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Space, Sol system

In the vast emptiness between the planets, the very fabric of space seemed to twist, distorting and rippling as if giant hands had gripped it and begun to mangle its' surface. Had the telescopes of Earth, the closest planet to the distortion, been focused on this particular area, they would have been sure they had discovered a wholly new phenomenon. They would have been right - the fabric of subspace ripped open disgorging the burnt-orange bulk of an Autobot freight shuttle.

"All right! We made it!" exclaimed Blaster, the Autobot communications expert who just happened to be manning the controls of the shuttle. "Eject, get me an exact position, and Earth here we come."

"You got it coach," the cassetobot replied, turning his attention to the navigation console in front of him. "Baseball, Basketball, heck even Nascar, and no time delay... I can't wait."

"Uh guys, you might want to put your celebrations on hold," Rewind interjected. "I'm reading a subspace distortion on our six. Looks like that 'con followed us through."

"How in the name of Jimi's left hand did she manage that?" Blaster demanded, perplexed. "She didn't have a ship, there's no way a 'con plane should be able to generate her own transwarp field." Even as he spoke, Blaster's fingers danced over the controls, bringing the sub-light engines online, then shoving the handle that controlled thrust all the way forward. The freighters engines roared to fiery life and the heavy shuttle surged forward at a speed far beyond manufacturer's recommendations.

"Rewind, get the stealth filters online. We're still under infiltration protocols, we don't want the humans seeing us," Blaster commanded even as exact coordinates appeared on his screen courtesy of Eject's efforts. The Autobot adjusted his course towards the distant blue gem of Earth just as the sleek purple and black form of the Decepticon fighter appeared on his rear monitor.

"She's here and under her own power," Rewind remarked pointing at the screen. "I'm sure there's nothing in the archives about anyone doing that, though there was a professor on Cybertron that was researching such things circa.."

"Not now Rewind," Blaster interrupted. "She's firing at us!"

Lances of pale purple fire shot from the cannons mounted under the wings of the Decepticon jet, raking the rear portions of the Autobot shuttle. The freighter shook under the assault, and though it's armor was no match for the Decepticon's firepower, the sheer mass of the vessel made her attack less deadly than it could have been.

"Autobot shuttle, I am Slipstream! Surrender to me and live!"

"Eat me!" Blaster replied, borrowing an earthly colloquialism that seemed particularly apt, and driving the shuttle into a series of evasive maneuvers that made its' superstructure groan and creak alarmingly. Unfortunately for the Autobots, their shuttle was no match for the speed and maneuverability of the Decepticon on their tail, and her laser fire continued to rip into the rear sections of the ship.

"I have an idea!" Rewind proclaimed, leaping from his chair and racing back into the cargo bay.

Blaster had no idea what the cassetobot had in mind, or how he'd bolster their flagging defenses when suddenly the power output of the shuttle redlined, and acceleration slammed him back into his seat. The freighters engine output went from orange to blue white and flame shot out from the back of the shuttle to four times its normal distance. The burst of rocket fire from the shuttle surprised Slipstream, causing her to pull up, and allowing the shuttle to gain a few seconds lead. A few critical seconds that brought them in range of the Earth natives' primitive scanning devices.

The Decepticon jet let loose with yet another blast from her lasers though her power supply was rapidly reaching critical levels. The Autobots had no way to know that though, and Blaster transmitted desperately on a tight band back at his pursuer. "Stop firing you crazy glitch! The humans will see us, and neither Megatron or Prime want that."

"I'll not let your cargo fall into Autobot hands," Slipstream snarled and consequences be damned, fired off a pair of heat seeking missiles. They streaked unerringly into the thrusters of the freighter, blowing the already damaged engines, and sending the shuttle screaming down through Earth's atmosphere.

As the shuttle ripped across the skies in a display the humans could hardly fail to note, Blaster tried desperately to bring it under control. To no avail. The engines were gone, and the maneuvering jets wouldn't even begin to halt their headlong flight into oblivion. The communications expert sent a quick distress signal to Ark-19 then popped open his chest cavity, allowing Rewind and Eject to transform and merge with him. Then with only seconds to spare, he activated the emergency bounce platform and disappeared from the ailing ship, just before it slammed down into the deep waters of the GULF OF MEXICO.

OOC - Slipstream belongs to Devastron, he was gracious enough to allow me to use her to intro this new story arc.

Above the Earth

Slipstream blinked into existence some distance behind the Autobot shuttle. She’d been fortunate to pick up the coordinates the Autobot was jumping too. The spy had to call in quite a few favors to gain the coordinates of that abandoned ship loaded with real energon. It must have been lost before the Great War had even started. She had planned to claim it for herself and present most of it to Megatron himself. No one would know that she would have her own personal stash safely hidden away. It would be put to good use for the Empire though, keeping her fueled and maybe being used as bribes on those rare occasions when her words weren’t enough to win someone over.

Unfortunately when she had arrived at the coordinates she saw that an Autobot had beat her to it. From all of the yelling on the communication frequencies she quickly found out she was up against the infamous Blaster. How a loud mouthed idiot like him had located this lost energon was a mystery to the femme. He must have gotten lucky and just stumbled on to it. She wasn’t about to let him take all of that energon for himself. Slipstream was so irritated that she had simply started blasting away, not even bothering to use any words this time.

The seeker had taken a chance following Blaster, transwarping to coordinates just behind him. Sure, space was mostly empty but it wasn’t the type of risk she usually took. She was simply so irritated that she wouldn’t be stopped. Unfortunately the trip to Earth had nearly wiped out her fuel reserves. The femme did notice that there was an infiltration group located on this planet though. It meant that any chance for a personal stash was shot to the pit, but at least she could deliver the energon to the base commander and earn a commendation.

Slipstream opened fire on the Autobot vessel once again. Her energy levels were nearing the red line but she had to bring this thing down before it got to an Autobot base. Unfortunately bringing down a big ship like this one wasn’t exactly her forte. Maybe it was time to use words now.

>>"Autobot shuttle, I am Slipstream! Surrender to me and live!"<<

>>"Eat me!"<<

Oh well, she had tried at least. She fired on the shuttle again, her lasers slowly nibbling away at the other vessel. The seeker was going to be happy just doing that until Blaster was forced to give up when the shuttle suddenly lurched forward. “Agggh!” She pulled up as the sudden burst of flame from the ship’s engines nearly singed her. The femme let out a low growl and resumed the chase, but now the Autobot had a bit of a lead. She fired on him again, her energy nearly depleted.

>>"Stop firing you crazy glitch! The humans will see us, and neither Megatron or Prime want that."<<

Slipstream let out a frustrated sigh to herself. Screw infiltration, she wasn’t going to let this idiot beat her. She would just have to talk her way out of any punishment later, and that would be easy with a ship full of energon.

>>"I'll not let your cargo fall into Autobot hands!"<<

With no other tricks left Slipstream let go with both of her missiles. She watched with some satisfaction as they both struck the ship, sending it spiraling down to the vast stretch of water below. Unfortunately she didn’t have the energy to go down there and try and retrieve the energon herself. She was going to have to make her way to the Decepticon base on planet and refuel and report in.

With the last bit of her energy she changed course, activated her stealth systems and sent a signal to the Decepticon base making them aware of the situation.

Somewhere in Mississippi

<SPLASH>

A brief moment of panic struck Blaster as he impacted with water. That wasn't the plan. An emergency bounce was supposed to put the evacuee on land if there was any in range, or uplink with an orbiting ship if that was a possibility. He wasn't sure what part of the process had failed or what he was going to do if he had landed in the middle of an ocean somewhere, but his panicked thoughts were cut short when he impacted with muddy bottom.

Oh this is going to be wonderful for my systems, he thought yanking himself from the muck and clambering to his feet. The water only came up to his chest,so it was only about 20 feet deep, but it was brown, smelled bad, and was likely filled with more micro-organisms than he could count.

>>On average bayou water contains...<<

"Shut up Rewind, I don't want to know," Blaster said aloud, cutting off the cassetobot's thought. The only problem with carrying his symbionts was their internal communications with him could be very distracting, and in a lot of cases about things he didn't want to hear. It was almost like one of the human psychological conditions - schizophrenia, but Blaster at least had the advantage of knowing that the voices in his head were real, and the option to mute them if they got too annoying.

The big Autobot struggled through what appeared to be a fair sized lake, his weight causing him to sink up to his knees in the silt and mud that made up the bottom, until he finally emerged on the shore. He was coated in muck over a large portion of his body, and he could feel it gumming up his works.

"This is just great," he grumbled, "but at least it doesn't look like anyone saw my entrance."

>>That dive definitely wouldn't have scored more than a 3 coach<<

Blaster chuckled a bit at Eject's comment as he scraped what mud he could from his chest and legs. From what he could knew of Earth geography (which was somewhat limited, his main focus had always been on popular culture, especially music, not maps) he was probably somewhere along the United States Gulf coast. The land near the ocean was full of bogs and bayous that could go on for miles. That meant he wasn't likely to run into too many humans out here, but it also meant he had a fair hike to find some transportation since his alternate form wasn't exactly mobile, and with that crazy Decepticon femme still probably flying around somewhere close, it wasn't safe to start transmitting and draw attention to himself. So, no calling base for a ride either.

"Steeljaw, time to earn your keep," he said, popping open his chest cavity, and ejecting an Iphone that transformed in mid-air into a golden lion.

"What do you require Blaster?" Steeljaw inquired, sniffing the air and already beginning to analyze the tremendous amount of information he gleaned from his chemical receptors.

"I need to know the quickest way out of this swamp, and for you to scout ahead for me."

"Of course. I'm picking up a stronger scent of hydrocarbons due east, so there is likely a roadway in that direction." He gestured with his nose to indicate the proper route, then without further comment took off heading that way. Blaster had confidence in Steeljaw's ability to stay out of sight. Of all his symbionts, the lion was the most professional, and would remember the importance of the infiltration protocols. Besides, no one was going to sneak up on Steeljaw, not with that nose.

Knowing that his scout would let him know if any humans got close, in plenty of time to transform and activate his holo-matter avatar anyway, Blaster set off through the bayou towards civilization.

Gulf of Mexico - Deep Water

With a pop of displaced water, Hound appeared in jeep mode above an undersea ridge. He gradually manuvered to the sea floor, using what little aquatic equipment her had. The pressure held his Cybertronian made body like a vice: He could withstand it for now, but it still wouldn't be a good idea to stay here for too long.

The sludge on the seafloor turns to cloud as the Autobots wheels find purchase and propel him along the sea floor. Not very fast, he was no Seaspray, but enough to cover ground, and to cover the search area in an hour or two. Even with the mission being as important as it was, Hound was slightly glad of the leisurely pace: He hadn't really gotten a chance to rest since he arrived back at HQ, and this would be a wonderful oppurtunity to see a part of the planet that the Autobot rarely got a chance to see.

Somewhere in Mississippi

"Okay Rewind, I have a question," Blaster said. As he made his slow progress through what could only be called a swamp, the Autobot had nothing to do but thing, and there was something that had been nagging at him since their rollercoaster ride of a shuttle flight into Earth orbit.

<<Yes?>>

"What exactly did you do to the shuttle to send us rocketing forward like that? I'd have sworn there was no way to get that much power out of the engines."

<<Oh that... I simply added some of the energon we were carrying to the fuel mix. One may increase the RPMs of earthly diesel engines by adding whiskey to the fuel mix. I extrapolated that since our current fuel systems were adapted for lesser fuel sources, adding pure energon to the mix would increase our power output.>>

"So you had no idea if it would work..." Blaster began, then started to laugh. Basically he could have either gotten angry at the risk, or choose to appreciate it. He opted for the latter.

"Well at least things are never dull," he commented, and marched on.

Gulf of Mexico - Deep Water

Long minutes passed as Hound pushed his way through the waters, seeking any sign of his goal. This environment, more than any other on this unusual planet, was alien to him, the very idea of so much liquid in one place being mind boggling. Even the Rust Sea of central Cybertron had been nothing like this. And yet, like the rest of Earth, Hound found himself liking it. The fish, the plants, the swirls of dust disturbed by his wheel, and most of all, the sound of the deep ocean, it all added to make a unique experience, one Hound hoped he could see again sometime, possibly with better equipment.

The scout was skirting around a large patch of sea-weed when his sensors finally picked something up. Heading forward, Hound could just about pick out a large metallic shape, resting halfway down a slope which led to a trench. Not only was the design unlike any earth vehicle, Hounds sensors could pick up the faintest whiff of something familiar in the water: Energon.

>>This is Hound to Autobot HQ. I've located the vessel, sending co-ordinates now. Be adviced, its not in the safest of location, and there might be Energon leakage.<<

Somewhere in Mississippi

Blaster was still knee deep in the bogs when he picked up Hex's transmission. The question of course was - is it safe to answer? Unless that psycho femme seeker stayed well out of range, Blaster was fairly confident he could take her. He was a match for any of the seeker core in a stand up fight, not to mention he had built-in back-up. Besides, now that he'd had a few cycles to think about it he was sure he could disguise any transmission he made in all the native radio clutter.

The communications specialist was right in the middle of scanning the local frequencies for a suitable signal to piggyback when he was interrupted by a signal from Steeljaw.

>>You'd better transform and activate your holo-matter avatar Blaster. You have humans incoming. Judging from the smell there are at least 6 of them, and they have all been consuming some sort of ethyl alcohol distillate.<<

"Great, just what I need - a bunch of liquored up rednecks out looking for the UFO," Blaster grumbled as he made his way to dry land and activated his transformation sequence. It was, as always, a bit disconcerting shunting a large portion of his mass into subspace, but at least this time he had a full tank of the good stuff (he'd had to sample the energon after all), and he could afford the energy drain repeatedly without any risk to himself or his symbionts. Within seconds, where once had stood a 30+ foot robot, now there was a rather rough looking, tattooed guy holding a large Ipod dock shaped like an old boom box. Blaster's avatar then hefted the radio to his shoulder and slogged off towards the trees.

"Keep an eye on them Steeljaw, but stay out of sight. I have to get in touch with Hex," he transmitted, then went back to work searching for an appropriate signal. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, and soon he was sending a message back to the Ark.


Gulf of Mexico - Deep Water


A silvery light lanced from the sky into the depths of the ocean. When the light faded, Ironhide and several other Autobots appeared in the water. As soon as the disorientation from the Bounce faded, the old warhorse began issuing orders.

"Hound, Hardhead yer our perimeter. Find some good cover and give us some protection. Blackstrike, ah want you to head up to the surface and get in the air - keep an eye out for incoming 'cons. If they fly in or bounce in, you'll spot 'em coming, but don't you dare engage. They'll outnumber you up there, so you just spot 'em, report in, and fall back here with the rest of us. No heroics! Brawn, Smokey - get down in that ship and lemme know what the energon looks like and how tough you think it'll be to get it outta there. Wish it was in a better spot, but we'll work with what we got. Ah'll be floatin' here to coordinate things and get the rest of 'em movin' as they get here."

Gulf of Mexico-Deep Water

Prowl and brawn found themselves no longer in the Ark, but now on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, with the advance unit.

Prowl briefly examined the openness of the watery area before Ironhide gave out his orders. He proceeded to walk, but found he could not move as fast. Additionally there was a pressing feeling he experienced from the water pressure. He had expeienced such environment sbefore when away from Cyebrtron on survey missions, so this was nothing new to him.

Still, he needed to ensure that the jamming arrays were up and running.

"Ironhide, I'll go on ahead with Smokescreen and Brawn and examine the energon. However, I need some assistance in setting up these jamming arrays. I'll place the central one at the ship. But we need each of the others set up at a half kilometer radius from the ship." he explained. "Once activated, we'll cut off the Decepticons frequencies and they won't be able to coordinate unless up close."

Originally, Prowl had the arrays sey up further out, but given the time constraint they had, he needed to modify his plan. However, they had numeorus advantages in the water. Flight would not be an option to their enemies this time, additonally, no flamethrowers or missiles, aside torpedos and mines.

"Each of us takes one to a coordinate I'm giving each of you, digs a hole, activates it, drops it, burys it, and resumes their assignment. We should have enough of us to do this quickly." he continued.

"Hey whatever Prowl." Brawn spoke up, taking and array in hand. "Just give me a spot close by and I'll take care of it. I'll say this though, we'd best hope those Decepticons take their time. As a matter of fact, let's hope they fly here."

Brawn knew if it was Megatron leading, they'd bounce, but if it was Starscream, in typical seeker fashion, they'd take the long way out of a sense of pride as flyers. He'd like to give Megatron a reason to give Starscream a much-deserved thrashing for not being fast enough.

Gulf of Mexico – Deep Water

A shard of brilliant light shot down from the clouds and penetrated the calm surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The bright shaft dove deep into the murky waters until it struck the seabed where Smokescreen, Hardhead and the rest of their Autobot comrades materialized near the downed spacecraft. The diversionary tactician took a step forward through the mud and sand as he looked around to get a bearing on his surroundings. Hardhead, on the other hand, simply remained still as the muck slowly began to envelop his ankle joints. There were no signs yet of any Decepticon intruders, but that would surely not last for very long.

Both mechs listened closely as Ironhide gave out his orders. Hardhead nodded and turned to the green scout standing nearby. “Okay, Hound, you take that side of the ship and I’ll take the other.” Without another word, the seasoned veteran turned and made his way towards the far side of the ship. Trudging through the watery depths was a bit of a chore, but it didn’t faze a big strong mech like Hardhead. He barely noticed the added resistance as he walked along the gulf floor. He soon found some cover behind a large coral reef where he knelt down and readied his shatterblasters for the eventual confrontation.

Meanwhile, once Ironhide had finished giving out his orders, Smokescreen then listened to Prowl’s instructions on how to set up the individual arrays. “Doesn’t sound too hard. Here’s the central array for you to place on the ship, Prowl,” Smokey said as he set the container he had been carrying down next to the military strategist. The diversion expert then took one of the smaller jamming devices and started plodding towards his designated coordinate.

Gulf of Mexico - Deep Water

Blackstrike felt really uncomfortable, he wasn't used to this much water, he wasn't able to move freely, it was really annoying him. "Yeah sure, from the space this water looks so beautiful, but it's really annoying, I had to get out of the water as soon as I can." The black mech then noticed the other 'bots that had appeared next to him. They were all ready to kick some 'con aftess, and he could understand their excitement, he was looking to test the new maneuver he learned.

"Hey, Smokey!!! Be careful, remember we had to take an energon drink after this." The engineer listened carefully as Ironhide gave his orders. "Understood Sir, but I don't make any promises, I'll try to avoid combat, but if a 'con shoots at me....... well, it's not going to be a good day for him." After responding to Ironhide, 'Strike jumped and transformed in mid air into his Blackbird form and flew to the air patrolling the sky. "I have to be alert, in any minute the 'cons could appear, I cannot let my guard down."

Gulf of Mexico - Deep Water

Shotblur didn't quite like being in water, but once he bounced, he couldn't really choose otherwise. Either way, he had a mission to do.

...but what was he supposed to do? "Uh...sir? Reconnaissance Autobot Shotblur reporting for duty...I didn't receive any orders. What am I supposed to do?" Shotblur meekly made out, gazing at Ironhide as he spoke. Asking superiors to repeat themselves is difficult, especially if you're pointing out an error--in this case being left without a specific assignment. It didn't hurt to double-check, however, and it's better to anger a superior than to attempt to blindly wade through a mission.

Gulf of Mexico - Deep Water

"Will do, Ironhide!!" The Autobot scout makes a slow turn and heads to the indicated perimeter, which takes him back into the seaweed patch. He's soon lost from sight, the murk of the water and the swaying fronds hiding him as well as any of his illusions.

This is a good spot to set up a watch, as I've good great concealment, but I can still watch things. Well, I can to a certain degree. At least if I stay still, I'll be able to detect anyone else coming through here.

Gulf of Mexico – Deep Water

Jazz appeared in the water near where Ironhide was standing. He could see that Ironhide had already set everyone to his assigned task, so Jazz gave Ironhide a salute and set about his. Prowl would surely be along in a few moments. Jazz made his way to the emergency hatch of the shuttle and located the manual override and started work on getting access to the interior.

Ocean Floor

Prowl took one of the smaller arrays, alongside the central array and began walking towards the coordinate closest to Smokescreen's spot. It was slow, but he maintained a steady pace. He noted Jazz already moving on ahead, which he didn't mind. He'd be there in a couple of minutes,still, he felt a sense of urgency in getting everything set up. he also needed to get Jazz his equipment. He also had hoped Jazz picked up what he asked for. They'd need it. He came to one of his designated coordinate and began digging a decent sized hole, where eh dropped the array before covering it with the sand he dug up. He looked over to Smokescreen and have a thumbs up that it was secure.

He activated his commlink since he was some distance form the others, and being in water would limit the range of his vocal processors output.

>>"Smokescreen, Brawn, once you're done, go on ahead, I'll be right behind you. Jazz, go on in and examine that energon first and report it's status back to Ironhide! We'll begin our work once I get in and we get the equipment situated. I have something for you. make sure everyone going in gets some of that equipment I asked for.<<

Brawn was right behind Prowl as well, carrying another array, only Brawn stopped short of Prowl at a coordinate he took and began digging. He dug the sand out just deep enough to drop the array is and covered it back up with ease.

>>"Roger that Prowl, I'm finished and on my way in. See ya inside."<<

Brawn swam ahead, faster than Prowl, who was weighted down with that final array. Though part of him wanted to help out, he knew the strategist would not want that in the given situation. Time was of the essence. he he got closer tot he ship, he could only assume Smokescreen was right behind him, however, he didn't bother to look back, focusing on the crashed ship in front of him.

Ocean Floor

"Geez buddy, you sure do manage to make yourself unobtrusive," Ironhide remarked when Shotblur pointed out that he'd been present since the initial bounce. The old red mech had completely overlooked him. Of course being unobtrusive wasn't a bad skill for a recon specialist. It made staying alive a whole lot more likely. "Anyways, make yerself scarce again. Find a good spot and yer on perimeter watch - nail the 'cons when they come in."

As he spoke, Ironhide noted that Jazz had arrived, so his full team was now present. That meant he was free to quit playing traffic director and get into position himself. He trudged across the sea-floor and took up position in the shadow of the ship. It gave him a good view of the likely field of engagement and gave him some cover, but it left him close enough to the salvage crew that he could assist them if needed.

"Aw right guys we're as ready as we're gonna be," he said, transmitting on the local command frequency. "Brawn, Smokescreen - lemme know as soon as yer ready to move the energon. Jazz, Prowl, the same goes fer you guys - just holler when yer done. The rest of you, stay frosty, ah'm sure the 'cons won't let us get in and out without payin' us a visit."

Gulf of Mexico - Ocean Floor

Smokescreen reached his designated coordinate and immediately began digging a hole in the soft mud and sand of the seabed. He dug down a few feet and then dropped the small array into the opening. Smokey then received Prowl's communique and opened a comm line back to the military strategist:

>>"Roger that, Prowl. I'm almost done here. Then I'll head on over to the ship."<<

Smokescreen closed his comm link and quickly covered up the array. As he began swimming over towards the crashed ship, he heard Ironhide's transmission and responded accordingly. "No problem, Ironhide. We'll be sure to give you a holler when we're ready." Smokey continued onward through the murky depths of the gulf. His joints still felt good even though they had now been exposed to the salt water longer than before. The anti-corrosion spray was working so far, but who knows how long that would last.

Smokescreen soon caught sight of Brawn up ahead. They were almost to the ship now where Jazz was already working on getting them inside.

*********

Hardhead remained silent and hidden behind the large coral reef located not too far from the ship. Patience was not one of his virtues, but the green mech had no other choice in this case. Until the 'cons arrived to get their well deserved aft-whooping, Hardhead would have to settle for counting the number of fish that swam by his optics in a single cycle.

"Does staying frosty mean I can shoot some of these fraggin' fish?" Hardhead replied to Ironhide over the local command frequency. "They keep trying to swim into my audio receptors."

Ocean Floor

Brawn reached the ship where Jazz was already working at the door. While, hitting it with his fist might help, they needed to keep the ship itself from flooding, provided there was no leaks already. The ship itself, despite the damage, looked relatively intact, which was a good sign. It was just a matter of getting that energon out and fast.

"Hurry up Jazz, ol'buddy!" Brawn said wanting to collect the energon quickly before the Decepticons arrived. of course, the other option was to wait for Prowl, which he preferably wished to avoid with the time limit.

Prowl, meanwhile, made his way towards the ship with Smokescreen already passing him. He could barely catch a glimpse of the glowing of optics from Brawn and Jazz, who were up ahead. Of course, he noted that not all of the arrays had been place din position. he needed that jamming field. Not sure of how much time he had, He opened a comm to Ironhide.

>>Ironhide, it's Prowl. We got any extra hands available? I need the rest of those arrays put into position or the jamming field won't suffice. There's eight in total minus the central array, three of them have been planted. They just need to be planted and I can handle the rest. However, I think if we can get most of them up, that should be enough for a decent range. I'm on my way to the ship now. Brawn and Jazz are working on getting in. Smokescreen should arrive momentarily."<<

Time was growing short. He needed everything set up properly or their fight may be an uphill one. A repeat of the Oil Drill Platfrom was what he wished to avoid.

Gulf of Mexico – Ocean Floor

Smokescreen finally arrived at the ship alongside Brawn and Jazz. Considering the velocity at which the Autobot craft must have struck the water, it was in remarkably good shape overall. Smokey scanned over the hull of the ship and detected no major breachs that would threaten to flood the vessel. There were numerous dents and some very minor cracks, but nothing serious to worry about.

“Well, guys, the hull appears to be intact according to my scans. I'm not detecting any substantial leaks. However, I am picking up high energon readings coming from deep within the ship. It looks like the energon is in the main storage bay. It shouldn’t take us too long to get there once we’re inside. Then we can see how much energon is salvageable and how stable it is for transport.”

North Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula

Starscream materialized on the deserted shore of the Yucatan and waited for the rest of his team to arrive.

North Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula

Kranix came back into existence several yards behind Starscream and the other Cons, and resisted the urge to shout expletives. Teleportation rated somewhere beneath flying and crawling as Krunix's preferred methods of transport, but he wasn't about to complain.

Starscream had said help coordinate the teams. Coordination meant communication. Not the most glamorous position, and not his strong suit to be sure, but it was important and the Void be damned if Krunix was going to leave the mission in the hands of Hellion or one of the Coneheads. Krunix switched active power from defense systems to communication functions, and his HUD began giving him the readout after readout on the active Con frequencies in the area, unknown broadcasting signals, and background human chatter.

With Soundwave present, however, the point seemed little more than supplemental. Krunix had always liked the quiet Communications Officer: he got the job done, and he kept his eyes ahead of them. The more viscous rumors he'd heard about the nigh-faceless Decepticon, he took for just that: rumors.

Krunix adjusted his communication equipment, using his signal to run passive to Soundwave's broadcasting subroutines. As he approached the more senior Decepticon, he saluted him, "Starscream suggested I help with Coordination. I've already set my comm equipment to sync to yours to boost strength. Anything else I can do?"

Gulf of Mexico - Ocean Floor

Shotblur nodded in acknowledgment to Ironhide's orders, then quickly ran off to find a defensible position. Once he had acquired a prime location, he kept his optics on the lookout for Decepticons and readied his rifle. Finally, after all this time, he was in his zone--his atmosphere. He liked the feel the pre-battlefield had, the kind of certainty that one experienced when an enemy force was approaching, the calm before the storm.

Unfortunately, once the Decepticons came, it would be a lot less calm.

Gulf of Mexico -- Ocean Floor

Listening to Prowl giving out directions always amused Jazz. It was comforting to know he was on top of things, leaving Jazz free to carry out his part of the mission. Prowl looking after defense of the area and Ironhide commanding the operation meant that the next task of importance fell to him, getting everyone inside.

Ironhide’s orders came through on the local command frequency. “Roger that Ironhide. You’ll know as soon as me when we gots what we need,” Jazz replied. “Now let’s crack this sucka open.”

Jazz had manually overridden literally thousands of doors, hatches, and portals in his time in the war with the Decepticons. This door, apparently, had decided it would be especially difficult. The electrical pathways seemed to be randomly rerouting themselves. Jazz figured the salt water and silt was having its way with the Cybertronian technology. Carefully pulling at two wires, his concentration was broken by the arrival of Brawn.

“Hey Brawn. I’m working as fast I can. This door likes me as much as I like cosmic rust.”

Always trying to keep optimistic, Jazz could only smile at his friend. In reality he was running short on patience. Before long he’d be asking Brawn to smash the door in. There was one thing left for him to try, though. It might seem crazy, but all it needed was the utmost precision.

“Brawn, you’ve got thick armour. Hold these,” Jazz indicated the two wires he was holding. “When I tell you, make the connection and I’ll coax the manual system with my photon rifle. I’m gonna shoot this spot right between your arms.”

Listening to his own words it did sound like a wacky approach, but then again that was what he was known for. Thinking outside the box was his specialty. He wanted to have a working door rather than a smashed one to keep too much of the sea water from getting in and disrupting the computers, or even worse the energon.

North Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula

Skywarp, Thundercracker and Blitzwing appeared on the northern shores of the Yucatan overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It was the same body of water where the human oil platform had once been located. That is, of course, before the Decepticons had destroyed the rig after beating the Autobots and taking all of the fuel for themselves. That had been a glorious victory for the empire, and one that 'Warp hoped would be repeated once again on this current mission.

Standing with the rest of the assembled 'cons, Skywarp patiently waited for Starscream to give the order to move out.

Ocean Floor

Taking the wires from Jazz, Brawn cast a look of uncertainty. What was Jazz planning? Part of him honestly wished Wheeljack was still around as they might already be inside examining and beginning to transport the energon.

"Okay Jazz. Just be careful! I don't want to miss out once the fighting starts." Brawn replied, ready for Jazz to begin. The sooner they got in, the better he'd feel.

Prowl, meanwhile, finally managed to get to the spot he intended to set the central jamming array. Putting the array aside for the moment, he began pushing sand and mud aside, making the hole deep enough to secure the array. Once it was deep enough, he turned his attention to the array. He already had a record of every known Decepticon frequency, however, this did not mean they had an ability to hack in and listen in. They would need someone like Blaster for that role. He programmed the jammer to jam those frequencies and then set it to activate on his command, remotely.

However, there was still a problem, several Autobots had gone on ahead without taking an array to set, especially given some of the coordinate were on their way. He needed someone to set most of them to have a field with an acceptable range. he switched on a channel to Ironhide.

>>"Ironhide, the rest of those arrays have not been set. Can we spare someone to set three more? It should not take long. I've made a few alterations to the coordinates so those three can pick up some slack. Here's the coordinates I'm specifying."<< he asked.

Once he was done with that, he set the jammer in the hole and covered it with the very Earth and sand he dug out, taking a few more moments to make it not look so subtle. Once that was finished, he swam up to join the rest of the team, now just waiting on Jazz.

North Coast, Yucatan Peninsula

Starscream looked around and saw that his team was assembled.

"Alright, lets waste no more time. Decepticons transform and move out!"

Starscream gave his order and dived over the cliff edge, transforming into his alternate mode and flew low to the waters surface towards the location of the crashed ship. He hoped to avoid any surface scanning devises with his proximity to the surface of the water, though he was certain that any keen optics searching the sky could certainly spot him. Hence why after he was several klicks away from the crash site he dove into the water, using his momentum to carry himself to the ocean floor. He transformed there into his robot form and waited for his team to catch up.