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Wheeler Air Field

Swindles Facimile, Sargent Peck, had been keeping tabs on the humans from the air mission control. He busied himself falsifying reports and ordering human troops out of the conflict area, under the guise of "secret military live fire training exercises."

Swindle had been parked under a tree with a nice view of the entrance to the air traffic control tower. He was practicaly offline, monitoring Peck, who was doing a good job.

"That's why you pay extra for the delux facimiles." thought Swindle to himself.

A green humvee circled the air base, at first Swindle thought nothing of it. his spark nearly missed a beat when it started transmitting a Cybertronian scanner frequency. He waited to see if he was detected. when the humvee pulled away he knew something was up. Peck was fine, but a rouge Autobot could be problematic.

Not wanting to be detected right away, Swindle waited a moment and began to tail the green humvee at a safe distance.

Naval Base

As Ratbat continued to pick away at damage and perform some rudimentary repairs on Vortex's rotor system, he looked over at the hunk of metal and wires that he had pried out. His optics flickered with curiosity as he examined the device. It was a probe, of sorts, but it was decidedly not human in origin. No....no no...this was Cybertronian. And it certainly did not get blasted into Vortex's rotor system by another Decepticon.

>>"Ratbat to Onslaught. I'm at Vortex's position now. I'm attempting repairs, but this is not exactly my wheelhouse. I don't know how successful I'll be. He may require extraction.

"Buuuut....even more interesting....he was hit by an Autobot probe. They know we're here."<<

Highway

Offroad was cruising down the road, with his holomatter avatar inside the cab. He opened up his comm-link and waited for a second before sending any messages.

A little while earlier, Offroad had bounced onto the Hawaiian island. He'd shrugged it off easily, his toughness and endurance due to extreme conditions had prepared him well enough for most things. A bounce was nothing, really. He shrugged it off while he was on the side of the road. He'd began rolling down the highway immediately once the bounce had finished.

The streetlights weren't that bright and were few in number, so the darkness did well matching his paintjob and keeping him relatively low profile. Cruising down the highway, he finally decided to send a message through his comm-link to the 'Con in charge, Onslaught.

>>Offroad here. Need another hand?<<

East Range Road – Approaching Ewa Forest Reserve

After leaving Wheeler Air Field minutes ago, Hound quickly turned onto East Range Road and headed east, following the smoke trail left in the sky by Vortex. The aerial Combaticon was no longer in visual range, having gone down somewhere in the forested area up ahead. Nova Strike was close behind him, remaining silent for the most part. The green scout wasn’t sure what he would do if he found Vortex’s location, but he certainly wasn’t going to attack until he got specific orders to do so from Prowl. That and some much needed backup as the other Combaticons were likely not far away from their downed comrade.

As Hound came to the end of the highway, he turned onto a smaller road that led into Ewa Forest Reserve, still following the smoke trail in the sky. At this point, it was getting harder to see the smoke through the ever increasing trees, but the green scout had a pretty good idea of the direction he needed to be heading in. Turning down a dirt path, Hound opened a secured comm line to his team leader:

>>”Prowl, this Hound. I’m closing in on Vortex’s location. Nice trick with the probe. He’s gone down in Ewa Forest Reserve. I’ll send you the coordinates once I’m….wait…”<<

Hound cut his transmission suddenly as he picked up a vehicle at a good distance behind, seemingly following him. It was a tan humvee that was very similar in design to his own alt mode. Was it a human vehicle from Wheeler that was coming out to investigate the downed chopper? Or was it something more? Scrap!

>>”Commander, I think we may have Swindle on our tail. There’s a tan humvee following me into the forest. I can’t be certain, but my gut tells me it’s not human. I didn’t see any tan colored humvees at the base, only green ones. Nova and I will need back-up, sir.”<<

With his message sent, Hound abruptly turned into a small clearing. “Nova, get in here!” The green scout exclaimed. Once the blue ranger was safely in the tiny clearing, Hound activated his hologram gun and filled the area with numerous holographic trees and other types of thick vegetation that would easily conceal their presence. All they had to do now was wait until the tan humvee passed them by and hope that if it was Swindle, he would not realize what had happened.

Abandoned Ranger Station – Temp Autobot Base

Several bursts of bright light flashed behind Prowl as reinforcements that the military strategist had previously requested arrived post haste. Four mechs stood a short distance away, two of which were a pair of Autotroopers.

“Commander. I have arrived, sir. What is the situation?” Rook announced, having approached the black and white first.

“Sir, I'm ready for anything that you require of me to do. As Rook said, what is our situation, sir?” Pinpoint then asked, having followed close behind Rook. The two Autotroopers brought up the rear and each gave a simple salute.

“At ease, gentlemechs,” Prowl said, turning away from the portable computer terminal that had been set up within the barn structure. He took a few steps towards the new arrivals before addressing them. “The situation is simple. A pair of Combaticon missiles were recovered by the human military and brought here to this island. One rocket was taken to Pearl Harbor Naval Base just to the south of this location while the other was taken to Wheeler Air Field just to the north. Both munitions have apparently been recovered from the humans, with the Combaticons having retrieved the one from Wheeler before Hound and Nova Strike could reach it while Red Alert and Hot Spot were successful in obtaining the other rocket from Pearl Harbor. Red and Hot Spot are on their way back here now. However, Hound and Nova are tracking the other missile which was loaded onto Vortex. After I had one of my probes crash into Vortex’s rotors, the Combaticon has gone down just to the east of Wheeler. Now….”

Prowl paused a moment as he received both of Hound’s communiques, updating him of the situation he and Nova now faced. >>”Understood, Hound. I’ll be there with back-up shortly. Stay where you are.”<<

The military strategist then returned his attention to the new arrivals. “It seems that Hound and Nova have found themselves in a precarious situation. Rook, you and I will head north to the Ewa Forest Reserve and aid them in dealing with the Combaticon threat there. Pinpoint, you head south on Route 99 towards Pearl Harbor Naval Base. Hone in on Red Alert’s and Hot Spot’s signals and give them whatever aid they require. It’s quite likely there are seekers in the area, so be cautious and on the look-out.”

Prowl then addressed the two Autotroopers behind them. “You two remain here at base camp, one guard the permitter while the other man the portable console. You will be our optics in the air. If my probes pick up anything important, report it to me immediately. Understood?”

Both Autotroopers nodded accordingly before immediately moving to their assigned locations at the base site. “All right, let’s get moving. Time is of the essence.” Prowl then transformed into his Nissan GT-R police cruiser alt mode and drove away down the dirt road until his reached Route 99. Once there, he turned left and headed north towards the Ewa Forest Reserve, assuming that Rook was following close behind.

Abandoned Ranger Station

Pinpoint acknowledged Prowl's orders with a nod and salute. As soon as he finished giving them their orders, the white and grey sniper checked her weapons. She had already cleaned and did the basic maintenance before bouncing, but she wanted to make sure the bounce didn't mess them up in any way.

Satisfied, she shifted into her Lamborghini form and sped off, using her positioning system to locate a freeway and headed south. Pinpoint locked onto Hot Spot's signal and began to close the distance between her, and the two fire vehicles.

"Hot Spot," Pinpoint said, sending a message to the executive commander and Red Alert, "My name's Pinpoint. I've been assigned as backup for the two of you guys. If you wish, you may contact Prowl of verify those orders. I understand you may have a couple of Seekers on you."

Abandoned Ranger Station

Rook listened carefully as Prowl explained the situation at hand. "The situation is simple. A pair of Combaticon missiles were recovered by the human military and brought here to this island. One rocket was taken to Pearl Harbor Naval Base just to the south of this location while the other was taken to Wheeler Air Field just to the north." Rook nodded to indicate that he understood, and internally planned out a few different ways this might end up.

But Prowl wasn't done talking. He had received an update, "It seems that Hound and Nova have found themselves in a precarious situation. Rook, you and I will head north to the Ewa Forest Reserve and aid them in dealing with the Combaticon threat there." Bots in trouble. Rook nodded again in agreement and quickly loaded himself up, before transforming into his Light Armoured Vehicle alt mode and following Prowl down onto the dirt road. While the dirt road was his preferred terrain, he would have to drive on a road at a faster speed, so he shifted his gears once he was on Route 99 and accelerated to catch up with the police cruiser ahead of him.

Ewa Forest Reserve

"Extraction my aft," Vortex said out loud in response to Ratbat's transmission to Onslaught. "Do I look incapacitated to you, batface? Just get off and keep me covered."

The Combaticon shook and then started to transform, robbing Ratbat of his perch and sending the Casseticon shrieking away.

Once in his robot mode, Vortex did another courtesy scan of the precious cargo and and started to stalk off. By air or by foot, he was getting out of here.

Oahu - Highway

>>"Copy that Ratbat. Do what you can to assist Vortex in the meantime."<< Onslaught responded to the former Senator. His tires came to a soft halt at the top of the hill closest he could get to Vortex's point of contact. He lowered the ramp on his trailer to let Brawl climb off. The Autobots have drawn first blood in this conflict. And here Onslaught was hoping this would be a simple grab and go operation. No matter, though this wasn't a part of his original plan, he knew it was to be expected.

"Brawl, make your way into the forest. Head for Vortex, get set up for barrage, wait for Blast-Off to transmit coordinates. Shoot anything with a Red badge that gets close to that missile he was carrying." Once Brawl was off the trailer, Onslaught made his way back down his hill to help retrieve the second munition.

>>"Skywarp, Nightraven, Blast-Off; I need you to pinpoint any Autobot transponders you can pick up from your vantage point, then transmit the firing solutions to Brawl. Autobots already played their hand, time for us to show them we don't take lightly to their threats."<<

As Onslaught rushed through the traffic, he received another comm, this one from a newer addition to his operation. His internal HUD began to identify the transmission and work to plan out where Offroad would best fit the current mission.

>>"Welcome to the party Offroad. Make your way into the forest and see what you can do to assist Vortex. He's down and was carrying precious cargo. Ensure the cargo is secured and protect the crash-site. Onslaught out."<<

Once the transmission was sent, the Combaticon commander focused his way towards Wheeler air field to link up with Swindle. Hopefully the munitions expert was making progress in acquiring the missing missile.

Highway

"Hot Spot," Pinpoint said, sending a message to the executive commander and Red Alert, "My name's Pinpoint.”

Tires screeched as Red Alert applied the brakes. Who? Red had never heard of her. She hadn’t been part of their original team. He hadn’t heard of a request for reinforcements. Was she a Decepticon spy? Worse yet, was she…one of the treacherous Autobots in their midst? Red stopped dead, pulling off to the side of the road to consider.

I've been assigned as backup for the two of you guys. If you wish, you may contact Prowl of verify those orders. I understand you may have a couple of Seekers on you."

Oh, as if Prowl was a reliable source of information. If anything, he was in on it. Blast it. Everyone was conspiring against him, weren’t they? What should he do? Well, first thing’s first.

>>”Prowl, there’s a Pinpoint incoming. Did you send her? And if so, why was I not informed? Why did you call for reinforcements? Why are you keeping us in the dark?!”<<

Oh, Red couldn’t wait to hear Prowl’s explanation. How dare he leave him out of the loop? This was all part of the plan, wasn’t it? Oh yes. Still, he had the current mission to finish. Revving up his engine and merging back onto the highway, Red set off at new speeds. He could handle one upstart femme. Yeah. He could even use the missile as leverage! Ha! Haha!

>>”Pinpoint, maintain a reasonable distance from myself and Hot Spot. Keep your optics to the skies. We don’t want to give away which of us has the payload.”<<


Skies

After Ratbat ejected himself from his hold to go assist the downed Vortex, Blast-Off ascended higher and higher into the sky, using cloud cover to conceal himself. Honestly, no Autobot could hope to challenge him at this height. His sensors were too keen. His dominion over the sky too overwhelming. With Seekers as his back-up, their aerial superiority should be unquestioned. And yet the Autobots had taken Vortex down.

How dare they.

Keeping tabs on both Swindle and Vortex as they wandered through the forest, Blast-Off also kept an optic out for any anomalies. Vehicles headed in the forest’s direction. It was when he was scanning for this that he spotted a car pulled off to the side of the road. Unusual. It set off shortly after he laid optics on it. Scanning it, he noted an Autobot transponder. It was one of them.

>>”Onslaught, I found one of the Autobots. They could potentially have our missing missile. Sending coordinates to Brawl.”<<

Turning his attention back to Vortex and Swindle, Blast-Off thought about how easy it would be to rain death down from above. Still, he didn’t dare do it unless ordered. However, Onslaught was letting Brawl out to play…perhaps he should confirm.

>>”Do I have permission to fire on Autobot targets as well?”<<

Highway

Offroad received Onslaught's message, signalling for him to go and help out a downed Combaticon. Something about securing precious cargo? Shouldn't be that big of a deal. >>On it, boss.<< He was ready to scrap and slash through any Autobots that may approach. He continued cruising down the highway for a little while.

Once he started approaching the coordinates he had received, he slowed down and pulled off the road, heading into the forest. His tires rolled over the grass as he manoeuvred his way through the trees, finally arriving at the coordinates. He saw some sort of entity ascending higher into the sky, and some more on the ground. He identified one of them as Ratbat, and the other as the chopper Vortex.

He dimly blinked his headlights at them to indicate them of his presence. "Greetings, here for the cargo. Let's keep the introductions for later, shall we?"

At the top of one particular hill

"Brawl, make your way into the forest. Head for Vortex, get set up for barrage, wait for Blast-Off to transmit coordinates. Shoot anything with a Red badge that gets close to that missile he was carrying."

”About fragging time!” Brawl howled, letting out some of his present frustrations. He couldn’t stand quiet, he needed noise. Sitting still and quiet on Onslaught’s trailer had been practically torture to him. Though to be completely honest he had tried to keep himself busy by playing some kind of a meatbag video game depicting tank battles. At least it had been of some help. If Onslaught had not hooked him up with it earlier – Brawl would have already ruined the whole mission, that much was for certain.

With his tracks clanking and rattling alongside the thundering roar of his turbine engine, Brawl made his way into the forest. Violently ploughing himself a path through the trees until settling up into a nice little opening without direct point of view towards his position from the highway.

Luckily enough he didn’t have to wait for targeting data for long. Blast-Off had even named the targets for him – the perfectionistic snob. As if Brawl cared. Particularly as no one had told him who to shoot. Instead he picked up nice spot between couple of Autobots. And with some good luck his explosive grenade was going to hit both Auto-tweebs. He was on the higher ground, out of sight and knew where his enemies were. All luxuries the Autobots lacked. And now the first grenade was on its way.

Obviously no one was likely going to hear his taunts from miles away but the Combaticon bruiser was a victim of his own habits, ”Hahaha! Look what uncle Brawl brought for you Autoscraps!”

Highway

>>”Pinpoint, maintain a reasonable distance from myself and Hot Spot. Keep your optics to the skies. We don’t want to give away which of us has the payload.”<<

Pinpoint checked her positioning system. She was trailing somewhere between two or three miles behind Red Alert and Hot Spot. She sighed. She wished it hadn't been Red to respond first. If the rumors were true, the security officer was a bit paranoid. Keeping her in reserve may not be the best of ideas. Or it may well be.

"Acknowledged. I'm hanging back. I'll keep my eye on the sky for our 'Cons."

Pinpoint settled into her driving routine, doing her best to not look conspicuous. Waiting came naturally to her. That being said, she kept herself busy, dividing her attention to the skies.

There. Pinpoint had located a flying object. It was definitely an aircraft of some kind. It seemed to be a human jet of some kind. She tried to get a better look, only to swerve to the side of the road, then back onto the highway.

Scrap!

Pinpoint readjusted herself, then sent a comm to Hot Spot and Red Alert.

"Guys, I don't know for sure, but I think I've got optics on a Decepticon flier. Permission to check it out?"

Ewa Forest Reserve

Vortex trekked along, figuring his journey would go along pretty much unbothered. They trashed that projectile. Surely the Autobots didn't have any sort of homing technology on it. Nah. Couldn't afford to think like that. Had to assume they did. Had to assume they were on his trail right now.

He heard it before he saw it: the telltale crack of organic foliage as it was being driven over. or through. Then the headlights. Whoever it was wasn't trying to be stealthy. Ally. Or clueless Autobot. Or clueless human. Couldn't rule out any of the above just yet.

His weapons drawn, Vortex tried his best to inconspicuously approach the other vehicle. When it finally blinked its beams, Vortex realized it had to be the backup he'd called in from Onslaught.

"Greetings, here for the cargo. Let's keep the introductions for later, shall we?" the mech said. Vortex's intelligence files identified the mech in question as Offroad. He hadn't seen him in action for a while.

"Fine by me," Vortex said, not exactly one for small talk unless it helped to loosen up an interrogation subject before he got into the good stuff. "Wait...you're here for the cargo? You mean....you're here to guard me while I safely get the cargo back to 'Con HQ, right?"

Ewa Forest Reserve

Offroad turned off his headlights, flipping his doors out and unlatching his truck mode, flipping out into the daredevil with a very noticeable green face. Drawing his Energon axe, he responded to Vortex.

"Affirmative, I'm here for the safeguard of the cargo. As well as yourself, seeing as you're grounded for the moment." He chuckled for a brief second before his faceplate returned to its usual smug smirk.

Offroad reopened his comm-link and sent a message back to Onslaught, confirming his arrival at the post. >>Onslaught, I have arrived at the site, will keep the cargo safe and such. Will inform you of any disturbances.<<

Highway

Hot Spot noticed the newest addition to the team. It surprised him Prowl brought in reinforcements when things been running smoothly so far. Hot Spot thought the less involved the better especially when it came to the humans. Admittedly with the number of Cons he counted at their location was any indication the Bots were outnumbered 2 to 1 so maybe having back up wasn't a bad idea. As much as he enjoyed bashing Cons it been nice for the past several cycles not to shoot first and ask questions later. Hot Shot wasn't too familiar with this Pinpoint but with the size of Autobot army it is little surprise.

>>Pinpoint, do not engage the enemy. Stay with us but keep optics on the skies. The Cons may have spotted us but we also have to stay hidden from the humans. We don't need to bring them in yet. Once they realize we took back our technology, they may still want to get involved but longer we can hold them off the better. If we are to engage the Cons, we will need to be further away so the civilians won't be harmed.<<

After Hot Spot closed his channel to PintPoint, he opened up one to Prowl.

>>Prowl, I appreciate the assistance but remember we are trying to stay hidden from the humans. Red and I will be at the temporary base in a couple of cycles assuming no Cons stopping us. I strongly suggest we get out ASAP with everything we brought with as little fighting as possible. Leaving giant holes in the ground and trees leveled won't go well with our mission of in and out.<<

>>Pinpoint, do not engage the enemy. Stay with us but keep optics on the skies. The Cons may have spotted us but we also have to stay hidden from the humans. We don't need to bring them in yet. Once they realize we took back our technology, they may still want to get involved but longer we can hold them off the better. If we are to engage the Cons, we will need to be further away so the civilians won't be harmed.<<

Once again, another sigh. Pinpoint wanted to do some shooting. Not that she was trigger happy. The sniper simply felt that she would be better use shooting down enemy aircraft.

However, Hot Shot did have a point. For this mission, stealth was of the upmost importance, as was the preservation of native life. She increased her speed, closing the gap between her and her teammates somewhat before opening another comm to Hot Shot.

"Yes sir. I'll keep my optics to the sky. Whit your permission, I'd like to stick back behind you two. I think I'd be more useful that way."

She waited for the executive officer's reply, looking back up at the aircraft.

Highway

Well, at least, this Pinpoint was reasonable. She agreed to keep her distance. Excellent. One less thing to worry about. That was, until, Hot Spot opened his big mouth. Blast. Blast, blast, blast. There was something in the sky. A dark pinprick barely large enough to see, but it was something. Something out to get them. Get him.

It could be a diversion though. Hastily, he cast his sensors about for any threats a touch closer. And there it was! Turning sharply and at speed, Red Alert veered off of the road and into the forest where it had come from. The spot where he would have been in the next moment exploded in a shower of flame and shrapnel.

>>”We’re under attack! The one in the sky is a diversion!”<< Red snapped as he careened through the trees, narrowly evading them. At least these obstacles weren’t out to get him. >>”Get off the road! Use the native foliage for cover!” <<

With those instructions disclosed to his two teammates, he adjusted his course so that they could make a beeline for the ranger station. The sooner that they got there, collected the proximity devices and picked up, the better. Then they could leave. He could get back to the ship that Prowl had been trying to keep him from.

He just knew it.

Highway

Pinpoint's concentration on the sky was abruptly cut off by an explosion a mile and a half up the road. What followed was several frantic cries from Red Alert. Pinpoint mulled over each.

"We’re under attack!"

Well duh. It was either that, or the ordinance they had decided to detonate, which was unlikely.

"The one in the sky is a diversion!”

Unlikely.

”Get off the road! Use the native foliage for cover!”

Pinpoint pulled over to the side of the road. To her right was a dense forest. The pearl white Autobot looked at the foliage with apprehension. She wasn't really in the mood, nor equipped, to go off-road. Casting her proximity sensors about her, she frantically sent another message to the XO.

"Hot Spot. This is Pinpoint. Please confirm Red Alert's transmission. Are we under attack, and if so, what are my orders?"

Highway

The attack didn't really surprise Hot Spot. The aerial unit that high up had to be Blast-Off. As for the bombardment, he would have to put his bets on either Brawl or Onslaught. Hot Spot wanted this mission to go without a shot fired but it wasn't the case.

>>Red Alert, we are going to race as hard as possible to the ranger station so we can get you and the package bounced out of here. After that Pinpoint and I will stick around to deal with the Cons. Once you secure the ordinance then you can return if you choose.<<

>>Pinpoint, the high up target is most likely Blast-Off of the Combaticons. They along with a few Seekers are here doing the same thing we are. It would been nice to do this without firing a shot which would have given the humans more information about us but we may have little choice. We are going to escort Red Alert to our temporary base in order for him to bounce back with the package. Then we will deal with the Cons. His idea of the natural foliage for cover is a good one even if none of us are really design well for it.<<

East Range Road

Swindle continued down the road for awhile, The green Humvee had managed to slip away in the distance up ahead. He considered commencing a search, he realized he was operating outside the parameters of the mission, and seeing as he wasnt being paid extra to fight Autobots, and there was nothing in the budget to cover ammo expenses.... so.... Swindles mind went back to the mission. He pulled a violent U-turn, almost running a family sedan off the road and sped off back to wheeler. "Frag it" thought Swindle as he flicked on the comlink.

"Commander Onslaught, I think we have Autobots..."

Swindle sent Sgt Peck a short encrypted message telling him to be ready to upload the files into the humans mainframe and be ready to extract.

Ewa Forest Reserve

"Affirmative, I'm here for the safeguard of the cargo. As well as yourself, seeing as you're grounded for the moment."

Vortex smirked underneath his faceplate. This one seemed efficient.

"Affirmative huh? Onslaught's gonna like you, heh," Vortex said, with an informal salute of acknowledgement as he resumed walking.

"S'pose all we gotta do now is get this cargo to Onslaught and we'll be set," the Combaticon Interrogator said before his sensitive audios picked up the telltale sound of an explosion.

"And sounds like the boss let Brawl out to play."

Highway

Pinpoint confirmed Hot Shot's orders. She took one more apprehensive look at the forest before plunging in.

"Red Alert, I've got your back. Concentrate on getting to base and I'll cover you. Hot Shot, should I engage if fired upon?"


In the Skies

Thundercracker cringed inwardly as Brawl let off a shot, then cringed again as it landed. A flyby gave him a sense of relief. No natives had been hit.

Yet. He told himself. Immediately, he noticed one of the targets drive off the main road and make a beeline through the forest. Even more interestingly, another vehicle -this one white- further down the road followed suit.

He assembled new firing solutions, but hesitated to follow through with sending them to Brawl. He sent a comm to Onslaught and his fellow fliers.

"Hey, I got an idea. It seems Brawl panicked the Autobots. They're being sloppy. I think we may be able to follow them to their base."

East Range Road

>>”Prowl, there’s a Pinpoint incoming. Did you send her? And if so, why was I not informed? Why did you call for reinforcements? Why are you keeping us in the dark?!”<<

As he turned onto East Range Road and headed towards the forest, Prowl received Red Alert’s transmission regarding Pinpoint. His paranoia was evident in the tone of his vocals. This was not surprising to the military strategist, but it was not something he wanted to deal with at the present moment.

>>”Of course I sent her, Red, and no one’s keeping you in the dark. In case you haven’t noticed yet we need reinforcements because we’re outnumbered. Can’t you just accept help without complaining about it or assuming that someone's out to get you? Stow your paranoia for once and focus on the mission!”<<

>>Prowl, I appreciate the assistance but remember we are trying to stay hidden from the humans. Red and I will be at the temporary base in a couple of cycles assuming no Cons stopping us. I strongly suggest we get out ASAP with everything we brought with as little fighting as possible. Leaving giant holes in the ground and trees leveled won't go well with our mission of in and out.<<

>>”Agreed,”<< Prowl commed back to Hot Spot. >>“Infiltration protocols are to remain in tact. Only engage if you are fired upon and need to defend yourselves. Otherwise, get the missile back to base camp ASAP and evacuate everything up to the Ark-22. If you find yourselves cornered by the ‘Cons, destroy the missile so they can’t get it back. Our primary goal here was to retrieve the Cybertronian tech from the humans and we have accomplished that. Rook and I are currently heading to give aid to Hound and Nova Strike. We will return to base camp as soon as possible. Prowl out.”<<

The black and white then cut his comm line as he noticed several jets flying overhead. “Rook, stay close to me. My scanners are picking up Decepticon transponders in those jets up there. We need to get under the cover of the forest now!”

With those words spoken, Prowl accelerated and quickly entered the forest reserve with Rook hopefully following close behind him. He then opened a secured comm line to the scout and ranger:

>>”Hound, Nova Strike, this is Prowl. Where are you? Send me your coordinates!”<<

Ewa Forest Reserve

Hound and Nova Strike had successfully avoided detection by Swindle. The tan-colored humvee had done a u-turn and was now heading back in the opposite direction. That was a relief to be sure. The last thing they needed was to be discovered.

“Whew! That was close,” Hound muttered to Nova who sat idling next to him. In order to avoid draining his energon reserves any further, the green scout switched off the holographic shrubbery that had hidden them so well. “We should probably try to find Vortex and the rocket he’s carrying….” Hound’s words were then cut off as Prowl’s communique come across both mech’s comm lines, demanding to know their exact location. “Thank Primus! Back-up has arrived!”

>>”Prowl, this is Hound. We read you. We’re deep in the forest not far from where Vortex crashed. His present location is currently unknown. I’m transmitting our coordinates now. Be careful, though. Swindle may be somewhere in the area.”<<

Skies above Oahu

Skywarp followed Blast Off and the other seekers in the skies over Oahu. Having failed to procure the lost missile from Pearl Harbor was disappointing, but what was worse was that they didn’t get to blow the base up afterwards. This mission, thus far, had been boring for the resident prankster, but that was to be expected when stupid infiltration rules had to be followed.

>>”Skywarp, Nightraven, Blast-Off; I need you to pinpoint any Autobot transponders you can pick up from your vantage point, then transmit the firing solutions to Brawl. Autobots already played their hand, time for us to show them we don't take lightly to their threats.”<<

>>”Transmit to Brawl?! Why can’t we just fire on those Autoscraps, ourselves? We have a better view up here than a tank-former.”<< Skywarp commed back to Onslaught. These Combaticons clearly didn’t give a scrap about the seekers in the air nor did they want the fliers’ help. Onslaught and his brood must think they can handle the ‘Bots themselves. If only Starscream had taken the throne, it would be the Combaticons taking orders from the seekers.

>>”Because Onslaught’s in charge, Skywarp. Don’t rock the boat. Just do what he says.”<< It was Nightraven, having overheard the prankster’s objection through the shared comm line.

>>”Fine, but I don’t see what a boat has to do with anything, Nighty. We’re in the air, not the water.”<< Skywarp transmitted back, making sure to use a private comm link to the seeker femme so no one else could overhear him.

Keeping his scanners attuned to the ground, Skywarp soon picked up the same signals that Blast-Off had already located. Brawl quickly fired on them as the seekers flew around in circles overhead. “Yeah, this is a load of fun,” the teleporter muttered to himself, sarcastically. Then, as he made another pass near the Ewa Forest Reserve, the prankster detected two additional Autobot transponder signals heading into the woods. He quickly opened a comm line to the Combaticon Commander and his fellow seekers:

>>”Onslaught, guys, I’m picking up two more Autobot signals below. They just disappeared into the forest and seem to be heading towards Vortex’s location. I’m sending their last known coordinates to you now.”<<

"Hey, I got an idea. It seems Brawl panicked the Autobots. They're being sloppy. I think we may be able to follow them to their base."

>>”Sounds like a good plan, ’Cracker, but we also got more ‘Bots heading towards Vortex's location. I’ll keep an optic on these slaggers the best I can while you follow the others. Okay, buddy?”<<

East Range Road

Rook noted Prowl's instructions, checking his own scanners. And surely enough, he was picking up some Decepticon signals. Tires grinding against the asphalt, Rook followed the black and white cruiser going off road, into the forest cover. Something told him that this wasn't going to be an easy in-and-out like he was used to. He lowered his engine's power to make less sound. Entering the overhead cover of the forest, Rook armed his smoke charges in the case that they might need even more of a distraction. He knew Prowl would be able to manage and figure something out, but he kept his processors running at full force either way in the heat of the moment.

Forest

As Hot Spot and his team drove through the dense forest bouncing over rocks and logs alike, he received the updated orders from Prowl. It seemed everyone on his team was to get out. It makes sense to Hot Spot even if he felt bad for leaving Prowl but knowing the prick bot, he could take care of himself and his team.

>>Red Alert, Pinpoint, slight change to plans. Red is taking the missile with him back to the Ark-22. Pinpoint and I will disassemble the computer terminal we brought down and then bounce back. We fire on the Cons only in self-defense. Remember this mission is supposed to be an in and out mission. Hopefully the Cons will remember the infiltration protocols as well.<<

First Aid is going to have a fun time looking at me after this mission. He will probably say something like I'm not built for all of this off path bit while in vehicle mode. I just hope there won't be any holes for him to look at thanks to Con fire. If I had to guess, the explosions are probably due to Brawl having fun. Biggest question is to why would Onslaught allow his troops to exercise this amount combat level considering the very nature of this mission for both sides.