr ordered, yelling at his Terrorcons.

"We're moving as fast as we can!" Blot complained.

"Conversion of Energon... this is a Vehicon's job," Rippersnapper moaned.

"Shut your traps!" Shatter shouted. "If we speed this along, then we can leave before the Autobots arrive."

"Why speed... when we can simply take them on?" Sinnertwin growled with some excitement.

"Everyone!" Cutthroat howled.

The Decepticons gazed up.

"Autobots arriving!"

"Then we attack," Hun-Gurr ordered. "Terrorcons, we'll take on the Autobots."

The Terrorcons immediately stopped what they were doing, leaping off from their posts and jumped over some of the massive pipes and tubes that were connected. They landed outside the refinery, immediately making charge. Flamewar, Shatter, Dropkick, Thunderblast, Bludgeon, Slashmark, and Heatseeker accompanied them.

"Looks like we have a welcoming committee," Sideswipe joked.

"Autobots. Attack!" Sunset ordered.

"Lets rip and tear them!" Hun-Gurr howled.

Autobots transformed and they let out a battle cry to the skies.

"Okay, let's take them-- OOF!"

Hun-Gurr pounced on Sunset, knocking her down on her back. She gazed up, gasping when she saw the two double-heads.

"Remember me?"

"Hun-Gurr!?"

Hun-Gurr chuckled, and jumped right off, distracted by another Autobot opponent. Hun-Gurr leaped and pounded Trailbreaker to the ground, trying to bite at his head. Thankfully Hoist and Grapple were there to try and help, forcing Hun-Gurr off his body.

Sunset's mech slowly got back up, but she couldn't help but keep staring at the Terrorcon. She remembered encountering the Terrorcons many times during their battles with Megatron, but as far as she knew, they were loyal to Megatron! Now they were here on Earth?

"No... but they were... and... h-how!?"

Mohawk raced past her, with Sour Sweet riding on top. She extended her bow, equipping an arrow. She focused her sight on the first Decepticon she saw, and fired. The arrow penetrated the armor of a nearby Vehicon foot-soldier, and an explosion came right in his face, knocking him down on the ground.

Rigs, Nitro, and Bluestreak lined up together, aiming together in a row, shooting at an incoming Dropkick.

"Take him down!" Nitro shouted.

"You think these little bullets can take me?"

Dropkick transformed into helicopter mode and started to shoot at them from the air. When he fired upon them, the trio split up into three different directions to avoid fire. Dropkick then spun around and focused on a new target; Bumblebee. He fired at the young scout, who jumped out of the way just in time.

"Can't dodge me forever," Dropkick bantered.

"Maybe not, but I can fight back!" Bumblebee bantered back, firing a few potshots at the triple-changer. Jazz quickly joined his side, shooting with Bumblebee at the Decepticon.

Arcee and Strongarm teamed up with a little bit of Circuit-Su fighting against Shatter. Shatter took a few punches, but she was able to withstand both Autobots. Bludgeon was able to fight as well, swinging his swords around as he fought Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

Sunset watched the fights from all around, but not for long. Rippersnapper lunged into the air and tackled Sunset down again, in primitive form. His maw tried to bite at Sunset's face, but her hands moved up, clutching him and trying to push him off.

"Never mind... this could be a lot harder than I thought!" Sunset cried.

Twilight and the girls watched everything through the suit cams on Sunset's mech. They watched as all the Decepticons came charging at them, knocking her down almost too easily. The situation was quickly starting to concern them.

"Girls, they're in trouble. You know what that means?"

"We go out there to help them?" Pinkie asked with a little nudge to her arm.

"Sunset told us to stay, but we're going to have to go."

"But what if she's right? What if the mechs don't work, what if--"

"--We won't know anything if we just sit here and do nothing!" Rainbow barked.

"Exactly. I know it's risky, and you don't have to go. But I'm going out there," Twilight said, standing up straight. "So who's with me?"

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Don't take all the glory, I don't want to miss a chance to kick some sorry butt!"

"Me too!"

"Oh what the heck, I'm in!" Rarity smiled.

"Oh... alright. I'm in."

"Yea-haw!" Applejack cheered. "It's battle time!"

"To the mechs!" Twilight called, leading the group to the hangar.

Everyone came darting down the hallway, heading straight for another hangar. Twilight's hand slammed on the button to open the doors, and they slid open. Everyone rushed to the set of lockers, and were surprised to see that there was still that set for their own names. Armor and suits were still available for them. As fast as they could, they opened them up and shuffled about, trying to slip into the suits.

"Alright, Rainbow Dash, let's kick it up!"

Rainbow quickly shuffled her shoulders into the armor, and the helmet transformed over her face. "Still awesome!"

"Rainspeed mech, ignited," Teletraan's voice spoke.

"Alright Applejack, take it!"

Applejack smirked as her helmet transformed over her head, providing full protectiong.

"Applebrawn!" Applejack shouted as she climbed into her mech, the machine moving by her command. "Ready and standin' by!"

"Your turn, Rarity!"

"Radiance, darling," Rarity cooed. She watched her palm become encased by the protective glove, then moving her fingers around in the metallic armor. "Still fabulous as it was a decade ago."

"Ready Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy finished struggling to get her suit back on before setting foot back inside her mech. "Flutterblades, ready!"

"Pinkie Pie, you ready to kick some Decepticon butt?" Rainbow Dash called.

"You bet!"

"Got it!" Pinkie Pie quipped before coughing. "Dusty, but... ready and standing by!"

And last one to suit up was Twilight. "Head On!" She flew up into the air and mounted on top of her mech's shoulders, the Headmaster suit expanding and transforming into the head.

"Sparkplug mech, activated."

Twilight took one step forward, and then another, and then another until she started to run. Rainbow Dash was next to follow, accompanied by Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie at the very end.

"Alright girls, lets get a move on!" Twilight called as she started to run.

"As long as these mechs can stay together, we'll be unstoppable!" Rainbow Dash beamed with pride.

"Why do I get the feeling that's going to bite us in the behind later?" Applejack muttered.

The six girls stood in front of the Groundbridge, all standing straight and battle-ready. Weapons loaded up, and everyone looked ready to kick some butt. And with a boost of confidence, Twilight gave her call.

"Everyone! Transform and roll out!" Twilight ordered.

Chapter 22: Battle!

Sunset struggled to get her mech to rise up once again, but was having much difficulty doing so. She hadn't driven it for so long that it was locking up some of the servos and just moving plain slow.

"Come on, come on..." Sunset begged. "Please, don't die on me now, Phoenix..."

With one final push, the mech got itself back up on its feet again. Her heart started to pound as she looked all around her. Fighting everywhere, Decepticons and Autobots engaging in one on one, two on one, so many fights to count!

Bumblebee swerved around in car mode, as a pair of machine guns popped from the top of his hood. The guns locked on and fired multiple shots towards a gray muscle car that was racing towards him. One that looked incredibly new out of all the Decepticons they saw.

"Who's the new guy?" Bumblebee asked as he transformed, jumping mid-air. He jumped over the car and landed on his feet.

"Maybe he's just another dronnnneee! OW!" Sunstreaker yelled as he was thrown right past Bumblebee.

The muscle car sat idly, it's engine humming with power. But what surprised them was the strange voice that started bellowing at them like a madman. "The roads belong to me now! Now clear it, or taste the heatseekers!" A pair of heat-seeking missiles whipped up from the top of the hood, ready to fire.

Bumblebee's eyes sunk. "Uh... what?"

Before the car attacked, Jazz slammed right into its side, pushing it away from Bumblebee. Jazz transformed and held a fighting stance, holding a gun up.

"Who is this glitch-head anyway?" Jazz asked.

"I don't know but whoever he is, he looks like he's got Heatseeker's heatseeking missile power."

"Who said he looked like it?" The car snarled. The vehicle transformed and revealed his true form. The Decepticon shared a similar body-type and design to Slashmark's, only having a different change of color. Dark grays and reds and purples all around. "You're trespassing, Autobots. We've claimed this spot for our chief! So get out and never come back!"

Jazz rolled his eyes underneath his visor. "If you wanted Energon, why did you have to kick all the humans out of their work?"

Heatseeker smirked. "Because we don't need an audience." His arms raised up, pointed at Bumblebee and Jazz, and twin missiles opened up from both arms. The two Autobots gulped, realizing what was about to happen. Upon instinct, the two of them transformed and raced as fast as they could, just as Heatseeker fired missiles towards them, intent on blowing them both to smithereens.

Sour Sweet was enjoying shooting everyone around her on Mohawk's back. A little too much.

"Yeah, how do you like that glitches!? Here's a daily dose of Screw You!" Sour cackled as she shot another Vehicon with the arrows.

But as Mohawk made another spin, Shatter's leg came hurling and kicked the motorcycle Con, throwing Sour off of Mohawk and on her back. She yelped from the pain, and watched as poor Mohawk was kicked again, tossed up into the air. The motorcycle grinded against the ground until it flipped itself around, converting back into Mohawk again.

"Alright, now I'm pissed!" Mohawk hissed.

But Mohawk wasn't going to have his chance to slash at Shatter's legs. Bludgeon was driving up, trying to shoot at the mini Decepticon in tank form. He transformed, towering over the fallen Sour and Mohawk.

"Come here, I just wanna tear your face off!"

Bludgeon smirked, moving his arms to grab his swords, only he crossed them over one another. Then with both arms moving at once, clutching his weapons, he made his move. The sharp blades came close together as they slashed right through the middle of Mohawk's body. The slice cut right at the center, separating his legs and upper torso apart. And while he was still in the air being split in half, Bludgeon swung again and slashed at Mohawk's head, permanently finishing him.

With his body laying on the ground in ruins, Bludgeon chuckled before putting his blades away. "And that is why they call me Bludgeon. Now what to do with you?"

Sour tried to crawl away, knowing that she wasn't able to run. But as Bludgeon kneed down so he could grab her, a single shot of a cannon hit his back, knocking him out. Sour turned her head and watched as a cheer of victory raced by in a colorful half-track.

"Whoo-hoo!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "First try!"

"Nice going, Pinkie!" Rainbow cheered as well, racing past Sour.

Sour watched Pinkie race by her and scoffed, crossing her arms. "Showoff."

More vehicles raced by, all huddled together as they ran into the battlefield. The helicopter that hovered above started to transform, rolling into a mech with light yellow colors and pink tinted glass.

"Come on!"

The rest of the cars and trucks transformed, all turning into the mechs in a collaborative manner. Their feet shook the ground as they charged for battle.

"Who are we fighting this time?" Fluttershy asked as they ran.

"I don't know. Escaped prisoners mostly, including a samurai, an unstable patient from a mental asylum, two triple-changers, and Sonata as a Decepticon," Rainbow joked.

"If we did see those Dazzlings again, I imagine it probably wouldn't be on good terms," Rarity reminded them.

As they raced into the fight, all of them came to a screeching halt as they saw the scene before their eyes. They could see plenty of Decepticons they hadn't seen before, but what surprised them more were the familiar beasts that were trying to kill their allies.

"What's with the Terrorcons? Weren't they gone with Megatron?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Unless they along with Megatron himself decided to turn around and high-tail back," Applejack gulped.

"No, definitely not Megatron!" Sunset grunted as she clinged onto Blackout who was in helicopter mode. "Get out of those suits! AAAH!"

Blackout's vehicle mode swung around until Sunset was thrown up into the air and crashed right into one of the main buildings of the refinery.

"Hey! You think we're going to let our best friend get hurt!?" Rainbow Dash asked before firing at the Decepticon.

"How about you come down and fight like a real Deceptcon!?" Rarity stuck up her dukes.

"Whoop, look out, Terrorcon!"

Blot jumped, ready to tackle them to the ground, but was met with Applejack swinging a fist at his face, slamming his body to the ground. He pulled himself back, finding himself standing closeby to Hun-Gurr.

"Should we release our ultimate weapon too?" Sinnertwin asked.

"Yes... Terrorcons! Form on me!"

The girls sunk in their suits.

"Oh no. I think I know what happens next," Fluttershy quivered.

Cutthroat and Sinnertwin started to converge, transforming into their beast modes. But to everyone's surprise, they didn't just stay there. The beasts began to transform and changed shape into a pair of legs. The legs slammed into the ground, hoisted up by their own power.

Hun-Gurr transformed and he slammed on top of the legs, forming a chest and torso piece. Then Blot and Rippersnapper flew up and hooked onto the sides of Hun-Gurr's body. A head formed at the top of the base of Hun-Gurr's body, a head with horns and a red visor. An enormous growl escaped it's mouth as it gazed down to the Autobots.

"Abominus... returns once again!" Abominus gasped and roared.

The Autobots below looked up in horror at the Gestalt. Bad enough they were fighting Decepticon fugitives, but now the Terrorcons were part of that equation? And worse, none of them had their own combiner teams around; The Rust Renegades were dead, and the Protectobots and Aerialbots had quit the team

"Girls? I think you know what we have to do."

"Release our big guy up against that big guy?" Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Yea-haw! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Applejack hollered.

"Girls! Transform into Magicus!"

Rarity and Applejack ran first, both of their mechs transformed into vehicular modes. The two cars then started to transform, shifting parts around until they both formed a pair of legs. Pinkie Pie's half-track rolled up and transformed as well, zipping up into the air and transforming on top of the legs and forming a torso. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's mechs transformed into their flight modes and both started to converge into arms. Soon both pieces slammed into the sides at the top of the transformed half-track, with hands unfolding. The last piece was Twilight's mech which slammed at the top of Pinkie Pie's, forming some shoulders and a head transforming in place; a purple head with horns and a battle mask in place.

"I live once again!!!"

Abominus roared with fury. "I will rip you apart!"

"Not if my will is strong enough!" Magicus raised her sword, standing in a fighting position.

Abominus charged first and threw the first swing, Magicus moved to block his blade. Abominus readied to swing again, but Magicus swooped her fist underneath and punched him in the chin, pushing him back. Then with her chance open, she started to punch Abominus non-stop, driving her fists into his chest, shoulders, face, anywhere she could strike.

The Gestalt moaned from the punches, feeling Magicus's steel fists punching him away. Magicus reached for her sword again, ready to make the strike but Abominus moved just in time, grabbing both of her wrists, keeping her from making the strike.

"Not this time..."

Magicus tried to move, trying to move her fists to overcome Abominus's strength. But every ounce of effort she pushed had nothing. She couldn't get herself to fight back.

"Come on, come on, fight back!" Rainbow panicked inside of the transformed mech. "We kicked his butt before!"

"Um, Rainbow Dash? Remember when Sunset said that these mechs were out of date?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah why?"

"Um..."

At that very moment, Abominus tore off Magicus's left hand from her wrist, throwing it up in the air and letting it slam onto the ground behind them. The former Rainbooms watched as a part of their mech came off, all eyes sunk into their sockets

"... Oh scrap."

Abominus couldn't help but smirk as he threw his attack back at his opponent. Magicus raised her handless arm up to block, but it was no use against Abominus's strength. His punch came a lot harder than before, so much so that it almost made Magicus fall. She threw a foot back to keep herself from falling, as Abominus pushed his dagger against her throat. Magicus tried to push back, but she was having no luck. Abominus was stronger than ever, and the mechs weren't holding together well.

"Keep it together ya'll, we can take him!"

"Oh, Applejack, I don't think we can hold him!" Rarity cried.

Abominus pushed Magicus up even more, making her finally collapse onto the ground, pinned down. He raised his weapon up, ready to strike for the main core of the Combiner. But just as he was about to make the shot--

"You overgrown cosmic clutz! I will crush you into scrap metal when you are done!"

A dose of missiles impacted against Abominus's chest, creating some light damage. He looked up, and swatted his hand at Blitzwing who dodged his attack.

"Nice shootin'," Nitro chuckled as he launched some missiles of his own.

"Yes, if you want to piss him off! Lets make him so mad he'll have to attend anger management! Hahaha!!!"

Abominus was back up on his own two feet as he tried to wipe Blitzwing and Nitro out of the air, while the girls watched in their damaged Gestalt.

"What are they doing?" Rarity panicked.

"They're buying us some time, come on, lets get back up!" Twilight ordered.

"But this mech's falling apart," Applejack pointed out.

"Wait! I have an idea!"

"Yes?"

"What is it?"

"Tell us!"

"When we had these mechs built, didn't we have detonation mechanisms installed?"

"You mean the flashy buttons that say 'self-destruct?'"

"Yes, yes, that! What if we charged them long enough to crash into Abominus, and when the time comes, they all well detonate upon the impact? I mean, it's not much, but..."

"It sounds risky, but at this point, we can't keep fighting. Everyone, separate!"

All of the parts of Magicus separated back into the vehicles again. Nitro and Blitzwing were still hovering around Abominus but he now he was raging mad. With a single hand, he deflected another incoming missle and slapped Nitro out of the air, making him spin out of control. Blitzwing went spinning too, now both planes were out of the sky. The Terrorcon Combiner peeked back, and a gaze of disarray was on his lips.

All of their vehicles were booting to crash into the giant with soul intent of making him fall.

"This mech will self-destruct in 5. 4--"

"Time to bail out!" Rainbow called as she performed a tuck and roll out of her car, watching it continue to speed at Abominus's foot. As soon as it got close enough, the car exploded in a fiery inferno against his leg, creating an impact.

Abominus roared from the slam, making his foot take a step back.

"That's it, harder!"

Pinkie Pie tucked and rolled out of her half-track as tumbled over a few rocks, making it bounce up and explode the moment it was touching Abominus's left foot. Applejack and Rarity's cars came too, ready to end it. As the fashionista and apple farmer came out running for their lives. Just in time too, as both of their cars blew up in smoke, making them both duck and cover from the impact and covered their heads, bracing for the impact.

Twilight Sparkle however had an idea. As quick as she could, she drove her truck as fast as possible so it would charge in between Abominus's legs. Just like the others, she jumped out before it was too late. She grunted as she rolled around from the crash, not used to jumping out of cars to save her own life.

Looking back, she watched as her mech blew up too, making Abominus's legs wobble and shake, like he was about to fall.

"Come on, come on..." Twilight pleaded.

Abominus began to fumble from the explosion under his feet, the ground shaking underneath him. Fluttershy's helicopter hovered closer, ready to crash.

"Girls, I don't know, I don't know if I can survive a jump from this high!" Fluttershy panicked.

"It's okay, we're gonna move to catch you!"

"Leave that to us!" Jazz shouted.

"Jazz?"

"And Bumblebee! And if you don't mind, maybe we can offer Abominus some heat-seeking missiles while we're at it!"

"Be our guest!" Pinkie chirped.

Fluttershy gulped, realizing how much danger this was. But with no other choice, she mustered up the courage to jump and jumped out of her helicopter, still set for impact. As Fluttershy screamed from hurling in the air, she could see down below where Bumblebee and Jazz were... still being chased by Heatseeker's missiles.

"Hang on!" Bumblebee called. "Okay, lets hope this still works!"

Bumblebee transformed in mid-drive, performing a roll and run as he did so. From behind his back, opening up were a pair of rocket boosters, rockets that Bumblebee hadn't used in a long time.

"And... BLAST OFF!"

The rockets ignited and Bumblebee came rocketing up into the air, blasting off to catch Fluttershy. With a quick swoop of his hands, he clutched her just as she was falling for life. Fluttershy's screaming was still continuing, however it quickly calmed down realizing that she was in Bumblebee's hands.

"Ahhhh!--oh. Hi," Fluttershy innocently waved.

Bumblebee giggled. "Okay Jazz, now!"

"Got it, Bee!"

Jazz spun around, luring one of the heat-seeking missiles to follow his direction. He raced towards Abominus's leg as he was fumbling about, trying to stop himself from falling. Once the time was right, Jazz jumped out of the way and the missile penetrated Abominus's left leg, creating a bigger explosion than before.

"Starting a fireworks festival up there?" Wheeljack asked over the communications.

"Yep, love it!" Jazz quipped.

As Bumblebee flew in the air, the guided missile that was after him on the ground started to give chase up in the air. And just like the others, he turned to focus on Abominus's chest, praying that the missile would focus on him. And low and behold, the projectile was honing on Abominus's spark, now leaving Bumblebee's heat trail.

The last projectile was enough to damage Abominus, officially making him lose all control. His feet slipped and he started to fall off the cliff he had been pushed back against. Out of control, he fell off the edge and tumbled down the cliff, splitting up into the five Terrorcon components who were all covered in battle scars and scrapes.

The girls gathered around, watching the Terrorcons lay about, defeated from their fight.

"Whoo-hoo! Take that, Terrorcons!" Rainbow Dash gloated.

"Now that's how you take care of a little pest," Rarity patted her hands, wiping the dust off of them. "Now lets go kick some motherboards!"

The girls surfed down the cliff, with Jazz speeding right behind them, ready to join the fight. All of them screamed with the roars of the battle, hand-held weapons at their sides and ready for action.

As the battle continued on, everyone screamingat the top of their lungs, bashing each other and trying to one up another... Spacewarp just sat on the edge of a cliff, humming, watching them fight. A small box rested on her thighs, filled with Energon chips. She took a few and slid them down the front of her mask, munching on them with delight.

"Soo... you're not gonna go down and fight?" Steve asked, sitting next to her.

"Nope. Not my war, not my fight. Besides, my ego only stretches to stealing shit. I can kick some aft, but no way I'm stepping in that ugly mess," she said, munching on another chip. "Want some?"

"No thanks, its okay. Just ate some rocks from the skydive," Steve said, paying more attention to the fight. Spacewarp just chewed on another chip.

"How much you wanna bet the Autobots will kick their butts?"

Sideswipe was seen slamming into the cliff where she and Steve sat on, before watching him fall straight back down, tumbling down.

"I think the Decepticons win this round."

"Where's my gun!?"

Spacewarp and Steve ducked as a long ranged rifle was thrown in the air and thrown right past their heads.

"Did everyone go dipping themselves in motor oil before setting off on this quest?"

Spacewarp watched as poor Bluestreak and Arcee slipped over a vat of oil before slipping and sliding into their own teammates like bowling balls.

"Do you really want me to answer that question?"

A few minutes went by and nothing was really happening. No one was winning, and as far as Spacewarp could see, they were just beating the crap out of each other.

Steve stood up and pulled out a small device that was attached to his hip. The device was a small tracker, with a few glowing blue dots on the screen.

"Found something?"

"I'm not sure... I think there's an Energon deposit under us."

"I did see a cave under this cliff. Maybe there's a ton of Energon that can be mined," Spacewarp observed.

Steve looked back at the fight, watching everyone. Then back down at the tracker.

"Lets see... go out into a battle field with a 100% chance of being slaughtered, or go into a cave and look for some Energon. I think I'm going to take my chances in the mineshaft."

"Whatever floats your boat," Spacewarp shrugged, chewing on another chip. "I think I'm just going to see how this unfolds, let you know what happens."

And with that, Steve started to take a few steps back from Spacewarp. At first she was confused as to why he was taking so many steps behind her when there was a perfectly nice path that just descended down nice and easy. Spacewarp quickly put all the puzzle pieces together when Steve started to sprint and run. He jumped off the cliff in a spread eagle formation, and screamed as he dived. Spacewarp looked down, watching him fall.

But to Steve's luck, his body came crashing down on top of another Autobot who was trying to recover from being pummeled. The Autobot groaned as Steve crashed on him, and poor Steve tried to roll off his body in agony.

"Sorry Grapple..." Steve moaned, throwing himself up to try and get back up. Eventually he got back up on his feet and brushed off the sand on his body. "Oh, that's, um... that's gonna buff out, just wait." He stepped over his body, and immediately dashed for the inside of the cave, avoiding the few gunshots that were almost close to home with his spark.

When he stepped inside the cave, a few headlights from his chest turned on, providing him some light inside the cave. His footsteps echoed as he walked, the sound of heel to toe hitting his audio receptors. The tracker beeped rapidly as he kept swaying it around, trying to find strong sources of energy.

As he turned the tracker to the left, the tracker beeped more rapidly than ever. Sticking out of the wall was a shard of Energon crystals. Steve reached over and pulled one out of the wall, clutching it in his grasp. But one look up was all it took for him to drop the tracker.

"Wait a minute..." Steve gasped.

When he turned a light into another cavern, he saw a wide array of Energon crystals glowing in the dark. But the bigger surprise was the stasis pod laying against the wall. It was badly damaged, and it looked like it had crashed through the top, as some light from the top. It looked like it had been there for some time, with the ashes and rocks laying around and on it.

"What do we have here?"

Steve took a few steps forward, trying to get a better look. He grabbed some of the rocks and threw them off, trying to get the stasis pod clear from the rubble. His claw wiped at the glass, clearing away some of the ashes. Pushing his face against the glass, his visor gazed inside. A small white cassette looking device was inside the pod. Just big enough for him to hold in his arms like a cat.

"Either we have a Cassetticon, or I'm going to die."

Tempting fate, he pressed the button on the stasis cell, starting to open it up. Then with all the bravery AKA fear he had, he jumped behind a pile of rock, taking cover just in case whoever came inside. Steam hissed from the stasis pod as it opened up, like someone had just opened up a freezer. A soft growl accompanied the hiss, just audible enough for Steve to hear it.

A small white panther looking creature came crawling out of the pod. Steve looked carefully, but from what he saw, it didn't seem like the panther was aligned. In fact, there was no sight of a marking; Autobot or Decepticon. All he could see was the panther looked as if it's eyes were yellow, a small medical red plus was near it's head, right where chest fluff would be on a lion, and a pair of rockets mounted on the hips.

The panther stumbled out of the pod, a soft growl escaping its maw. It looked around, trying to see where it was. It didn't look like Cybertron. Not even the moons! Not that Cybertron had any moons left, since both of them were long gone now.

"Whoa..." Steve gasped. "A Cassette Warrior..."

Carefully, he emerged from behind the rock, standing in the cave doorway. The panther looked at Steve, and it stopped in its tracks. It hunched up, backing up from the unknown figure, growling.

"Easy... it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you," Steve said, raising his hands up. "I just wanted to see who was in the pod, buddy."

Steve took one step forward, eliciting a louder growl.

"It's okay," Steve stopped, keeping his hands up.

The panther continued to growl some more, almost sounding like an engine of a motorcycle.

"You don't like Decepticons, do you?" Still no reply other than animal anger sounds. "Yeah, me too. Look... just to show you I'm not going to harm you..."

Steve reached behind his back, making the animal stand in a pouncing position. The rockets placed on its hips started to unwind and unload, pointing at Steve.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!"

Steve waited for the animal to calm down, but it didn't. But Steve knew why.

"It's okay kitty... it's going to be okay..."

Steve clutched the Energon crystal he found on the wall, carefully setting it down on the ground in front of the panther. Then as careful as he could, he kneeled down, until he was down on just his knees so he could face the panther eye to eye.

The panther waited for Steve to make a move. Any move. Was he going to make an attack, or strike? But wait... Energon. The Cassette Warrior's head lowered down, staring at the big shard that was offered to him. One paw raised up, and took a step. And then another paw. And then another paw, until he found himself slowly moving up to the faceless Vehicon.

The animal sniffed the Energon spike, and used its fangs to take a sharp bite out of the shard, breaking it apart. It's jaw lowered, and grabbed a piece, chewing on it like a piece of food. And now he was no logner on all fours, and instead sat up like a normal housecat, hind legs down, head up straight.

"That's it..." Steve broke off another Energon piece, and extended his fingers out, offering the piece to the panther again. It's head moved forward, sniffing Steve's three-fingered hand. And with quick moving, it took the piece of Energon from his hand, eating it.

With a single gulp, the animal finished the Energon piece, smacking its lips. Steve still had his hand out, trying to be friendly to the panther. The panther looked down at his palm, and then back up at Steve. He sniffed his palm, sniffing it for a moment or two. But he sensed no real danger.

His silver tongue licked at Steve's palm, making him chuckle a bit. And without hesitation, he allowed Steve to move his hand up and pet the top of the panther's head.

"Good kitty, good kitty... hey, what were you doing in that pod anyway?"

The panther stared up at Steve, letting out a growl of anger.

"Um... I'm not sure I understand, I... wait. Can you understand me?"

The cat's head nodded once. While it wasn't visible, Steve was smiling inside.

"That's great! Nice to meet you, I'm... I'm Steve. What's your name?"

The Cassette Warrior let out another growl.

"Um... I'm not sure, do you...?"

The panther rolled it's eyes and tilted it's neck around. Steve was confused at first until he could see a few small Cybertronian symbols, embedded near it's neck like a collar. Steve's visor hummed as he slowly read the symbols.

"Glit. Is that your name, Glit?"

Glit nodded.

"Oh, well, great. Nice to meet you Glit," He offered a hand out again, this time getting the panther's paw out to shake hands with him. "So, I understand maybe you're a bit confused, and maybe scared."

Glit nodded again.

"That's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, I don't even want to hurt anyone. But I..." Steve droned off until he looked down at one of Glit's paws. His left paw looked badly hurt, scratched even. Like he was bitten and attacked by another panther his size. "Oh buddy... did someone hurt you?"

Glit shamefully lowered his head, growling softly.

"I'm sorry buddy," Steve sympathized, patting it's head. "Hey. Tell you what. If you come with me... I can find someone to help you. My friend, Spacewarp, she knows a thing or two when it comes to animal care. What do you say?"

Glit purred from the patting, and stared right up at Steve's visor. A soft purr accompanied by a nod followed, making a non-visible smile come from Steve.

"Great!" Steve's hands clapped. "So, now what to do..."

Glit slowly stood back up on his feet, and stretched like a cat waking up from a nap. Looking down, Steve watched as Glit slowly began to transform. It formed a cassette tape, much like the warriors belonging to Soundwave and Blaster. But this tape did something else. It started to hover into the air, in front of Steve, and then it slammed straight into Steve's chest like a piece returning to his body.

"Oof!"

Steve looked down, noticing the Cassette warrior transform on top of him, almost like a new piece of armor in a way. And in the center where there was no logo, a Decepticon logo flashed in its place.

"So, I guess this means you want to stay with me then?"

No reply.

"Eh, I'll take that as a yes. Lets go little buddy."

Steve turned around and started to walk out of the cave with a smile non-existent on his face. It turned out after all that coming here wasn't such a bad idea. Sure he almost died from a skydive and was brought into a fight he didn't want to be a part of, but at least something good came out of it.

Sunset Shimmer was struggling to get her mech to stand back up ever since Blackout tossed her into the air. Still not functioning properly, and now she was starting to fear that it might shut down for good if she couldn't get it up.

"Come on, come on..." Sunset delivered a swift kick, finally getting it to work once again. Pulling herself up, she dusted the debris from off her mech as she looked around. She could still hear the fighting outside, but the inside of the refinery looked like a whole new world. There weren't any workers nearby, no one. It looked more like a ghost town than it was a functioning facility.

The sound of scraping metal caught her attention, and she rapidly spun around, trying to find the source. She stopped moving when she heard the sound of clanking feet. She turned her head, and right there in front of her was the damaged, broken, walking husk of Pyra Magna. It felt like a bell toll ringing in her ears when she saw her emerging from the dark.

“Pyra Magna… so it’s true. You are the one leading these Decepticons. What happened to you, why are you doing all of this?”

Pyra Magna’s head tilted a bit, eyeing Sunset’s mech. She didn’t say a word, and only smirked devilishly.

“Pyra, what’s wrong? Listen, I don’t want to hurt you, please, I just want to help you…”

But the smile on the former Autobot’s face vanished, and a cold scowl revealed. “Funny, you didn’t help when I needed it…”

Sunset’s heart sank. “You’re not Pyra Magna…”

"But you are Sunset Shimmer," Tempest smirked. "Still siding yourself with the Autobots after all these years I see."

"How do you know my name?" Sunset gulped. Sweat was starting to form on her forehead and her skin turn clammy.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Tempest scowled. "Shame. For you, that is. Especially for this!"

Tempest punched Sunset's face, and with her fists up and relaxed, she performed a jackhammer punch attack against Sunset's chest, trying to beat the mech up. Sunset raised up her arms, but Tempest worked past her blocks by striking the gut of the mech. Tempest did not hold back anything, she threw everything she had at Sunset.

Sunset panicked and struggled inside of the Headmaster unit, trying to get the mech to fight back.

"Alert. Alert. System malfunction. System malf--"

"I know it's malfunctioning!"

One final punch was enough for Sunset's mech to come crashing down again. But there was no getting back up. All systems shut down, with the sounds of whining down engines. Sunset only panicked even more.

"Having trouble with your mech? Don't worry, I can make it into something new," Tempest said, pointing some cannons at the head. A whining sound of power charging up was coming from the cannon, powering up as she was about to decimate the suit's head. Her eyes locked on, ready to finally finish the job--

"Tempest. We have the Energon we need," A Vehicon called on the communication line.

Tempest stopped for a moment, and she moved her arm away, letting the gun die down. The head of Pyra tilted to the side, answering the call. "Understood. Contact all Decepticons to break off the attack. We're leaving." She then smirked at Sunset. "Goodbye Sunset. Til we meet again," Tempest said before her suit transformed into firetruck mode. Screeching against the ground, she pushed through the open wall that had been slammed open, racing outside.

The Headmaster unit transformed, removing itself from the fallen mech. Sunset, now back on her feet watched as Tempest left. Scurrying as fast as she could, she pushed her way out of the debris to try and see where she was going.

By the time she made it outside, all of the Decepticons were seen fleeing the area, with truckloads of fresh Energon cubes collected and in their hands. Well... not all of them were leaving. Thunderblast tried to transform but winded up crashing back down. With the lack of wings, she couldn't take off for flight. She crawled on the ground, trying to get back up, but she just couldn't muster the strength to take off. Nitro Zeus dropping her sliced wings on the ground emphasized the point even more.

"No, no, no! Come on..." She begged.

Steve wasted no time running outside of the cave, dashing away from the Autobots to join the rest of the retreating Decepticons. But as soon as he started to run outside, the entire field quickly turned quiet, as all Autobot eyes focused on him. Everyone looked at him with some confusion as he ran out in the open, running like a penguin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm out of here! This was a slaughter, I'm flying away!" Steve panicked.

Steve threw himself up into the air, arms spread like eagle wings but his body slammed back on the ground with a hard thud. He did not take off, he only collapsed in utter failure.

"I can't fly! What's wrong with my wings!?"

Tracks shook his head in confusion. "He doesn't even have wings, how is he...???"

He scrambled to crawl back up on his feet and just kept running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Arms flailed as he ran up the pathway to the top of the cliff, running for dear life.

"Steve, wait! Please!" Thunderblast pleaded.

"It's a slaughter Thunder, they won the war!"

"Please!!!"

"Sucks to be you, gotta go!" Steve transformed into his car mode and drove away from sight, making it to the top of the cliff and driving off to join the rest of the departing Decepticons. Thunderblast raised a hand up, silently pleading for them to turn back to save her. But she knew it was too late.

A high pitch squeal emitted when Blitzwing jammed a sword down on the ground, almost a few centimeters close to her head. When she looked back, she was starting to become surrounded by the Autobots who were less than happy.

"You and your team went through a lot of trouble to try and attack us," Sunset said standing before her. "Now I'm going to play this nicely, but if you don't tell us what we want, we may have to resort to extreme measures."

"When she gives a warning, she doesn't repeat it," Rarity warned.

So tell us..." Sunset leaned in closer with an intense glare. "What are the Decepticons planning?"

Thunderblast gulped as she tried to crawl back from the blades. "No, I can't say anything!"

"Thunderblast. Tell us what we want to know, where did they go?" Rainbow sternly said.

"No! I can't!"

"Wrong answer..." Nitro growled. "We know your friends went somewhere. Tell us where they're going, and we might let you live."

"No! It's for the glory of the First! I won't speak!"

Nitro chuckled as he started to walk around her. "You know something... I actually liked you. You're young, sweet, you were actually kinda nice to me when I first met. Even for me of all Cons, me, Shockwave's brother. I can get you what you want..." Nitro kneed down and whispered into her ear with a few clicks of his mandibles. "All you have to do is just tell me. Just one little word that says it all..."

Thunderblast felt a bit squeamish from having his insect-like face so close to her head. It wasn't a feeling she was completely okay with.

"Never..."

Nitro huffed. "Shame. You know something girl... you're brave. And you deserve a better death," Nitro said, grabbing her head, yanking her back so she could peer at his cold souless eye. "But your Cons killed my Cons..." He let go of her head and stood in front of her with a loaded weapon.

"Nitro, wait, what are you doing?" Twilight asked with some worry.

"Nitro, don't even think about it..."

"This isn't going to bring back Mohawk, or any of them!" Arcee pleaded.

Nitro stopped. He turned around to look at his worried comrades who were giving him the most concerned but still stable faces. His singular eye swiveled around, observing them all. And then he looked back to Rigs who stood, still trying to hold onto his arm which was badly wounded. Then back to Thunderblast who was still trying to crawl away.

"I know it won't bring them back. But then again..." Nitro raised up his weapon.

"Nitro, no!"

The single round of gunfire echoed in the skies, turning into eerie silence. The sounds died all around, and not another word was spoken.

Chapter 23: Old Friends And Memories

Hound and Indigo Zap were well on their way after their rest stop in Kansas. Excellent time was made on the road, and there weren't any hassles as they were driving away. The news of their disappearance was still widespread, but no one could find them. Not that anyone could with them vanishing like that. And even if they were found, they had gotten away long after that. Now on the run from the world they left behind, brought back into the world they were trying to so hard to escape.

"Okay, is there any signals you're picking up on? Anything at all?"

"No, not a thing. Nothing but dead stuff out here and... wait a minute." A soft red dot bleeped on the radar screen, near the radio. "I'm picking up a trace. Looks like there's some Autobot energy signatures."

"Sure it's ours?"

"Don't know, we'll have to approach with extreme caution."

Hound made a left turn, going down a path through the woods. As he pushed through some of the trees, he came to a stop. Indigo got out, allowing Hound to transform. With both of them on their feet, they proceeded to walk carefully through the woods. It was quiet, warm. The sounds of bugs and birds called through the air. In the distance, they could see a deer halt only to run away, seeing the intruders. Rabbits and raccoons scurrying about as they went about their business. Leaves and branches crunched as they walked, it was the perfect level of calm.

"I bet Fluttershy would love to walk through here," Indigo joked. "She could create an entire army in a few seconds out in these woods."

"I still don't think they would take kindly to us, we're uninvited, and stepping on their land after all."

As the two of them made a turn around a corner, they didn't stop to realize they were being watched. They didn't know of course, as the pair of eyes were smaller than their own, just carefully under the branch. A small whining sound of wheels churned as it pulled from under the tree, revealing the source to be a small remote-controlled toy truck spotting them. It shook a bit as it watched the two strangers.

The remote controlled car quickly backed up, trying to avoid being spotted. But as it turned away, Hound and Indigo turned their heads to look for the source of the noise. Nothing.

"You ever get the feeling we're being watched?" Indigo asked.

"Yep."

"Good."

Turning back ahead, Hound raised his arms up and pushed some of the branches out of the way, clearing their path. But when they made through the trees, they gasped. A new sight was in front of them; the sight of a disgusting, decrepit old station. An massive old train yard was right before their eyes, completely abandoned and left to rot. Plants and moss grew around the cobblestones, some of the old passenger and freight cars were left rusting away, graffiti was sprayed on the walls of the buildings and trains. The entire scene made Indigo's stomach churn, and she hated it.

"Hound. I don't know about you... but I think we may have made a mistake. What if there's Decepticons here?"

"I know the chances of that are high, but we should still check it out. Keep your guard up."

Hound whipped out his pistols and took first point. Indigo stayed close behind, pulling out her own hand-held weapons. As the two watched each other's backs, they could see more and more of the sights around them. It was like they were entering a set for a horror movie, and they were going to be the victims for the killer.

But before they could imagine the killer making the strike--

"Indigo?" A cheery voice called.

Hound and Indigo flipped around with their weapons, pointed to the dark shadows of the main station. From the shadows, emerged a girl with dark pink skin and short spiked green hair. Her clothes were a bit odd, much different than the outfit she imagined. A flashy punk looking outfit, with some studs on her ears, a black studded jacket, a belt hanging around her waist, short jeans, and studded boots. The neon blue makeup on her face resembling a half of an Autobot logo finished the picture.

"Lemon?" Indigo's heart raced. Was she here? Was her friend here?

The happiest squeak on Earth confirmed her suspicions, especially after she charged up and tackled Indigo to the ground with a big hug. "Oh my gosh, you're alive!" She had her arms locked tight around her body, not letting go. "I missed you so much!"

Indigo tried to wrap her arms around Lemon, but Lemon's grip was too tight. "L-Lemon... too... tight..."

"You said that when--"

"--WHOA, okay, lets' not go there!" A new voice yelled. Stepping out of the shadows this time, was another adult, with blowing purple hair hanging behind her head and cyan blue skin. A necklace of a golden sun hung around her neck, and she was dressed with a black leather jacket over a white shirt and blue pants. The belt buckle had a visible cloud and rain logo.

"Sunny!"

Soon as Lemon Zest got off of Indigo, Sunny Flare came around and gave Indigo a warm hug, much less tight than Lemon's.

"Thank goodness, you're okay..."

"Sunny, are you alright?" Indigo asked.

"I'm fine. We all are. Well, mostly." Sunny nodded.

"Hound, duude!!!" Lemon Zest gayly chirped. "Good to see ya, man! You're still rockin' it!"

Hound chuckled. "Good to see you again, Lemon, Sunny."

Lemon then tapped a button for a device that was clipped to her ear. "Wheelie, don't worry. They're on our side. Keep up your patrolling for half an hour then come back here."

"Okay then. Glad to hear it's not an enemy."

"Wheelie?"

"Yeah. He's a mini-drone. Found you guys before we did."

"Well that explains why I felt someone else was close by," Hound shrugged. "But regardless, I'm glad to see you again.

"And it's good to see you again, mate," An Australian voice acknowledged.

Hound looked up, and two more figures came out of the shadows. Autobots. The first one came from a small Autobot who was only a few inches taller than the average human, close to Bumblebee and Smallfoot's sizes. Tan and brown colored and a blue visor. But most noticeable about him was the set of locomotive wheels clipped to his legs and hips.

The second robot was much taller, sporting a blue and gray body. Black ankles, and with red hands and red speakers on his legs. His face was yellow with a blue helm, two horns visible.

"Outback! Blaster!" Hound exclaimed. He rushed towards them, almost tackling them both like Lemon. Outback gave a brief hug, while Blaster just gave him a fist bump.

"Still as cool as the day we were first assigned to the Ark," Blaster quipped.

Hound smirked. "And I see you got yourself a new paint job."

"Eh, I wanted something new to present my totally awesome freedom," Blaster nodded.

"And Outback... did you change your vehicle mode?"

"Had to. Sunny Flare and I needed something to fit in this abandoned place, and we'll need these rails for what we have planned. But now out here, come inside," Outback said, urging them to follow.

Hound and Indigo followed their friends inside the abandoned train station. Inside was just as bad as the outside. Graffiti was on some of the trains which were rusted and broken. Nature was growing around in various places, holes in the roof, paint peeled, it was abandoned for quite some time. But there was some sights that didn't look like the rest of the post.

Some blankets were laid on one of the platforms, including some cots and a few pieces of technology. Some energy transformers were laying around as well, plugging into some of the machines set up. Specifically the mini-fridge, and the desk with the lamp and tools. Some kitchen tools were also laying about as well, collected together on some crates. On a small bench, there was a gold lion sleeping like a cat, the Autobot logo near it's head raising the familiarity. On another bench, they could see a red rhino sleeping as well.

On one of the platforms, there was a red sports car sitting, with seven lights in the grille, and a pair of lights attached to the top of the cabin. And the hood was opened up, showing a girl and a small robot the size of a Chihuahua working on it. Two twin robots were seen as well, one with blue and white, and the other with black and white, but both of them had red masks.

"Sugarcoat! You'll never guess who's here!"

"A descendant of Principal Abacus Cinch?" Sugarcoat deadpanned.

"No, dude! Look!"

Sugarcoat turned around, and flipped her goggles off. Her jaw dropped when she saw that familiar face right in front of her. "Indigo?"

"Haven't changed, have you?"

Sugarcoat had no words. Instead, she just dropped what she was doing and embraced Indigo in a big hug. "Thank god, you're okay..."

"I'm glad you're okay too, Sugarcoat." Indigo hugged back. "Wait... where's Sour?"

The station went quiet, even more quiet when it was first abandoned. The three girls looked at each other, and then back at Indigo with depressing frowns.

"I'm afraid... Sour and Smallfoot, didn't make it..." Sunny Flare whimpered. "Decepticons got to them, and..." She wiped a tear from her eye. "Both of them and little Max died!"

Indigo's jaw dropped, and she shook her head vigorously, trying her best not to believe it. "No... no, that's impossible. Sour can't be gone..."

"Indigo. She's gone," Sugarcoat said, truthfully somber. Her head lowered a bit. "Sour. Smallfoot. Max. They're gone."

Hound's fists clenched in anger, and he felt a soft pat on his shoulder. Blaster gave him a look of sympathy, non-verbally pleading him to not go down the path he believed. But Hound's emotions turned away, and he let out a sigh as his fists released.

"That poor girl..." Hound shook his head. "First Ironhide, now Smallfoot..."

"We don't know if he's dead!" Indigo begged. "He could still be alive, don't let Blackout mess with your head!"

"But he's... no, no. You're right. Maybe he's still alive. But right now, we need to find out what's happening. Did anyone else have any encounters with Blackout, or someone similar? Big, black, hulking, turns into a helicopter?"

Sunny Flare shook her head. "No, but Outback and I had an encounter with someone tall, feminine, and red."

"Accompanied by someone shorter, blue, and gun-ready," Outback said, leaning against a beam. "Shatter and Dropkick, in case you don't know."

"Who?" Indigo asked.

"I believe I can answer that!" Brains yelled, hopping off the engine of the car. He rushed over to Sugarcoat, climbing up her leg and on her back, until he got himself up on her shoulder.

"Indigo, meet Brains. Brains, this is Indigo."

"Pleasure to meet you, mum," Brains greeted, giving a soft bow of his head.

"Nice to meet you too... where did you get him?"

"I came down from Cybertron, spy activity. But I wanted a job on Earth, I wanted to work in an environment that was new, somewhere I haven't been before. And then I found out about Sugarcoat, and well, I appeared as a gift on her doorstep, and soon after we talked, she let me in under her roof."

"Right, right, but what about those Decepticons you're describing?"

"Oh yes!" A holoscreen flashed out of Brains' eyes, displaying mugshots of the two fugitives. "Shatter and Dropkick. They were triple-changers, serving under Lord Megatron during the Great War, until they were arrested and locked up on the Alchemor. But Sugarcoat told me that the Alchemor had crashed a long time ago, and as such--"

"--They got out of their cells along with every other Decepticon fugitive we encountered," Sugarcoat nodded.

"But why attack you guys?"

"I don't know. Outback and I were just on our way to visit my parents, the next thing you know, two aircraft vehicles come soaring down, transforming into cars and then into giant robots who's first action was to shoot us!" Sunny flailed her arms.

"And before anyone asks, no that sweet ride that Sugarcoat is working on is not Shatter," Lemon said.

Hound and Indigo looked at the sports car, then back to Sugarcoat.

"I found this car under a bridge near a set of train tracks. Outback helped me move it when we met up. But I have a feeling this car is someone else..." Sugarcoat said, looking back to the engine. "Some shells, yes, but this car has an Autobot logo on the front of the hood, that can't just be a coincidence."

"Is it alive?"

"I don't know, this car didn't move or react when we took it in!" Sugarcoat said.

"Well what about that shell near the coiling up there?" Indigo said, reaching for it.

"Wait, no!"

She yanked the shell out, and the lights on the car flashed.

"Get out of the way!"

The girls ducked for cover, just as the vehicle began to scream. "AHHH!!!" The car yelled before violently transforming. When it was fully transformed, it revealed a female Autobot who looked incredibly wounded; one of her eyes was missing, her left arm was replaced with a cannon, scratches and open wounds exposed. "Please, I need to get out of here!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stay calm! Road Rage, chill! It's just us!"

"No, they're coming, I've got to get help!"

"Roadie!" Hound shouted, gripping her shoulders. "Please, stay calm, it's okay."

"No... it's not okay, I need to go... I need to go..."

Her legs wobbled and she almost fell, but Hound caught her before she could. He held her close, carefully helping her sit down one of the platforms. "Easy... it's okay..."

Road Rage breathed heavily, trying to move, but the pain was resurfacing once again, slowing her down.

"Relax... it's just me," Hound smiled, offering her a friendly face.

Road Rage gulped and moved her hand to her side, feeling the wound. "Ow..."

"Are you hurt?"

Words didn't give him an answer.

"Hang on, just stay calm, I'm going to get my medic kit," Hound said, stepping away. "Just stay there and breathe."

She adjusted herself on the platform, thankfully Blaster and Outback stepped up to give her company. Both of them took one look at her and noticed something else. They could see the wounds but they could see a new form underneath; the front lights and grille of the car now formed her chest, with the wheels hooked over on her shoulders. Her wings were now dangling by her sides,

"Roadie, I know you're hurt, but I'm happy that you're still online," Blaster smiled, giving her some comfort. "In fact, you look pretty good."

Road Rage still breathed, trying to stay calm while Hound went to get the supplies. "T-Thank you..."

Hound quickly came back with some tools, and started to apply some ointment onto her open scar.

"So what happened?" Hound asked. He too noticed the new look. "And pardon me for asking, but did you get a new protoform mold done to you?"

"A-A little bit... I was told to get a new vehicular mode as the one I had was standing out more than usual, granting more unwanted attention. I had the data removed, and I was open to getting a new vehicle mode, but Teletraan-2 reported a distress signal somewhere far. Since it was in the middle of nowhere, I assumed it would be alright. But... I was wrong..."

Her spark raced at the memory as it flashed before her eyes.

Road Rage tried to crawl away from impending doom. Two Decepticons towered over her with malicious intent, ones that she had never seen before.

“Where is Team Prime?” Shatter barked before dropping the weapon. “We know the Autobots have an established base on this planet, and no warrior would come alone, expecting no Decepticons. So where are they?”

The downed Autobot whimpered and moaned from the pain, trying to crawl away from the attackers. “My name is Road Rage. I’m not going to—AGH!”

Dropkick jabbed his blade into her right eye, completely destroying it. She groaned from the pain as she tried to back away, only for him to push harder on the blade, pinning her down. She desperately wanted to take the blade away from her face, but any resistance and she knew they would strike harder.

“Wrong answer…” Shatter sing-songed. “We know Optimus Prime established a base. Tell us where it is, and we let you live.”

Road Rage’s other working eye glared at Shatter, the pain now turning into rage. “I wouldn’t give up the location of my friends to you creeps. I don’t care how many blades you stab in me, I won’t say anything!”

Shatter and Dropkick shared a glance with one another, then looked back down.

“Finish her.”

Just then, Road Rage made her move. She yanked on Dropkick’s blade, pulling it out of her eye and then snapping the blade off his arm. She jabbed it in his side, making him groan. It wasn’t going to stay for long, but it bought enough time for her to kick him down, and then roundhouse kick Shatter’s face.

Road Rage quickly flipped herself around, transforming into her sports car mode and sped off as fast as she could. Shatter snarled and then dashed after her, transforming into her hot rod mode to pursuit the Autobot. Dropkick accompanied her in a few seconds, getting the blade out of his side.

“She won’t be going very far!” Dropkick said before the turbo on his hood transformed into a machine gun. Dropkick’s weapons fired multiple shots at Road Rage who swerved and skewered around on the road, trying not to get shot.

Road Rage sputtered around, trying to avoid the oncoming fire, looking for something, anything she could go to that would provide some cover. But there was nothing. She was out in the open, and with nothing to hide behind, and no cover to use. Panicking, she jumped up and converted into her Cybertronian vehicle mode, speeding down the open space. She jumped over a small hill, racing faster than before.

Shatter and Dropkick jumped over the hill, flying in the air for a split second before coming down on the ground again. Road Rage tried her best to stay as far away from them as she could, but they were gaining speed. But just up ahead, she found a path of a road, surely that could lead her back onto the highway! She swerved and skidded, but she was speeding as soon as she had grip on a smooth surface. She roared down the road, gaining much more speed. But just as she thought she was fleeing the inevitable, she could hear Shatter and Dropkick transforming.

Helicopter blades chopped through the air and a thrust of an engine sailed through the air. Both of the Decepticons were taking the air to follow her, and she was right in their sights. Just about to cross a bridge over a set of railways.

"She'll warn the Autobots!"

"Not for long," Shatter said. A rocket unloaded from her wing, deploying and locking onto Road Rage's signal. Dropkick then released a few missles from his holders, aiding Shatter's.

All of the rockets locked on target, and as soon as it was close, the rockets created a massive explosion that created an inferno of an explosion, almost impossible to see if they had hit their target. The two vehicles lowered themselves down before flipping themselves around into robot modes. The partners moved through the smoke as it slowly lifted into the air. There was no sign of Road Rage, except for a few pieces of rubble and debris.

Shatter raised up her wrist, checking for energy signatures, a spark, a beat. Nothing.

"Found her?"

"No. How underwhelming," She stated.

"Look at it this way. One less Autobot to worry about," Dropkick pointed out.

Shatter turned her head back to her partner, smirking. "You're right. And there's a bunch more on this planet for us to interrogate."

"There you go," Dropkick chuckled.

"We may not be closer to finding out what has become of our leader... but we have one less Autobot to worry about. But for now, we head west."

The two Decepticons transformed into their vehicle modes, ready to race off. As the two Decepticons got off the bridge and back on the road, unbeknownst to them, they were being watched. An eye scanned Shatter's vehicular form as she drove away, just before she was out of range.

Road Rage then climbed back down, below the bridge, trying to hold onto her wounds. She looked down at her palm, noting the blue liquids that were coating her palm.

"I can't let them hurt anyone else... have to... stop them..." She took a single step forward, almost falling forwards in the process. She saved herself with her other foot, but found herself collapsing onto her hands and knees. "No... have to go... have to... stop..."

She transformed into her new vehicle mode, now completely resembling Shatter's vehicle mode, down to the last circuit board. But she didn't move for more than two inches, as her lights slowly shut down into stasis lock, everything going completely black. And no one knew where she had disappeared to.

"After that... everything went black. I don't know where they came from, I don't know what happened, I just..." She panted, trying to stand up again but collapsing back down. "I have to go. I have to warn them..."

"Roadie," Lemon cooed. She patted her hand, gesturing her to look down. "You're hurt, you can't just leave. And in case you haven't heard, we're being hunted down. We can't just go back out there without a plan, and not when we're hurt."

"I would listen to her," Indigo nodded. "I know you want to warn them, believe me. But right now... we need each other. We can't split up again. Not this time."

Road Rage's one eye blinked as she looked to Indigo, and then back to her Autobot compatriots who were all around. Then back down to the girls who were giving her the most warming feeling. She slowly smiled back, even giving a soft pat on Indigo's head.

"Thank you. All of you."

The other Autobots smiled back.

"Don't worry. We'll get back out there... and we will stop them."

Chapter 24: A Few Hours Ago

A Few Hours Ago

Cyberwarp watched the Decepticons vanish through the Groundbridge, heading to the continent that was on the other side. As soon as they left, she turned around, a quiet squee escaping her breath and a little bit of shaking from her excitement. With most of the Decepticons gone, now it meant she could spend all day or at least a few hours to watch over Betamax.

She stomped out of the silo and wandered back to the small circle underneath the palm trees where she, Skyjack, Spacewarp, and Steve all sat together, enjoying each other's company. Betamax was still asleep on the beach chair, curled up in his blanket. She smiled a little bit, watching him peacefully sleep. So cute!

In front of her eyes, a small holoscreen projected, revealing some notes. "Okay, lets see..." She flipped through the pages on the screen, trying to find a set of notes. "Native dances... dealing with loss... right and wrong..."

Just then, Grubber was seen walking by with some groceries.

"Oh, Grubber! Perfect! May I talk to you about something?"

"C-Can it wait?" Grubber said, trying not to drop the bags.

"No, I really need your help. Do you know how to make, how do you humans call it... be-rake-fast?"

Grubber was confused. "Be-rake-fa--oh, breakfast! Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking about making some for Max to help wake him up. I figure if I was going to take care of him, I should know how to make proper dishes here on Earth," Cyberwarp replied.

"Lady, you've come to the right place. Follow me," Grubber gestured.

Cyberwarp followed Grubber to a small kitchen area that Grubber managed to set up. And with the assorted bags of groceries and tables set up, Grubber was ready to begin.

"Okay, so making pancakes is simple, and easy, if you know what you're doing. Just gotta follow the instructions on the box, and you can't go wrong," Grubber said, sliding the box down on the table.

Cyberwarp took a knee down so she could be a little more up close to see what would needed to be done. "Okay, lets see, how to make..." Cyberwarp said, her eyes squinting to read the tiny print on the box. "'Golden, fluffy, pancakes'.

Her fingertips carefully grabbed the measuring cup, trying her hardest not to break it. But her clampdown was too much pressure, and the cup cracked into pieces. Her eyes bulged in her head, and she felt herself blushing. "Sorry..."

"Good thing I got extras!"

With the new measuring cup, Cyberwarp made sure to be extra careful when grabbing it, not crushing it like before.

"Let me see... I need some flour," Cyberwarp muttered, her fingertips carefully sliding into the bag of flour. She carefully grabbed some, but the moment she yanked her hand out, she created a dust cloud which fogged their sights for a few seconds. When the fog cleared up, Cyberwarp and Grubber were covered in some flour, both of their faces bleached white. The Decepticon blinked under all the flour, coughing up some that got in her mouth. "Okay," she coughed, "Bad idea."

Grubber just sat there with an unamused face. "How about you just let me handle this, I can probably get this done faster."

With a guilty frown, Cyberwarp stepped out. "S-Sorry..."

"I'm not mad! But I've learned from experience, it's more helpful for one of two to stay out of a kitchen than in it."

Ten minutes had gone by. And in that ten minutes, Cyberwarp had cleaned her face off, allowing Grubber to make some progress. And in a few more minutes, he approached Cyberwarp with a plate. "Just take these," Grubber said, holding a plate with a fresh pancake, with syrup applied. "I'll make some more, you can just take that to the kid."

Cyberwarp smiled and lifted her hand underneath, carefully grabbing the plate. "Thank you. Really, thank you." She gave a soft pat on Grubber's head, smiling. Soon as she got the food in her grasp, she walked back to the camping pad. Max was still asleep.

"Hey. Max. Wake up," She poked at his shoulder. "Max."

"Huh, ah, what..." Betamax rolled over onto his back, rubbing at his eyes.

"Morning kiddo," Cyberwarp smiled, sitting down one of the bench logs. She carefully set the plate down on the end of the lounge chair, just enough that Betamax wasn't going to kick it. "I brought you breakfast."

"Huh?" He rubbed his eyes, slowly waking up. "Oh! Oh, t-thank you."

He reached for the plate, and his eyes slowly gazed back up to Cyberwarp who was trying her best not crowd him.

"Okay, so I know yesterday wasn't our best first meeting. But I want to assure you, I am here to protect you. I'm not going to let those Decepticons hurt you, and I will keep you safe."

Max did remember a little bit of the conversation from last night, but regardless, he smiled at her.

"And while you are here with us, I want to make this place as comfortable and welcoming as it can be. So, I thought after breakfast, I could show you my little entertainment pad, I think you might like it."

"Oh, really?"

"I think so. But I also want you to have some fun, so if there's an activity you want to do, or something that interests you, please tell me, and I'll see what I can do. But I think I know something we can start our day with. Meet me down at the beach when you're done," Cyberwarp smiled before walking away to let Max finish up. Max simply nodded and took a bite of the pancakes, happily chowing down on it. Cyberwarp may have been still upset she didn't make them herself, but she was happy that Max was getting something food wise.

After quickly scarfing down breakfast, Max was ready to join Cyberwarp down at the beach. As the little boy walked down, his head marveled at the net had been set up.

"Incoming!"

Max's head was bonked, which nearly tossed him back. The source that hit him was just a bright colorful beachball, perfectly inflated for play.

"Don't tell anyone, but I might have stolen some of this equipment," Cyberwarp said with an embarassed look. "But I think beach ball could be fun. You wanna play?"

"I'd love to! We played this in P.E class, it was so much fun!" Max said with enthusiasm.

"Alright, then I believe I will take first point," Cyberwarp said, standing on the opposite net, in position, ready to play. But as she was about to make her launch--

"Hey, Cyberwarp!" Skyjack called, stepping onto the beach. "Mind if I talked to you real quick?"

"Now? Come on, we're gonna play beach ball. Why don't you join us?"

Skyjack couldn't help but smile. That actually sounded kinda fun. "How about this? Max, I just need to talk to my sister real quick, and I think afterwards, maybe we can all play. How's that?"

Max simply nodded and smiled. Cyberwarp carefully tossed the beach ball over to Max who for once, managed to catch it. Throwing it up into the air, he moved just in time to catch it again. Now that he was occupying himself, Cyberwarp followed her sister through the trees and back over into Shockblast's small labratory, or at least, what was called a laboratory. At the most, it was just an open area under a tent that kept his equipment dry in case of rain. But no sign of Waspinator, thankfully.

"Okay, Space said she wanted us to have these things, and told me to break them down for you since you don't know anything about them," Skyjack said, holding the ball. "She said these things are Light Benders, they're used for incognito kind of missions."

"How so?"

"According to her, if there's enough light around for it to work, then you can turn invisible, appear as someone else, create illusions, whatever. But it needs light to work."

"Well, we have plenty of sunlight right now, so I think we're alright," Cyberwarp said, attaching the Light Bender onto her arm. "Okay, let’s see, how do you--"

"--Wait!"

Too late. Cyberwarp flipped the tool a certain way, changing the outside of her appearance. But she didn't look like herself anymore. Instead her appearance looked more blocky and bulky. Her features were practically non-existent.

"What do you mean--wait a minute." She stopped. Her voice sounded less like her own and more monotonous, lifeless, completely robotic. "What happened to my voice? I sound like..."

Skyjack snickered. "You sound like Soundwave!"

If Cyberwarp's deadpan expression was there, it wasn't showing. All Skyjack could see was that mask and visor staring right at her.

"I am not laughing, Skyjack."

Skyjack giggled. "Come on, it's funny!"

"No, it's not. What if they freak out and find out that one of Megatron's top Cons are here?"

"Well... what if they don't?"

Cyberwarp adjusted the Light Bender again, her form once again flashing before Skyjack's eyes and appearing as someone else.

"I think this device is... wait. I'm hearing Shatter's voice, and that's... I look like her, don't I?" Cyberwarp deadpanned, with Shatter's voice.

Skyjack smirked, holding back a giggle. "Yes, you do."

Cyberwarp rolled her eyes. "I don't see how useful this device is if I consistently flip between appearances."

"Actually, that's the other thing," Skyjack nodded. "Spacewarp said she made her own personal modifications on the Light Benders she possessed. She said if you want to choose who you look like, the Light Bender will pick up your thoughts and you will appear as the thing you're thinking of. And I'm guessing you were thinking about Shatter for a second, weren't you?"

Cyberwarp groaned. "Yes. I don't understand how she can live with herself, that glitch. Mercilessly killing a child's family and without it affecting her emotions, or thoughts..."

"She's a natural born Decepticon," Skyjack said, patting 'Shatter''s shoulder. "That's why I'm glad you're not. But getting back on that device, there's something else we have to know."

"And that is?"

"You may look the part, but detection equipment and thermal scans can see through your disguise. You may disguise all you want, but the Cons on this island could find out it's you in a nano-second."

Cyberwarp blinked. "... well then. Any other important information I should know about?"

"Not really, no," Skyjack shook her head. "... Now can I try?"

Cyberwarp shrugged and gave Skyjack the Light Bender. And not even a second went by, and Skyjack's entire body transformed into a new look. Blue arms, red and white body with wings and cockpit, and a black head.

"It is I, Lord Starscream, leader of the Decepticons!" Skyjack cackled, Starscream's voice coming clear through her. Cyberwarp admittedly chuckled at her sister's impression. "Lord Megatron's cannon is so far up his aft, he can't figure out how to lead us to victory! This is why we will never grow as a couple!" Skyjack mocked.

"If Megatron was here right now, you would be dead on the spot," Cyberwarp shook her head, chuckling.

"Well Megatron isn't here now, is he?" Skyjack tilted her head, smiling. The Light Bender flashed for a second, changing Skyjack's form again, this time into what looked like Thundercracker, another familiar Seeker. "The ray shields are down, the Autobots are winning!" Her hands then grasped Cyberwarp's shoulders. "Starscream, you're... a woman!"

Temptation overcoming her, she just grabbed her sister's shoulders and mocked Starscream like she was before. "Damn it, Thunder! I'm a school teacher from Kaon, not a doctor!"

The desert was quiet, as it always was. But at The Ark, it became real quiet real fast. With the aftermath of the battle, no one was talking to each other. Especially to Nitro, despite ignoring everyone since their return. It was bad enough he had lost Roadblock, Dreadbot, and Berserker, and now with Mohawk? All that remained of him and his posse was just himself, and Rigs.

And Sour Sweet? Well, the moment she returned back, she just went straight up an elevator and on a small cliff-like balcony, staring out the horizon. Eyes squinted under the reflective goggles, blocking out the sun from her retinas. The wind brushed past her hair, not that it even phased her. Her dry hands laid open by her sides as she stood. The sun was hot, and the only remnants of shade she had was the umbrella that she had mounted to create some shade.

War hardens the heart, she thought in her head. And death... only increases. Decepticons brought this upon themselves. And when I find that smooth talking glitch who—

"Sour Sweet!" Rarity interrupted, standing with a cup of tea. "I brought your tea!"

Sour looked back, and then back out into the abyss before monologing internally. Friends. The only people I care about are all that—

"Sour, are you trying to create a brooding monologue?" Rarity asked, with a confused look.

Sour blinked and rubbed the back of her head. "Maybe... is that obvious?"

"Well you're mumbling to yourself about war hardening your heart and it's really starting to disturb me," Rarity said.

"... I was not! Give me my tea!" Sour snatched the cup like a little kid, grabbing it. "Curse my unsatisfied thirst..."

Rarity couldn't help but giggle. But her giggling stopped the moment the teacup was handed back to her, completely empty. "Oh good heavens, did you just engulf it all down in a sip?" Sour's only response was a single burp, which made her face tighten up a bit. "Classy."

Sour wiped her mouth and stared back out into the abyss. "I'm sorry. I haven't eaten or drank anything since we got back."

Rarity blinked. "Darling, shouldn't you at least eat something?"

"I don't have time, Rarity. There are two Decepticons out there who murdered my wife and my son, I'm not going to rest until I take them down!"

Rarity sighed and walked up next to her, standing in front of her so she could face her. "Sour. Please, darling, I know you miss them very much," Rarity said, stroking her cheek. "But you're in no shape to go anywhere, not after our fight in the refinery."

Sour groaned like a little kid. "Rarity, I can't just sit here, I need to go... It's my fault they're gone, if I saw them, I..."

"Sour." Rarity slowly got Sour to sit down in the lawn chair that was underneath the umbrella. "You cannot blame yourself for something that isn't your fault. You never knew they were coming. None of us did. So you need to stop attacking yourself!"

Sour tried to fight back, but she had no will. Instead, her body just slumped into the lawn chair, her limbs laying limp like someone had kicked her butt. Her head laid against the headrest, and her eyes rolled in her skull. Rarity soon sat in the other lawn chair next to her, protected under the umbrella from the sun. "You know I'm still blaming myself," Sour replied with some resentment. But her voice turned more soft and gentle. "But I wish I could move on, but... I can't. There's no way I'm going to be able to move past this."

Rarity turned her head over. "Well, what if this helps? Maybe you can tell me some good things that you got from this experience, tell me some good things."

"Well... I suppose there were some good times," Sour said, gazing out into the open. "I remember this one time Max got home, he did pretty good on a spelling test. Little guy was so happy we took him out for ice cream. Oh, and for his seventh birthday, we took him out to Captain's Cove Amusement Park. We had so much fun there."

Rarity nodded. "Go on..."

"Hmm... Oh, this was cute. This one Valentine's Day, I had just tucked Max into bed. I stepped out into the hall and I found a trail of petals leading downstairs and outside. And when I followed them to the barn... there Smallfoot was. That sexy cocktail dress and that beautiful hair... she somehow set up a disco ball in the ceiling and turned the barn into a beautiful dance floor." Sour truthfully smiled, looking back at the memory, her fingers twiddling in the arm rests.

Rarity cooed. "Aww, how romantic. Sounds like you and Smallfoot were much closer than ever, I imagine."

Sour smiled. "Yeah, we were. After I made that proposal and after college... we were closer than ever. And to tell you the truth Rarity, I don't think I could imagine spending my life with anyone else." She then turned her head over to the fashionista. "What about you?"

Rarity was taken aback. "I'm sorry?"

"You have a steady back home?" Sour winked. "Lover, partner, fiance? ... you done it?"

Rarity was blushing harshly. I swear, Sour's mind is more lewd than it should be. "W-Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm not seeing a wedding ring on your fingers, and I wasn't sure if maybe you had someone or not?"

"Well, not really. I haven't really met any decent boys since graduation, though I have met some wonderful gentlemen once in a while," Rarity admitted.

"Any one of them you're looking to contact later in the future?"

"Hmm, I don't know. I mean, some of them were very nice, but they just didn't carry that spark, that energy, that charisma I'm looking for."

"Mmm," Sour's only response.

A soft hush was among the former rivals. With the shade providing them cover from the sun, and the beautiful desert in the distance, it created such a nice view.

The fashion designer peered back to the disheveled woman with a strange look. "How come you're not wearing that 'battle' outfit you picked on earlier?"

"Are you kidding me? That monkey suit didn't do shit to protect me in that fight. But on a plus side, I'm not sweating like a dog."

Rarity rolled her head to look at her, giggling a bit. "Where did you even get that drab outfit anyway?"

"I bribed the Wonderbolts into giving me a battle suit, and that's all they could offer me. But I think it belonged to someone else," Sour cringed. "Though if it's all the same to you, I think I want a new battle suit."

Rarity's eyes sparkled. "I beg your pardon?"

Sour for once smirked, she knew what was coming. Turning her head to Rarity, she gave a Cheshire cat grin at her excitement. "Rarity. Could I ask you to help design a new battle outfit for me?"

"Oh, Sour, I'd be happy to!" Rarity squeed. Even in her 20s, she still had that joy and excitement when it came to fashion designing.

"If you can pull through with what I want designed," Sour barked.

"Oh pft, of course I can. ... What is it you're looking for, exactly?"

"I want you to help me make post-apocalyptic armor. If I'm going to take down Shatter and Dropkick, I'mma gonna go full edgelord on their asses! Metal shoulder armor, short hair, steel fists, flaming skull tattoos!" Sour cackled.

Rarity's face drooped at every suggestion Sour threw at her. "Ah, um... that's quite the request, Sour. May I ask what brought on such... inspiration?"

"While I was crying my eyes out and indulging myself in ice cream, one of the boys put on a movie for me. Something called... uh... I don't know what it was called, but it was some post-apocalyptic movie. A tough character for a tough world."

"Sour, I'm not sure but, you know we're not living in an apocalypse, right?"

"I know," Sour shrugged. "But if I'm going to fight, I need to toughen up."

Rarity was skeptical, and she didn't like the sound of where this was going. "Does that include hardening your heart and closing yourself off from feeling and everyone around you?"

Sour blanked. "Um..."

"Sour, look at me," Rarity ordered. Sour looked to Rarity who's lips were pursed into a prim expression. "I am not going to stand by and let you close yourself off. You cannot go out there and take on the Decepticons without help from your friends. We're here for you, and we always will be. And closing yourself off from feeling, won't help anyone."

Rarity's hand stroked Sour's shoulder, making Sour relax a little bit. And in truth, she was giving Rarity's words some thinking. The Decepticons had grown in numbers, and no way she would last long against them. And knowing who was a part of their group didn't help either. Defeated, she sighed and nodded. "I understand."

Sour got up on her two feet, almost falling thanks to her one foot which still wasn't entirely better. But Rarity caught her in time, helping her stand properly. She pulled Sour in for an embracing hug, and Sour embraced her back. Rarity patted her back, and she could hear Sour breathing heavily.

"I still miss them, Rarity..." she cooed.

"I know, darling," Rarity comforted. "But they're never truly gone. And remember, if you still have some more feelings you need to vent, we're here to listen to you."

"I-I think I'm all good, Rarity," Sour admitted.

"Positive?"

"Positive. Now..." Sour paused for a moment before giving a sexy smirk. "Can you still make me some sexy post-apocalypse armor?"

Rarity rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do. After you take a shower."

"Yes, Mom..."

Chapter 25: Pros And Cons

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: Awakening

June 16th, 2026. 8:00 PM

The Mojave Desert was quiet during the peak of night. Not a sound, or a peep was to be made. It was all quiet, with only the sounds of the crickets and the creatures of the night. But it wasn't all silence. Because in the Mojave desert, was a locked up and tight military silo. Protected by barbed wire and fences, so no trespassers could enter.

Inside the silo was another story. Only small dim lights were around the room, barely making any visible light possible. But there were many people inside. Most of them inside were in armored suits with big white masks to cover up their faces, which also had white puffed up crests sticking out in the back of their heads.

Only one person in the room stood out. A small middle-school aged adolescent, no bigger than the military men stood with them. Light black skin with a white puffed up mohawk, with black pants and shirt, underneath a biker jacket.

"How long is this operation going to take, cause she's not going to be standing up if she doesn't get any surgery done now!" The kid shouted.

"Grubber, relax."

"Yo man, I'm not gonna relax, you know she's all I got, and she's--"

"Grubber!" The soldier yelled. "She is going to be fine, I promise. Did you call the Storm Boss?"

"Yeah, he said he'd be here in about an hour or so." Grubber shrugged.

"Just relax and stay calm. She's going to be fine." The man said. He walked over the side and he opened up a small fridge. "I was gonna give you this later but, I think you need something to hold you over."

The man revealed what he had in his hands. And what he had was a small chocolate whoopie pie with cream filling. "Some sweets to hold you over."

Grubber stopped talking as his eyes locked onto the desert in front of him. "... Okay, that should keep me distracted for a bit."

The man simply gave him the dessert while he went back to work with the others. All of them were gathered together near a big computer that had a bright light, which was hooked up to some more heavy duty equipment.

Some of the soldiers moved their eyes to the right side of them, facing the giant machine that was against the wall, hooked with several tubes and wires. A big machine. A bipedal figure that was limp against a wall, standing in place. The figure supposedly was supposed to be blends of red and turquoise, with a few hints of gray. But most of the color had been faded, and it was heavily scratched, dented, and hacked apart like it went through a shredder. The men put it back together as best as they could from the remains of a smelter's yard, although trying to get the head's terrified expression of death was a bit difficult.

"You think the donor's going to work?"

"It should. If nothing else..."

The man behind the computer started typing, beginning a power flow. Blue fluid flowed from several tubes that were connected, and were flowing straight into the biped. Then several ounces of electricity began to zap and surge throughout the biped.

"Its not working! Increase to maximum power!"

"Sir, if we do then--"

"Don't and we won't have her back. Now!!"

The man just sighed and did was he was ordered to do. He typed more controls into the keypad and hit the control as hard as he could. This operation had to work, or else, their patient would die very slowly.

As more electricity sparks began to dance around the robot, the computer systems began to beep more and more rapidly than ever. The power that was surging in the biped was almost too much for it to take. The gauges were flipping erratically, more sparks began to dance and start stinging the grounds around them, and the lights in the ceiling were getting increasingly brighter. And the noise, oh the noise! It was only increasing with everything else that was about to explode under the sheer stress of the power.

In seconds, all of the bulbs in the silo began to shatter into glass, machines began to overload and explode, and the laptops began to surge and fry out.

"Its overheating!" One of the men yelled.

All of them stepped back, bracing for an inevitable explosion, but thankfully, no explosion was to be found. The electricity in the machine began to die down, slowly bringing the whining noise down to just a crisp.

Everyone looked back at the biped for a movement, any signs of life or even a twitch. Nothing. Not a sound, or a gear turning in the machine.

The men sighed.

"Storm Boss is not going to be happy when he founds out..."

But then, something happened. The biped began to twitch. The phalanges began to twitch and shake a bit, until they were slowly starting to move. The head that was leering down, slowly moved up. The one eye that was broken and the other that was together began to hum with energy. A solid color of blue glowed in the optics of the biped, and they looked down to the men below.

"Its great to have you back, mistress."

The robot's hand moved up and looked at its hand.

"W-What have you done?" She asked.

"What we needed to do, in order to save you Tempest." The man finished. "It was all we could do to save your body."

"I suggested going to a hospital, but noooo, you said it wouldn't work!" Grubber yelled.

"We're the most wanted organization already, we couldn't take her where our presence would be known!" The man yelled back.

Tempest looked down at the robotic arm that she now controlled. "I'm... one of them now."

"It was all we could do Tempest."

Tempest looked down at the entire exoskeleton that she controlled, and a small little smirk crept on her face.

"A perfect meld of man and machine... and now I'm one of them." Tempest said.

Slowly but surely, she started to walk from off the wall she was leaned against, and the pipes connected to her body popped right off, billowing smoke from within.

"Thank you for your dedication to revive me," Tempest said as she walked towards them. She looked down upon them, but then a heavy scowl lingered on her lips. "But your services are no longer required..."

Gun barrels equipped from the body, and all of them pointed at the soldiers. Their fate had been chosen for them.

All that would be heard outside was the sounds of Tempest firing upon the soldiers, and all of the equipment inside the silo. Only bright flashes of the explosions were visible to anyone within eyesight, and smoke erupted from within the building.

In the smoke, Tempest slowly stomped out, panting heavily from all of her rage, dragging several shards behind her which fell off her body. No one survived her wrath, and virtually no one could have. The only person who came out of that building besides Tempest was little Grubber who was still in shock from watching Tempest make her strike.

"So... does this mean we're not gonna go see the Storm Boss?" Grubber asked.

The mech's face snarled and growled some more until it sighed and Tempest's body fell down onto her behind, down on the ground. Grubber blinked and waited for a reply. No reply. Checking that she was still alive, he slowly jogged up and stood next to her, and looked back up at the mech's face that no doubt was projecting her own emotions. Tempest just sat there, alone in her thoughts, trying to cope with the reality of the situation. She was on life support, within an Autobot. No probability of living if any of the wires or other coils got removed. Nothing more than a piece of flesh in a robots body.

"Tempest? I'm... I'm sorry you're stuck in that body. That wasn't my idea by the way but... I'm just glad you're alive. Besides, you've got a whole new battle suit, no one's gonna stand up to you! You are one big mean machine!" Grubber said with a hint of optimism.

Tempest just sighed and looked off into the night sky, facing the moon.

"Those... machines are responsible for me being in this state. Its because of them, I'm now permanently stuck in this walking scrapile..." Tempest huffed.

"I think the word you're looking for is Autobots, is what they called em." Grubber interjected.

"I could care less of their name." Tempest scowled. "They're all alike, they're the reason I'm permanently in this body, and its our own organization that saw to it that I remained on life support in this body! Well, no more. The Storm Boss isn't going to be meeting us... Because we'll be long gone by then."

Grubber raised a hand up. "Where are we going?"

Tempest raised a brow as she stared down at Grubber. He was pretty much a pint-size compared to her new size.

"Right, dumb question. I just thought I'd ask since, well you uh... you kinda... you kinda killed all of those guys. I was thinking maybe you and I could flee, maybe find a better place to stay. Why not California, its pretty dang hot this time of the year!"

Tempest still kept her attention towards Grubber. But somewhere in the air, she heard a noise. A new noise. Something she could swear she could make out...

Tempest...

"What?" Tempest asked, focusing on the voice who called for her.

Grubber blinked. "I uh... I said maybe we could--"

"--Shut up."

"Shutting up!" Grubber cupped his mouth.

Tempest raised her head, and she heard the voice again.

Tempest...

Tempest sighed, then she looked to Grubber, not seeing the source. "We're going far away from any Storm organizations of any kind. Grubber, pack your things, and pack whatever food you can salvage. My body may be on life support in this donor, but I still require sustenance."

Grubber nodded. "Right away! Just uh... just sit here, I'll be right back. Won't take long!"

Grubber quickly ran back inside, going to grab whatever belongings he had in the building. And probably some sweets for the trip. Standing back up, she looked to her surroundings for the voice.

"Tempest..."

Her head raised up, and looked to her left side. Nothing. Then to her right. Nothing. She just tilted her head back down, waiting for Grubber to get his belongings.

"Tempest..."

She jolted and stood back up on her feet, standing in a fighting position.

"Tempest Shadow. Call not to your sibling, I speak only to you and you alone."

She wiggled her head around and prayed the voice was only a hallucination, just a figurative of her imagination. But like gusts in the wind, a specter of light began to form in front of her. A single black mask with blue neon in the eye holes presmably, and a pair of horns jolting from the top. A face which resembled much like the insignias of the 'Decepticons' she knew existed with the Autobots.

"Who are you?" Tempest asked, still not removing her fighting position.

"I am Megatronus. I was the first Decepticon, responsible for the start of the war with the Autobots..." the ghost replied. "But now I remain trapped here in this realm, unable to escape."

"You caused the war... you brought this onto my home. So why are you talking to me?" Tempest asked.

"Because I know you and I share similar views. You despise our kind as a whole, and so do I. While I don't wish for our extinction, I understand your distaste for all of us. Even more so with all of us bringing the war to Earth."

Tempest's body slowly eased up from her fighting pose, and she started to relax a bit.

"Go on..."

"I want out of this realm more than ever, and I know you want all of us off your planet. I never intended for our war to go onto your home... which is why I think we could work together, you and I. All I ask is for you to help me and my Decepticon kind to get off this planet, and we will leave you and your Earthlings alone."

Tempest sneered. "What do I get in return?"

"All of us finally off this planet to leave you all alone. We'll take our war elsewhere... and I understand you are a living tissue underneath that Autobot body. Help me, and I may be able to restore you back to health. Without life support."

Tempest looked at Megatronus's face for a few moments, and still kept a neutral expression.

"Very well." Tempest said. "But if I'm going to get you free, you will need to give me clear instructions on what it is that you want."

Megatronus didn't show any signs of emotion under that mask, but he still gave her his undivided attention.

"Its very simple, my dear. But first thing's first. You will need a pack to command. There should be plenty of stranded Decepticons here on this planet. They can follow your orders, and give you a less than bulky build of a husk."

"And then what?" Tempest asked.

"You will be given more instructions once your first objectives have been completed. When you get your pack, and a new form, then I will provide you with more. I will see you again..."

The specter of light vanished from in front of her, leaving Tempest by herself again.

"Tempest!"

Tempest looked back and found Grubber standing with a few packed bags and containers.

"Who were you talking to out here?" Grubber asked raising a brow.

Tempest blinked. "Someone who will help us... Now load up the bags into this machine. Now if this husk has a bigger alternate form..."

She stood back a few feet, and the entire body began to transform, forming itself into a green and red fire truck. So Grubber quickly grabbed the few bags he had and made a turn around to go for the shotgun seat. The door opened up and Grubber tossed the bags inside. Once they were in, Grubber got in and buckled up. He glanced to the driver side and gasped.

Tempest Shadow herself was in the driving seat, and all around her was tons of electronic equipment, and tubes and wires dug into her dark purple body. Her red hair stayed puffed up, pointed to the back of her head, and a scar ran down the side of her eye.

"Tempest, you uh.. you've got uh..."

Tempest snarled. "What?"

Grubber gulped. "I was just saying there's actually a little speck of dirt on the side of your face."

Tempest looked up in the rear-view mirror and indeed there was. She simply flecked the speck off of herself, and looked through the cabin. The engine of the firetruck started up, and all of the lights and machines inside hummed.

"So, where are we gonna go?" Grubber asked.

Tempest gave a light sneer as she looked ahead in front of her.

"We're going to find some friends who will help us... Decepticons."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHr0L93xe0s

Author's Note

And so it begins folks! The first chapter in the final story of Equestria Girls In Disguise. Feel free to give me your thoughts and I hope you enjoy what will happen!

Chapter 15: Swamp Of Unbalanced Emotion

Back on Decepticon Island, the returning Cons were finally starting to settle down into their new surroundings. Fresh Energon and hot oil was prepared for them, Shockblast tended to any wounded, and others would just kick back and relax. Thunderblast especially was excited to be a part of it all.

"Eeeee! Thank you, Tempest, I'm so happy you decided to pick me here!"

Tempest rolled her eyes. "I was told that your speech would be good for distracting the enemy, as well as your charismatic charm. I hope you can put that to use?"

"Oh don't worry, I will!" Thunderblast giggled. "Half of Cybertron knows who I am!"

Shatter shook her head. "Thunderblast seems to be more of a dunderhead, doesn't she?"

Dropkick nodded. "Very much so. Not the strongest cog in the machine."

Barricade chuckled as he walked by, "Neither are you, Dropkick."

Dropkick snarled. "I will kick you to the ground if you make a comment like that again."

Barricade smirked. Pushing buttons, he was? "Well, its in your name, isn't it, Dropkick?"

The smaller triple-changer slammed his fists together, "That's it!"

"Dropkick, no," Shatter stopped, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Lets not waste your energy. After all, Barricade lacks a certain mode that you and I share."

Dropkick chuckled. "Yes... yes we do."

Tempest shook her head. "I'm surrounded by idiots... Shockblast. Has there been word on those drones you sent?"

"None, Tempest. I've contacted them for the past few megacycles, and still no word on their progress."

Tempest tapped her toe, and came to a conclusion. "Then we must find them."

"They're just 3 disposable Vehicons, why bother?" Barricade asked.

"Because if we are going to accomplish our goal, we need as many forces as we can gather. I don't care how many Autobots you have to turn evil or blackmail, we need as much as we can. Which is why you, Barricade, are going out there to find them."

Barricade stopped. "... Me?"

"Yes."

"But what if there's more than one Autobot? I can't just go out there alone."

"Then, take an assistant," Tempest hissed.

"I'll do it! Blackout!" Barricade hollered. "Want to go hunting?"

Blackout stomped over with a stupid grin on his face. "Very much so..."

"Then lets get going."

The two Cons gave their quick goodbyes, and ran for the silo where they would need to depart through the Groundbridge. Finally glad they were out of her hair, Tempest stomped away from the area to get some fresh air, and some time to herself.

In another section of the base, Cyberwarp was sitting at a small little campfire that had been set up and made, under some shade. Sitting around her was Skyjack, Spacewarp, and a still scorched up Steve. And Betamax was with them as well, sitting closely to Cyberwarp and not wanting to leave her sight.

Skyjack's head looked over to Steve, observing his wounds. "You know, I think Shockblast may need to do more work on Steve, he looks worse than any of the other Decepticons he brought in."

Spacewarp looked as well.

Steve's face was covered in smoldering ash, as well as some marks on his chest. The claw mark was still visible, and a few exposed wiring and circuits were shown to be sizzling and sparking.

"I'm fine, girls. Besides, its not the first time I was set on fire."

"Still, you should consider getting a check-up," Skyjack replied.

A deafening silence followed, but the sounds of the fire still kept going. Cyberwarp tilted her head down, looking at Betamax who kept looking back to see if anyone else was nearby.

"Max? Are you okay?"

Betamax looked up and slowly nodded.

"Those other Cons scare you?" Spacewarp asked.

His head turned back and looked to Spacewarp, and gave the same quiet nod as he did to Cyberwarp.

"Do we scare you?"

He shook his head.

"Oh. Well, um... glad we don't scare you," Spacewarp said, hesitantly.

Once again, another drop of silence.

"So... um..." Cyberwarp coughed, trying to break it. "Betamax, these are... well, they're my friends. Family. You have any friends?"

"Mmmhmm," Betamax nodded.

"That's good, that's good. Oh, this is my twin sister, Skyjack," Cyberwarp leaned back, so he could see. Skyjack smiled and gave a small wave to the child, who reluctantly waved back.

"Nice to meet you, kiddo," Skyjack said.

"N-Nice to meet... you too," Betamax stuttered.

"This is Spacewarp--"

"--Hey kid," Spacewarp winked. "Don't worry about us, we're not gonna hurt ya."

"And I'm Steve," Steve answered.

Betamax blinked. "Steve? But isn't that... Aren't you--"

"--Yeah, I agree, not really a name for a Decepticon, I know. I actually had a name, but now its Steve. Easy to remember, you know?"

The kid just nodded again. He didn't know what to say to any of them at this point, and he was too shy to even say a thing. These were complete strangers to him, and he was terrified beyond belief to say something.

Skyjack groaned, throwing her head back. "This is just getting really awkward--GRUBBER, WHERE ARE THE HOT DOGS!?"

"Hang on, I'm comin'!"

Grubber skedaddled over with a hot dog jabbed through a stick, panting heavily once he arrived.

"Sorry... too busy unwrapping all the food--"

"--you were ogling the cakes--"

"--yeah, I was ogling the cakes! Look, I got it, don't worry," Grubber protested. "In fact..."

He passed the stick over to Betamax who accepted it, but without any response. Then with a big breath, he ran away again, this time getting some ketchup and mustard.

"So, um... Betamax, are you... okay?" Cyberwarp asked.

Betamax looked down at the fire. "Yes."

She could feel the fear in his voice. "Max?"

Betamax looked up, greeted with Cyberwarp's warm face. She slowly raised her arm up, allowing him to move closer for some comfort. Reluctantly, he scooted over, close to her armor, and she raised her arm down, patting his shoulder softly.

"Where did you even find that kid?" Steve asked.

Cyberwarp shook her head with a less than happy look. "I found him alive back in the place where... Shatter and Dropkick, last... visited," she said, trying not to remind the child of the tragedy that hit him in the morning.

"You know for a kid, he's really taking all of this unrealistically well," Spacewarp commented. "Kid, are you sure you're--"

"I said I was okay!" Betamax snapped.

And like that, Betamax stomped away from the campfire. He pushed through some of the trees and parked himself onto the beach, hunched up and burying his face into his arms, hiding in his knees as well.

The four Cons saw him step out, and Cyberwarp sighed. "I think right now he just needs time alone. I'll leave him alone for a bit, and I'll check on him later. Can you guys please not bother him too while you're at it?"

"Yeah."

"Roger."

"Got it."

As Cyberwarp walked off of the campfire ground, everyone else just remained sitting around the little campfire they made.

"I crossed the line, didn't I?" Spacewarp asked, embarassed.

"Yeah, you kind of did," Skyjack commented. "From Cyberwarp told me, that kid's been through a lot today, and I think just talking about it only makes things worse."

"Maybe so, but talking about it actually may be helpful," Steve answered. "You can't hold something as bad as that in forever. Eventually you hit a point when you just explode, and that kid needs someone to let it all out. And I'm no expert, but I think your sister may be the one to do so."

Skyjack nodded. "Probably, yeah... How do you even know stuff like that?"

"Years of experience back on Cybertron. Trust me, during our break times in the war, I had to be counselor for a lot of Decepticons who weren't entirely stable with their emotions. Diabla, Dustorm, Firebreaker, a lot of them."

Skyjack nodded, listening to him. "Well if you know some stuff about that... You think we may end up back on Cybertron?"

"I'm the wrong Decepticon to ask, both Autobot and Decepticon forces weren't really lenient with me. Sentenced to eternity in Vehicon class. And for what?"

Skyjack blanked. "I don't know, for what?"

"Oh, like any Cybertronian forced in war, I dreamed of living in a world without war and violence. And for some, it meant taking matters into their own hands and trying to take control. Of course they really crack down when you act upon it."

Skyjack snickered a bit. "So that's why you think all of the Decepticons are idiots then?"

Steve nodded. "Mmm, it would have been glorious. Things would have been different. No one would be mean to each other, we would have gotten smarter... being changed into a punching bag Vehicon wasn't even part of the plan."

As Steve talked, Skyjack wiped away some of the burning ashes off of her plating, dusting herself off. "It's not that bad, is it?"

A heavy pause was set, and Steve didn't allege until a few seconds after.

"I don’t have five fingers on each hand, I have no face, half of my strength and speed is gone... I look exactly like every other disposable, worthless, useless Vehicon. The sound and smell hot fresh oil and Energon is the only thing that makes me feel truly alive."

Spacewarp and Skyjack looked at each other, and looked back with some small grins. Well, a grin was visible on Skyjack's face, it couldn't be seen under the mask of Spacewarp's face.

"Steve? You want some EnerGULP? I smuggled some cans with me when I came here," Spacewarp asked.

Steve waited to think and came short with a reply.

"Please."

In another part of the United States, Barricade and Blackout were out and about in search of their missing squad. Blackout took to the air while Barricade stayed low to the ground.

"I don't see anything yet. You?"

"Nothing. Not a thing."

Barricade groaned, "They couldn't have gone far, could they? Unless whoever they were hunting took them all out."

"Vehicons are punching bags, that's all they're made for," Blackout joked.

"Yeah, true... besides its not like--holy scrap!"

Barricade slammed on the brakes and violently transformed to keep himself from crashing. His heels slammed into the stones and gravel as he got himself to stop. As he looked ahead, he found a bayou before his eyes. The place he stopped at was a small parking space for people to park at, and then could easily climb into the boats and just use it to get across the waters.

Barricade's tracker kept blinking, and he raised it up with his hand. "The signal's coming from down the bayou. I think we'll have to walk."

"And if there are humans?"

"We'll take caution. Besides, the sign I stepped over said it was closed, we'll be fine."

Carefully, Barricade walked out of the grass and put his feet down into the water, stepping into the swamp waters. Thankfully it wasn't that high, only reaching as high as his ankles. Blackout came down too, carefully stepping into the waters as well.

"Ugh, my foot's going to rust," Blackout complained.

"Which is why we'll make it fast. Just one quick search, and we'll get out. The signal came down that way," Barricade pointed.

And like that, they started to walk.

Throughout the journey, their feet continuously splashed in the water as they walked. The sounds of ribbiting frogs and crickets and birds filled the air. Their hands brushed away leaves and branches, even slicing some of the branches down just to clear them from their path.

"How do humans live in this stuff?" Blackout questioned, cutting down another branch. "Its disgusting, its organic, its just... unnatural."

Barricade nodded, agreeing. "I don't get it either, especially with all this gunk." Raising his foot up, he could see a bit of some plants and tiny pieces of moss stuck. "Oh, great. Just brilliant."

The Decepticons took five more steps, until Barricade stepped in something again.

"Oh great, that... wait a minute. That doesn't feel organic."

Barricade looked down, and raised his foot up again. His foot was pushing down on something hard, and when he put his foot down, he could see a big chunk of orange and blue. He lowered his hand down and snatched what he could, raising up the strange thing. It quickly revealed to be the back of a bot, and upon flipping him over, all that was left was a wasted piece of scrap.

The bot had an Autobot insignia, with a red chest and motorcycle handlebars sticking out the sides behind his head, but he was long gone. A big portion of his side near where his stomach would have been was gnawed out, like a giant monster took a big bite out of him. His face now permanent with a horrified face, hung back creating the deceased outlook even more overt explanation.

"Who's this tin can?" Blackout asked, hovering over Barricade's shoulder.

"Dart. Two-wheeler... looks like he bit the dust. But I don't think it was our Vehicons," Barricade observed.

"Wait a minute, what about that?"

Blackout pointed to something in the water just ahead of them. It looked like one of the Vehicons that had been sent out hours ago by Tempest, but on all fours like he was trying to hold himself up and stick his head into the water looking for fish.

"Oh there you are. Unit 3-R-1-C, what are you doing?"

No reply.

"Unit 3-R-1-C, will you answer me!?"

Nothing.

"I'm not getting through to you. Am I? Hello???"

Barricade was growing impatient.

"That's it!"

He stomped over to where the Vehicon was, splashing more of the swamp water along the way. When he finally got up front, he got down on one knee so he could get him up.

"Why are you ignoring me, what can be so--soooo-- SOOOO AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

He grabbed the drone's shoulders, raising him up. But when he raised him up, all he found was most of the head had been chewed off, and all that remained was the neck and part of the mouth.

"AAAAHHH!" Barricade quickly jolted back and backed away like a little girl seeing a spider. But as he backed up, kicking up more swamp water, he slammed into something that felt hard and metallic. He turned around and jumped again, screaming like a little girl like before. The Vehicon he ran into was nothing but just a head removed from its body, laying against the tree.

And when he backed up again, he was received another shock, this time his girlish scream joined by Blackout as they looked up into the trees and saw another Vehicon found, dangling. With all of its limbs ripped apart and left hanging in the vines.

"This swamp is just a land of death!!" Blackout shouted.

As the two of them felt their sparks ready to pound and escape their chests, the two of them slowly backed away to try and calm down. They looked at all of their surroundings again, and looked into the air. Nothing. In the trees? Nothing. Swamp water? Nothing.

Barricade's metal plating shook and clattered from fear.

"Okay, lets think about this... whoever did this is long gone, just based on the wounds. And I have a feeling whoever killed that Autobot wasn't from one of us."

Blackout looked at Barricade, "What makes you say that?"

"They carried guns, and whatever took out that Autobot was from something savage, like some wild animal."

"You think some Insecticons would have done it?" Blackout asked.

"Can't be. No Insecticon came down to Earth, at least, not to my knowledge. But I have a feeling that something with a bigger jaw took a bite out of him," Barricade noted.

The two looked back at the deceased Autobot still drifting afloat on top of the water, rusting away.

"Well what do we do now?"

"I don't know. But I think its time we call for a strategic evacuation," Barricade advised, starting to walk away from the area.

"Don't you mean running away and screaming?"

"I made it more dignified!"

Blackout rolled his eyes, and started to chase after Barricade. Whether it was dignified or not, he agreed. There was no way they were ready for something like this, and besides, this was something Tempest had to know.

Kicking and running away from the water, they left the swampy bayou, the sounds of them transforming into their alternate modes vanishing into the bog. All that was left behind were the four dead corpses that were left strewn about in the swamp. And only a small frog hopped onto the chest of the demised Autobot. A soft croak escaped its lungs just before hopping onto a nearby lily-pad.