Meanwhile back in Siberia, Arcee was looking around the factory. Using the flashlight she had brought with her.
"Hmm, where could it be?" Arcee muttered to herself before taking out the scanner Ratchet gave her.
She starts using the scanner to try and detect the signal of the Stasis Cell but strangely the scanner doesn't seem to be able to find the signal. Not even a single beep.
"That's weird. The signal is gone." Arcee said in shock and confusion before turning on the comm link to tell them what happened.
"Arcee to base. We've got a problem. The Stasis Cell signal is gone." Arcee said.
Back at the base, that was worrisome. How can a signal just disappear like that? Maybe the scanner is busted.
"Maybe the scanner is malfunctioning." Cliffjumper said as he heard a small scoff.
"Possible. I'll have Ratchet check it when I get back. To be honest, I'm surprised you were left out for the other mission." Arcee said as she was a little confused.
"Me too. Look, Arcee, about what happened earlier..." Cliffjumper started but Arcee cut him off.
Back in Siberia, Arcee looked around while telling Cliffjumper not to think about it too much.
"If this is about what happened in the training room, forget it. We both know nothing happened." Arcee told him but Cliffjumper wasn't thinking that.
"That's not it." He told her.
Back at the base, Cliffjumper rubbed his helm as he sighed softly.
"I was talking about..." Cliffjumper said but Arcee beat him to it.
"I know what you were talking about. You don't have to say anything." Arcee told him in a reassuring tone.
"I know it's just that I'm sorry If I felt worried about you. I know you're a capable warrior. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you." Cliffjumper said softly as he looked at his pede as Arcee chuckled.
Back in Siberia, Arcee chuckled softly at him. Same old Cliffjumper.
"Funny. It has been a while since you got worried about me." Arcee told him with a small grin.
"I'm not worried... I'm just concerned..." Cliffjumper said and she couldn't help but smile at that.
"Thanks, Cliff. I appreciate it." Arcee said with a smile.
Back at the base, Cliffjumper couldn't stop the smile that appeared.
"Glad to hear it. Look, I have to keep the channel open. With Optimus and the others checking the Harbinger..." Cliffjumper said but Arcee beat him to it again with a chuckle.
"Yeah. I'll call if I find something." She chuckled through the comm.
"Okay. Be careful, Arcee." Cliffjumper said before she hung up and left Cliffjumper in his thoughts.
Even though he knew that Arcee could take care of herself in battle, he couldn't help but feel worried about her. What Arcee told him about the fact that he hasn't worried about her in a quiet while reminded him of something from a distant past.
Back on Cybertron he and Arcee were on the same Squad and they were both good friends back then. Suddenly, Cliffjumper started remembering through his memories of one of the times he was worried about her.
Flashback starts;
"Thank you, Zeta Team, I'll be sure to report this to my squadron." Cliffjumper said before cutting the communication before he saw both Arcee and Tailgate returning back from the field.
"I know it might seem repetitive. But one of these days, you're gonna meet your match. A Decepticon match." Tailgate told her as Arcee just rolled her optics while crossing her arms.
"You keep saying that and I'm still in one piece." Arcee said with a smirk before they looked up and saw Cliffjumper approach them.
"Hey, you two. Where have you been?" He asked as Tailgate pointed his thumb to where they came.
"Out there playing with some cons." Tailgate said nonchalantly as Cliffjumper gave them a look of disbelief.
"Seriously, guys, you have to stop doing this. You might get killed one day or worse. We cannot afford getting caught by the Decepticons." Cliffjumper said as he grew worried about them.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah we know. Besides, the cons know better than not to mess with me." Tailgate said as Cliffjumper put a servo on his hip.
"Like the time I had to go save your tailpipe?" He asked with a deadpan look.
"Must you always bring that up?" Tailgate retorted playfully.
"When it comes to knocking some sense into you. Yes." Cliffjumper said before Arcee spoke up.
"So anything new happened while we were out there fighting?" Arcee asked as Cliffjumper nodded.
"Yes. We just received orders. The Decepticons are gathering forces. Our defense is holding however the hire ups think a counterattack would be able to repel them. They have chosen a few Autobots with the information for this mission." Cliffjumper explained.
"Great, give us the intel and that way we can get ready." Tailgate said with an excited grin.
"I'm afraid the leaders didn't want to give this information to a lot of Autobots. If the Decepticons captured one that knew about this, it could jeopardize the whole thing. For now we must get ready and await further orders and that means keeping a low profile. So try not getting captured by the Decepticons." Cliffjumper told him but Tailgate knew he was just worried.
"Stop worrying, Jumpy." Tailgate joked and used the nickname he always calls him when they were little.
"I told you not to call me Jumpy, Tailpipe." Cliffjumper teased back with a smirk and if they were in an anime, Arcee could have sworn they had vein marks appearing beside their heads as the two were going against each other.
"WANNA PIECE OF ME?!" Tailgate argued.
"WHENEVER YOU WANT, BROTHER!" Cliffjumper argued back as they gave each other playful yet fiery glares as Arcee just face palmed at them.
"Will you two grow up? Stop acting like some newborn Sparklings." Arcee said as she just sighed. For some two grown mechs, they act like sparklings sometimes
Even when Arcee had told them to stop acting like a bunch of Sparklings, they both still wanted to fight each other. And just like that Cliffjumper came out of his inner thoughts.
Flashback ends;
"Hard to believe I was once worried." Cliffjumper muttered but Miko was able to hear that as she looked up to him.
"Worried about what?" She asked curiously as Jack and Raf looked up to him.
"About Arcee getting hurt, of course. I... what?" Cliffjumper said before he stopped.
Not realizing that the kids were watching him daydreaming, Cliffjumper had told them that he was worried about Arcee as he stared at them in disbelief. Scrap, he forgot he wasn't alone in the base.
"I, uh,... What are you doing here? Are you spying on me?" Cliffjumper asked back but it was obvious that he was hiding that he was feeling embarrassed.
"Well, considering the fact that you were daydreaming, I'd say we were a bit curious. And, man, oh man. I cannot believe what we just heard." Miko said before she let out a small snicker.
"I was the first once to say that it was a bad idea. But based on what I've seen, I think it was worth it." Jack said as he couldn't stop the smirk from appearing on his face.
"Wait till Emily hears this." Raf said as Bolty squeaked in agreement.
"Knowing her. She's gonna be like 'EEEK!!!!' I mean even I'm a bit surprised about all of those." Miko said as she did the best squeal she could master.
"Who would've thought?" Jack said as he made a mental list of who had crushes on the base.
First there was him crushing on Sierra, then Miko crushing hard on Tai, Emily crushing on Optimus and he was sure that Optimus was secretly crushing on Emily and now Cliffjumper is crushing pretty hard on Arcee.
"What are you guys babbling about?" Cliffjumper asked as he was pretty confused on what they were talking about.
"Oh, please no need to pretend you don't know." Miko said with her arms crossed.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about." Cliffjumper said as he was at a loss on what the kids were talking about.
"We're talking about the L word." Miko said as she tried to emphasize what she was trying to say.
"Ladder?" Jack guessed only for Miko to shake her head.
"No."
"Lettuce?" Raf asked only to get another shake of the head.
"No."
"Library?" Jack tried again.
"No."
"Lottery?" Raf asked.
"Nuh-uh." Miko said with a shake of her head.
"Oh, I got it. Lobotomy." Jack said as Miko wanted to pull her hair out.
"No, it's not... what? Are you serious? This is the best you could come up with." Miko questioned with a look of confusion.
"I was out of ideas." Jack said.
"Come on, you guys. The L word." Miko said as she motioned with her hands what she was trying to say.
"Ah, that L." Jack said with a smile.
"You don't mean..." Raf said as he was starting to smile. Just wait until Emily hears this.
"Yep." Miko nodded with a grin.
"That wouldn't surprise me." Raf said with a small laugh.
"What are you talking about?" Cliffjumper turned to him as Miko spoke up.
"You... and Arcee... are in love!" Miko exclaimed before silence took place and no one said a word before Cliffjumper started to laugh like crazy.
"Hahahahaha! Hahahahahahahaha! Me and Arcee? Hahahahahaha. Me in love? With Arcee? Get out of here! Oh, you kids sure know how to make a fella laugh." Cliffjumper couldn't help but laugh as he wiped some lubricant from his optic as Miko made a pout look.
"Are you making fun of us?" Miko asked as one thing ran through their minds 'You are so dense, Cliffjumper'.
"It's hard not to. I mean, come on, guys. Me with Arcee? You kids have such an imagination. And just so you know, there's nothing between me and Arcee." Cliffjumper said but the kids could practically tell that he was denying the fact that he and Arcee have some kind of chemistry going on between them.
"Then how come you got so worried about her?" Jack asked.
"I got worried because that's what happens when your comrades are in battle. I mean, it's kind of normal." Cliffjumper said and Raf had to agree with him.
"He does have a point." Raf said.
"True but I've rarely seen him get worried for others." Jack told them.
"Yeah, he only worries for Arcee." Miko said with a snicker.
"Not true. I'm worried about the others too, you know. Besides, that's none of your business." Cliffjumper said while crossing his arms but a part of him knew that the kids might be right.
Meanwhile back at the Harbinger's crash site, the team had already reached the crashed ship and they were trying to look for an entrance to get inside.
"I don't see an entry. " Smokescreen said.
"Great. Then how are we gonna get in?" Bulkhead asked as Wheeljack had an idea.
"I got an idea. Let's blow this part of the ship. It will make a whole big enough for us to get in." Wheeljack said as he was eager to use one of his grenades but Agent Fowler gave him a look.
"And it could get us all squashed. The explosion could destroy part of. the structure." Agent Fowler told him only to get a roll of a pair of optics from the second wrecker.
"Ratchet, do you think you can make a hole through the ship's metal?" Optimus asked as he turned to the medic.
"It's worth a try." Ratchet said as he switched one of his servos to his welding torch but Emily stopped him when she saw some kind of hole at the top of the Harbinger.
"Hey, wait. I think I found an entrance. Look up there." Emily said as she pointed to the top of the ship.
She had spotted a hole big enough for her and the others to get inside the ship without causing a bit of destruction.
"Well, we found our entrance." Bulkhead said as Bumblebee whirred in agreement.
"Guess we better start climbing." Wheeljack said as it was the only option to get to the entrance.
"Easier said than done. There's no climbing point." Smokescreen said but Emily found a way.
"We could use the structure around us to climb. Once we get on top, all we'll have to do is jump to get inside. Simple as that." Emily said as she saw a way.
"Well, now that we have a plan. Let's move out." Wheeljack said before he ran to the wall and started climbing.
But by doing so, he accidentally made a bit of rubble fall on where Fowler was who quickly got out of the way.
"Hey watch it there, loose cannon." Agent Fowler told him as Ratchet sighed and just switched his servo back.
"This is the kind of attitude that makes me miss Hot Rod right now." Ratchet said as he remembered that Hot Rod had to go back to his charge somewhere a week ago.
"Is it me or does this sound like a bad idea?" Bulkhead asked Bumblebee who whirred and beeped to say that climbing to get inside one of the abandoned Decepticon ships is seriously a bad idea.
"Well, I think it's gonna be fun. Last one on the top is a slug." Smokescreen shrugged before starting to follow Wheeljack to get to the top first as Bulkhead and the others just watched.
"A slug? Really?" Bulkhead questioned as Bumblebee let out a small laughing noise and whirred to say 'That's Smokescreen for ya'.
After that, he and Bulkhead start climbing and following their two friends. Before joining them, Optimus and Ratchet stay behind to see if Fowler and Emily need any help to climb up the ship.
"Agent Fowler, do you require assistance?" Optimus asked as he looked at their current human companions.
"Don't worry about me, Prime. I used to climb walls like that. This will be easy." Agent Fowler said as Emily just watched the others before turning to Optimus and Ratchet.
"You guys go on ahead. We'll catch up with you." Emily told them as they nodded before the two mechs started following the others and climbed up the wall to reach the entrance.
"Alright then, time to get to work." Agent Fowler said as he and Emily walked to the wall.
"No offense, Agent Fowler. But I find it hard to believe that you could climb a wall this high." Emily said as she turned to him.
"Don't let this suit and tie fool you, young lady. Back in the days, climbing a wall like that was a piece of pie." Agent Fowler told her.
"If you used to climb a wall for a pie, that would explain a lot about your weight." Emily said with a small snicker.
"Is that so? Well, maybe it's time you start learning from the grown ups. Watch and learn." Agent Fowler said as he started to climb.
"Okay. I'll be right behind you in case you start falling over. Oh before I go." Emily said before selecting the current slot that had her earth element and her suit change to her earth mode.
"That ought to do it. Time to climb." Emily said before following the others up the wall.
Meanwhile back in Siberia, Arcee was still looking around the factory but she couldn't find anything that led to the Stasis Cell.
"This is a total bust." Arcee muttered before hearing some kind of wind coming from inside.
"Where is this wind coming from?" Arcee asked.
Wanting to figure out where the wind was coming from, Arcee starts looking around before she stumbles upon a hole in the wall. Following the trajectory, she finds that there was a huge hole on the floor and she had figured that the Stasis Cell must have gone through there and landed on the lower levels of the factory.
"So that's where you went." Arcee said before turning her comm link to contact the base.
Meanwhile back at the base, Cliffjumper and the kids were still talking about the fact that there was something between him and Arcee.
"Okay look, kids. There's nothing between me and Arcee." Cliffjumper said as Jack was leaning against the railing.
"I find that hard to believe. Before we came in, you and Arcee spent a lot of time together." Jack said as Miko agreed with him
"That's true. Partners are known to form a certain bond." Miko said with a grin.
"Oh, come on. You seriously think that I could be with someone like Arcee? Between me and her there's a lot of difference. I'm chatty and she's not. I never think things through and she does. She's quick and agile and as you can see, I'm not." Cliffjumper said as he listed down what he and Arcee had differences.
"So you have different personalities. Big deal, being in love with someone doesn't mean you need to have the same personality. Loving someone means being together despite your differences." Miko said as Cliffjumper finds that hard to believe.
"Yeah, well, I think that she and I are a bit too different and that's why it wouldn't work." Cliffjumper said before Arcee spoke up through the comm link.
"Yeah, mostly because he knows I'm not an easy gal." Arcee suddenly spoke up and gave Cliffjumper the scare.
"Ahhh!!!!!" Cliffjumper let out a surprise scream and jumped when he heard her.
"Arcee? Is that you?" Cliffjumper asked as Miko, Raf and Jack struggled not to laugh.
"Yeah, it's me." Arcee said with a smirk in her tone.
"Cool, cool, cool. Uh, just to be sure, how long have you been listening to what I said?" Cliffjumper asked as he heard a small snort.
"Trust me, you don't wanna know." Arcee told him.
"Okay, just so you know you didn't hear the part where I said 'Kids,what I'm about to tell you, it's untrue'." Cliffjumper said.
Back in Siberia, Arcee had to stop a small laugh. Cliffjumper is so predictable.
"Nice try. Anyways, I've found something. A huge hole on the wall and one on the floor." Arcee informed them before Cliffjumper spoke up.
"Slow down. A huge hole on the wall and on the floor? Any idea of what went through?" Cliffjumper asked and Arcee had a pretty good idea of what went through.
"I think so. The signs indicate that the Stasis Cell did this. And worked its way through the lower levels of the building. I'll have to go down to check it out." Arcee told him.
Back at the base, that was worrisome and Cliffjumper had to ask.
"Are you sure you don't need back up?" Cliffjumper asked.
"Oh I see someone is caring about me. I'm flattered." Arcee said and Cliffjumper blushed lightly.
"Me? No! I mean, I do care. But not as in care-care." Cliffjumper said and his blush only worsened when Jack, Raf and Miko started to laugh.
"Can we talk about something else? How deep is the hole?" He asked.
Back in the base, Arcee was by the hole and was looking down in it.
"Very deep. I'm not entirely sure. I'll have to go down and find the Stasis Cell. And you don't need to worry. I'll be moving slowly in case I meet up with a con." Arcee reassured him as she heard a small sigh of relief.
Back at the base, Cliffjumper let out a small sigh of relief.
"Fine then. I'll contact the others to see if they found anything. Cliffjumper out." Cliffjumper told her before turning off the communication before covering his faceplate in embarrassment.
"Oh man. That was so embarrassing." Cliffjumper muttered as Miko snickered. Too bad Emily didn't see this.
"Yeah. Too bad I didn't film this. Ems would've loved it." Miko said and Cliffjumper was just relieved that she didn't.
"That reminds me. I should contact the others and see how they're doing." Cliffjumper said before starting to contact the others.
Meanwhile back at the crash site of the Harbinger, the team were still climbing the wall to be able to jump through the hole on top of the crashed ship.
"Wow. Who would've thought we would have a great view from up here. And we aren't at the top yet." Smokescreen as he looked back at the view before them.
"Great. You can write a book about it later. Now get a move on." Bulkhead said as they continued to climb.
"Less talking, more climbing." Wheeljack said and climbed up but accidentally made some dust fall into Bumblebee's face plate and optics.
The scout whirred in discomfort and told Wheeljack to be careful as he tried to get rid of the dust that got into his optics.
"Settle down, muscle car. Some dust won't kill you." Wheeljack said and Bumblebee just let out a groan sound.
"You'll get used to it." Bulkhead told him as they continued to climb.
"Of all the things I could've done today, I never thought I would be climbing a wall." Ratchet grumbled as Optimus glanced at him as they continued to climb.
"Life is full of surprises, my friend." Optimus told him.
"I just hope we find something useful in that forsaken ship." Ratchet continues to grumble.
"Oh man. I'll never get how people do this." Emily said as she can feel her muscles straining slightly.
"What's wrong, young blood? Tired already?" Fowler joked as Emily just rolled her eyes.
"Very funny. I just hope you won't be taking your nap while climbing, grandpa." Emily teased as Agent Fowler just scoffed playfully.
"Ain't no respect." He said.
While Emily and Fowler were climbing to catch up with the others, Optimus started receiving a call in his comm-link and he knew who it was.
"Optimus, do you read me? Is everything okay?" Cliffjumper asked.
"Everything is fine, Cliffjumper. What is Arcee's status?" Optimus answered.
"She thinks she might have found the Stasis Cell. I was hoping you guys had already found information about it." Cliffjumper said as Optimus knew they haven't gotten any information yet.
"I'm afraid that gathering the data we need will take some time. We haven't entered the ship yet." Optimus told him as he continued climbing.
Back at the base, Cliffjumper just sighed softly.
"I see. Please be sure to tell me if you find anything. Whatever the information you find, it might help clear this whole thing out." Cliffjumper said but Optimus knew him and knew that he's worried.
"Cliffjumper, I know you're worried about Arcee. But you must remain focused." Optimus reassures him as Cliffjumper just sighs. Maybe a break might help him ease up a little.
"Ah I know, I know. If you don't mind, I would like to request a break." Cliffjumper said.
Back at the Harbinger's crash site, Optimus nodded for permission since Cliffjumper needed it.
"Granted. Get some rest, old friend. Prime out." Optimus said before turning off the comm link.
Meanwhile back at the base, Cliffjumper was trying to ease off his mind as he looked to the kids to see what they were doing.
"What are you doing, kids?" He asked curiously.
"Hmm not much. This game is seriously boring." Miko answered him as she and Raf were playing Chess.
Since it was Miko's turn, she moved her Knight and with that move, Raf was able to take down another of her pawns again.
"One more down." Raf said as Miko just let out a groan.
"Ah. That's the fifth one already." Miko said.
"Boy good thing it's just Raf who's beating you now. You wouldn't stand a chance against Emily." Jack said as Miko rolled her eyes.
"Says the one who still can't beat her at the race game." Miko said with a grin as Jack faked being hurt.
"Oh low blow." He joked.
"Hey, guys. I'll be taking a walk around the base. If anyone calls, please answer." Cliffjumper told them as Jack gave him a thumbs up.
"You got it." Jack said as Cliffjumper left to walk around the base to clear his mind as the kids watched him and couldn't help but feel bad.
"Poor Cliff. He sure looks down." Miko said as she was feeling sorry for him.
"I feel bad for him." Raf said as he had to agree.
"Me too. It's not like he wants to be worried. He just can't help it." Jack said.
"If you ask me, it's because he loves Arcee." Miko said as Jack had to agree.
"Love sure is hard to handle. I just hope something will come out of it." Jack said as he hoped that Cliffjumper and Arcee would get together soon.
Meanwhile back at the Harbinger crash site, the team were still climbing the wall and were almost at the top.
"Look, we're almost there." Smokescreen said as he spotted the ledge of the ship.
"It's about time." Bulkhead said with a sigh.
But Wheeljack had reached the top first and was soon followed by Smokescreen
"I came in second place? That sucks." Smokescreen said with a small frown.
"Better luck next time, rookie." Wheeljack said with a smirk.
Bulkhead and Bumblebee had finally reached the top as Bumblebee climbed up first. After he did, he gave Bulkhead a servo to help him climb up but what Bulkhead didn't know is that his weight and Bee were making the edge crack as it started to break and fall.
"Whoa!" Bulkhead exclaimed as the rubble was falling straight to Optimus and Ratchet.
"Look out!" Ratchet exclaimed as both him and Optimus stood still and kept their heads down as the rubbles hit them only to bounce off their armors.
"What's going on up there?" Agent Fowler asked before looking up.
He saw the rubbles coming for him and he quickly put his head down. But he then saw that one was coming straight for him. It didn't hit him but made him slip and let go and he started falling with a yell but luckily Emily quickly grabbed hold of his hand. But by doing it made her hand slip a little and now she has a hard time holding onto the wall.
"Hold on, Agent Fowler. I got you." Emily said but her voice was straining.
"Oh no. Ems and Fowler are in trouble." Bulkhead said as he saw what was going on.
"What do we do now?" Smokescreen asked in shock and worry.
"Don't know but we better think of something fast." Wheeljack said. They had to get to them fast or both Fowler and Emily would get hurt by the fall.
"I can't hold on any longer. I need help!" Emily exclaimed and the closest mech to them was Optimus.
"Hang in there, Emily. I'm coming." Optimus said as he started to climb as fast as he could to reach both Emily and Fowler on time.
"Hurry, Optimus. My hand is slipping...!" Emily exclaimed as her hand was slipping.
When Optimus finally got to where Emily is he reached his servo toward her to try and grab her. But suddenly her hand let go and made her fall along with Fowler.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!" Both humans let out screams as they both started to fall.
"NOOOOOO!!!!!" Optimus shouted as he just watched helplessly as both of their friends fell.
Emily and Fowler were falling down and the ground was coming up fast but suddenly at the very moment they were falling, Emily's hands and feet started getting covered in rocks. With her free hand, she grabbed on to the wall to ease off their fall and caught Fowler quickly. This new found ability helped her hold on to the wall.
"How did you...?" Fowler breathed in shock and in disbelief.
"I don't know. But I'm glad I found out." Emily said with a small grin.
Emily started climbing up and suddenly she realized that her feet covered in rock could make her walk on the wall and it made her smile widely.
"This is new. Alright, hold on tight, Agent Fowler. I'm taking us to the top." Emily said as she let Fowler on her back.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Fowler asked only for his answer as Emily started running up the wall to the top and passing over a shock and surprise Optimus and Ratchet on the way.
When she got there, she jumped so high that she made the others look at her with their mouths open. After that jump she made a perfect landing as she looked around with a smile.
"Well, what do you know? It was a good idea." Emily said with a grin.
Fowler let go of Emily while covering his mouth because he felt like he was about to throw up and she could have sworn he looked green on the face.
"I'm getting too old for this." Fowler groaned.
"Nice jump. Here I thought you were done for." Wheeljack said as he crossed his arms and a smirk.
"Me too. Good thing, I had one last trick up my sleeve." Emily said as she smirked back as Bumblebee started asking Emily on how she was able to run on the wall so fast.
"Don't know. Maybe my rock feet allow me to walk on rock. Like some sort of climbing trick." Emily said with a shrug as her hands and feet returned to normal as the rocks fell down from them.
"Well, I'm just glad that trick of yours got us out of this mess. Oh... I should stop eating those strawberry donuts." Fowler said before running to the side and hurled there.
Ratchet and Optimus finally join the others on the top as they quickly approach the humans.
"Are you guys okay?" Ratchet asked as Emily looked up to them.
"We're good." She said with a thumbs up.
"Thank Primus you are not hurt. From now on, we must be careful. For we do not know what lies inside the ship." Optimus said as he was relieved that Emily and Fowler were okay.
"Speaking of which. I have three things I'd like to give out. One, the view here is amazing. Two, I have a great look at our entry point from up here. And three, it's a long way down." Smokescreen said as he pointed to the hole for last.
"How long?" Bulkhead asked curiously as Smokescreen threw a small rock down the hole and it hit the floor.
"Very long." He said after hearing a small clunk below.
"Reminds me of the time when the Wreckers invaded Darkmount." Wheeljack said.
"What do you think we should do, Optimus?" Ratchet asked as he turned to Optimus who was looking down the hole.
"Since time is of the essence, we have no other choice but to make the jump." Optimus said as he turned to them.
"In case you forgot, me and Miss know-it-all here wouldn't survive a jump like that." Agent Fowler said as Emily felt a little offended at the 'miss know-it-all' comment.
"I shall carry you with me." Optimus told them.
"Alright then. Time to make the jump. See you on the other side." Wheeljack said as he walked back a little.
"You sure about that, Jackie?" Bulkhead asked as Wheeljack gave him a confident smile.
"Hey, I'm a wrecker. I know what I'm doing." Wheeljack said before he walked back a little more and started running towards the hole as the others watched and he jumped down the hole.
With that, he successfully enters the hole and gets inside the ship however, the others were not sure if he made it or not.
"You think he's?" Smokescreen asked nervously as Bumblebee shrugged in a maybe.
"Nah I know Jackie. I'm sure he's alright." Bulkhead said as he believed that Wheeljack is okay but a part of him feels like that he should check if he's still in one piece or not.
"But just in case. I'll try and contact him." Bulkhead said as he turned on his comm link to contact him.
"Jackie, you there? Do you need some back up?" Bulkhead asked.
For a moment there's a total radio silence and suddenly Wheeljack starts talking through the comm-link much to their relief.
"You should know better. Wreckers don't call for backup, they call for clean up." Wheeljack said through the comm-link.
"Haha, see? I told you he was alright." Bulkhead said as they were relieved to know.
"Okay, then I guess I'm next." Smokescreen said but Optimus stopped him.
"No, Smokescreen. I must go first to make sure Agent Fowler and Emily don't get hurt." Optimus said as Emily shrugged as she and Fowler looked at each other.
"Guess we're the next ones." Emily said as Optimus kneeled down so both Emily and Fowler could get on his servo.
"Climb on." He said as both of them climbed on.
"Just be sure not to drop us, Prime." Fowler said as he held onto one of Optimus' digits.
"Talk about a negative attitude." Emily said as she held on.
"Hold on tight." Optimus said before he jumped down and landed carefully on the ship with a thud but Fowler had his eyes closed shut.
"Are we dead?" Agent Fowler asked.
"Nope. We're still in one piece." Emily said as she sat comfortably on Optimus' servo.
"Good. Because I think I'm about to... throw up." Agent Fowler said before stopping himself from throwing up again.
"Glad you made it. I take it that the others will be catching up soon." Wheeljack said as the three nodded.
Outside the ship, the others all were getting ready to make a jump to get inside the ship.
"I'm next." Smokescreen said before he jumped inside and landed on the ship.
After him, it's Ratchet and Bumblebee as the two jumped and landed inside the ship too and the last one left was Bulkhead to jump inside.
"Okay. Let's do this." Bulkhead said and jumped.
But somehow he missed the entry point and landed a bit far from it and due to his massive weight and the altitude of the jump. He made another hole in the ship which he was able to land inside the ship on his back. The sound of his landing was so loud that it made everyone jump from it in surprise.
"What in the name of Primus was that?" Ratchet asked as Emily looked around and saw where it came from.
"Uh, I think It came from there." Emily said as she pointed to where the sound came from.
Everyone saw that the cause of it was Bulkhead who had made a hole in which he passed through and landed on his back really hard.
"Hey... did I make it?" Bulkhead said with a groan.
"You did, Uncle Bulk. And it was quite an entrance." Emily said with a small laugh but a smile.
Ratchet helped Bulkhead to get back up.
"You should try to be more careful, Bulkhead. One of these days you're gonna hit something that's harder than you." Ratchet scolded him as Bulkhead rubbed the back of his helm.
"No kidding." Bulkhead said.
"Well, now that we're in. Where do we go now?" Smokescreen asked.
"We go to where there is a computer that has the information we need." Emily said.
"The only place that such data will be stored is in the control room of the ship." Ratchet said as he remembered where the control room was.
"And where do we find the control room?" Agent Fowler asked.
"I think I can help you with that. It's been a while. But I know my way around. The control room is not far from here." Bulkhead said.
"This place had been deserted for eons. Are you sure that you remember where it is?" Smokescreen asked him as Bulkhead looked at him.
"Watch it, newbie. I may be an old bot. But I'm not old enough yet to teach you a lesson." Bulkhead said as Smokescreen raises his servos up in defense.
"Okay, okay. I was just asking." Smokescreen said with a nervous laugh.
"Alright then. Time for a walk." Agent Fowler said but Emily stopped him.
"Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could let..." Emily started nervously and started to blush lightly.
"Optimus carries us so that way we don't risk getting stepped on." Emily suggested.
"You're right. I never thought of that." Agent Fowler agreed with her.
"If this is how you wanted, then I have no objection." Optimus said as he saw no problem in it.
"Thanks." Emily said and tried to stop the blush from forming any further since Optimus had her and Fowler in his servo and she was seriously trying not to faint from it and it felt like a dream come true.
Meanwhile back in Siberia, Arcee was going down the hole slowly as she started to look around and saw something peculiar. A tiny drop of Energon. Looking for such clues reminded her of an old memory of her past. She saw through a flashback of how she and Tailgate once followed the trail of a Decepticon Energon reserve.
Flashback starts;
Both Arcee and Tailgate wanted to bring this Energon to help their team as the trail led them to a possible Decepticon storage used to store some Energon.
"You see that? That is where the cons store most of their Energon." Tailgate said as Arcee turned on the scanner to see the amount of Energon that was stored inside.
"Based on what this scanner tells us, there's a whole lot of Energon. With that, we can really do some harm. So do you have a plan?" Arcee said before turning to him with a questioning look.
"Sure. The plan is to hit them hard and make sure they don't call for reinforcements." Tailgate said.
"Sounds good." Arcee agreed with him.
"Let's go." Tailgate said as both of them moved out.
The Decepticon guards were keeping an eye out, in case of an Autobot attack. But the guards weren't fast enough as Arcee had shot two down and caught the attention of the others who saw her.
"Autobots?! Attack!" A Vehicon ordered as the Decepticons didn't waste any time and started shooting back at her.
At the same time, Arcee was keeping their attention on her. Tailgate started attacking them from the rear. Punching down a few of them and the Cons were completely cornered and had no way out and in a matter of seconds, they were all down for the count.
"Nice shooting." Tailgate said as he switched his guns back to his servos.
"I had a good teacher." Arcee told him
"Yeah. I hope you learned how not to get lost." Tailgate joked but Arcee just rolled her optics at that.
"Instead of working on your lame jokes, why don't you help me out with this door?" She asked as she went to the door.
"Did you try crossing some wires?" Tailgate questioned.
"Gee why didn't I think of that?" Arcee said before taking down one of the control panels to hot wire the cables that controlled the door to open it.
After crossing the right cables, Arcee was able to get the door to open as she stood up.
"We're in." Arcee said.
"Stay sharp. There's bound to be more Decepticons inside." Tailgate said as he switched out his guns.
"Aren't I always?" Arcee remarked before taking out her arm blades.
"Go ahead. Ladies first." Tailgate said.
"Such gallantry. How thoughtful." Arcee said with a smile before going inside first and much to her shock and disbelief the storage has no Energon.
"No…" Arcee said in shock.
Tailgate came in next and just like Arcee, he was shocked by what he was seeing.
"What in the name of Primus is going on here?" Tailgate questioned in shock and disbelief.
Both were surprised to see that there was no Energon and it was as if it disappeared without a trace.
"There's no Energon." Arcee said.
"The Cons must've taken it somewhere else." Tailgate said.
"Or maybe someone else did this to trap us." Arcee deduced as she scanned the room.
"Well if you ask me. Whoever did this, is new on the job. There doesn't seem to be any weapons or trapping devices. And it doesn't seem like reinforcements are coming. Guess we should go back to base." Tailgate suggested as Arcee looked up to him.
"Are you sure? The enemy could be following us." Arcee said as the whole thing is making her feel uneasy all of a sudden.
"If so. We'll take them to a very special place. Come on. If we don't get back in time, we're gonna get in trouble." Tailgate said as Arcee nodded.
"Coming." She said as Tailgate walked out first.
Arcee walked to follow him but stopped for a moment. For some reason, she had sensed that something wasn't right and it felt like someone was watching them both from the shadows. She was brought out of her thoughts when Tailgate called her.
"Arcee, come on. We gotta go." Tailgate called as she gave the room one last look as she came out.
"Right." She said with a hesitant look.
Both Arcee and Tailgate transformed and drove back to their base. And just like that Arcee got out of her thoughts.
Flashback ends;
After inspecting the energon leak that she had found, she had deduced that the Stasis Cell was close from where she was.
"It must be close by." Arcee said before she started jumping down to the lower levels and after a few more jumps, she had finally reached the lower levels of the abandoned factory.
When she got there, she started looking around the area. The whole place was dusty and full of spider webs which gave an uneasy vibe. When she started to walk, she had stepped on something a bit sticky. She started checking what it was and then she had realized what it was and she knew what it meant. She switched out her guns just in case she was attacked by surprise as she started walking to see if she could find the Stasis Cell. Suddenly the scanner started ringing, indicating the possible whereabouts of the Stasis Cell, however the signal wasn't very clear to see where.
"This is weird. The scanner said that it should be here somewhere but it doesn't tell me where. Better keep looking." Arcee said as she kept walking around to see if she could find anything.
Later, the scanner soon showed one point of where the Stasis Cell was located which filled her with hope.
"Finally." Arcee said as she started going to where it was pointing.
When she reached the point indicating, she had finally found the Stasis Cell.
"There you are." Arcee muttered before walking towards it but stopped when she stepped on something like a puddle of Energon and it looked like that whatever it was, was inside the Stasis Cell.
"Could it be?" Arcee asked herself as she walked slowly towards the Stasis Cell.
With one servo, she started rubbing the glass to remove the frost covering it and to see who was inside but much to her surprise, the Stasis Cell was empty. Just like that, she was able to put the pieces together and found out who opened the Stasis Cell. Not wanting to get attacked by surprise, Arcee started pointing out her guns all round her for she knew who was here and she knew that she wasn't alone.
"Come on out. I know you're here." Arcee growled as the familiar voice of her enemy sounded in her surroundings.
"Hahahahaha. What gave me away?" She asked with a hiss.
Airachnid's voice started echoing through the place as her laughter could be heard all around the place as if she was everywhere.
"You know, life can be so funny sometimes. I had a feeling that the Autobots would come. But I've never guessed you would be the one to come here. It could've been Optimus. Maybe Cliffjumper. But you are here." Airachnid said before shooting her web on Arcee's servos and pedes to immobilize her.
With both her servos and feet completely immobilized, Arcee fell down to the ground with a heavy thud as Airachnid slowly came out of her hiding spot.
"This makes things more interesting." Airachnid said as Arcee struggled to break free from her bounds.
"This reminds me of something. Now where did I see that? Oh yes, I remember now. It was the time when we first met." Airachnid said as she stopped in front of Arcee before kneeling down and used one of her clawed digits to lift Arcee's chin up.
"And just like the rookie. You got trapped into my web." She hissed slightly.
Arcee didn't say anything and started moving so that Airachnid wouldn't be able to touch her chin as she gave her a glare of deep hatred.
"This is becoming a habit between us. You fall on my web and all of the sudden, you're completely powerless against me." Airachnid said as she looked at her with a smirk.
"Why don't you just kill me and be done with it?" Arcee spoke with a sneer.
"Trust me, in due time I plan to. But I feel that my prey must suffer great pain. It shall make her death sweeter." Airachnid said but Arcee chose that time to kick Airachnid on the faceplate.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!!" Airachnid yelled in shock and surprise as she stumbled back.
After that hit, Arcee was able to release her arm blades and sliced the web binding up her servos. She then started to use her blades to cut down the web tying her pedes and was finally free. After that she was finally free, she started preparing herself to fight her sworn enemy. Airachnid starts getting up as she touched her lips and saw that Arcee hit her hard enough to make her leak some Energon from the corner of her mouth which made her hiss
"Nice hit. Very nice. But I am sure that this is a fight that you shall lose." Airachnid hissed as both of them got into battle stances.
"Let's see if you're right about that. RAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Arcee said before letting out a battle cry and rushed towards Airachnid who used her arms to protect herself before she starts to hit back
Arcee was using her side blades to try and strike Airachnid down, however both femme were giving out a splendid fight. Airachnid started shooting her acid but Arcee was able to get some distance between her and Airachnid to avoid her acid attack.
"You don't like my acid? Good because I'll make sure you get a taste of it." Airachnid hissed before she started shooting more acid at Arcee who kept avoiding them.
She started using her guns to shoot at Airachnid who shifted her pedes into her spider legs to jump to get higher altitude.
"I believe we could use a change of scenery." Airachnid suggested before she started going back to the higher levels as Arcee glared.
"You won't get away from me." Arcee gritted her dentas before following her to the high levels.
Meanwhile back in the Harbinger, the team was still walking around the ship to try and find the control room where they could get the information they were looking for.
"I don't mean to complain, big guy, but are you sure you know where we're going?" Wheeljack asked as he looked at his friend.
"Trust me, Jackie, I could never forget." Bulkhead reassured him.
"I'm curious. How was it?" Smokescreen asked curiously.
"How was what?" Bulkhead asked as he looked at him
"How was the battle?" Smokescreen asked since he wanted to know how it went down.
"It was hard. A lot of good comrades have fallen by trying to take this ship down." Bulkhead said solemnly as he remembered so many of fellow Autobots gave their lives to ensure the Harbinger was taken down.
"I wish I had been there." Smokescreen said as Fowler spoke up.
"I still find it hard to believe that a Decepticon ship was flying around our solar system long before you guys came in." Agent Fowler said before Emily asked him a question that was bugging her a little.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Agent Fowler. Why did you want to come here with us?" Emily asked him as she looked at Fowler curiously.
"Intelligence of course. Inspecting a Decepticon ship that has crashed long ago is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It might help us one day if we're trapped in the Decepticon ship." Fowler said as Emily shrugged but he did have a point there.
"I never thought of that." She said while shrugging.
"Optimus, do you have any idea of what we could find here?" Ratchet asked as Optimus glanced at him.
"No, however I fear the results of such findings. There are things that are better to be kept hidden in the past. Never to be found. But the present and the past are always intertwining each other, revealing secrets that have been hidden for a very long time." Optimus said as Emily sat down in a more comfortable position.
"If you ask me, I'm starting to have a bad feeling about all of this. I just hope we can get to the bottom of this." Emily said as she held her knees close.
Bumblebee beeped to say that they had finally reached the control room where they could use the computer to finally get the information that they needed.
"We found it." Smokescreen said as they all stopped and in front of them was the door to the control room but from the looks of it, the door was locked.
"It's locked." Ratchet said before Wheeljack stepped up.
"We can open it easily. Help me out, Bulkhead." Wheeljack said as Bulkhead stepped up as well.
"Sure thing." Bulkhead nodded before the two grabbed one side of the door and started to pull it to open it with their strength.
After a few moments, they had finally opened the door to the control room as the whole place inside was wrecked.
"Whoa, this whole place is wrecked. Are you sure these rusty computers still work?" Smokescreen said as he checked some busted monitors.
"There's only one way to find out. Put us down on the panel." Emily said as Optimus nodded.
"Sure thing." Optimus said as he walked to the main computer and put Emily and Fowler down on the control panel.
After both of them got down from his servo, Emily connected her holo-computer to the control panel as she tried to turn on the computer. But since it has been off for so long, she was having a hard time turning it on.
"Aw come on. Don't do this to me." Emily said as she tried to turn it on.
"This thing hasn't been turned on in eons. I'm not sure it will turn on now, kid." Wheeljack said as he crossed his arms.
"Don't you worry. This computer just needs some power. I'll give it some." Emily said.
"Do you have a Cybetronian battery on you or something like that?" Fowler asked as he turned to her.
"Not quite. My suit has an inner core that gives it power. I just need to transfer some to the computer." Emily said as she took off her brooch.
"Be careful of what you're doing. I don't want this suit to get damaged or anything. If you use too much energy, it'll be drained of power." Ratchet warned her.
"It's okay. I modified my suit not long ago." Emily said as she attached some wires to it as Ratchet looked shocked.
"You did what?" He asked in shock and alarmed.
"Relax, I'm good with tech." Emily calmed him down.
"By the way, you never told me where you got that suit from." Agent Fowler mentioned as Emily motioned her head to Ratchet.
"Ratchet made it for me." Emily said.
"Wow. Guess I didn't get the memo." Fowler said in amazement as Smokescreen was a little worried.
"You sure the cons won't know we're here?" He asked Emily as she looked at him.
"Don't worry. The energy isn't powerful enough for them to detect it. Come on, come on." Emily said before muttering.
The computer started to turn on after Emily had succeeded in giving it the energy that it needed.
"Yes. It works." Emily cheered as she started to log in to the database.
"Nice job, kid." Wheeljack said.
"You're awesome." Smokescreen said with a grin as she couldn't help but feel flattered.
"Thank you all. No need for applause. Okay, let's see what we got here". Emily said before starting to look through the data that the computer has in store.
"Cargo manifest, logs, prisoners. That must be where we'll find the information we're looking for. Let's see where this leads us." Emily said before opening the file of every prisoner that was locked in the Harbinger eons ago.
After she opened it, everyone saw the number of Autobots that had been locked in the ship was a huge list.
"That's a lot of prisoners." Bulkhead said as he felt saddened by this.
"Uh, does anyone know what it says? It looks a lot like some nonsense gibberish." Agent Fowler said as he had a hard time reading what was written.
"It's not gibberish. It's Cybertronian. This is a list of every Autobot who was a prisoner in the ship." Emily said as she read every name and couldn't help but feel sorry for the prisoners.
"I can't believe it. They're all…" Smokescreen said in shock as Bumblebee nodded to confirm his thoughts with a sad whir.
"This ship has taken the lives of many of our brothers." Optimus said with a sad and grim tone.
"There's no time for mourning, I'm afraid." Ratchet said but he was also feeling sad and upset for what happened to their fellow comrades.
"The doctor has a point. We have to keep looking." Fowler said as they snapped out of it.
"Right. I'm scrolling down the whole file." Emily said and did just that.
"Shouldn't you let one of them handle this?" Fowler asked her as Emily shrugged with a cheeky grin.
"It's okay. I can read Cybetronian." Emily said.
"Well I'll be." Agent Fowler said in surprise.
Emily started scrolling down the file but so far, all she found was the many numbers of prisoners that were all dead in the Harbinger. She kept looking until she had found something very peculiar that caught her attention.
"I've found something." Emily said.
"What did you find?" Ratchet sked as Emily read it and points to itm
"Look at this. It would seem that a prisoner has been kept alive." Emily told them in confusion.
"Is it an Autobot or a Decepticon?" Optimus asked curiously as he was shocked and confused by this.
"I don't know. Let's see if I can see." Emily said as she entered the database about the prisoner.
"It doesn't say. Why would they keep this one alive? Wait, I found something. It's some sort of report." Emily said as she opened it up.
"A report? What does it say?" Fowler asked as Emily reads itm
"It says that this prisoner was caught a long time ago. It's an Autobot." Emily said as she breathed the last words in shock.
"How can you tell?" Smokescreen asked.
"The report says that this guy was captured during a mission. He had a full Autobot squadron with him. It doesn't say any more. But wait. There's some sort of personal log." Emily said as she noticed what looked like a journal.
"A personal log inside a report? That seems kind of weird." Wheeljack said in confusion while raising an optic ridge.
"Let's see what it says." Emily said before opening the log as she cleared her throat and read it aloud so everyone could hear.
"'My research has finally given the results that were expected. The process is now complete and ready to be used in the near future. With this procedure, we shall turn the tide of this war to our favor. Even though this procedure is quite unethical and represents a great risk. We can finally extract the information we need from any Autobot prisoner who represents a disturbing resistance to the regular methods of interrogation.' There's no name in it. Any idea of who wrote this?" Emily finished before she looked at the others since there wasn't even a signature of who the prisoner is or who wrote the personal log.
"It's best if you do not know yet." Ratchet said
"Emily, can you try and find any information about this Autobot?" Optimus asked her as she nodded.
"I believe so." Emily said before she started looking to see if she could find any information about the prisoner before she stumbled onto something that looked like it could be the key to solving the mystery.
"I think I've found it. Ah, no. It's encrypted. I don't know if I can't break it." Emily said before letting out a small sound of dismay when she saw that it was heavily encrypted.
"Didn't you say you knew Cybetronian?" Fowler questioned her.
"I know how to read Cybetronian. I never said I knew anything about their encryptions." Emily deadpan. She may be half Cybertronian and half human but she still can't understand some stuff like the Cybertronian encryptions.
"Let me handle it." Optimus said as he stepped up.
"Okay." Emily said as Optimus starts to press some keys on the control panel to decrypt the file Emily found.
After a moment, the file was finally decrypting itself slowly to reveal what they needed.
"I didn't know you could do that." Emily said in awe as Optimus let a small smile appear as he looked at her.
"There is a lot you don't know about me." Optimus told her as she just smiled back.
"Does anybody know what this is?" Wheeljack asked as he noticed that the encryption was slowly turning into an image.
"It looks like some sort of picture." Smokescreen said in confusion.
"Of who?" Bulkhead asked. If it was a picture, then who is it?
The whole team watched the file getting decrypted slowly while holding their breath. After a few seconds it was finally done however none of them couldn't believe what they were looking at or seeing as Optimus felt his spark drop. How was that possible…?!
"No.... It cannot be…" Optimus muttered in shock. This is bad! This is really bad!
"By the Allspark. It's… It's not possible." Ratchet said in shock. How was it possible?! He was told that he was offline back then?!
"I don't believe it…" Bulkhead breathed in shock as Bumblebee was in shock as well.
"What in the name of George Washington's wig?" Agent Fowler said in shock and confusion.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Emily said as she was having a hard time believing this.
"What is it, guys? Is something wrong?" Smokescreen asked in concern and worry. What's got the others so worried about? Does it have something to do with the picture on the screen?
"You mind telling us what's going on?" Wheeljack questioned.
After a few seconds of shocked silence, Optimus turned to everyone as urgency was in his optics. They need to get back to base and fast!
"We must return to base at once!" Optimus urgently ordered.
Uh oh. From how Optimus and the rest of Team Prime's reaction to the decrypted picture was, it looked like bad news.
The question is, who or what is it?
Find out in the next chapter.