The Energon Pub

Bounce Chamber:

"Yes, Fireflight it is," said the Arielbot as he extended his hand and gave Blades the handshake he gestured with, "And you are Blades?"

After Blades' response, Fireflight then said, "You know, I would ask you what's going on, but you probably know less than me. All I know is that we're trying to figure out a combination for us Arielbots, and you Protectobot guys are needed for some reason."

---

How silly. Blades being so friendly when it's obvious that something odd is going on. Where is his brain? I always knew he had the mind of an Arielbot. Streetwise thought about why they were called here. Perceptor seemed to be wanting to look them over for some reason. Interesting.

Bounce Chamber

"Indeed I am", Blades replied as he loosened his grip on Fireflight's hand.

Blades listened to Fireflight as he talked about combination. "From what I've heard, we Protectobots are gonna be made into a combiner as well, but that's about it."

Blades looked back at the Protectobots and noticed Streetwise's slight expression of concern. He rolled his eyes and smiled. Leave it to Streetwise to be suspicious of everything, he thought to himself.

Bounce Chamber:

"Well, you guys seem to be a diverse group of brothers," said Fireflight to Blades who just rolled his eyes at Streetwise. Fireflight glanced back at Blades with a chuckle.

"TWO Autobot combiners you say? Well, if that's the case, we would definitely have the upper hand in that fight, assuming that the Decepticons haven't made another of their own. Even then however, Devastator is a babbling idiot himself, and ours would be much smarter," said Fireflight with a nod.

Just as they were chatting, the Protectobot cop walked over.

"Blades," piped in Streetwise, "how do you KNOW we are being turned into one as well? From WHOM have you heard this rumor?"

Bounce Chamber

"We sure are", Blades responded with a smirk.

"Ha, we were just talking about Devastator before we got into the chamber. He wouldn't stand a chance against us".

Blades was taken aback by Streetwise's interjection, and took a second to compose himself. "Jeez, Streetwise. No need to get your pelvic armor in a wad. I just overheard a couple of Jetfire's tech heads talking about it, that's all", he shot back.

Bounce Chamber:

The cop let out a sigh, "Sorry Blades, just uptight right now. Tell me if you find any info." Streetwise then walked off.

"Like I said, very diverse," said Fireflight before then letting out a hearty laugh.

"Got any name ideas for yours?" asked Flireflight, referring to the combined mode that the Protecotobots might eventually have.

Bounce Chamber

The primary weapon's designer remained as silent as a sentry on the edge of the bounce pad. His optics locked on the gathering of Autobot special units that had decided it was optimal to flood the chamber. Inwardly he released a frustrated sigh, though let no sound emit from his vocorder. Speculation ran rampant throughout, imaginations of which Ironfist felt no need to outright dismiss or quash. Indeed there was truth to their rumors... the purpose for this gathering was for members of the Project: Superior Titan to discover potential candidates that had the unexpressed theoretical spark trait.

Finally he stepped off the bounce pad. He tugged at the satchel that hung at his left side. Carefully he pulled the straps tighter before he glanced over to the Protectobots before turning his attention to Fireflight and the other members of the Autobot Air Force Squadron known as the Aerialbots. "I do not wish to burst your proverbial bubbles gentlemechs... however, do not go counting your 'Gestalts' before they are officially constructed."

Now commanding the attention of the chamber, albeit briefly, Ironfist shook his head. "As it stands, any and all discussion regarding this Project, will be better served in Main Engineering Laboratory Alpha. After you are all refueled, and have undergone medical examinations by this ship's staff, I want all of you to report there for further briefing and explanation as to what we are attempting to accomplish. Until we are all assembled in that location, please keep speculations to a minimum."

With that Ironfist left the ship's bounce chamber and disappeared on the lift that would deposit him in the largest engineering environment the Ark could possibly provide.

Bounce Chamber

Skydive listen to the prattle between his Aerilbot brothers and the Protectobots. It is true the two teams haven't had too much interaction before being assigned to this sector. Members come and go on rare occasion. This idea of being a gestalt bothered Skydive. In his processor the Aerialbots worked much better as a team than individuals even with certain ones needing continual flight lessons. However, being a gestalt is a new twist on the idea of team work.

"It seems it is time to get prepped for this project to get started. Alright Aerialbots, let us head to the med bay. It shouldn't take long for us to refuel since I think most of us done it after we got back from our fight on the planet. I'll inform Silverbolt of what we are doing. I do wonder where Commander Hot Spot is at but I'm guessing he'll join whenever he is done. It seems our respective commanders get tied up in other missions or projects leaving us to our own doings or in this case at the expense of project from higher ups."

>>Commander Silverbolt, the Protectobots and us are heading to Main Engineering Laboratory Alpha once we top off and get checked out by the med drones. The Aerialbots will be in the laboratory in the next couple of cycles. It is uncertain how long the Protectobots will take since their commander isn't with them. It is Ironfist who seems to be in charge of this part of a special project.<<

Bounce Chamber:

"Alrighty, Skydivy," said Fireflight as he then started to walk out of the Bounce Changer to the Med Bay, but doing it slowly in case someone else wanted to take the lead.

"I guess we'll be here a while then, heh?" said Streetwise. The Cop Bot sighed.

Main Engineering: Deck 2 - Primary Briefing Chamber

There were three absolute and irrefutable constants in the universe. The first, everything was knowable, there was no such thing as the impossible just simply the unexplained... yet. The second was that no matter how far one traveled throughout the cosmos, there was always someone who thought they knew better than others and forced their views to masses who disagreed with them, tyrants and megalomaniacs the grand lot of them. The third was the omnipresent gloom that seemingly stained every location that the young bundle of depression, the Ark 22's Chief Engineer Huffer, habituated.

Ironfist had entered the atrium with meticulously tempered expectations, and was rewarded with a pair of engineers... computer technicians, dragging themselves from the edge of the holographic dais in the center of the half bowl like chamber to the server embedded in the far right wall. Their tones were hushed, groaning and moaning about how much work had been dropped in their laps after Wheeljack had diverted his attention away from the hustle and bustle of repairs that were required after the Fallen's unprovoked attack. Toward the top of the five tiered rows, another set of engineers... this time repair crews judging by their cross wrench brands on their shoulders, grumbled as they installed a pair of gunmetal gray panels to cover a recently repaired blown out power cable.

"The perfect crew that fits the most depressing engineer in the fleet." The weapons designer shook his head and immediately called the workers to attention. After a minute of shuffling and ambling, something Ironfist made note to have a lengthy conversation with the Ark 22's Engineering Chief, the four enlisted engineers formed a single file line just below the first tier of seats. His piercing glare withered the highest non com and was immediately given a lengthy report as to why the specialized scanner that had been ordered, had yet to make an appearance. Not to mention the various other pieces of equipment that had been diverted to this specialized project.

Before the twelfth complaint about piling up work left the vocorder of the computer technician, Ironfist summoned his missile launching platform and ordered it to deploy at the edge of the stage. The non verbal message was served, and the engineers scurried out of the chamber, after a brief and less than cordial dismissal. As the doors closed behind them, Ironfist allowed himself a moment to slam the palm of his left hand into his forehead. Slowly his fingers slid down his face plate as he made his way over to the holographic projector, which was displaying a rotating image of the Ark 22 with yellow highlighted areas indicating areas under current repair or prioritized for repair.

Setting his satchel down next to the raised holographic dais, Ironfist plugged in the storage slug into its primary port. A few key strokes later, the data began to upload into the projector system. It afforded the engineer a brief moment of silence before the double doors leading to the main engineering levels parted. The two repair technicians clamored through carrying various power cables, holographic scanners, power cells and other technical diagnostic gear that would be required to potentially scan and augment a virtual copy of those who were found compatible.

It took moments of direction to position each scanner at optimal positions and a few moments more for them to be installed correctly and patched into the computer terminals that commanded the entire matrix. The computer technicians reappeared next, carrying stacks of data slugs and immediately assailed the computer terminal in a frantic attempt to upgrade its software in order to handle the planned project's needs.

The flood of grousing that flowed from the four technicians made Ironfist swat his forehead again. Even though their talents were not simply adequate, they bordered on the excellent, they made him want to crawl into a corner and cover himself in a cloak of shadow. "How did Ultra Magnus or Springer command this rabble?" he muttered to himself as the doors slid open again. This time it was the first of the summoned. "When the acid rains, it pours."

Slingshot crossed over the threshold as the first and best of all the Aerialbot members. His face was plastered with a confident smirk that told the first technician to back off and not bother the all important flying ace with senseless banter. He jumped over the first row of seats and landed in the center of the arch of the second tier. Kicking his feet up onto the small desk that offered a place for note taking, the sniper leaned back. "So 'Fisty, whats so important that you gotta break up my big breakthrough on beating that giant green idiot?"

Ironfist winced behind his facial guard and resisted the urge to turn his missile turret on the arrogant flyer. A simple mental command, no he forced the palpable temptation from his processor. It would be an act in futility anyways... too much paper work, explaining to Silverbolt why he had to recruit someone at least more qualified than a toaster... which he should have done anyways, to fill out his squadron. Not to mention the setback to Project Superior Titan. The engineer sent a mental command to order the turret to standby mode and he turned to face the braggart. "Well Slingshot... When the other Aerialbots, Protectobots and summoned officers arrive, I intend to explain to you, using very small words, the true potential meaning of the term 'Wreck and Rule."

En Route to Perceptor's Lab

"Lead the way, Percy"

Perceptor could only smile back at the inventor as his protective face-shield retracted and revealed Wheeljack's rarely seen smile. The microscope-former regained his composure and continued onward towards his lab, leading Wheeljack along during the short trek.

"The idea of our own phase-sixer... Such power is almost unfathomable. From the rumors I've heard long ago, it's almost a miracle the Decepticons were able to obtain such a solid grasp of the concept. We certainly will have or work cut out for us here."

Perceptor's Lab

The Red and blue Autobot was first to enter his lab and helped set Wheeljack's things down in one of the many available stations the sniper/scientist had opened. For the amount of ores and rocks Perceptor had lying around, his laboratory was still kept in a rather tiddy manner.

Before he could turn back to his fellow mech of science, a comm line came through Perceptor's comm line.

>>"Hey uh, Perceptor. You were working on that ore right? The ore with the high energy properties? Well, uh. Might have found some more. A lot more.”<<

A lot more? What was Swerve talking about? He managed to find [i]more of this "Ore-13" that Nova Strike was able to acquire for sample studies.

>>"Swerve, I'm gonna need a better definition as to how much 'a lot' is here. I'm still working to study the substances myself but treat it very carefully. It's rather prone to be... destructive."<<

"So," Perceptor began turning his attention back towards Wheeljack, "Where to start first?"

Corridor Network

Once everything was set in motion up at the bridge, Silverbolt had received a quick message from Ironfist summoning he and his team to the engineering. Once he was satisfied with his final prep work, the Aerialbot commander had scanned over the monsters to locate where his team was at and left his post in the captain's chair. He then made his way towards Engineering where the stumpy engineer was awaiting.

>>"Sounds like a plan Skydive."<< Silverbolt replied back to his tactical advisor, >>"Ironfist's got that tone that seems like he's starting to get impatient, so I'd head down to Engineering instead of the science labs sooner rather than later."<<

Main Engineering

Silverbolt strolled in the engineering deck and made a soft bee-line towards both Slingshot and Ironfist, only catching the tail-end of the engineer's sitrep towards the Aerialbot Sniper.

"And what exactly would that entail?" Silverbolt inquired, folding his arms over his crimson chest plate.

Perceptor’s Lab

"The idea of our own phase-sixer... Such power is almost unfathomable. From the rumors I've heard long ago, it's almost a miracle the Decepticons were able to obtain such a solid grasp of the concept. We certainly will have or work cut out for us here."

Perceptor’s words echoed through Wheeljack’s processor as he entered the scientist/sniper’s personal lab. Looking around, ‘Jack could instantly tell that Percy kept a much neater workspace than he did. The white mech wished his own lab was as clean and tidy as this was.

“Indeed, we will definitely have our work cut out for us,” Wheeljack agreed as he continued to admire his comrade's lab. “But honestly, I’m surprised Prowl hadn’t thought of this idea sooner. Or, perhaps he did but past attempts were either rejected by high command or outright failures. After all, it’s not just mastering the technology. It’s also picking the right candidate to hold such power. Absolute power has a tendency to corrupt even the brightest of sparks, so we must be very careful especially in the long run. Regardless, as of right now, the prick-bot just wants us to begin analysis of the scanned data he was able to get from Sixshot. For all we know, we may not even be able to duplicate the tech at all.”

”So, where to start first?”

Wheeljack turned to regard Perceptor with another warm smile. “Well, the Ore-13 is a more feasible project that has a better chance of success. The Phase Sixer idea is just that as of now, an idea. Let’s just make Prowl happy and get the analysis out of the way and then we can move on to the ore. It shouldn’t take us too long to ascertain if an Autobot Phase Sixer is even viable. So, let’s take a look at the data.”

Making his way over to the nearest computer terminal, the engineer removed a data disk from a slot on his forearm and inserted it into the corresponding slot in the console. “I took the liberty of downloading the information onto this encrypted disk earlier. That way it would make it easier for us to use the computer for our analysis.” Wheeljack then entered the appropriate security codes and the scans of Sixshot began to fill the monitor. Tapping a few keys, ‘Jack was able to transfer the images to a much larger, holographic display nearby.

Shifting his focus, Wheeljack approached the plethora of data that swirled around within the hologram. “Wow, I’m surprised Prowl got so much data before Sixshot caught on to him,” the mad scientist commented as he took a closer look. “This is incredible. The metals that Sixshot’s armature is made of are so exotic in nature that I don’t even recognize most of them. And his power core contains a dark matter fission cell.” Wheeljack paused, glancing back at Perceptor. “I guess you don’t have one of those lying around somewhere do you? Cause I know I don’t over in my lab. Heh.”

Wheeljack then took a step back, keeping his optics fixated on the data hovering in front of the scientific duo. “Well, just based on first impressions, this is going to be very complicated which I anticipated. There appears to be some crazy experimental technologies at play here and we’re going to have to investigate what many of these strange metals even are and where they come from. I don’t know. What do you think, Perceptor? Any chance we could make this happen? I mean, if the Decepticons could pull this off surely we can, too, right?”

“Or, maybe we shouldn’t,” Wheeljack added a moment later as a worried expression crept onto his faceplate. “This is some really scary and dangerous stuff we’re dealing with here. I’m all for having a weapon we can use against the ‘Cons, but this might be a little too much.”

Secure Holding Station

In a flash of white, three figures bounced over to a nondescript room aboard the Ark-22. For all intents and purposes, it was just another storage space. The only difference was that this storage space was considerably reinforced and could deploy significant suppressive countermeasures in a matter of microseconds.

Moments before, Megatron had been straining violently against the secured berth that held him in place. Now he was deathly still once more, staring blankly into the empty space above him.

"You can't help me. Noone can, little Autobot," Megatron said icily, though it was impossible to determine whether his intermittent lucidity had returned.

"No, Megatron. We will help you. The anger from before. The rage. We can remove it. Replace it," a mech in the shadows said. Behind him, two more mechs stood, long needles protruding from their four major digits.

"Get your hands away!!!" Megatron roared. "None of you are worth the energy it took to forge your worthless sparks!"

Megatron started to roar and strain against his restraints again. Kup approached a wall panel and slid away the covering. He fired up a secure connection with Ultra Magnus.

>>"Kup to Magnus: D-1-M is aboard the Ark as ordered. I think his prognosis is goin' downhill real fast, though. He's flipped a gasket."<<

Secure Holding Station

>>"Rewind that's... It's incredible! He's alive?! I mean, where has he been all this time??"<<

For his part, Rewind found himself for a lack of words. This was more due to the sudden shift in location and the scrapmaker’s demeanor than anything else. And, really, Megatron rightly had the whole of his attention. It was Megatron. And he was losing it. However, as he went eerily still from what had been a full out seizure earlier, Rewind stared with a wide visor at him, beginning to regret coming along.

"You can't help me. Noone can, little Autobot," Megatron said icily, though it was impossible to determine whether his intermittent lucidity had returned.

A chill went down Rewind’s spinal strut. Well. That was that he supposed. Though, Rewind had no clue if Megatron was actually addressing him or if…something else was going on. But little Autobot seemed like a slight indicator. Maybe. Given the slight respite from Megatron’s earlier screaming, Rewind had the wherewithal to send Chromedome some kind of reponse.

>>”U-Uh…”<< Rewind stopped, trying to get the gentle panic out of his voice. >>”Optimus…I-I don’t really…”<<

The black archivist cut off abruptly as Megatron roared again. Sliding away from the Decepticon warlord and pressing himself a little more firmly against the wall, Rewind attempted to finish his thought.

>>”I don’t know, Domey. Um. I’ll talk later,”<< Rewind hastily added before moving over to Kup.

“Kup…Optimus wasn’t…isn’t…like that is he? He can’t be. He seemed fine. Right?”

Perceptor’s Lab – Computer Terminal

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

{Gamma Probe encrypted transmission incoming from Antarctica....
Transmission received....Commencing auto decryption....
Decryption completed....
Ore-13 energy signature detected approx. 1 km beneath ice....
Location: 100 miles east of Sol-3’s geographic South Pole....
Quantity: Unknown; Dispersed over quarter mile area....
Receiving exact coordinates....
Coordinates received....
End transmission.}

Secure Holding Station

“Kup…Optimus wasn’t…isn’t…like that is he? He can’t be. He seemed fine. Right?”

Kup shook his head, still watching as Megatron went through his physically and mental convulsions.

"Yeh, kid. Nothin' like this. Prime seemed just as good as he ever was."

But Kup certainly didn't know what was going on inside Optimus' head. Was it anything like what he was seeing with Megatron? Was he just better at masking the chaos? Kup hoped not. He hoped that Megatron had simply finally got his just desserts, and if they couldn't execute him for his crimes against the universe, then maybe at least they could lock him up in a sanitarium for the remainder of his functioning existence.

Secure Holding Station

With another violent thrash, Megatron's imposing form went deathly still.

Planets. Faces. Cities. Battles. Stars. Galaxies. All of it whirred through Megatron's subconscious until it became an increasingly dimming blur. Then darkness.

"We are the harbingers," Megatron's voice echoed coolly in the small, secured space.

The various diagnostic wires that were connected to the Slagmaker began to darken, one by one. And as they did, each of the pieces of equipment they were connected to flickered out.

Secure Holding Station

No sooner had Kup seen Megatron go still as a 'bot who just got leveled by the murderer's own fusion cannon, the old warrior stepped back, and pushed Rewind even further back at the same time. As Megatron uttered his next ominous words, Kup reached for his weapon and watched as the systems all around them began to die, one by one.

"Get outta here, kid. Now!" Kup barked, as the lights in the room flickered before they, too, ultimately died, shrouding them in pitch blackness.

Static started to flow through Kup's field of vision and he backed away further, reaching for the door console with his free hand. He couldn't see, but he could hear metal grinding...bending....breaking.

His hand found the console and he tapped anything that might open the door. Nothing.

The grinding of metal stopped, and for a moment there was silence. Silence....followed shortly thereafter by footsteps. Not his. Certainly not Rewind's.

"Mega-"

Kup's head was then violently smashed against the back wall. Kup dropped to the ground, every internal sensor in his optics reading a slew of critical messages. He fired his weapon instinctively but had no idea where the shot went or if it was even close to hitting its mark.

He hadn't slipped into stasis lock though. He had that going for him. And he could still hear, because the sound now filling his auditory sensors was the increasingly violent sound of metal colliding with metal as Megatron fought to free himself from the room.

Secure Holding Station

Rewind’s spark went cold when Megatron went still. It nearly froze when he uttered those last words before the equipment around him began to fail one by one. He wanted to move. He wanted to scream. But he couldn’t. He was glued in place by sheer terror. Kup’s voice sounded far away. Mufffled. It was the darkness that jolted him to life.

Rewind pressed himself back against the wall as Kup fumbled with the door. Sounds of grinding metal stopped suddenly. And then. The footsteps. His footstops.

”Mega-“

THRACK!

The sound of something hitting the wall and sagging down beside him. Kup. It struck Rewind that he had to tell someone. Warn anyone. His thoughts flicked to Chromedome.

>>”D-Domey,”<< Rewind choked, barely getting out the words, >>”I’m s-sorry. I’m so s-sorry!”<< He doubled over from fear. He had to do something. Maybe there was a way to restart the power. Maybe he could-

Klunk!

Rewind tripped.

>>”It’s Mega-“<<

Secure Holding Station

Within the secure holding cell, metal slammed against metal. Over and over again until it could take no more and finally buckled and flew across the corridor. The silver gladiator stepped from the darkness of the room and into the hall, immediately scanning for the primary weapon. It was close by. It responded to his call. It was part of him, in every sense.

Megatron's optics had gone from their normal burning red to being as pitch black as the room he had just left. He stalked down the corridor, only stopping momentarily at the first control panel he encountered. He reached out to touch the panel. As he did, the corridor lights began to flicker and die out just as they had in the secured room. Megatron then stalked onward, toward the room that currently held his primary offensive tool.

Bounce Chamber/Corridor Network

"It's Rewind!" Chromedome exclaimed, practically jumping from the bounce chamber pad as his chassis finished materializing. "It sounds like he's-he's in danger!" He quickly shook off what he could of the bounce-sickness before charging through the gathered mass of Aerial and Protectobots. He stumbled a few feet forward down the hall as the last of the bounce sickness was wearing off.

"Whoa, pump the brakes there 'Domester!" Groove called out as he tried to regain his stance after the mnemosurgeon blasted through, his laid back words having no effect on the frantic Autobot.

"Rewind!" Chromedome cried out into the corridor, his words echoing off the walls as he footsteps clattered in a rapid pace. The tan and white Autobot continued to track his conjunx endura before his signal was beginning to fade up ahead. "No-no-no-no... C'mon stay with me buddy! Stay with-"

Chromedome came to a sudden and abrupt stop. His joints practically froze as his amber visor stared off into the flickering hallway. The shadowy outline of every Autobot's worst fear slowly lurched across the corridor. He was right, it was him... Megatron.

Chromedome's grip tightened around his weapons. Fear was slowly taking control, misplaced courage beginning to grow as a result. Does he sit back and watch as the slagmaker himself carries on through the ship just to ensure Rewind is safe? Or does he attempt to hold him off for the sake of everyone else's wellbeing?

"You..."

Bounce Chamber/Corridor Network

Oh no. Rewind. Chromedome’s conjunx endura was apparently in some sort of peril. Though, what that might be on the Ark-22, Skids hadn’t the faintest idea. Last he had seen Rewind, the archivist had gone back to the medical bay to rest. Why was he here? What danger? As Skids bounded off the bounce pad in Chromedome’s wake, he glanced to the Aerialbots. They didn’t seem distressed in the least. Was it a contained incident? Maybe it was just nothing.

Bounce sickness made Skids lurch unsteadily as he struggled to keep up with Chromdome. No. Chromedome wouldn’t react like this unless something was really wrong. Skids would simply help his friend. Whatever came.

As they dashed through the corridors, Skids’ sensors began to go a little strange. He frowned. Something unusual was happening. Maybe a remnant of the Fallen’s work? This could be bad. They needed to proceed more cautiously than this. Skids hurried to Chromedome, reaching out to try to catch him when the mnemosurgeon stopped dead.

Skids scrambled to not smash into him from behind. “Chromedome, wait,” he said, grasping Chromedome’s shoulder. Before he could utter another word, his optics turned to the corridor ahead and whatever words he did have died in his vocalizer.

It was dark. Very dark. But one could make out a form. A very, very distinctive form. Why? How? Skids’ optics began to go fuzzy, making it difficult to see. Possibilities ran through his mind, but one thought was imperative. They had to take cover.

Grabbing Chromedome roughly, Skids hauled him into an adjacent room, sealing the door behind them. Having a moment to think, he wondered vaguely if what they were seeing was even real. His sensors had been going strange. Maybe they were seeing things. Skids could see no other reason for him appearing out of nowhere when he was supposed to be dead along with Optimus.

“He can’t be real,” Skids muttered.

Bounce Chamber/Corridor Network:

Random panicked shouting. Yes. This is the sign of either stupidity, or danger. Though, Streetwise was the guy that was commonly called on for these things. Even if he wasn't called for it, it would be idiocy not to look into it only a bit at least.

Streetwise tailed the two runners far behind, only observing from a distance. Not trying to stir anything. In fact, he didn't want to be noticed.

Then all of a sudden, the two runners Chromedome and Skids stopped dead in their tracks. Obviously, they saw something was wrong. Peculiar.

Panicked, Skids pulled Chromedome into a room. Strange sight indeed. Not normal behavior around here, but of course, those two could be frightened of simply a shadow. Streetwise smirked at the thought, but then heard someone across the way walking through the corridor from where the two stopped. Streetwise instinctively drew his pistol and held is with both hands directed towards the floor. Of course, if it's simply a staff member, he could be deeply in trouble for threatening them with a weapon. Streetwise thought about it, and then holstered the pistol.

Ready to draw, Streetwise made his way towards the source of the sound. Around a corner. Great. Better get it over with. Quickly with his hand over his holstered gun, he bolted in front of the corridor, and glared down the hall where the source of the sound was. Nothing. Not even another sound. Odd. Can't be too careful, but I won't go looking through the whole ship.

Streetwise turned back and knocked on the door where Skids and Chromedome had retreated into. "Fellas, something the matter?"

Perceptor’s Lab – Computer Terminal

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

{Gamma Probe encrypted transmission incoming from Antarctica....
Transmission received....Commencing auto decryption....
Decryption completed....
Ore-13 energy signature detected approx. 1 km beneath ice....
Location: 100 miles east of Sol-3’s geographic South Pole....
Quantity: Unknown; Dispersed over quarter mile area....
Receiving exact coordinates....
Coordinates received....
End transmission.}

Perceptor's audio receptors perked as one of his terminals began to blare its alarm, drawing the Autobot scientist's attention from his conversation with Wheeljack. The Red and blue Autobot approached the beeping terminal and silenced its alert before reviewing its results.

"Well I'll be..." Perceptor said with a tone that could only be described as a mild surprise. "Speaking of my Ore-13 research, it seems one of our probes just discovered a sizable amount just east of the planet's southern pole." The scientist-turned-sniper then downloaded the coordinates and turned to his fellow mech of science. "Seems like Prowl's pet project will need to be put on a slight hold. You feel like coming to this 'Ant-arc-ticah' place with me?"

Corridor Network/Side Room

"Skids! What are you-" Chromedome tried to ask as the blue Autobot managed to pull him into one of the side room lining the hall.

"He can't be real."

"There's no way it's a trick," Chromedome said with a huff, "I got the call from Rewind and it sounded horrendous. We can't sit in here, we gotta go get him out of there!"

Engineering Deck

Fireflight wandered onto the engineering deck, having gotten lost in the corridors along the way. Well, not lost really. Just sort of lost in his thoughts. He’d been daydreaming about the project they were on finally ending the war once and for all. And what Cybertron might be like once they get back to it and started rebuilding.

It was then that he noticed Silverbolt conferring with the engineers. On the engineering deck. Go figure. He scuttled up to Silverbolt’s side and tapped him lightly on the arm. “Uh, hey, sorry I’m late. What’s going on?”

Main Engineering

Skydive entered the main part of engineering right behind Fireflight and their leader, Silverbolt. He looked around and noticed a decent amount of activity. He seldom is down here but considering the strange summons he and his teammates received recently, he doubted this was the normal activity.

"We really don't know what is going on, Fireflight. We haven't been told what Ironfist is up to here. Whatever it is, by the looks of it things are a bit hectic here. This could also be normal for Ironfist and one of his crazy projects."