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Inside Skydive's Head

Memories of aerial battles continued to play across his processor until a giant green behemoth bellowed over the field swatting away his fellow Aerialbots.

"NO!!! Air Raid, Fireflight, Slingshot you three can't be down. Silverbolt, what do we do against such a monster? Is there some sort of mega cannon Wheeljack can come with to blow this thing apart? We are like cyber foxes compared to this thing."

Skydive looked around and saw Jetfire lead the remaining aerial forces and the Protectobots coming up a few kilometers away with Hot Spot leading them. On the other side of the sky Starscream was leading his Seekers in a final run to try and wipe out their rivals, the Aerialbots. Thanks to Jetfire and the few remaining aerial units, they keep Screamer occupied long enough for Skydive and Silverbolt to land next to their fallen comrades. In a cycle, the Protectobots show up with First Aid taking the lead in looking at Air Raid, Fireflight, and Slingshot. Jetfire and troops were able to keep the Seekers at bay but the giant clapped his huge hands together knocking all aerial units around with a few Seekers and Autobots hitting the ground hard. Hot Spot orders the extraction and the Protectobots gets everyone off the ground. To Skydive's surprise, he hears Megatron ordering the giant to stop the attack and laughs saying something about having the ultimate weapon. Skydive looked around with despair in his face.

"This can't be the end of the Autobots. We have to figure something out."

Jetfire looked over at Skydive with a struggle to smile.

"We are working on something to combat their new weapon. We are trying..."

Medbay
Before Jetfire could finish his statement, Skydive woke up as the repair cycle was done. The door open and Skydive looked around the room taking a few moments to realize where he was instead of his dream.

"So who thought it was wise to start a fight in the medbay? Isn't this a place of healing instead of fighting or did the Dinobots come back in their usual moods?"

He sees Arcee, Twintwist and Topspin along with an unfamiliar mech down with another medial mech attending her.

"Hey Arcee, how many others have come up here from the mess down on Earth? Do you know how we fared?"

Auxiliary Shuttle Serenity: Cockpit

The cramped, almost claustrophobic confines of the small auxiliary craft left a nasty ache in Slingshot's knee as he rotated his torso around from side to side in vain attempts to break the quiet monotony of planetary egress. There was little skill involved in piloting a vessel from the surface of a planet into space, all one required was speed and the proper timing to hit the booster engines in order to break the final layers of the upper Ionosphere. In such cases, the small Aerialbot envied the likes of Starscream and Thundercracker... even to a lesser extent Skywarp. The seeker trio had some of the most powerful engine to size ratio he had ever seen, enabling them to lance through space without much effort from a planetary body. Of course there were other reasons for him to envy them. Superior firepower to most members of his own squadron was perhaps the most glaring, but for Slingshot it was the idea of having a leader who was at least ambitious enough to take a risk when necessary. Not that Silverbolt was as cowardly as Starscream, but even the crazed red flier knew when an advantage could be pressed. Maybe even saw an intrinsic value in something as worthless as himself.

A brief glint of light soon flashed across the forward canopy as the first of the blade like saucer section of the massive combat shuttle known as Longevity slowly turned into view. Its forward cannons were dormant, though instilled a sense of awe to the sharp shooter. Designed specifically to carry mech and material from various battlefronts on a moment's notice, to break through blockades and to go the distance with ships of similar size, the Longevity was as impressive as its commanding officer. Two of the three transwarp nacelles soon joined the vision, set off to one side or other on their own swept back pylons while the third was obscured by the main mass of the formidable vessel.

Without a sound in the almost barren ship, a few worn out warriors making no sounds as they attempted to deal with the shell shock of battle, Slingshot released a muted sigh of frustration. As the Longevity veered off towards its ultimate destination of the Guardian, he had barely taken notice of the even larger silhouette splashed by the reflected light from the planet's lone natural satellite. Taking a cue from the automated friend or foe transponders, the Aerialbot adjusted course and transmitted his landing clearance request to the bridge of the Ark 22.

He knew with all of the commotion that had transpired over the past day, the bridge of the mighty Starship would be in frenzy and probably under going needed repairs. Thus he finally broke his self imposed torture and pushed himself from the lone chair within the cockpit. A pair of strides later brought him to a small computer terminal recessed into the bulkhead. The orange and crimson digital lettering flashed at its monitor's top as 'utility.'

"Computer, show me some highlights from this last engagement," he spoke in a false tone of bravado. While he knew he had held little sway in the over all outcome of the battle, perhaps seeing himself in action would at least jump start his mood into something more positive. "And don't skimp on the important stuff... Transfer replay feed to helm secondary monitors."

The computer did as it was instructed and Slingshot grabbed an energon ration cartridge. Using his thumb to flick open the top semi transparent tab of the cartridge, he reclaimed his cramped seat and awaited the bridge of the Ark 22 to respond and give him the clearance he would require. For he had no desire to face live Autobot guns so late in the day.

As he waited the entire replay of the battle, as recorded by small micro satellites that had been launched by various methods. It had been something of a bombastic affair, where no headway was ever to be made. Even his own efforts of dropping that loud mouthed ground pounding Ranger from nearly twenty thousand feet in the air had proven only a source of amusement. Though the fireworks display had been quite impressive. Then it came, the emergence of Devastator and the titan's wroth brought down upon the head of the Fallen... and it was there Slingshot froze.

Med Bay

Twintwist's optics drifted over to Skydive and a smile, laced with reckless abandon and a little bit humor, danced across his faceplate. But before he could answer Skydive's question, the Aerialbot had already moved on to questioning Arcee. He shrugged.

Topspin, on the other hand just grumbled. It sounded vaguely like he was communicating lack of knowledge about the Bot who caused this mess as he set about to right the toppled equipment.

"What did I tell you about grumbling?" Twintwist teased his brother, unable to let the opportunity slip by. The annoyed look on Topspin's face was enough to silence any further fun at his expense.

"Well regardless...." Topspin began. "We will find out who she was... " He let his words trail off as he guided Twintwist over to a berth again. Twintwist grabbed a medical drone by the head and pulled it over. "And why she flipped out; soon enough." He put a few commands into the drone Twintwist had secured and set it to fix his brother's broken drill, a bit of a grin from Twintwist and a gasp from Topspin as the drone gave Twintwist a bit of a sting of pain which his brother felt through the link they shared.

Med Bay

Groundbomber's optics activated again. The cool-down process only took a few minutes. Her internal repair systems would activate and fix the damage done to other systems now that her body temp was down to normal levels.

This time, before she stood, she collected her thoughts before she even sat up. She then activated her scanner and took a look around. Seeing another life-form in the area with her, Groundbomber shot up, ready to deal with the threat.

A soothing, if not sarcastic voice said, "Hey hey, no combat for a couple days. Preferably not for a week or two, but I doubt I'll get you to do that, seeing your service record."

Groundbomber looked over to see a green nurse looking at her. Grumbling, she slowly got off of the bed and stood up. She briefly said "Thanks" before walking out into the main area.

Groundbomber looked around to see who was there. Ignoring the mess, she demanded, "I want the current tactical situation. And if none of you can get it for me, get me a high-up to do it."

Autobot Shuttle Serenity

The passenger cabin echoed with soft groaning sound as the bulky trainformer within slowly began his reboot sequence. Optics flickered back online and internal systems sluggishly tried to diagnose the damaged sustained. Railway attempted to sit up but soon found himself back upon his spinal strut, an immense pain throbbing in the back of his processor.

"Uurrrgghhh... What- what happened?" The bulky Autobot asked aloud before hissing out in pain, struggling to stand up fully. The pain aching in his processor lashed out once more causing Railway to bring his hand to his head in a pitiful attempt ti nullifying the pain by rubbing the metal plating. He glanced about to find himself isolated in the passenger cabin. "Need... Answers..." Railway grumbled, his voice sounding more raspy and scratchy than before the battle.

This doorway to the pilot cabin slid open with a soft hiss and Railway staggered in, leaning up against the doorframe with his left arm holding up his entire weight. Before him say the Aerialbot sniper and ace pilot, Slingshot. The white and crimson jetformer was positioned at the helm watching the video feed from the battle prior.

"Slingshot... Wha-What is that?"

Med Bay

As the sting from the medical drone quickly subsided, Twintwist regarded his brother. "Didn't you target her or scan her signature, Topsy?" He finally asked. "Arcee even said her name, you've gotten sloppy, brother."

The weary cartographer simply sighed and Twintwist grinned wickedly at Topspin. "That was...." He trailed off as Groundbomber strode on the room and began demanding reports. "Groundbomber." He finished. He looked at her with a bit of 'you got to be kidding me' on his faceplate.

"I want the current tactical situation. And if none of you can get it for me, get me a high-up to do it."

"Settle down." Twintwist grumbled. "We ain't in a rush anymore."

Groundbomber softens a bit. She said, "I apologize. You obviously have wounded here. But need to know who is in charge so that I can report in."

She looks around the room and scans the brothers, noting that they are spark spilt twins. She awkwardly puts her hand out in greeting to both if them, saying, "Topspin, Twintwist. I'm Groundbomber."

Med Bay

Twintwist gave Groundbomber a slick grin. "Nice to meet you." He said as the repair drone finished up the simple repairs, and shook Groundbomber's hand.

Topspin nodded a bit absently at Groundbomber. "All right, Skydive, Groundbomber, I'll answer you both at once..." He finally said. "We did it, we beat the Fallen, we won the battle... the Cons didn't even give us too much trouble, kept their end of the bargain for the most part, just used Prowl as 'insurance', yeah, Prowl survived..." Topspin shrugged. "We suffered some losses, but in the end, I really think we managed to come out of the whole thing on a positive note."

Twintwist's quirky attitude slipped to serious as Topspin spoke. "So you see, Groundbomber, there's really no tactical info we can give you. The Cons are keeping peaceful and the battle is over. We'll find a place for a Bot of your talents right away, I'm sure. Cause even though the Cons are quiet now, that won't last."

Topspin nodded gravely at his brother's words. "Take some time to get healed and acclimated."

"What are your talents?" Twintwist asked as he righted some more equipment to keep busy.

Med Bay

Groundbomber's faceplate exploded with a wide grin. No one had ever asked her what her talents were; they just took her at face value, assumed that she was a mindless soldier. She happily replied, "Thank you. Well, I'm a soldier, for the most part. I can blast things, stab things, blow them up. Oh, and also I am super strong and durable, able to easily take on a good-sized fighting force easily."

She gestured to her wings, "I have a flying vehicle alt mode, and am capable of limited space flight. I have a wide variety of bombs and missiles, as well as this cannon on my arm. But, and I thank you for asking me, I'm actually smart. Yeah, a soldier that can come up with complex strategies, and even act on them. What are the odds of that?!"

Although she said the last part in a sarcastic tone, her joyous expression conveyed deep appreciation and humor. Groundbomber knew that she'd met a couple of 'Bots that she would grow to like...

Medbay

"There is a lot to appreciate of a smart and strategic flyer. I'm Skydive, the strategist of the Aerialbots. The challenge is having others outside of the Aerialbots to listen to my ideas. I do specialize in aerial combat though for obvious reasons. My armaments may not be as much as yours but my strength is in my squad and our teamwork with our individual talents. None of us have the speed for escape velocity. Are you a solo flyer or have you flown in squads before, Groundbomber? With your design, I'm hoping you had some support for runs."

Med Bay

Groundbomber turned her attention to the Aerialbot. She said, "First off, thanks for the compliment. Second off, I usually don't fly with a squad. But that's usually because I take down soft targets, anything lower than a light cruiser. That's usually because those have few fighters to shoot me down, and those I can handle.
However, when I am on harder targets, it's always a blessing to have fellow fliers backing me up. I must say Skydive, that I am an admirer of you and your team."

Med Bay


Twintwist let a wicked grin slip on to his faceplate. "You like blowing things up!" He said happily. "Wicked! I do demolitions! We will have to go blow up something some time soon!"

Topspin shook his head and chuckled. "Let's have some healing time, first, besides, I think it might be good if Groundbomber and Skydive got to know each other...." He nodded. The Aerialbots might have need for some support, there was often times that an extra hand was needed against the air superiority the Cons fielded. "Then you can blow up stuff."

Med Bay

Groundbomber flashed a smile to the twins, and turned her attention back to Skydive. She says, "Can you tell me a bit about your team?"

Shuttle Serenity: Cockpit

Slingshot did not respond to the inquiry at first. Instead he toggled a command into the archive system and forced the merger and appearance, as well as subsequent battle footage of Devastator into a narrow repeating loop. Again the monstrosity played out across the screen, and again Slingshot ordered the archives to split the images across the half dozen monitors in the cockpit. Each view screen offering the superb marksman different vantage points, angles and stages of the battle as it unfolded time and again.

After the forth time through the repeating loop, Slingshot spared a brief glance over his shoulder assembly towards the large American Type locomotive, Railway. The Aerialbot snorted briefly as if he had been addressed by an inferior combatant. He turned his attention back towards the primary screen, now frozen with the terrifying image of Devastator bursting through the flames with a fist barreling forward like a Cybertronian Frigate ramming a human battleship.

"That, Railway, is our enemy. Apparently the Deceptions couldn't wait to admit defeat in the air so they decided to challenge you big lug ground biters to a game of domination." Slingshot released a brief sigh of exacerbation and allowed his arms to fly up in a brief shrug before letting them flop down onto the arm rests. "Its a game changer... calls itself Devastator. From the looks of it, comprised of six Constructicons, it'll live up to that name quite completely."

Absently he brought his left hand to the bottom of his chin and rested his index finger against its defined base. "For all that power, its got some serious balance issues."

Medbay

"The Aerialbots are probably the most elite aerial unit we have. Others like Jetfire can match if not exceed what we can do individually but not as a unit. Silverbolt is our commander and a fairly good one. He deals with a lot of attitude from most of us and he often times does listen to what I suggest for strategies. Thankfully he deals with high command instead of the rest of us. I've rarely spoken directly to high command types unless I believe my strategy would be key to winning a battle.

"Slingshot might be our slowest member but his unique take off and landing has been crucial in some instances when we had a very short runway or none at all. I would suggest not to get in his sights because he is a marksmen which he boldly proclaims. He might be a decent sniper if his weapons were more fineness than his typical mortar shells.

"Air Raid is a bit crazy with his maneuvers but pulls them off quite well. Usually if I come up with a new move or twist to an existing one, he often is the one who is willing to do it.

"Fireflight has some of the best scanning equipment for an aerial warrior. He enjoys gathering information to the point of getting distracted with the natural scenery. This often times gets him in trouble by running out of fuel or worse yet being caught unaware when Screamer and his buddies come flying at him. I've lost track how many times Fireflight almost hit one of us while flying in formation. I've tried to teach him better flying methods but really hard to get him focused on flying instead of what is around him.

"As for me, there isn't much beyond what I've already told you. I study any and all aerial maneuvers would it be from our rivals the Seekers or the Sweeps. The Sweeps aren't much for individual moves but are excellent in their pack hunting and team moves. I've also studied natural creatures of the planets we've visited. Some of the moves I've seen the little creatures do I've tried to replicate but had issues. I figured it was due to size factor and maybe something about their organic frame being able to be more flexible than our Cybertronian forms.

"As a team, assuming everyone is on the same course, we are nearly unbeatable in the sky against more standard foes. As I mention before, there is a rivalry between Starscream and his Seekers against us even though they have much more Seekers than we do. If you are wondering who would win in an aerial encounters between Cons and Bots, it would be hard to say because Cons have numbers on us while I would like to think we have the better fliers."

Wheeljack’s Lab

The DX9000 drone, also known as Dex, hummed to life once more in a far off corner of the laboratory as it received a non-verbal communique from its master, Wheeljack. The instructions were clear and the mid-sized drone immediately went about its assigned tasks once an acknowledgement signal was sent back to the mechanical engineer. The first thing Dex did was gather the spare parts necessary to build a new forearm, placing them into Wheeljack’s sub-space enhanced toolkit with all of his other instruments.

The drone then hovered over to the replicator which was still situated on one of the inventor’s work benches. Following Wheeljack’s explicit instructions, Dex quickly programmed the machine to generate six vials of synthetic Syk before moving back to allow the device to function. Half a breem later the replicator finished and Dex gathered the vials, placing them into a storage compartment on its right side.

With those tasks completed, Dex grabbed ahold of Wheeljack’s toolkit and hovered over to the door, which automatically opened for it on approach. Before exiting, the DX9000 stopped at the threshold and spun back around, remembering that there was one more task to fulfill. Scanning the entire lab, Dex quickly found what it was searching for. A small domesticated turbofox was sitting across the room, staring curiously at the drone. Dex let out a series of beeps at Razr in the hopes that Tracer’s pet would follow him. The DX9000 unit then exited the lab, waiting briefly in the corridor for the turbofox to catch up before heading off towards the nearest bounce chamber.

Med Bay


"Meh, those Seekers are paper," Groundbomber said. "Although, in numbers, they are a force to be reckoned with."

She looked around. Groundbomber sighs, disappointed. She said, "I was expecting to see you team with you. By the way, I've studied all of your strategies. You did those?"

Medbay

"Fireflight is still in the CR Chamber recouping from the battle we were just in. As for the rest of the team, I'm not really sure. We all had orders to bounce back up here after the battle. It wouldn't surprise me if Silverbolt is dealing with high command. Slingshot could be anywhere probably boasting about how well he done in the battle. As for what you've seen, most are probably mine but Silverbolt has some good ideas as well plus other suggestions from other fliers like Jetfire or even Prowl. Most of the time I pay little attention to Prowl's ideas unless they are fairly general and part of an overall plan. I should say Silverbolt listens to the plan and I do with what I'm told."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, especially with Prowl," Groundbomber said. She looked at her body, noting that she had new parts for a new alt mode. "Where are we? Is there a civilization that we protecting?"

Message from Rung on board Omega Supreme

>>”...anyone hear me? Th... is ops specialist ...ng. W...are....assistance. Supreme...reserves....depleted. ...has entered stasis. We are...to navigate...area ...Sol 8 in the...belt. ...ease, respond.”<<

Secured Communique from Longevity to Ark 22: Priority - Target Springer

A simple flash of warning lights emerged across nearest terminal to the triple changing officer. Upon activating the communications link the vestige of Ultra Magnus filled the monitor.

"Springer, I have a new assignment for you. Ironfist has developed a new system that is in need of direct full scale testing. Collect a team and transfer to the Longevity for the duration. Make sure your team has high observational skills as well as at least some engineering background. The development of this system is important, files locked on the Longevity will explain the nature of the devices and the true extent of your assignment."

Message from Guardian to Red Alert

>>Red Alert, your presence is requested by Ultra Magnus to join him and others on the Obersavtion Lounge on the Guardian.<<


Medbay

Skydive looked at Groundbomber as she looked at herself. The more he looked the more attracted he was getting to her. It isn't common to find a fellow aerial strategist like himself. Her affinity for solo missions can be a problem for her and the Autobot aerial forces since she isn't design for stealth or spy missions.

"We are currently over Sol-3 or as the natives call it, Earth. We are currently still in phase one of the Infiltration Protocols so not protecting as of yet. As always the Cons are here and sometimes I wish we didn't have to involve populated planets in our struggles. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy slagging Seekers especially Screamer and his buddies but having to follow the Infiltration Protocols makes it a bit harder to do so."

Hot Rod’s Subconscious Mind

He stood there in the darkness, not a sight nor sound anywhere around him. Was he in what the humans would call Hell? Was this endless void the punishment he was to suffer for all eternity for being the vessel of the Fallen? Was he to be alone forever, left to contemplate why he had not been strong enough to keep the fiery demigod out of his body? Perhaps if his spark had been truly pure he would’ve had the strength to prevent the chaos in Australia from happening. Maybe he wasn’t really the good bot he thought he was. He was a reckless cavalier that lived life on the edge, thinking of no one but himself. That’s what let the beast in and now his spark was tainted by that supernatural filth, corrupted by an entity that sought to destroy the entirety of the Cybertronian race and bring forth the return of Unicron, himself.

Hot Rod placed his faceplate into his hands and tried to weep, but no tears of energon came. There was nothing left to cry for now. There was only darkness and despair and loneliness. This was all that was left. He was surrounded by the same darkness that resided within his spark now. He was truly as empty as his new existence. How fitting.

“But you are not alone, child. I am here.”

“No, it cannot be. We defeated you! You can’t be here!”

"Oh, but I am! You may have ripped out my spark but I am still apart of you and always will be! Hahahahahahahahh!!!!”

A blazing inferno suddenly erupted all around Hot Rod as the Fallen’s gigantic visage appeared over him. The fiery demigod let out a maniacal laughter as the intense flames licked Hot Rod’s chassis. He could still feel pain. Maybe that meant he wasn’t truly dead or maybe this was all apart of his punishment. The void was only a precursor of the torment the Fallen would level upon him from this moment forward. But it couldn’t be the Fallen. His dark spark was gone. Unless because they had been together for so long they could no longer be completely separated. Maybe the Fallen would torment him forever. The eternal darkness and loneliness was looking pretty good right about now.

As the Fallen’s enormous visage continued to cackle endlessly, Hot Rod rose up to his full height and let out a deafening battle cry. “You’re not real! We defeated you! You’re not really here!”

”I am real, child. You will never be rid of me. NEVER!!!”

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Hot Rod screamed, pulling out his discharge rifle and firing an endless barrage into the Fallen’s hovering visage. The image wavered before exploding into a brilliant fireball, enveloping the cavalier in an endless white light. Hot Rod covered his optics to prevent them from being overloaded by the sheer brilliance of the light. The fires then receded and suddenly it became very cold, bitter even as strong winds picked up, blowing against his now shivering frame.

”Rodimus...” The voice spoke from somewhere ahead as Hot Rod continued to shield himself. This voice was different sounding than the Fallen’s, more regal, more 'good'. However, it could still be a trick. The demigod was full of tricks. "Don't be afraid, Rodimus. Open your eyes."

“That’s what the Fallen called me. That’s not my real name.”

”The Fallen called you Rodimus Prime while he was pretending to be you reborn, and while you have not earned the mantle of Prime, the name Rodimus is still who you have now grown into whether you want to admit it or not.”

“No, this is some kind of trick. You’re the Fallen speaking in a different voice. I won’t be fooled. I won’t!”

”This is no trick, Rodimus. Open your eyes and see for yourself.”

Carefully and with great reluctance, Hot Rod slowly brought his hands down and onlined his optics to see that the light had diminished somewhat, exposing an icy terrain at his feet as a virtual blizzard raged all around him. Within the blowing snow, the cavalier could see the silhouettes of several great mechanoids, but he could not make out any discernible features besides the fact that they were much larger than himself and clearly not the Fallen. There was something very familiar about them even as their bodies were obscured by the snow, and something very calming about them, as well. Whomever they were, they did not seem to be evil.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

”We are here to deliver a message.”

“What message?”

”Come find us, Rodimus.”

“What? That’s it? Come find you? Well, where are you exactly and who are you? What are you talking about?!” Hot Rod felt very confused. Was this real or was it just a dream or perhaps it was a new kind of torment for his failing in Uluru. “I don’t understand. How do I find you if I don’t even know who you are?! A bit more information about you guys would be nice! I'm not a mind reader after all.”

”You know us, Rodimus. We are your salvation. Search deep within yourself and then you will truly know us. As for where we are....”

The voice trailed off as the raging storm subsided as quickly as it had appeared, and with it the images of the mechs, themselves, vanished. The icy landscape now continued onward unabated for miles in every direction. In the distance a new light shined bright, revealing a beautiful city of metal and glass with towering spirals reaching into the sky, all glowing with the power of Primus, himself. “What is that? Is that your home? Where is that? How do I get there?”

”Look down, Rodimus. Look down and you will find the way,” the now disembodied voice responded.

“What the frag does that mean?! I’m standing on solid ice. How’s that going to....” Hot Rod’s words were cut short as the icy ground beneath him began to shake violently and brake apart. “Whoa, what the...?” Before he could react any further, the cavalier fell into a deep crevice and tumbled downwards where darkness consumed him once more. Yet another light then appeared in front of him, growing closer and closer with every passing astrosecond as he continued to fall. “What’s that? Is that a.....”

Medical Bay - Isolated Care & Decontamination Chamber

“....ship?!” Hot Rod suddenly awoke and found himself restrained to a medical berth inside a decontamination chamber. “Wait! What happened?! Where am I now? What’s going on?! Where did they go? They were just here talking to me and now they’re gone. I need to get back to them. I need to find them! Someone help me find them!!!”

The cavalier struggled again the restraints of the med berth but it was no use. His power levels were very weak and his body was still wrecked with the damage and mutation that the Fallen had inflicted upon him. “Help me....please. I need to....find....them.....please......” His strength leaving him, Hot Rod off-lined his optics as he took several deep intakes of air, his spark pulse racing as he laid his head back down. “My...our....salvation....depends...on it....”

Bridge

Springer's digits tapped against the arm of the command chair with a rhythmic notation while his other hand rested against the side of his faceplate. Waiting for the crew to return from Earth was beginning to make the green and yellow Triplechanger grow weary with absolute boredom.

"Commander, we've got something." Perceptor informed from the terminal he was working behind.

"C'mon Perce', there's no need for using titles now." Springer replied as he shifted his weight forward into the chair, "Never really cared for them..."

"Yes well you can forget about the formalities later, right now we've got other issues." The red and blue scientist then pulled up the display on his terminal over to the main viewscreen. He keyed in a few more commands before turning to face the seated Autobot. "Listen."

>>"...anyone hear me? Th... is ops specialist ...ng. W...are....assistance. Supreme...reserves....depleted. ...has entered stasis. We are...to navigate...area ...Sol 8 in the...belt. ...ease, respond."<<

"The message is faint, but it registered with the comm lines shortly after a power spike was detected with the long range sensors." The scientist stated while Springer listened attentively.

"You think it was a slipspace rupture?"

"Can't say for sure. We can't determine whatever it was exactly at this distance, but the communication was picked up shortly after sensors picked up the spike." Perceptor continued to look over his console as the readings flashed before him. He brought his knuckle to the edge of his lip as he studied the message fragment. "It's a distress signal."

Springer shifted in his chair once more, this time tenting his fingers in front of his faceplate and resting his elbow joints on the edges of his knees while his optics maintained a hard stare on the primary viewscreen before him. "Can we determine if it's one of ours'?"

"Again, not from here. But it follows the standard Autobot procedures for issuing such a signal."

"Or, it could be a 'Con vessel trying to mask their entry into the system." Springer quickly retorted. "We need to send a team out there and investigate, last thing we need is the cons gaining more reinforcements. Perceptor, you think you could-"

A small green light flickered on the arm of Springer's chair while a small whistling tone caught his attention, diverting his gaze from the viewscreen. The transmission from Ultra Magnus opened before Springer could further react and soon the Autobot Commander's visage replaced the technical displays over the primary viewscreen.

>>"Springer, I have a new assignment for you. Ironfist has developed a new system that is in need of direct full scale testing. Collect a team and transfer to the Longevity for the duration. Make sure your team has high observational skills as well as at least some engineering background. The development of this system is important, files locked on the Longevity will explain the nature of the devices and the true extent of your assignment."<<

A weapons test? Now?! Is he serious? Springer internalized, almost on the verge of verbal outburst. He needs to know about whatever just jumped into the system!

"Mags, wait! There's something out-" the Triplechanger's words trailed to halt as his video feed with the crimson and blue armored Autobot cut out before Springer was able to inform him of the the strange signal. In a defeated fashion, the warrior of green and yellow armor slumped further into his chair before returning his balled fist against his faceplate right beneath where his nose met his upper lip.

"Looks like we're going to be pulling double duty now." Springer stated as he rose from the central command chair. "What's that human expression? 'Like shooting two birds with one stone'? I'll have to confirm that with Bluestreak or something..." The green and yellow warrior began making his way towards the nearby exit, stopping at the frame of the door only to look back on the scientist-turned-sniper. "Keep me updated with anything that develops in that area of space."

Perceptor only gave Springer a nod to confirm that he understood before the Triplechanger cleared the room. Outside the doors, Springer let out a sigh as he found himself repeating the same actions he had taken prior to heading down Earth before this whole fiasco with the Fallen had kicked off. It was a weird feeling... "Deja Vu" as the fleshies referred to it. Shaking the thought and returning to his stroll down the corridor, Springer opened a comm line to his fellow Triplechanger and part-time master of reconnaissance.

>>"Wakey Wakey Sandy! Hope you enjoyed your nap because Mags is shipping us out again. Grab Arcee and meet me at the bounce chamber when you're ready."<<

Med-Bay

Everything was pretty much sunshine and high-grade within the confines of a cryonic regeneration chamber. Everything getting pieced back together. Nothing but visions of Helix Gardens and Energon Pubs as far as the optic could see. Happy thoughts.

>>"Wakey Wakey Sandy! Hope you enjoyed your nap because Mags is shipping us out again. Grab Arcee and meet me near the boarding tube when you're ready."<<

Aw, geez.

Wait, no. Happier thoughts. Anything Magnus wanted to do would mean action! No...no, no, wait...that was Prowl. Prowl meant action. Secrety, black-opsish kinda stuff. Sandstorm's bread and butter when he could get it. Magnus, well, with Magnus they could be doing anything from infiltrating Decepticon warships to cataloging native insect species for...for "posterity" or something. Ugh. He didn't want to get up now. The odds weren't good enough that this assignment was going to be interesting.

But it was Springer, so. Yeah. Get up.

>>"I'm on it, Spring."<<

The doors to the CR chamber slid open with a hiss and the various attachment hoses began to retract. Sandstorm lazily pushed himself out of the chamber and checked his readings. not quite 100%, but fraggin' close enough.

"Hey Arcee, looks like Springer and Magnus have some new, fantastic adventure for us, just 'round the corner," Sandstorm said, giving a slightly melo-dramatic wave like something one would expect from a children's TV show host on this weird little mudball. "Are you ready?"