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Command Center

His optics scanned the computer screen constantly looking for all of the information he needed to formulate a strategy to get whatever it was the humans had. What was it. What kind of technology did the humans find. His processor focused on a million things at once. It had been a while since he commed Skids and requested any info the scientist had. He needed to know what this place called Area 51.

>>”Skids I need that information. Please bring what you can to the command center now.”<<

Prime stood from his chair and waited for Skids to arrive.

Briefing Room

Sideswipe wasn’t a bit surprised that Hot Rod had called Prime in to take care of business. In fact it was a bout time the Bots had someone with half a processor in charge. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Ironhide could do the job; it was just that he didn’t believe the suedo security officer could do the job as well as Prime. He was silent the entire time Prime made his announcement and stayed that way until he and his brother reached the briefing room.

“Hey Sunny, do you think that maybe the humans got a hold of one of our weapons or something? I mean the little meatbags are smarter than we thought. They may have gotten hold of something we left behind on one occasion or another.”

Mess Hall

Hot Rod moved toward Ironhide when Prime left. He waited until all the others made their way out of the mess hall when he placed a hand on the security chief’s shoulder.

“I’m really sorry I went over your head, Hide. But I knew the only one who could handle a situation like this was Prime himself. Besides the humans have stepped up the fight by gaining access to our technology.”

A scowl made its way to Ironhide’s face as he pulled his shoulder out form under the cavalier’s hand. He swiftly tuned on his heal to face Hot Rod and pointed a finger in the younger mech’s face.

“Ya listen to me ya little punk. Ya take anything else into yer own hands and it’ll be me ya answer too. No one else.”

Ironhide placed his hand on Hot Rod’s should and shoved the Bot aside as he began to make his way to the briefing room.

Briefing Room

Hot Rod entered the room and sat down as far away from Ironhide as possible. It had only been a few moments before when they had some words. Perhaps the up coming assignment would help to relax the mech, but with Ironhide you never knew.

Computer Lab

This time when he jumped, Skids managed to remember he was underneath the console, and put his hand up to stop himself from clunking his head. He quickly fired off a comm in response to Prime's summons:

>>"On my way, sir; I'll be there shortly."<<

He let out a little sigh after he closed the comm, as he cut off the rest of the download queue, finished off the file currently downloading, and added the resulting datapad of information into the little collection of existing datapads he'd already gathered. He then quickly set his console back to its usual passive monitoring settings, and headed out with a rueful grin on his face. It was one of the classic scientist's laments, wasn't it? Never enough time to get all of the information you wanted. You just had to hope it was enough information for what you needed.

Command Center

After rushing through the corridors, feeling grateful for them being blissfully empty because everyone was at the briefing, Skids finally arrived on the Command Center. He went over to Optimus Prime and stood at attention as best he could with an armful of datapads.

"Reporting as ordered, sir." He carefully shifted his arms to be able to hold out the datapad full of console information to Prime without spilling the other datapads he was cradling. "This is the main part of the information, though some of these other datapads have notes as well." He gave a little sigh and continued, "I wish I could say I'm absolutely certain about this information, but I'm not. I'm mainly limited to what's available on the broadcasts and internets, and, in human culture, Area 51 tends to be considered as the realm of fiction and conspiracy theorists.

"I filtered out everything obviously made up, but I admit I'm not sure how much of the rest is real intelligence that the 'underground movements' were able to find, and how much really is made up or unfounded rumors. Hopefully it's more of the former than the latter." Skids gave Prime an apologetic look.

Mess Hall

Arcee walked into the mess hall with her head down reading over a datapad, head bobbing up and down to music heard only by her. She almost didn't notice Ironhide, and unfortunately for her, didn't notice him in time to stop from bumping into him. She fell to the floor looking up, then quickly stood up again at attention, noticing the foul look in his eyes being centered on HotRod. "I'm so sorry sir! I'll see myself out", she said, turning to walk away.

Briefing Room

Sunstreaker had listened to the briefing with a mixture of disgust and boredom. He wasn’t really into the discussing and planning parts of the battle. Leave the strategy to the weaker bots with the big cerebral circuits that hid back at base while he did the real fighting. Whatever plan they came up with would be useless in the opening shots of any battle anyway. That’s when the real warriors would stand up and fight, of which he was one of the very few on either side of this war. Plans, back up and reinforcements were things lesser bots had to count on.

He was disgusted at the thought that somehow these little creatures had gotten some of their technology. They were miserable, messy little things with pitiful amounts of brain matter. With the type of weaponry Transformers carried around they would likely blow themselves up or, failing that, slaughter each other with it. Neither of those scenarios really bothered him, but he didn’t want to be on the planet when all of the chaos started. Since it didn’t look like he was going to get reassigned anytime soon He would just go along with stopping them. Hopefully some Decepticons would show up to live things up a bit. He doubted the humans would prove much of a challenge, not that he would be allowed to fight them.

The Autobot warrior was snapped out of his thoughts by the question from his brother Sideswipe. “Well I know better than to leave any of my equipment behind in a battle. All of my parts and guns stay on me at all times unless I’m cleaning them. I’m not going to look like some mix matched junker. Can’t say the same for the rest of our team. Tralbreaker and Ironhide probably have parts dropping off of them all over the place with how old and decrepit they are.” Sunstreaker snickered.

“As for how smart these little germs are, I think they are smart enough to pull the trigger on a gun to blow themselves up, which I don’t give two slags about one way or the other. We just have to make sure we are nearby when it happens. I don’t want my pain scuffed because some stupid primate can’t figure out how to point a gun.

Command Center

Optimus gently took the datapad from Skids’ hand and nodded to the smaller bot. He knew he had rushed him but he needed as much intel as he could get.

“Thank you Skids, that’ll do just fine. Please join the others in the briefing room.”

Prime turned to face the control panels in front of him and punched in the coordinates to the facility known as Area 51. He scanned the one datapad he had in his hand and once he had thoroughly studied the information he began looking through the rest. From the looks of it the facility is a top secret military instillation known by conspiracy theorists to house alien technology. However, for some reason the nation’s top officials refuse to acknowledge the existence of alien life. It was probably a good thing; Optimus could not imagine this planet’s people believing in something more than them. They were a young species who did not deserve to be brought into this war.

Prime’s processor had already formulated a plan before the datapads had even been brought to him. He had commed Bumblebee and sent the espionage expert ahead of the team in order to perform some reconnaissance. Just as he moved to bring up an aerial layout of the facility he received an internal communiqué from Bumblebee.

>>”Understood Bumblebee. I want you to hold your position until we arrive. I have no doubt that since Megatron and Soundwave are there personally the rest of the Decepticons can’t be too far behind. We will be there shortly. Prime out.”<<

Optimus inputted the information he had on all of the datapads to a small external device. Once that was done he strode out of the Command Center and to the briefing room.

Briefing Room

The door opened with a hiss as Optimus Prime walked through data in hand.

“Autobots, as you already know the humans have some of our technology. We don not know what they intend to do with it or how they will use it. We must recover whatever it is the humans have before the Decpepticons do. “

Prime walked over to a terminal at the head of the large table and inserted the datastick. Instantly a 3D image of Area 51 popped up in the central part of the table so all could see.

“I have taken the liberty of sending Bumblebee ahead of us and he has informed me that Megatron and Soundwave are personally overseeing the extraction process. This means that the other Decepticons are near by. They will, no doubt, attempt to decimate the entire area after they have taken what they want. We must prevent them from attaining the technology and stop them from destroying the area.”

The 3D image zoomed in on the zone Bumblebee was located in.

“We will assemble here. Any questions?”

Hot Rod looked up as Prime walked into the room. He had stayed quiet the entire time they had all assembled and even after the little talk he had with Ironhide. The question was asked about any inquiries and even then the cavalier stayed quiet.

Sideswipe smirked at his brother’s rather unique way of putting things.

“You know, these bipeds were smart enough to gain our tech, they can’t be all that bad.”

Sideswipe moved in close to Sunstreaker and lowered his vocalize so that only his twin could hear.

“You know you’re probably right about ol’ Ironhide and Breaker. They are in a bit of disarray. It could have been one of them. We should place them into stasis lock just because.”

The red warrior chuckled as he sat back in his chair.

Briefing Room

After Prime had given his briefing Wheeljack looked around before leaning forward.

"Alright, I'm going to ask the obvious question. Who are you taking on this mission with you Optimus?"

Briefing Room

Trailbreaker and Smokescreen listened as Optimus Prime spoke. They had both wondered why Bumblebee had left so abruptly and now they knew the answer. Lucky, ‘bot, Smokescreen thought to himself. Gets to see a little action before the rest of us. I can’t wait to join him.

Trailbreaker, on the other hand, didn’t share his friend’s enthusiasm. With both Soundwave and Megatron overseeing things on the Decepticon side, it would not only be very difficult to get the Cybertronian technology, but it would also be extremely dangerous. ‘Breaker and the others had faced worse in he past. However, it would still take all of them, working together as a team, to defeat the ‘cons on this very important mission.

The defensive strategist stood once Prime had finished speaking and Wheeljack had asked the obvious question. “Optimus, if I may. I don’t really have a question. I just wanted to let you know that I have decided to go on this mission if you so desire me to. I know that I’ve had my doubts before, but after speaking with some of my fellow Autobots they’ve convinced me that I would be a great asset if I went along. So, if you still need me, sir, I’m at your disposal.” Trailbreaker then took his seat and let out a quiet sigh.

Across the table, Smokescreen smiled but remained silent. He only had one question for Prime, which Wheeljack had already asked.

Command Center

Skids nodded back as Optimus Prime took the datapad. "Right, sir, I'll get down to the briefing posthaste. See you when you arrive." He carefully set the rest of the datapads into a tidy pile on top of a nearby console, then turned and headed back out the door, once again hustling his way through the hallways.

Briefing Room

As Skids arrived, he quickly found the nearest empty seat, feeling self-conscious about being one of the last ones to assemble, even though he had a good excuse. Then, when Optimus Prime arrived soon after, he listened to the start of the briefing with rapt attention. His fuel pump lurched a little upon hearing that Megatron himself was apparently heading up the Decepticons' side of the operation, and he fervently hoped that things would turn out well for the humans in the facility.

Still, he couldn't help but quirk a slight smile at Wheeljack's question. Ironically, though he was unsurprised that it was the top question on everyone else's mind, he himself hadn't been that concerned with it.

Granted, it would be a chance to not only be amongst the humans, but get a first-hand look at one of their secret facilities. However, to say that combat situations were not his strong suit would be a vast understatement. And even if they were successful in being stealthy, the chance of at least indirect confrontation was still high. No, while he'd be more than willing to do his best if picked by Prime to go inside the base, he knew his best place was probably either here or just outside the site, providing remote backup and assistance.

Still, it figured that one of the few chances to be among the humans was one he probably wasn't suited to. Perhaps if someone like Smokescreen, Wheeljack, or Arcee went along, he could ask them to keep an optic out for him. Nothing that would distract from the mission, of course, just a willingness to hold onto that side information instead of immediately putting it out of mind later.

For the time being, though, he simply waited quietly for the answer to the first question of the briefing. He also smiled more widely at Trailbreaker's speech, turning to offer an encouraging thumbs up. It was good to see the 'Bot feeling more confident about himself, Skids thought.

Mess Hall

Arcee quickly left the mess hall, glad to be gone before Ironhide could lay in on her. Noticing every other Autobot in the base converging on the briefing room, she made her way there.

Briefing Hall

Quietly entering the briefing hall, Arcee sat down in an empty seat and listened intently to what Optimus was saying. She knew these humans better than anyone she felt, and she new they'd keep it a secret until they could reverse engineer it and gain whatever they could from it. It'd take them a decade or so to fully comprehend it, but their grasp of the sciences was pretty broad. They'd be far more technologically advanced if they didn't have so many fields of science, most of which didn't concern the transformers... Like Biology. But some scientists out there somewhere with good comprehention of mechanical engineering, quantum physics, and electronic engineering would figure it out eventually... It'd be best to get it out of their hands before they had the chance, but at this point some damage was done. They knew on some level that the transformers were here, even if thats all they understood.

Briefing Room

The doors to the briefing room opened again as another Autobot tried to discretely enter. Pipes walked slowly towards an empty seat, hoping he wouldn’t draw any distracting attention to his person and sat down. Having just come from the storage area, and his hidden collection of Earth “baubles” therein, it was his hope that no one would think to ask for what reason he had been the last to arrive.

Deciding that he had not seemed to raise anyone’s suspicions, Pipes readjusted his focus on what Optimus Prime had to say. The news that human beings had somehow acquired Cybertronian technology was rather alarming to him, partly due to the Autobot’s deep interest in their technology. Having come to Earth, he had found himself completely enamored by the native’s use of devices, their convenience and ingenuity. It marveled him how organic beings with so little to work with were capable of creating such amazing things that he had never thought could exist. Even he saw what could happen if these humans managed to reverse-engineer their “alien” machinery. Of he was aware of the severity of the situation, but even Pipes couldn’t help but be internally concerned about the sudden change and perhaps loss of their style of technological craft.

As Optimus finished, he looked to Wheeljack and wondered about his question; who would be taken for the mission? Pipes thought himself to be a fairly good fighter and he’s always found himself to hold well in combat. However, he couldn’t help but question how much was he a warrior and how much a collector? His interest of Earth’s technological trinkets border on obsession and, more often than he would like to admit, he would stray from the others if so tempted by the allure of scrap found on the road. And the prospect of Area 51, what secrets it hid behind those closed doors, could he so fall sway to his passions in the field?

(OOC: I’m going to be taking a few liberties with the characters for this post. I want to make sure everyone gets to where they need to be.)

Briefing Room

Prime’s optics lit slightly at Wheeljack’s understandable query. The engineer was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield and in his workshop. His thoughts were always most welcome, and Wheeljack’s question to know just who was going on this mission was something Prime didn’t want to leave hanging.

“I was just getting to that Wheeljack.“

The Autobot leader straightened his posture and looked over his team. This was a valiant crew and having them all with him would certainly be welcome.

“I want the following Autobots to converge outside of the base for orbital bounce post haste. Wheeljack, Arcee, Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker, Brawn, Pipes, Hot Rod and Sideswipe. Move out. Now!”

The urgency in Prime’s vocalizer made just about everyone present flinch. Once the feeling had past everyone stood from their seats and ran to the outside perimeter of the base. Prime looked to the few mechs left present in the room.

“Ratchet I want you on standby. Skids, you will assist Ratchet if need be. Until we return, take care.”

Optimus ran to the same coordinates as his team, and once outside he activated the orbital bounce.

Briefing Room

Skids saluted at Optimus Prime's order, and said quickly, "Comm us if you need any help, sir!"

After everyone else had left, he sighed a little and leaned back in his chair, knowing it'd be a long wait of worrying. But he did manage a slight grin and a sidelong glance at Ratchet.

"Any special procedures for assisting the medic that I should know about?" he attempted to joke.

Briefing Room

After the team left, Ratchet turned to reply to Skids.

"Heh, besides twiddling your thumbs and shooting virtual petro-rabbits to pass the time 'till we get a word from them, not much," Ratchet chuckled back. "Jazz is still sound stasis-locked, so we don't have any patients to worry about - for now." He paused to think. "I suppose we could set up stand-by communications in case of any emergencies, but I think we can take a little break and give them some time."

He sighed, leaning back in a seat.

"I swear, sometimes this war can overclock my processors," he said, now fully facing Skids. "How are you holding up?"

Briefing Room

Skids also turned in his chair, and looked at Ratchet with a wry smile now. "Right now, or in general? Usually I just bury myself in my observations and try to forget that the war is the real reason we're studying a planet." He stared down at his hands and twiddled his fingers. "Rather irresponsible, I know, but it lets me forget how many times I've been sitting in a shuttle closing my file on a world, staring at the ruins that are all that's left of it now."

He continued fidgeting for a few moments, then looked up again and rubbed his helm sheepishly. "I'm not helping, am I? I admit I'm not used to sitting around simply waiting. Usually if I don't know what's going on, it's because I was preoccupied with something else instead."

(OOC: Sorry for the double post, but figured I might try to take things in a direction with more RP possibilities.)

Briefing Room

As Skids trailed off, he found that the more he stopped to think about it, the more the whole thing did trouble him. Granted, he had come to terms a long time ago with not being much of a warrior, especially since he didn't enjoy conflict at all. Nevertheless, he still sometimes felt guilty about sitting back at the base in safety while others got injured or killed. After all, folks like Wheeljack and Smokescreen managed to be both useful in a technical or scientific sense and good warriors, didn't they?

He shook his head a little, trying to push those thoughts out of his head as best he could. No matter how much he enjoyed analyzing things, he knew there were trains of thought that were likely to be unproductive to follow.

Instead he continued his commentary to Ratchet, "There's an old human saying I've come across in the past that probably fits here: 'They also serve who only stand and wait.' Though, all things considered... would you mind if we did work on those stand-by communications? I would rather be standing and waiting with a distraction, now that I think about it." He gave Ratchet an uncertain look.

(OOC: I’m taking control of Ratchet for the foreseeable future. )

Briefing Room

Ratchet sat with his elbows on the table and fingers peaked. The medical doctor pursed his metal lips as he thought about his fellow Autobots and what could possibly be happening to them. He paid little attention to what Skids was talking about and only nodded in response.

“Yeah, yeah. The communications. Do that.”

The medic placed a hand on his forehead and sighed. He began to shake his head as he started to speak.

“No, no, no, this isn’t right. I can’t just sit here and stand by, this isn’t me.” Ratchet stood from his seated position and slammed a open palm on the table. “Skids, I’m sorry, but I’m bouncing down to the battle, I need to help Prime and the others.”

Ratchet smiled at his friend and ran off to the orbital bounce pad. He made sure he would be sent just outside of the battle, as to not get in the middle of any cross fire. With a flash of light and a buzz of electrical current, Ratchet was gone.

Briefing Room

Skids called after Ratchet, "Good luck!" as he left, then sighed, stared at the ceiling, and muttered, "Splendid," sarcastically before heading out and up to the Command Center.

Command Center

Once there, he worked on setting up the stand-by communications, as well as routing some of his own news feed pickups from his console, knowing that hearing any human-based reports this soon was probably hopeless but feeling a need to try anyway. If only I'd managed to get Wheeljack's project started after all, he thought a little ruefully. As he went around adjusting the various consoles for what he needed, he tried to ignore the empty feeling from the deserted Command Center around him.

Obital Bounce Pad

Prowl rematerialized with Hot Rod still hoisted over his shoulders. He thought that that was a different experience, compared to the usual potoform through space trips he was more accustomed to. He detected a few Autobots still on site which was a good thing as he could actually make a return trip to the battlefield to help out. But there was no time to waste. He got off the Orbital Bounce pad and pulled up a schematic of the ship he got from Ratchet when he got the coodinates to the base. There was no time for hellos.

He raced down the corridor, not even bothering to examine the ship's interior until he reached...

The Infirmary

Prowl entered and rushed to the nearest CR chamber. He pressed a button and the hatch opened. He hoisted Hot Rod's deactivated body inside and closed the hatch. With a soft hiss, the chamber activated and began working on the damaged Autobot.

With that he gave a sigh of relief. The rest would be up to Hot Rod's systems.

Command Center

Skids had just finished his console tweaking and settled back in one of the Command Center chairs, when an alert on Bumblebee's security console caught his attention. Going over to it, he saw that Prowl's incoming orbital bounce signal had been detected, though he wasn't aware that was who had returned specifically. Figures, he thought a little wryly, I spend all that time working on the communications, and everyone's back just as soon as I finish anyway!

He activated the comm and sent a page down to the Bounce Pad room, then frowned a bit when he received no response. Hmm. Strange, I wouldn't have thought everyone could clear out that quickly... perhaps they're not all back yet after all? He tried paging several other places before finally trying the Infirmary.

"Hello, this is Skids up in the Command Center. Ah, Ratchet, is that you, then? I detected an orbital bounce, but haven't been able to figure out who's returned yet. How fares the situation on the planet?"

Infirmary

Prowl took a moment to relax after everything he ahd been through. But that only lasted a mere moment as a communications inquiry form the Command Center had been made from the Autobot Skids.

Prowl pressed a button on his forehead to open a line. "This is Autobot Prowl. My apologies for the sudden arrival but I had to deliver a critically injured Autobot, Hot Rod, to the Infirmary. Megatron apparently did a number on him but he's in the CR Chamber now. If you could, maintain a watch on his vitals from the Command Center! I'm returning to the battle site to further assist the team there."

With that, Prowl made his way out of the Infirmary and for the...

Orbital Bounce Pad

There was no time for conversations. he'd have plenty of time later to catch up wiht familiar faces. He plotted a return course and found himself slipping through the transporter again, back to whence he came.

Prowl wrote:>>"This is Autobot Prowl. My apologies for the sudden arrival but I had to deliver a critically injured Autobot, Hot Rod, to the Infirmary. Megatron apparently did a number on him but he's in the CR Chamber now. If you could, maintain a watch on his vitals from the Command Center! I'm returning to the battle site to further assist the team there."<<

Command Center

Skids felt a lurch in his fuel tank at Prowl's news, but managed to keep his voice mostly businesslike as he responded, "Understood, sir. Good luck. Skids out."

He then closed the comm and stared a little miserably at the console. While he didn't know Hot Rod well (insofar that he didn't talk to anyone outside the science and computer labs all that much, with a few exceptions), Skids liked him well enough. He was one of the friendlier warriors among the Autobots, and Skids found the young mech's enthusiasm and exhuberance refreshing compared to how jaded most of the rest of them had gotten from this war.

After a few moments, Skids finally raised his head again and went over to a different console to route and keep a watch on Hot Rod's CR signals as Prowl had requested. The mech was badly damaged, but he was still online for now, which at least gave him a chance. Hopefully Ratchet would be able to help him and any other Autobots who were damaged in the fight. As Skids set his chin on one hand and stared at the console's readouts, he felt the guilt from his earlier brooding starting to creep back into his mind despite his best efforts at ignoring it.

Orbital Bounce Platform

Optimus Prime materialized on the platform with the rest of his team. He took stock of the wounded and turned to Ratchet who was kneeling by Trailbreaker.

“Alright, I want the wounded taken directly to the Medical Bay. Ratchet, coordinate the move and get to work on our downed men. Blaster, I want you on the communications array. Monitor all of the Decepticons’ known frequencies. I don’t want to miss anything Megatron might have up his sleeve.”

Prime nodded at Ratchet and Blaster respectively. He then made his way to the Dinobots. As Sludge held one arm of Grimlock and Swoop held the other, Prime lifted the weakened Commander’s head up. He then looked at the three functional Dinobots.

“Snarl, Sludge, Swoop take Grimlock to the CR chamber, and then get recharged. I want to meet with you as soon as you’re back on your feet.“ He looked to Grimlock once more. “I will meet with your Commander as soon as he is fully functional.”

Optimus lifted Slag back up and began to make his way to the Medical Bay and the CR chambers.

Orbital Bounce Platform

Blaster materialized with Aftershot slung over his shoulder. The Autobot had taken serious damage from engaging the Seekers in a violent exchange. The large red robot glanced around, taking into perception, who had made the bounce before he started his usual routine. “Don’t worry Aftershot, you’re in the care of the best broadcasting station this side of the galaxy. You must be one wild cat, taking on the Seekers for that long all by yourself.” Blaster said, holding the broken Autobot on his shoulder. Blaster glanced to Optimus Prime when he issued him a series of commands.

“Roger that, I am on it Prime. Soon as I get Aftershot to CR Chamber, I’ll start scanning the airway for Decepticon tunes.” Blaster said as he made his way towards the Infirmary.

Infirmary

Blaster stepped through the doors with Aftershot in two, finding an empty chamber, he placed Aftershot inside. “Hang on tough guy. I am sure Ratchet will have you jamming in no-time at all.” Blaster said as he moved over to the control panel and punched a number of buttons. The CR chamber started to close over Aftershot, leaving Ratchet and company to do the rest. Blaster then headed back out through the Infirmary doors, heading towards the Command Center.

Command Center

The Command Center doors opened and Blaster stepped inside noticing Skids at the council. “Why if it isn’t the best looking Autobot around. You’re looking fantastic as always Skids. Pardon me for a moment, I have some Decepticon code that is in tend of my gentle attention.” Blaster said in response as he approached one of the command consoles in the room and transformed into an AM/FM stereo plugging into console through a number of external extensions. The red lights on Blaster’s chest started to flash in intervals. “Just tell me if you want some music Skids, I clock a couple million different channels.” Blaster said as he went silent for a few moments at his console, attempting to intercept transmissions.

Command Center

Skids' brooding over the console was interrupted by his noticing that some additional CR chambers had been activated recently. Looking over the vital signs presented, he recognized the occupants as being members of the squad that had gone to Area 51. Heading over to yet another console, he saw there was indeed a large number of orbital bounce signals incoming. Finally! he thought, hoping there were more uninjured Autobots than ones in need of repairs.

He left a quick comm message to Ratchet to contact him if the medic needed an extra pair of willing hands, as well as a report to Optimus Prime that everything had been quiet here at the base as far as he was aware, to be read whenever they had a free moment.

As Blaster then entered the Command Center and greeted him, Skids looked over and gave his comrade a welcoming grin in response. The tapedeck's energetic and friendly nature could always be counted on to cheer up even the gloomiest situation, as far as Skids was concerned. The fact that he looked to be in mostly good shape was a reassuring sign. Skids hoped the cassettes had also come out of the battle all right.

At Blaster's question, Skids chuckled. "You know music better than I do... feel free to choose whatever helps you think the best. I'm more interested in hearing how the battle went, I admit, whenever you're finished with your project." He then moved over to skim the news feeds he'd routed to the Command Center, wondering if the humans would end up having anything to report about the recent incident.

Orbital Bounce Platform

Arcee had often wondered how the Humans managed too survive, how they managed too prosper even, with such limited memory capacity. As much as the natives of this world fascinated her, their vast array of cultures and beliefs, their continued perseverance over massive odds, their capacity for compassion and kindness, she couldn’t help but notice the many drawbacks too their biological design. She couldn’t quite understand how they were able to function effectively when most of them couldn’t even clearly remember the events of one day too the next.

But then, on days like today, at times like now, she understood entirely that ones memory did not entirely depend on ones design.

She could barely remember anything from the last hour or so. Battle was like that, especially conflicts fought with such intensity and at such close quarters. It was a blur, thousands of split second decisions and heartbeat choices all blending together into an almost unfathomable mass. Instinct played its part, more so than most would admit, the decisions you made built on past experience, on gut reaction, rather than careful planning.

It was intense, it was blinding in its fury, every moment a single mistake from oblivion.

At the time it was all so crystal clear, afterwards, in the moments she re-materialised upon the Orbital Platform alongside her comrades, it was like it had happened too someone else. It was as though she hadn’t been there, and instead, as the pink tinted Fem shuffled through her recent memories like photo shots from an album, she almost had too remind herself that she had.

Arcee clutched her own shoulder as the brief moment disorientation passed, the pain that sparked from the exposed wiring more than enough too clarify her thoughts in the here and now. She wasn’t the only one who was injured, several of her comrades, her friends, were in much worse condition than she was.

Her injury was painful, yes, but also largely superficial. She could ignore, she would ignore it, until she was satisfied that the others were not in more dire need. Her natural impulse was too help them, holstering her weapons and already offering a hand in aid, that is, until, a single memory hit her with horrifying clarity.

“Hot Rod…”

She barely whispered, knowing full well that he wasn’t there too hear his name. The Slagmaker, Megatron, had savagely unleashed what could very well have been a mortal blow, the sickening Tyrant had left him too die.

There was nothing she could have done about it then, but there was something she could do about it now.

A intense moment of worry, concern, and yes, even fear crossed her features for an Autobot she often seemed too be at odds with, before a rapid shifting of gears and folding plates transformed her feminine form into that of a sleek corvette.

Arcee didn’t wait another moment, her engine roaring into life as she sped through the corridors, ignoring the protocols of safety as she sped towards the Medical Wing.