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Bridge – Observation Lounge 1

Ultra Magnus took a seat at the furthest end of the table. He intertwined the fingers of his hands and allowed them to rest patiently upon the onyx colored metal slab of a table just below the embedded computer control matrix. Slowly he watched as the members of the meeting took their places within the large chamber that had so recently dispatched Prowl to his adventures on the planet below. The contrasts were not lost upon the Autobot Leader. Prowl's team represented a new hope for a stable refuge and colony, base and hub... a future for the Autobot cause. This meeting represented what could tantamount to their pending doom.

"Indeed. I am anxious to hear what all of you have discovered." He paused briefly as he considered the order of how to proceed. It was a grim topic to be sure, pouring through eons of legends and archives... not to mention the trillions of tetra bytes of security footage from both Cybertron and route to Earth. The very topic of The Fallen was one relegated to stories told to freshly activated proto forms during their processing periods. Still, legends rarely revealed methods of defeating the foe they spoke of through modern conveniences.

Once everyone had seated, Bluestreak, Ratchet, Axle and Kup, had taken their respective seats around the rectangular table, Ultra Magnus activated the security systems to close the doors to the lounge. "Alright Axle, lets hear what you have discovered.

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

"I-I could deal with the last one?" Fireflight said, somewhat surprised by his teammate's sudden reaction. "I just got the last one! Hey--hey! What are you doing?!"

Fireflight flew forward, almost completely dumbfounded by the fact that Air Raid had just taken himself out of the battle instead of it having been done by one of the Seekers or other simulated defenses. But he decided now was not the time to make any kind of issue out of it, since he really couldn't afford to do it if this were a real battle of any kind. He would adapt here, just as he would if he were fighting real Seekers.

"Uh, right," he sighed, followed by another barrel roll which the pursuing Seeker not only easily matched but also used to gain some speed on him.

It wasn't long after that Slingshot joined their side of the party--and brought a handful of additional, pursuing tetrajets along with him.

"Primus almighty, we put enough resistance in this sim?" Fireflight said, engaging his forward automatic rifles again. "We face this many Seekers on a real mission and we're toast. You know that right?"

"You killed last one? i didn't realize that!" shouted Air Raid to Fireflight. Slingshot flew between the two Aerialbots for a moment before disappearing out of sight. "It seems that Slingshot and Skydive are having some trouble. Now that we killed a whole squad, we should go and attack one of the two factories that we must destroy" said Air Raid.

Fireflight seemingly left Air Raid, and he brought another squad of seekers as soon as he returned. "you brought another squad?!" said the aerialbot. "Don't fight them, not yet..i have an idea, follow me, we are gonna fly to the factory" said Air Raid before flying towards a distant factory.

Corridors

With his message delivered, and a brief "Yes sir", Jazz stopped in the hallways and waited until he was alone so he could muse out loud. It was all so insane, and he needed to vent.

"First, Megatron and Optimus... Disappear. Then, the Dinobots steal the 19, we are sworn to secrecy by Prowl... The Fallen returns... It couldn't be that much of a coincidence that it is all happening so quickly in succession." Jazz mumbled to himself as he wandered the corridors, pausing every so often to allow the passing of other Autobots.

When he was sure he was alone again, making sure to check for Mirage along the way, he continued.

"It has to be linked, right? I mean, it just seems to be so... Coincidental that the Fallen shows up almost as soon as Optimus disappeared. One thing I've noticed over the years is this: there are no such things as coincidences. Ever." Jazz finished, having the revelation that the happenings were linked, and not in any way he would have liked them to be.

Perhaps the best way to find out is ask the Fallen himself? Jazz made a mental note to put in a request for some shore leave in the future so he could muse on this a bit more, for it would have to be cut short. His wanderings happened to wind him up approaching First Aid and Remington. It seemed like stopping his vocal musings was a good idea to do earlier, for they would have heard him talking about classified information.

"Hey guys, what's up? Just... Chillin'?" Jazz was a bit flustered. He didn't expect to run into anyone he knew, especially on the vessel which had a crew compliment pretty much equivalent to the people of the kingdom of Xerxes after it fell in that human TV show or "graphic novel".

Which was quite literally no one.

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

Skydive would shake his head if he was in robot mode. Admittedly he did make things favor the Cons but in reality, they are one of the few aerial squads the Bots have so being out numbered would be common. He hoped his flight mates wouldn't get into more then they can handle but seems they prefer to have every happen at once. Maybe pairing off wasn't the best idea however there will be times the four of them will be forced to do so. Fireflight may be known to get lost sight seeing but Skydive can be just as bad about tactics. Skydive got fired upon by a couple of Seekers who were ahead of their unit. Both hit the same wing which forced Skydive to go down towards one of the taller buildings. He transformed as he got closer and landed on the roof. Then he open up on the Seekers with his gun hoping to hit them. All he did was force them to split and regroup with their unit.

"Great, I'm on a roof with little cover and a squad coming at me. I can't afford to look around to see where the others are at. My only hope is for Slingshot to be free to help take these guys down. It does seem the squads are coming in quicker then I thought they would."

Skydive takes cover with what little he finds as he waits for the squad to come to him.

Engineering Laboratory

"You have got to be joking Ironfist." A grumble emerged from a pile of debris stacked against a far corner work bench. Pieces of scrap metal were strewn across the floor and the top of the bench, scorch marks of high powered torch groves outlined places where stencils had been carved out in various shapes and patterns. A broken hyper spanner and tri fold scanner flew from the back of the pile and clattered against the wall just off to the side of the internal communications monitor. From behind and to the left of the pile the southern flank gave way as a large silver piston exploded from its subsurface holding a tangle of titanium copper alloy wire and half of a Redundant Isothermal Sensor Apparatus. The pile gave way slowly to further reveal the iconic orange hood of the large piston that was held up high in small and unimportant victory.

Huffer tossed his discovery onto his work bench and proceeded to pull himself clear of the mountain of damaged components, spare parts and scrap metal. He swung his legs clean and dropped to the warped deck of the simulation level of the engineering deck. His optics glowered down at the lower level where the vision of the weapons engineer had emerged with a rather strange request.

"I assure you Huffer, this is not a joke. Albeit is a strange request, I am certain that with your assistance I can build the device required by Ultra Magnus." The screen flickered twice before resuming a stable connection between the two sections of the same deck.

The construction engineer furrowed his optical protection screens. "I already know that building that is impossible. Its why I haven't bothered to waste my time with such a useless endeavor." Huffer stepped down onto the work deck and palmed one of his wielding torches. "What I am concerned with is the lack of confirmation."

Ironfist's optics narrowed at the accusation of not doing a complete job with his simulations. "I have already explained my methodology and my results. I will not have my abilities questioned."

"But I will question them... more likely I'll question Magnus's for even considering such a venture. An Autobot Colony on that planet, the sheer audacity." He grumbled again as he placed heated end of the torch to one of the red marked plates of tempered steel. "And this ground bridge node. It can't be done." He finished carving off a large section piece in an oblong formation. Once the primary piece fell away relieving his cut.

Huffer dropped the piece onto the ground and immediately stomped on it twice, causing it to bow at its center, raising its two elliptical ends into a pair of semi circular edges at the top. The engineer touched the plug in the heart of the circled base, pressing two fingers in a square pattern. Then without warning, and a rending of metal that caused even Ironfist to cringe, the minibot drove his fist straight through the center of the construction creating a perfect circle at its heart and a circle plug that was sent spinning on the ground.

"Look Ironfist, I don't want us to be stranded on this mud ball any longer than we have to be. Creating a colony only reinforces the rumor that we've abandoned Cybertron permanently. Still if you want a better opinion, summon Chromedome down to the Science Lab. He's better with computers and programs than either of us are. Probably puts Wheeljack to shame too, with less explosions." Huffer grabbed the device he had pulled from the pile and began to connect the wires straight to other smaller leads he had carved out from the bent metal tabs left after his assault.

Once the leads were connected to the large metal plug, Huffer hefted up the new connection and control refocusing cable and carried it over to a burnt out section of main engineering. Dire need of repairs, fortunately for the crew of the Ark 22, Huffer was a fairly creative miracle worker. He pulled out a large damaged plug, briefly disabling the external sensor grid on the port side facing the Guardian. The worn out link was tossed back into the recycling pile and Huffer replaced it with the newer plug. With a large push of his shoulder, the entire board ignited in lights of live screens and flashing beacons.

As the switch board lit up, Huffer simply nodded his satisfaction. "Not a permanent fix by any means. But it will hold for a while." He pivoted to the monitor. "Alright Ironfist, I'll give you a hand for what little I can offer. I'll even get Chromedome to check your simulation data."

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

Slingshot barred tightly through the formation of Fireflight and Air Raid before entering into a in flight U turn bringing his nose straight towards the oncoming flight of Seekers. He fired off two shrapnel shells from his forward mortars, sending a cloud of barbs, exploded bits and other pieces of metal raining down into the tetrajet engines. Pulling up from his turn, with three of the former five member flight on his exhaust port, the ground support specialist and snipper banked hard toward the tallest exposed tower of Kaon.

"It would be easier Skydive if you actually fulfilled that role of yours and come up with a plan here." He protested as a burst of simulated energy slammed into his armored hull plates. Pouring on more speed, to the point of potentially compromising integrity, Slingshot lanced towards the damaged tower. He switched over to high explosive shells in his smaller mortar launchers and proceeded to pour fire into the building's flank.

As the plume of debris exploded from the compromised building as if a geyser had been ignited in its side, Slingshot shunted as much of his structural integrity field forward and dove in. Behind him the three tetrajets pulled out believing the Aerialbot construct had committed virtual suicide. Inside the building Slingshot transformed into robot mode and skid to a halt at the edge of the burning wreckage. He drew his weapon briefly and aimed it at the hole from whence he had entered. A large explosion at the base of the building soon sent tremors through the whole facility and caused the floor underneath him to lurch.

Resuming the vehicle form of the earth F-35 Lightning II, Slingshot reoriented himself vertically and launched through a smoking hole in the ceiling. His wing clipped one of the tetrajets causing him to spin violently and the Decepticon careening end over end into the collapsing tower. The massive bulk of the tower fell across a large boulevard, crushing a pair of gladiator tanks that had taken position to add to the anti aircraft fire.

A contrail of smoke smoldered from the carbon scars on his haul and deformed wingtip, he rebalanced out his integrity field and veered over towards the struggling XO of the squadron. Again he hit his afterburners and exploded forth in a fit of fury and thrust, determined to show the others that he was better than they were... though even he knew the sad truth that he could never compare in real battle. After all, this was but a game.

Again he switched over to shrapnel shells and armed his forward mortars. He fired a ferocious salvo into the flanks of Skydive's pursuit forcing them to bank off. He pushed himself onto the tails of two of the scattered seekers. "Skydive, leave these jokers to me. Focus on the target, I'll be damned if I got to give those two a snort of high grade on my credits."

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

Skydive seen his partner come to his rescue as he had hoped. The distraction was enough for Skydive to get airborne in robot mode and fire his nega gun at one of the higher seekers in the engine. The Seeker lost control as it fell towards one of the other seekers taking it out as well. He watched as they went down. Then he transformed back into his jet mode and went after the last Seeker. It didn't take long for him to eliminate the target.

"Alright you three, I want a head count on how many Seeker squads are down and how many targets. Remember, we started out with ten squads of five Seekers. We also have five installations to remove with two being factories, two weapon platforms, and one major communication hub. Once we get done with this scenario, then we'll move onto the rescue mission."

After noticing the scenario being a bit overkill, an idea came to his mind.

"It does seem I uploaded a bit much for even us to take down. How about we forget keeping track of individual seeker scores and focus on the five installations for overall score? At this rate, we all be slagged before we even get to the first real target if we don't all work together. We may be the best of the best aerial squad but even we have our overwhelming days. It started out with 10 to 1 odds in Seeker favor."

Corridors – Heading to Wheeljack’s Lab

As First Aid and Remington walked through the Ark-22’s corridors the doctor offered those few passersby a friendly nod. Some returned the gesture while others simply lowered their gaze to the floor and pressed on by.

It was sad, really. The morale of the entire crew, of not only the 22 but the Guardian, was at an all-time low. First Aid had to wonder if it was only due to the loss of their beloved Prime or if it was something more.

The Protectobot doctor took a quick glace in his colleague’s direction. Remington seemed to be in deep thought. He looked away.

A moment later it was the femme’s surprising halt that caused First Aid to put on his own breaks. He sent the femme a concerned stare hoping that the motor functions in her lower extremities weren’t causing her any trouble.

He was just about to ask her if she needed some kind of medical assistance when Remington voiced her uneasy concerns.

'A test? Get him... to think straight? What exactly do you mean by that?'

It took a moment for First Aid to register what Remington had said. She seemed worried about the statement. Of course it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. The visor covering his optics scrunched up indicating the doctor was sporting a wide smile beneath his faceplate.

First Aid shook his head gently and turned to fully face Remington. “I didn’t mean it literally, Remington.” He said as he stepped in a bit closer and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “What I meant is you working with Axle will help him to focus on his job while he’s on duty.” First Aid gave her shoulder a light squeeze before releasing it.

“I knew him way back on Cybertron, but I wasn’t very close with him. His interests were in surgical transplants I was more of a general doctor focusing more on all aspects of a mech’s medical needs.” First Aid let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. “Axle had this problem…well I can’t say that it was a problem, he would work harder than necessary and it would wear him out. He’d tend to not take breaks and that would have an impact on his processor. Working in that manner makes it difficult to think straight.”

“Now-a-days he splits his time and focus on his patients and Hex with the latter taking up more and more time.”

Aid lowered his gaze to the floor where he shuffled his foot back and forth a few times. “If you and he do wind up working together you’ll be able to keep an optic on him. You know, make sure he’s at his best. Ratchet likes him, but he also wants to beat him into stasis.” He pushed off of the wall and took the few steps separating him and Remington.

“From what I hear from Ratchet, and from what I heard from Pharma, Axle was an excellent surgeon but he screwed up. I think Ratchet wants him to get back to that level.” First Aid said lowly with a shrug. “Anyway, I hope I didn’t scare you. I really think this pairing would be a great asset to us.”

The visor, once again, scrunched up indicating the Protectobot’s obvious smile. First Aid was about to speak when the sound of a familiar voice filtered down the corridor.

Aid took a glance over his shoulder and spotted their resident Special Operations agent. The doctor offered Jazz a nod in greeting. “Hi, Jazz. Actually we were just heading on out. I’m taking Remington to meet someone.” He gestured to the femme beside him. “We better get going. This way Remington.” Aid guided the femme ahead and followed behind her. He paused only a moment to address the saboteur, “Nice seeing you Jazz.”

Corridor – Outside of the Mess Hall

Tracer lightened up her grip on Smokescreen once the diversionary tactician began to explain his reasoning behind his explanation to Mirage. Her features softened and finally she backed away completely.

The scout let out a sigh. It was a reasonable explanation but she still didn’t like it. “An affluent member of society. In other words a mech who had the money and the power to do what he wanted, how he wanted, and to whom he wanted.” Tracer huffed while crossing her arms over her chest. She looked away from Smokescreen as the frown on her face grew deeper.

“Dirtbag probably lived in Translucentica Heights. Hobnobbing with the Cybertronian elite. Helping to manipulate the system in order to get what they want.” Tracer shook her head suddenly feeling more dejected than her usual depressed moods.

She perked up slightly when she felt Smokescreen’s hand caress her cheek. He was always able to calm her turbulent emotions with nothing more than a passing glance, and soft touch or just a simple word.

Tracer pressed into his touch placing her hand atop his. A small smile finally grew on her face as she looked back into Smokescreen’s reassuring optics. “I know. And I’m sorry for my little dramatic outburst.” She took hold of his hand, wove their fingers together and gently removed it from her cheek. “I’m a bit worn out. The synthetic Syk seems to be taking a lot more out of me than the real thing. Maybe some recharge time would be a good idea.”

The femme tilted her head slightly and smiled. “I’m gonna head back to Wheeljack’s lab. I’d rather not take my chances making my way back to my hab suite on the Guardian.” The smile on Tracer’s face remained as she stepped in closer to Smokescreen; her digits still entwined with his. “You should go and make some kind of appearance. I’m sure there are a lot of people wondering what’s happened to you.” She said lowly. “Just don’t forget me while you’re gone.” Tracer flashed Smokescreen a playful smile before she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips.

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub--Simulation

Fireflight had veered off of his original flight plan and followed after Air Raid. But the other Aerialbots had also decided to veer into where they were fighting Seekers of their own and now it was pretty much just a big ol' mess.

"Whoa...our first real target?!" Fireflight called out. "Whaddya mean our first real target? These Seekers aren't real targets enough? I'm not staying in here all orn."

Fireflight pulled upwards and started counting the Seekers.

"Uh, one. Two. Uh, yeah, I got two. Too slaggin' many to count left over."

Engineering Laboratory

Chromedome entered the laboratory with great curiosity. It's not often that he's called on to help with Ironfist's projects with him. Most other bots only need him for his mnemosurgeon abilities.

"Hey Ironfist!" He exclaimed as he approached Ironfist's workbench, "Long time no see, old friend. Heard you needed some help with...Whatever it is you two are doing down here."

Bridge

Springer gazed over at the door to the Observation Lounge. Part of him wanted to avoid the politics that Ultra Magnus and the others would be discussing in there, but another part of him wanted to be apart of all the action.

He gruffed and returned his attention to the control panel he was staring at before. All techno-babble...Can't make heads or tails of what he was reading.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see what Magnus has planned for everyone.

Training Hall

"Well, Beretta, I think I'm in the mood for a drink. Care to join me?" Arcee asked the gunslinger. Before Beretta could respond, the pink warrior received a communique from Ultra Magnus.

"Magnus to Arcee. I need you to report to the Science Laboratory on the Ark 22. You are to speak with Ironfist about your next assignment... Bring Dragonov, Steeljaw and Mirage if possible."

>>"Roger that, sir."<< Arcee sent back by way of acknowledgement. She smiled apologetically to Beretta. "Scratch that, looks like I've got an assignment. One of your girls is coming with me. Dragunov, I believe. I'll look after her."

With a casual wave, Arcee exited the training hall and began making her way toward the science labs. She wondered what sort of assignment was in store for her. From the members of the team, she assumed that it was some sort of reconnaissance, but why report to Ironfist if so? The pink warrior shrugged. She'd find out soon enough. Opening a comm link to Dragunov, she began the process of summoning the other members of her team.

>>"Dragunov, this is Arcee. Meet me at the Science Lab on the Ark 22. Ultra Magnus has a mission for us."<< Switching over to Steeljaw without missing a beat, Arcee sent another transmission. >>"Steeljaw. Arcee here. I need you to report to the Science Lab on the Ark 22. We have a mission."<<

Arcee tried contacting Mirage, but there was no response from his end. The femme frowned. Mirage was likely busy with other matters. Perhaps she could recruit someone else to fill in for him.

-----

Science Lab

Blaster simply stood back and observed Ironfist at work. It was something to behold. Most of this was way out of the communications officer's depth. He was far from an engineer or a scientist of any sort. As Huffer entered the fray, Blaster was reassured that Ironfist would have more success with the redesigning of the space bridge.

The communications officer approached Ironfist as Chromedome entered the Science Lab. Even better. Now he could get back to what he was best at. The urge to monitor for Decepticon frequencies and energy signatures had become a pressing need for Blaster. Blaster slapped Ironfist on the shoulder in friendly fashion.

"Well, looks like ya got all the help you need here, Ironfist. I'm going to head out and get back to what I do best."

Blaster turned and headed toward the doors, nodding to Chromedome in passing. As he reached the doors, he almost ran into Arcee who had just arrived at the Science Lab. Blaster stood aside and let the femme pass with a nod and went on his way toward the bridge of the Ark 22. It was high time he found out exactly what had happened down on Earth.

Bridge

The doors of the bridge opened with a hiss as Blaster entered and took stock of those in the immediate vicinity. He saw Springer staring down at a control panel with a perplexed expression. Worried that something was amiss, Blaster walked over and glanced over the triple changer's shoulder. All readings were nominal. That was a relief.

"Readings look good, eh Springer?" Blaster said to draw Springer's attention, "Have you seen Ultra Magnus? I need to talk with the commander."

Bridge

"Well you're in the same spot I am, Blaster ol' buddy." The triple-changer said looking up from the control panel. "Magnus took a couple other guys into the observation lounge." He then gave a slight gesture towards the door towards the room the Commander was in.

Springer then walked around towards the empty command chair in the center of the bridge. He circled the chair, cautious whether he should sit in it. He had this weird feeling that Magnus would not approve of him sitting in the chair for whatever "Tyrest Accord" related reason. He gave in and took a seat and gazed out the large viewport into the null void of space and down at Earth.

"Something doesn't feel right, Blaster..." The green mech stated towards the communications officer without breaking his focus on Earth, "I just have that feeling in my servos." He broke his attention with the blue and green planet and shifted it towards Blaster. "Do you feel that sitting here is crippling us? Like, every second we sit here waiting on the Decepticons to make the first move is putting is behind the war effort. If that makes any sense to you. I just hope whatever Magnus is discussing is a battle plan, something to put us back ahead of the game."

Corridor - Outside Mess Hall

Smokescreen watched and listened as Tracer reacted to what he had just told her regarding Mirage and his prior turbofox hunting habits. She had begun to calm down but was still non too happy about the revelation. She had no love for those who thought themselves better than everyone else just because they had more credits in their hip compartments. The diversion expert couldn’t blame her really. He had a similar opinion of mechs with an elitist mindset, especially those who had frequented the Iaconian casinos in order to show off their riches and get even wealthier in the process. It was the primary reason that Smokey had no qualms about gambling and cheating in such establishments. Those rich bots could more than afford to lose some credits and the street racer was more than happy to take their money from them.

The troubled femme then apologized for her previous outburst, but Smokescreen simply shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize, Tracer. I completely understand.” Before the rallybot could continue, Tracer commented on how worn out she felt and suggested that she should head back to Wheeljack’s lab for a recharge while Smokey reintroduces himself to the masses. “That’s sounds like an excellent idea. You should have plenty of privacy in the lab to rest as long as you need. Also, if you require an additional dose of synthetic Syk, the replicator is on the workbench where I left it. It should already be set to make more of the drug. Just push the button on the front and the machine will do the rest.”

The diversion expert then accepted Tracer’s kiss. It was long and passionate, like the days of old before they had been separated for so long. Smokescreen embraced the troubled femme in a secure grip so that she would feel safe if only for a moment. Then their lips parted and the rallybot slowly pulled back and offered her a reassuring smile. “I could never forget you, Trace. Never. And remember I’m only a comm line away.”

Releasing his hold on her, Smokescreen took a few steps back, a low sigh escaping from his vocalizer. He hated long goodbyes even if it was only temporary. After all, they would see each other again soon enough. It’s not like they were being sent to opposite sides of the galaxy. Tracer would be fine without Smokey for a while, at least he hoped she would be. “Okay, well, I guess I should go make that appearance now. Take it easy for a while and like I said, comm me if you need anything. Okay?”

Without waiting for a response, Smokescreen slowly turned and walked away down the corridor. It was difficult to leave her now considering they had hardly been out of one another’s sights since they reconnected several cycles ago. So much had happened since that chance meeting, but it had all been worth it. The rallybot wouldn’t change a thing, except maybe the part where he was almost killed by Oil Slick. That part he could live without.

As Smokescreen approached an intersecting passageway, the red and blue racer glanced back at Tracer one last time and smiled before finally disappearing from sight. There, it was done. She would be okay and so would he. The diversion expert’s thoughts then changed to focus on his reintegration into a more normal routine aboard the Ark-22. He figured that the bridge would be the best place to start as it would allow him to report for official duty and get back into the swing of things with his fellow comrades.

Bridge - Observation Lounge 1

Bluestreak was happy to hear that his thoughts and perspective on the matter at hand were important to a high-ranking official like Ultra Magnus. Many would have excluded the gunner if for no other reason but to avoid hearing one of his neverending rants. The black and silver mech would have to remember to try and keep his opinions as brief and simple as possible. After all, even the new Sector Commander had his limits of patience.

“Thank you for including me, Commander Magnus!” Bluestreak said, offering another salute to his superior. “I helped Axle a lot so I know I can contribute something to the proceedings, and I promise not to say too much like I normally do. I can be a bit of a talker, I know, but I’ll try to keep my comments short and sweet, sir.”

Before Bluestreak continued on any further without an end in sight, Ratchet interrupted the gunner with his usual unpleasant demeanor that seemed to always accompany the Autobots' Chief Medical Officer. Ratchet only gave the black and silver mech a passing glance as if he was already tired of hearing the chatterbot speak. The subsequent conversation between the CMO and Axle seemed intense to say the least. Ratchet was clearly not happy with the field medic and therefore ‘Streak decided to keep his distance from the pair.

Following Ultra Magnus and the others into the Observation Lounge, Bluestreak took a seat on the right said of the long table and immediately turned his attention to the City Commander. For a change, the gunner remained silent as Magnus questioned Axle on what they had discovered in Hex’s little hideaway along with everything else they had compiled about the Fallen and his "followers" thus far.

Science Laboratory

To Ironfist's dismay, Huffer barged into the large compartment a few sections away from the primary engineering levels. The weapons engineer had no qualms or quarrels with the smaller Autobot engineer, in fact it was quite the opposite. He respected the minibot for the myriad of projects and facilities he had constructed on Cybertron before the war. What made the his pistons grind was the depression that Huffer exuded, like a cloud of smog from an unrefined combustion engine. Sorrow that enveloped him as a cloak, the beginning of which developed from the destruction of the great Towers of Idols, had taken its toll. Now it was all he and other Autobots could manage to keep the smaller engineer from succumbing to the darkness, a diversion the weapons engineer did not rightly welcome.

However, these were trying times. With the other projects well under way Ironfist required the more polished hands of the construction engineer. Energy matrixes needed to be refined, metals tested, conductors placed and programs written. The Global Space Bridge was still theoretical, though not necessarily theoretical in that it had not been done before. It was a device that had not been made practical in the manner that Ultra Magnus desired. Still he had the small thought that such developments were pointless. While it was a nice piece of infiltration and counter infiltration technology, moving mech and material around without benefits of being tracked to the source, Ironfist had spent a good portion of his processors designing practical militarized applications. From a Transdimentional Sniper Rifle to a subspace artillery platform, the possibilities to turn the tide at a distance were practically limitless. Of course that meant approval from Magnus and his as yet undefined group of senior officers.

"So where is this pile of scrap I need to salvage?" Huffer began with a shake of his head and a low mutter. His optics leveled on an old hollowed out sensor probe that was in various stages of disassembly. He wasted no more words and instead made his way over to the black and red cylinder. A single touch of his palm to a scorched pock mark on its middle surface was all he needed. Molecular bonds, chemical equations and details on each alloy flooded his optical HUD almost immediately. Huffer shook his head again and with a flick of his massive piston wrist he pushed the structure over into the pile of scrap. "You really do want to be one with the All Spark."

The smaller engineer pivoted on his heel and looked over at the taller engineer. "Send the kind of power you were talking about through that and you are liable to blow off the entire engineering section of the Ark 22. Or did you not catch the quantum fractures?" Huffer did not scowl and did not accuse the weapons engineer of not detecting those particular flaws, few were equipped with the proper sensor packages anyways.

"Alright Huffer," Ironfist conceded with a shrug not wanting to argue. "What do you suggest we use as a casing?"

Huffer folded his arms across his broad chest. "One that can handle incredible amounts of power and pressure. However, given what you, Perceptor and Wheeljack are attempting to build I would rather worry about the internal mechanisms before building the casing."

At that moment a drone activated the doors from the outside and pushed in an ancient crusted ring turned onto its end and strapped down to a hover sledge. It pushed the device to a clear side of the chamber along the wall where several holographic schematics were forcibly deactivated. The deck warped under the weight of the ring as the drone slid it off the sledge to the floor. A simple nod to its engineering officer, Huffer, and the drone disappeared down the hall back towards its assigned station to await summons once more by the chief engineer Wheeljack or ranking subordinates.

"And what pray tell is that?"

Huffer placed his hand on the rusted edge of the ring. His finger sensors flooding him with information to confirm what he had initially suspected since being called to the laboratory. "Its a Subspace Transit Support Ring.... STSR for short. Before I came here I did a quick check of the old stores down in the relics hold. Relics being old and useless things long bereft of function. Came up with this thing. I doubt we can make it function the way it used to, but with a little work and a lot of luck..." He paused briefly, "An insane amount of luck, perhaps we can reconfigure it into what Magnus asked for... with a few modifications he didn't ask for."

Ironfist nodded, a carefully hidden smirk underneath his mouth guard helped cloak his surprise. True to form, inspiration came from a most unexpected source. Now all they needed was Chromedome to arrive to complete the research team.

As Ironfist completed his thought, the doors parted to reveal the programming specialist, the mechanism responsible for turning many a peace loving Autobot into fearsome warriors. The weapons engineer did not fully know the toll it took on Chromedome, but to go through that sort of ordeal itself had to have a traumatic effect. Still Ironfist remained polite. After all, they were all friends in the field of mathematics and numbers.

But before he could reply to his friend, Huffer blurted from behind the ring. "Bout time you showed up Chromedome, I called you nearly a breem ago." He scoffed, his head obscured by a rusted pried off piece of paneling. "We're building a scaled down version of a Space Bridge Node. Need you to take up a position at the computer terminal and begin helping with those incomplete simulations."

"Don't even give a mechanism a chance to settle in do you Huffer?" Ironfist said in a soft yet firm voice. "Don't mind him, you know how he gets without his morning container of midgrade." He chuckled as the smaller mech peered around the rusted plate and scowled.

"What Huffer means to ask is, if you can help us repair this Subspace Ring. We can rebuild it and establish a Global Space Bridge network that can allow us a logistical advantage over the Decepticons on Earth." He paused briefly, "There are loads of other programs that will require your expertise in writing of code."

Science Laboratory

"I would have been here a lot sooner Huffer, but I'm more use to the Guardian's layout. It took me awhile to find this place." Chromedome retorted somewhat sarcastically as he walked over to the computer terminal and began to open the incomplete Space Bridge programming files.

"Oh Primus, you guys really did need my help." The mnemosurgeon said as he began to fiddle around with the extensive amount of computer coding. Chromedome was a little out of his element, having not messed with much computer programming since becoming a mnemosurgeon, but once he dove into the operating system he just seemed to have dropped back into his element again. The former programmer had no trouble rearranging and rewriting the digital code, managing to reestablish power to Ironfist and Huffer's machine.

"Alright...Primary fuel and energy intake systems are online and functional. Whenever you guys are ready just give the power system a test run. In the meantime, I'll continue to configure the Subspace relay properties into the core Galactic positioning unit."

Training Hall

Well, Beretta, I think I'm in the mood for a drink. Care to join me?

‘Sure. I could use a little lubrication,’ Beretta replied. She pressed a few buttons on a control board, and the dummy placement mechanism slumped back into inactivity with a receding hum. The lights switched back to default auxiliary, casting the hall in dim blue.

Scratch that, looks like I've got an assignment. One of your girls is coming with me. Dragunov, I believe. I'll look after her.

Beretta looked at Arcee, a notch baffled at the sudden turn. But she wasn’t surprised. Assignments had that habit of catching you out of the blue. Beretta just wished it was out of her own blue.

But at the mention of Dragunov’s name, a mischevious smile creased the squad leader femme’s faceplate.

’Dragu, huh? Well, you got some work cut out for you, then.’ She chuckled. ’You have my permission to rustle her up, if she forgets to behave.’

Arcee waved her off and left. After the noise of her footsteps faded away, Beretta opened a channel to her subordinate.

>>’Dragu, this is Beretta. You’ve got an assigment. Move your aft before your slacking off gives all of us a bad name.’<< Beretta smirked. By the tone Dragunov responded with, she could tell the sniper was, too.

>>’I received the summons from Arcee just three astroseconds ago... nothing escapes your notice, does it, chief?’<<

>>’S’pose it doesn’t. That’s my job, after all. Smacking some discipline into that thick heads o’you gals.’<<

>>’Understood, chief. It will be a most pleasant excursion,’<< Dragunov acknowledged.

>>’Right. I hope I don’t need to point out that on this mission, you’ll jump at Arcee’s every word just as you would do at mine?’<<

>>’Understood.’<<

A few microns of pause followed, but Beretta didn’t break the link.

>>’And Dragu...,<< she then said, her tone serious, >>’I need you to do me a favor. Keep an optic out. I want to know what the girl’s got.’<<

>>’Chief?’<<

>>’Arcee’s very good. I haven’t actually served with her, but she is very good. Has a reputation. I need an assessment on how capable she really is. I trust you can help me with that?’<<

Silence was the immediate answer. Dragunov certainly had experience in measuring people from her vorns as a high-profile enterpreneur and business owner and was the best judge of character on Beretta’s team. But the request came all of a sudden, even for her.

>>’A recruit assessment, chief? You plan on expanding the squad?<<

>>’Not exactly. But we’re in a war zone, Dragu. Ain’t livin’ forever, none of us. Never hurts to have backup prospects. You get my meaning?’<<

>>’You would crawl your way back even after getting smelted in the Kaon pits, chief.’<< Beretta was surprised at the concern she clearly heard ringing in Dragunov’s voice.

Nevertheless, an officer did well to keep in mind her own possible replacement.

>>’Thanks, Dragu. But you do get my point, right?'<< Beretta repeated.

>>’Yes, chief. By the end of the cycle, I'll know her better than she knows herself.’<<

>>’Good. Enough dawdle, then. Get a move on.’<<

She cut the link.

Well, where to now? Enjoying a drink by herself wasn’t that bad an option. Maybe Ingram was around, her shift was likely to be already over. Or she could go and see how Remy was doing with that secondary training in the medical field.

After a few moments of pondering, Beretta decided that she’d grab a can of Kremzeek first. That ought to sparkle her up a bit.

Setting her air intakes to output, she began imitating a very human habit: whistling. Many Earthern songs slumbered in her memory banks, just waiting to be recalled. So she recalled them. The tunes drifted through the air about her as she left the training hall.

Air Raid flew to a large factory, one of their five targets. He continuously dodged and escaped the seekers and tried to avoid fighting them, he only flew and escaped from the decepticons. There were now 10 seekers chasing Air Raid and Fireflight, and if they wanted to defeat them all they had to be a bit more clever. But right now, the red-and-white bot's attention was on the factory.

"A single missile won't do to blow this factory up!" shouted Air Raid. "If we want to destroy the factory, someone has to go inside, find the power core, blow it up, then run like you've never run before or you're gonna fragged" Said Air Raid. Someone had to get inside and blow the core, but there was a risk in it. When the core is destroyed the whole factory is going to blow up, so whoever bot is inside has to get out as fast as he can before he could succumb to the flames.

"Would that be you? Fireflight" said Air Raid.

Hot Spot to First Aid

>>First Aid, where are you at? I am wanting a report on the patients on the Guardian.<<


Hot Spot to Ultra Magnus

>>Commander Ultra Mangus, I hope I'm not disturbing you but from my reports I received from my department heads, it seems things are getting too quiet on the Guardian. I'm wondering if it the same over on the Ark-22. The only ones who have seen action or on a mission are the ones who had the incident on Earth and Prowl's exploration group. It may be wise to consider some sort of drill or entertainment for the rest of the crew.<<

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

“Well, it’s me or you, and you don’t look so good” Fireflight quipped back at Air Raid as they rapidly approached the factory.

Fireflight beamed at the opportunity to demolish their first “real target” and bring the group one step closer to ending this seemingly insurmountable exercise. It was exhausting to think that they’d only just begun to focus on the true objective. And they call me the daydreamer he thought, returning his attention to his partner.

“You gonna be able to keep those tetrajets from scrappin’ ya while I make for the core?” asked the aerialbot as he swerved and banked to avoid enemy fire. The seekers were closing the gap almost as quickly as Fireflight and Air Raid closed on the factory. Even their sleek earth based vehicular chassis’ could not out speed the simulated seekers. “It’s not fair that they’re so fast!” vocalized the aerial mech, his tone border lining on desperation. “Whatever your plan is Air Raid, you’d better spit it out quick!” He shouted through the roar of rushing wind and air-to-air munitions.

Habitation Suite C-6

The room was quiet, except for the humans talking on one of the screens and the ticking of Tracks' digits against the control pad as he cycled through information on the other.

"Next time, on 'Keeping up with the Kardashians...'"

Tracks looked over at the feed that he had picked up from the planet. It had intermittently entertained him since he had arrived on this planet. It wasn't as good as actually being down there but it had sufficed. He needed to get down there, though. He was going to go stir crazy if his duties kept him aboard the ship for too much longer. They might be immortal but this was getting ridiculous.

"...Kourtney, you're so stupid, we should drive the Maserati!"

"Whatever, Scott. Nobody asked you!"

Hmm...thousands of channels on this planet, spoiled for choice and he had happened to land on one called "E!" He didn't know why, but he had become quite enamored with that channel in the time since he had arrived here. Some of these human creatures were a little more evolved than he would have otherwise thought when he first got assigned to this mission.

Nice car. Nice threads too, Tracks thought as he changed the channel and then went back to work tinkering with the specifics of his holomatter avatar. The season would be changing soon. It was time for a new style.

And that could take a while.

Bridge – Observation Lounge 1

“Thank you, Sir…” He said to the Commander as he lowered his chin and onlined his optics. “After the…incident...on the planet’s surface, and the untimely deactivation of your mechs, I took it upon myself, and with the help of Bluestreak, to do some digging on The Fallen and the theology and mythos surrounding him.”

He paused for a moment placing both hands on the table top and interlacing his actuators. “The Fallen is working toward a goal. The four mechs he’s gathered around him, Hardhead, Hex, Drag Strip and Darkride, they’re all under his control. They are also part of something much bigger.” He moved his hands to the inset touch sensitive, keys within the tabletop. From the center of the table the image of a computer terminal appeared. Visible to all was the first passage from an ancient Cybertronian text.

“This is an excerpt from a religious document. It was written in old Cybertronian but with some time and effort I was able to translate it. Granted it’s pretty rough.” The text morphed into the glyphs each of them is familiar with. “According to this the Apocalypse will be upon us once the “Seals” have been broken. There are six of them.” Axle shook his head sadly.

“The first four have already been broken.” He didn’t linger on that point for long. He wanted to move things along. “I thought The Fallen came here seeking some kind of revenge. Not so. He came to exterminate all Cybertronians.” Axle typed in a few short characters and the image changed. “But genocide is not his idea. It’s a requirement in order to bring the Apocalypse. “And Chaos will be made real.” That’s from another religious passage. Wasn’t sure what that meant until I gave it some thought. The messages in Hex’s hideaway…the fact that it was written in Ancient Cybertronian…the other three Heralds haven’t shown that ability. At least not yet.” Axle took a quick glance toward Ratchet who was now leaning hard against the chair-back, arms crossed over his chest with a deep frown on his face.

Axle cleared his vocalizer and went on. “The Heralds, each one of them, represents one of the first four Seals. War, Pestilence, Death and Conquest. Hardhead, Drag Strip, Darkride and Hex. They all make sense…except for Conquest. In our own ancient theology and myths Conquest comes later, after all of the Seals have been broken and Chaos has finally arrived. It’s Chaos that will bring Conquest.” Axle sent a hard look toward Ultra Magnus. “Sir, The Fallen is working on bringing The Lord of Chaos here. The Fallen must eliminate all of Primus’ children before he can arrive. And when he does finally show up he’ll need a host if he’s to finally bring about Conquest.”

The former doctor shot Ratchet an angry glare as he slammed his palms down on the table and stood up. “He’s gonna use Hex as his vessel! What better way to destroy Primus’ creations than by using one of his own children! We have got to get them away from The Fallen! All of them!” Ratchet stood up and quickly latched onto Axle’s elbow trying to pull him back down and into his chair. His attempts were warded off.

“Magnus. Sir. We have to get all five of them into custody so we can work on a way to break the hold, or whatever it is that’s controlling them.” Axle paused for a moment as his expression finally relaxed. “And I know where they are.” He said deadpan.

Bridge - Observation Lounge 1

Bluestreak sat patiently and listened as Axle laid everything out for Ultra Magnus. The Fallen’s plan, the seals, the heralds, Cybertronian genocide, the arrival of Chaos, the fact that Hex would be used as Unicron’s vessel in this realm, everything. It was all a little too much for the field medic to bare as he slammed his fists down on the table and stood up with not even Ratchet being able to control him. The gunner flinched slightly at the very emotional display. It was understandable, of course, considering it was Axle’s own ward who would be used to give the Chaos Bringer physical form and thus destroy the Universe. It was almost too much for any sane mech to handle.

Once Axle had managed to calm himself down, he revealed that he knew the Fallen’s location, but then stopped short of specifying where. Bluestreak wasn’t sure why the former doctor was hesitating. Perhaps it was all the stress of the situation or maybe self guilt had crept back in because of Hex’s involvement in all this. Whatever the case, the gunner felt the need to say something. While that was of no surprise to anyone who knew him, Blue also realized that his words had to remain on the subject at hand and not deviate off on an unrelated tangent. Time was of the essence here.

“Axle, if I may,” Bluestreak interjected, giving the field medic a respectful nod as he leaned forward and began tapping away on the touch-sensitive keys within the tabletop. He then turned his attention to the other mechs present before continuing. “A series of numbers were discovered on the back of Hex’s Autobot badge that proved to be Earth coordinates.” The hologram hovering above the table switched to an image of Australia before zooming in further to the precise location in question. “Here! This place is called the Uluru National Park within a region known as the Australian Outback. The Uluru is a large rock formation comprised primarily of sandstone and is situated approximately 208 miles southwest of the nearest town. It’s in the middle of nowhere and is the perfect place for the Fallen and his heralds to rest and plan for the coming apocalypse. Unfortunately, there are few places to hide and thus sneaking up on them will be problematic if not impossible. I would advise caution. Making too hasty a move would only cause more deaths. However, I do also agree with Axle. We must find a way to capture them all or at the very least separate the four heralds from the Fallen’s grasp. As for how to do that exactly, well, I have no idea how to fight the supernatural. Perhaps the ancient texts have the answer.”

Bluestreak realized that he had begun to ramble a bit, but at least he kept his words on the topic at hand. Unfortunately, there was still more he had to say. “I have one more thing to add, Commander Magnus. For us to successfully fight the Fallen and prevent the apocalypse, we may have to ally ourselves with the Decepticons. I absolutely hate the idea, and I don’t trust them as far as I could throw Trypticon, but we may have no other choice in the matter. The Fallen is everyone’s enemy here. He wants to eradicate all Cybertronians, not just one side. We need to be united, even if it doesn't last, if we are to defeat him." The gunner let his words sink in before finishing his thought. "I understand that a temporary truce with Onslaught was achieved down on the surface. Is that accurate, sir? If so, perhaps we could take advantage and build upon that.”

Deck 6-Aerialbot Hub-Simulation

"I thought i already explained my plan!" Said Air Raid. "You go inside the Factory, reach the core, blow it up and then run away, While i stay outside and fight some seekers"
"Come on! Go now Fireflight! and good luck with not getting fragged by the explosion!" Said Air raid before leaving his partner.

Air Raid flew to the squads of decepticons that were flying towards the factory. "Hey! come and get me, Glitchs!" Shouted the Aerialbot to the seekers. He shot one missile at the general direction of the two squads before flying away from the them. The missile brought down two decepticons. The many seekers started chasing the autobot as soon as they noticed that the aerialbot was escaping.

"So i got you mad, didn't i?" Said Air raid.

Science Laboratory

Dragunov entered. Which in itself counted as a major event in the sterile, detergent-scented chamber of the science lab where you found it difficult to make your way through the rows of shelves holding various experimental devices and stacks of lab equipment perhaps even the ones assigned here didn’t know the workings of.

Science was a detached, abstract realm into which little of the outside world filtered through.

Dragunov was one small fraction of that outside world which did manage to seep into this secluded place. A femme of rather attractive jet-black frame and white trimming, slick elegance in her every move.

And she was quite used to optics being stuck on her wherever she went.

Arcee wasn’t hard to spot. She also stood out as brightly as a sun going supernova. Dragunov approached her and snapped a sharp, parade-ground salute.

’Sniper Dragunov, reporting for duty,’ she said firmly.


Docking Ring

Where could be Ultra Magnus at?

The big question for the cycle. Ingram tried to ponder on that and solve the case. How on Cybertron could someone as big as Ultra Magnus just vanish and become difficult to find?

Oh, yes, maybe because the ship was even bigger? That had to be it.

As she and Blurr exited the docking ring, Ingram looked left, then right, trying to figure out the best way to go. All she saw were gloomy corridors with barely any mechs wandering by them, and even they walked slumped.

If anything, they needed that bar Blurr wanted to cobble together to cheer them up. That morale boosting thing would definitely for an advantage here.

Her resolved reinforced once more, and for the lack of a better idea, Ingram turned to his speedster comrade.

’Honestly, I have no idea... but s’pose the bridge woulda be a good place to start.’