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Autobot Headquarters – Corridors

Springer smirked at Arcee as she arrived, already quipping at the two other Autobots. “Bigger, of course they were. I bet they were even tall enough to nibble your ankles.” The triplechanger chuckled lightly, enjoying the friendly banter between them.

Hot Rod, on the other hand, had an annoyed look on his face. “I’m sure we would have had a lot more kills if we hadn’t been playing fuel attendants out there. That was a vast misuse of my many skills and talents.” He flashed Arcee a smile as Springer laughed again.

“Vast skills and talents huh? You learn some new fight moves on that mudball you were stuck on?”

Hot Rod’s smile faded into a frown. He had just been his usual boisterous self there, trying to impress Arcee. In reality the only real combat move he had learned on Earth was how to survive getting personally gutted by Megatron, and that wasn’t something he was particularly eager to share with Springer. Fortunately he was saved by the incoming message from Ultra Magnus.

As Springer sent a reply to Magnus Hot Rod watched Arcee pull a banner from a hip compartment. His optics widened as he looked at it, realizing what it was and what it stood for. “I can’t remember the last time I saw one of those. With all of these infiltration missions we don’t often get the chance to break those out.” He smiled again, “It certainly would send a signal to the Cons that we are back on Cybertron for good with these hanging at the top of the base.”

*

Outskirts of Iacon

Grimlock continued to drive the vehicle, steering it out of the ruined city-state while Swoop flew overhead to act as a lookout. It wouldn’t take long before they were closing in on Polyhex. Hopefully the trip would be worthwhile.

OOC: Dinobots are moving to the Polyhex thread

Autobot Command Center

Howlstrike listened as Ultra Magnus mused about the state of Cybertron and how the war was going as a whole. Howl could understand why the City Commander felt the way that he did. Howl, himself, felt a very similar way, especially considering that he had helped the Decepticons reduce their homeworld to the decay it had become. That was before the Autobot hunter had seen the error of his ways and switched sides. But the death and destruction Howl had helped bring to millions of innocent Cybertronians would way on his conscious for stellar-cycles to come. It wasn’t just many of his own Autobot comrades that had a difficult time forgiving and accepting him. Howl still couldn’t forgive himself.

Howlstrike was awakened from his thoughts by Kup’s voice. His only real friend was the one mech who never gave up on him and probably never would. “The basic stuff sounds good to me, Kup,” Howl responded to the old timer with a smile. He followed his friend over to a broken monitor nearby, watching and listening as Kup gave instructions on what to do. Howl observed the war veteran removing the panel from around the broken monitor by using a simple power wrench.

Looks easy enough, Howlstrike thought, cocking his head to one side. He then grabbed a wrench of his own and moved to another busted display screen on the other side of where Kup stood. Howl went to work unscrewing the bolts that held the monitor in place and before long the screen was loosened enough that Howl was able to pull it out and inspect the connections behind it. Most of the wires appeared to be frayed and worn. One of the cables was clearly severed in half.

“Looks like a major patch job is needed here,” Howlstrike informed his old friend. “The monitor, itself, seems to be intact, but the wiring’s a mess. It looks like something was chewing on the connections. Maybe we could just replace these cables. Might be easier than a patch job. What do you think, Kup?”

Autobot Headquarters – Corridors

After receiving Magnus’ communiqué Hot Rod let out a sigh. With all this standing around nothing was going to get done. He soon turned away from Springer and moved to a nearby ventilation shaft. He quickly went to work removing the grating and gently placed it against wall. From his low position the cavalier looked up to his friend and flashed him a smile.

“I take it you want me to go in first?”

-------------------------------------------------

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

“Dang piece of scrap!”

Kup’s voice echoed throughout the Command Center as he tugged on the frame of a burned out terminal. He gritted his teeth as he pulled, until the frame finally broke loose. He tossed the frame into a small pile of unusable scrap. Kup turned his attention to Howlstrike as the Predacon addressed him. The grizzled warrior made his way to Howlstrike and took a long hard look at the cables. He shook his head in disgust.

“You know this reminds me of the time I was stranded on Gelvon 4.” He began to remove the chewed wires as he continued telling his story. “Our shuttle crash landed killing half the crew. None of us knew anything about the planet or its inhabitants. Fortunately for us they were organics and were petrified of us.”

After removing the wires he walked over to the hovercart Howstrike had filled with replacement parts. As he rummaged through it his story went on. “Once we knew about our surroundings we were more relaxed, but we still needed to get off that rock. So I began to pull apart the shuttle’s communications array. Now, I’m not that technically inclined mind you, but I was able to jerry rig the system to send out a homing signal. Within a few days we were picked up.”

With Kup’s final words he stood in front of the computer terminal he had just rewired. With a flip of a switch the terminal began to hum to life. Kups flashed Howstrike a smile and patted him on the shoulder.

“Alright lad, take a look at the communications station. Let me know how bad it is.”

Autobot Headquarters – Corridors

Springer looked back at Hot Rod and smirked. “You’re going in first and by yourself. There is no way I can fit inside of that. Even if I could I don’t think I’d be much good. Its not like I would be able to shoot behind me very well and if anything is coming from the other direction you’d have to deal with it.”

The triplechanger reached down and patted Hot Rod on the back. “Nope, it looks like you get to play exterminator on your own here kid. I’ll keep looking room to room for more vermin. Just call me if you find anything. I’m sure there is nothing in there you can’t handle though.” He flashed him another smile before he began making his way down the corridor to the next room.

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

Howlstrike watched as Kup patched up the connections of the computer terminal, all the while telling the Autobot tracker another one of his old war stories. Howl enjoyed listening to the old timer’s many tales, even the ones that weren’t that exciting. The former Predacon always found it fascinating that Kup could remember all those stories and retell them with such detail. Age certainly hadn’t hurt the old mech’s memory circuits all that much.

Kup’s story had ended at the same time he had finished rewiring the terminal, a gentle glow filling the once dead screen. Howlstrike regarded his friend with a smile as Kup asked him to examine the communications station. “No problem,” Howl responded before heading over to the terminal in question.

Howlstrike sat down and immediately noticed a large crack across the main display. One shard of the screen was missing, lying instead on the broken keyboard, which appeared to be smashed beyond repair. Howl turned in his seat and addressed Kup. “It looks like we’ll need a new monitor and keyboard. Both are pretty banged up. I’ll start by pulling out the damaged parts and then wait for you to help me install the new components.”

Howlstrike turned his attention back to the station and pulled the keyboard out with ease before throwing it into a nearby scrap bin. He then went to work on unscrewing the bolts that held the busted display screen in place. Like before, Howl was able to pull out the monitor and inspect the wiring behind it. This time the connections were all in good shape. It was only the screen that was the problem. Howl went about disconnecting all of the wires until the monitor was completely untethered. He then tossed it into the scrap bin with the rest of the junk.

The Autobot hunter then turned back towards Kup. “Well, that’s done,” Howl said as he approached the hovercart full of spare parts. “Now, I just need help in identifying and hooking up the right replacement parts.”

((OOC: Just going to jump in here and try to hit the ground running. I'm sending Arcee to the roof to write her out until she gets a new player.))

Iacon Orbital Torus State- Autobase Command Center

Never one to stand idle, Ultra Magnus went to work on the command dais. He punched in his code and after a moment, the screen light up, displaying a command menu. He perused the available information.True, any data that might have been pilfered by their enemies had been purged when they had evacuated long ago. But he needed to make sure the command protocols were still in working order. No sense in them all putting so much work into restoring their headquarters just to have Shockwave waltz right in the front door.

The armor-clad officer nodded mutely in response to Wheeljack’s exuberant announcement. So it was true. The eccentric engineer had just confirmed it. Cybertron was healing. With a deep sigh, Magnus let himself really believe it for the first time. Until now, he’d been waiting for the catch. Part of him still was. But now, he let himself have some measure of hope. Not just hope for tomorrow, but for their world.

Yet he wondered…even if they rebuilt…even if they finally brought Megatron’s genocidal madness to an end…what then? They could never truly go back to the way things were before the war. They were different people than they had been so long ago. Was it possible that they had been at war so long that they had forgotten how to live without it? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But they had become who they’d needed to be to fight this war. Couldn’t they change once more to endure its ending?

He didn’t know. But he supposed it didn’t matter now. Peace was still a pipe dream at this point. Just as it had been for so long.

Shaking himself free of his reverie, the Commander focused on the data at hand. Like Wheeljack had said, it was limited. But it was more than they’d known a breem ago. As the various datastreams began to paint a sketchy picture of the situation, Magnus felt his introspective musings vanish as his mind turned to logistical concerns. Problem solving had always cleared his head. The important thing was today. They had a mission, and he aimed to see it done.

Ultra Magnus smiled at the message from Arcee about the banner.

>>“Permission granted,”<< he replied gladly.

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

Kup remained in front of the terminal he had just rewired and began manipulating the keys. He was able to bring up a grid map of the immediate area just outside of the headquarters. From what he could tell most of the sensors were offline. He let out a sigh as he continued trying to bring up more sensors, but with no luck. Kup turned to look at Ultra Magnus to give him a report on what he found.

“Magnus, it looks like the sensor arrays in the outer sectors are offline. We’re gonna have to send someone out there to have a look at them.”

After giving his brief report he turned to look over at Howlstrike. He nodded at the former Predacon and made his way over to the cart. Once there he placed his hands on his hips and took a good look at the contents.

“Alright, let’s see what we got here.”

After a moment taking a cursory glance he leaned over and began picking through the parts. He then hefted up a fairly decent looking monitor and handed it over to Howlstrike.

“Take this over to the terminal, lad. I’ll grab up the keyboard.”

He went back into the cart and, again, dug through its contents. With some profanities the elder Autobot finally pulled up a working keyboard and swiftly headed back over to the communications station.

“All right, slip that into position and I’ll get behind the console and do the hook up.”

(OOC: Just to let you guys know, Hot Spot was originally planned to start at the 'Bots' HQ on Earth, but it turns out you guys needed 'Bots here. So here's another!)

Medical Bay

A pair of hands, whisking spryly into vivification, disturbed the quiescent retirement of a large piece of medical equipment, fingers pressing buttons in the hopes of endeavouring a reanimated response. Lights flickered abruptly and a sustained hum effused from the ponderous medical object; a result much desired.

The very same pair of hands, levitating inquisitively in front of the surgical apparatus, occurred to be assuaged, and moved along, stalking the next item of importance. Again, the bustling set of hands enacted the specific procedure--enforced on the previous object--onto the current piece of machinery with fervent determination.

Nothing, however.

“Slag it...” Hot Spot remarked in a low tone, clearly aggravated his efforts went totally unrewarded.

The Protectobot leader took a few deliberate steps back to allow his optics the proper surveillance of the medical bay in its entirety. Of the four CR chambers residing in the bay, only one boasted full operative status; it did not exhibit the favourable visage Hot Spot was hoping for. The various special apparatus, however--consisting of an essential assortment of diagnostic, life support and emergency resuscitative equipment--issued a more positive display. At least half of it functioned in an acceptable manner.

Still, his features unveiled a considerable representation of dubiousness, the vigorous Autobot placing one hand on his hip and tilting his head slightly to one side. “Hmm... Not what we would've liked, but it could be worse.” He paused briefly. “Well, for better or for worse, I'll still have to report this to Ultra Magnus.”

With his thought concluded, Hot Spot exited the medical bay and sought after the authoritative figure that was Ultra Magnus.

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

The rescue hovercraft marched briskly into the command center, optics searching for the impressive figure of Ultra Magnus. He strode past Howlstrike, who was attending a damaged computer terminal, and offered the Timber Wolf a respectful nod.

Observing Kup present his report to the City Commander, the Protectobot leader patiently waited for the grizzled veteran to complete his report--and to permit Ultra Magnus the liberty of making any necessary comments regarding Kup's succinct account--before submitting his own.

Autobase- Command Center

"Yes, I see," Ultra Magnus replied to Kup with a sour note. The long range scanners were giving them some semblance of an early warning system, but with nearly the entire perimeter sensor gird offline, there was no way to track or identify anything that came within 50 clicks of their border.

"That's a bad piece of luck," he continued. Settling into his seat, the city commander stroked his masked chin thoughtfully. They needed those sensors in working order. Now. And a quick sweep of the area wouldn't hurt either. But with the roads in their current condition, that almost certainly meant a flier. Since Swoop was off with the rest of the Dinobots, that left only one Autobot for the job.

"I'll send Springer to get the grid back online," Magnus announced to the aged security officer. "He can get us some fresh scans of the rest of Iacon as well. Be nice to know if Maccadam's Old Oil House is still standing," he remarked dryly. Punching a few keys on the arm of his chair, Magnus opened a channel to Springer and Hot Rod.

>>"Change of plans, boys. Hot Rod, I need you to finish up pest control on your own. Springer, the perimeter sensor grid is down. I need you to check out the nodes and get the system up and running. Get some aerial scans of the city as well. I want a better look at what's left of Iacon. Ultra Magnus out.<<

Shutting off the transmission with a keystroke, Magnus saw Hot Spot waiting to speak. He motioned for the Protectobot to step forward.

"So what's the status of the repair bay?" he asked the blue hovercraft.

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

Howlstrike took the replacement monitor from Kup’s hands and walked it over to the broken terminal nearby. The old timer soon followed after him with the appropriate keyboard. Howl nodded at his friend’s instructions and set the new screen on the terminal’s edge before slidding it back into place. “Let me see if I can hook this up, Kup,” the Autobot tracker said, reaching behind the monitor. “I think I can do it based on what I watched you do earlier.”

A confident Howlstrike began carefully hooking up the wires at the back of the screen, trying to mimic Kup’s previous motions. Howl got most of the connections done without a problem. “Only one more to go.” Grabbing the main cable, Howl went to plug it in to a similar sized outlet. As he did, a bright flash of light went off as sparks began to fly everywhere. “Oh, slaggit!” The green and black mech shouted as he quickly yanked the cable out of the socket. The sparks then subsided, leaving only a small amount of smoke rising from behind the monitor.

Howlstrike glanced over at Kup with an embarrassed look on his faceplate. “Heh. Sorry about that. I tried."

Autobase – Corridors

Springer smiled broadly as he received the orders from Ultra Magnus. “Well, now I don’t even need the excuse of how I am too broad to hope to cram into those ducts. The leaderbot has given me another perfectly good excuse to let you do this little bit of dirty work yourself.” He clapped Hot Rod on the shoulder. “Try not to get into too much trouble in there kid, and if you get stuck you’ll have to call someone else since I’ll be conducting the aerial tour of our beautiful little capitol here.” With a chuckle the triplechanger took off jogging down the corridors.

>>”Affirmative on that Ultra Magnus, I’m on my way.”<<

Just outside the Autobase

It didn’t take long for Springer to reach the building exit. The Autobot bent his powerful legs and leapt up into the air. Once he felt like he was up high enough he quickly shifted to his helicopter mode and began heading for the nearest sensor node, all the while taking some scans from the air that he could download back at base later.

(OOC: Tas, would it be better if I changed my previous location tag to Repair Bay instead of Medical Bay?)

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

Having endowed the fundamental instructions to Hot Rod and Springer, through the practice of a comm channel situated on one of the arms of his chair, Ultra Magnus acknowledged the delayed carriage of Hot Spot, and invited him to come forward to deliver his report. True enough, the deplorable condition of the repair bay would not inspire any measurable degree of positive exaltation; however, at the same time, it did not inflame one's demeanour entirely with an aspect of frustrated dispiritedness.

Approaching Ultra Magnus with energetic progression, Hot Spot offered the City Commander a crisp salute before verbalising his discovery. “Sir,” the robust Protectobot started, “I'm afraid the repair bay isn't in the best shape... There's a good deal of attention that's definitely going to be needed there.” Without deflecting his fixed look, Hot Spot added, “To be more specific, we only have one fully operational CR chamber; obviously not something we were hoping for. And our equipment, including all diagnostic, emergency resuscitative and life support systems; well, about half of that is working adequately enough. Though that, too, may need some fine-tuning, to be safe.”

Autobot Headquarters – Command Center

Ultra Magnus took a moment to absorb Hot Spot's report.

"Well. That's better than I expected," he responded evenly. "Particularly given the sheer amount of time since Cybertron was abandoned. One CR chamber should be fine, considering our numbers. Then again, with the Dinobots here..." The city commander grimaced slightly. "We may need more than just one."

Pausing for a second, Magnus looked over his work on the command chair. Satisfied that the system was secure, he logged out of the terminal and stood up.

"Good work, Hot Spot," the armored mech said. "Make me a full list of what you need to get the medbay running smoothly. Once Springer gets back with some video on the city, we'll see if one of the medical centers has what you need."

Something else had come to his attention during his perusal of the Autobase's computers. A matter he fully intended to deal with personally. Besides, it would give him a chance to get to know the newest member of his unit.

"Kup," Magnus said, planting a large hand on the veteran's shoulder. "There's a major breach down on level three," he said. As he spoke, he punched up a holographic display of the hole he spoke of. "I'm going to take Howlstrike and patch it up. Keep an eye on things, old friend. And let me know the moment we hear from Grimlock's unit."

Magnus strode towards the door, transforming. He triggered the door release by remote.

"Let's go, Howlstrike," he announced before he began to roll down the hall towards the lift.

Autobot Headquarters – Corridors

Hot Rod looked up from his kneeling position when Springer clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. He chuckled as his friend took off down the corridor. Once Springer disappeared from sight Hot Rod's demeanour grew serious.

“Of course, ‘ol buddy. Crawling through tight filthy vents is something I’ve always wanted to do alone.”

He continued to mumble to himself as he began to enter into the shaft. Unfortunately the confining space was dark and, from what he could see, seemed to go on forever. The cavalier let out a heavy sigh and he proceeded to crawl deeper into the shaft.

Upon making his first turn he came across a deactivated cyber-rat. His face contorted into a disgusted look as he moved past the unfortunate creature. He continued onward hoping not to find anything and wishing he were already done.

Command Center

Kup turned his attention to Howlstrike as the former Predacon went to plug in the monitor and it shorted out. The old veteran made his way over to his friend’s side and smiled. He placed his hands on his hips as he spoke to the now embarrassed Autobot.

“Don’t let it worry ya, lad. The socket was no good. It was bound to happen to anyone who plugged somethin’ in.”

Kup pulled out the now useless monitor and took it to the scrap pile. His attention was caught by Ultra Magnus when the commander placed his hand on the elder Autobot’s shoulder. Kup offered him a smile and looked back at Howlstrike offering him a nod.

“He’s all yours Magnus. And don’t worry; I’ll let ya know the instant the giant lizards make contact back with the base.”

Kup then went back to work picking out a suitable replacement for the now burnt out monitor.

(OOC: My sincere apologies for the lack of posting. A lot has gone on this past week that drew my attention elsewhere. I hope to catch up on my posts soon, starting with this one. )

Autobot Headquarters - Command Center

Howlstrike shrugged as Kup tried to convince him that the short out wasn’t his fault, but a defective socket was to blame. “I suppose,” Howl responded, knowing full well that his friend was simply trying to cheer him up. He watched as the old timer went to discard the now defunct replacement monitor.

It was then that Ultra Magnus approached Kup, placing a hand on his shoulder. Apparently, there was a breach down on Level 3 and it needed to be shored up immediately so that no nasty critters or Decepticons could sneak in and take them by surprise. Furthermore, Magnus wanted to take Howlstrike with him to help with the repairs. Howl looked at Kup a bit surprised when he heard this, although he shouldn’t have been. The Autobot hunter was an unknown element to the City Commander, whom had most certainly checked Howl’s background and knew of his former Predacon ties. It made perfect sense that Magnus would want to take this opportunity to get to know the mechanical wolf better and see what exactly made him tick.

Howlstrike gave Kup a return nod and made his way towards the door. As he walked by the old timer, Howl patted his friend on the shoulder. “Good luck with those monitors, Kup. Sorry I couldn’t have been more help. You know me and technology. At least fixing that breach will be something easy for me to help out with. See ya later, ol' buddy.”

Continuing forward, Howlstrike transformed to wolf mode and followed Ultra Magnus out of the command center and down the corridor. "Yes, sir. I'm right behind you."

Autobase- Level Three

The lift quickly arrived at level three, its doors sliding open with only a minor creak betraying the eons of disuse they had seen. Ultra Magnus rolled out into the dusty corridor, Howlstrike at his side. The car carrier scanned the area as he drove, searching for the materials they needed.

"Here," he announced, his brakes contracting slowly. "This will do." His massive vehicle form gradually came to a stop in front of the wall in question. It wasn't load-bearing, was part of an interior bulkhead they could spare, and was relatively free of corrosion. In short, it was perfect to patch the breach in the south wall.

"We'll cut it loose and use my trailer to move it," the City Commander stated. He transformed, but this time his trailer remained in its current configuration. Though his relationship with Optimus was no secret, many Autobots never realized how close the resemblance was. Bereft of his familiar Apex Armor, Ultra Magnus and Optimus were nearly identical, save for their coloring. And the fact that Prime had recently adopted a new Terran configuration.

Retracting one hand, Magnus produced a cutting torch. He went to work on the bulkhead, first scoring a large rectangle into the surface of the metal; A rough guide for their work. As he traced the shape, the achromatic officer contemplated his companion. It was true, there had been a certain ulterior motive to his selection of Howlstrike for this detail. The former Predacon's record spoke for itself. Defectors were not common in general, on either side. But for a member of such a prestigious (not to mention notoriously vicious) unit as the Predacons to change sides?

Unprecedented.

"You take the right side, I'll take the left," he told the tracker, organizing his thoughts and questions as he reignited his torch, raising the heat this time.

"Howlstrike," he began. He paused to reposition his free hand to support the bulkhead once it began to come free. "I've been wanting to have a word with you since you joined my unit, and this seemed as good a time as any."

"I've familiarized myself with your record," he stated evenly. Whatever opinion Magnus may have had about the wolf's colorful career was hidden by his neutral voice and mouth-less true visage. "I've read the incident reports. I've studied the accounts of your time with the Autobots. But information on how you actually came to join us is surprisingly sparse. I know you were ejected from Razorclaw's unit for showing mercy. But even that is a far cry from defection." A modicum of sympathy entered his voice as he extinguished his cutting torch, turning to face his subordinate in a casual stance. "Choosing sides the first time was hard enough for many. Changing sides must have been monumental."

"So I'd like to hear it from you. Why are you here, Howlstrike?"

Autobase – Level 3

Howlstrike followed Ultra Magnus out of the turbo lift and onto Level 3. The mechanical timber wolf strode silently beside the large car carrier, keeping his nose attuned to all of the musty and dank odors coming from the darkness around them. The tracker didn’t want a cyber-rat or some other nasty infestation to suddenly jump out at them. He wanted there to be no mistakes while in the presence of his commanding officer.

Finally, Ultra Magnus stopped in front of a wall from which they would gain the material needed to patch the breach. The City Commander transformed, leaving his trailer section intact. Howlstrike looked on in surprise as without his Apex Armor, Magnus looked nearly identical to Optimus Prime, himself. The Autobot hunter knew that the two high ranking mechs were brothers, but he had no idea how similar they both appeared. Now, Howl understood why Grimlock sometimes referred to Magnus as “Little Prime”.

Howlstrike transformed to robot mode and watched as his commander sketched out a large rectangle on the wall that they would need to cut out and place on the trailer. Following Magnus’ instructions, the tracker moved to the right side of the bulkhead and ignited a cutting torch of his own and went to work, following the previously established outline.

As the heat of his torch sliced effortlessly through the metal, Howlstrike listened as Ultra Magnus spoke to him. He knew what was coming now. Most commanding officers Howl had been assigned to in the past always ended up asking him the same thing when first meeting and getting to know him. Every one of them found it unbelievable that a Predacon would switch sides. They were Megatron’s elite squad, after all, and not known for showing compassion for Autobots, let alone siding with them. However, Howlstrike was unlike the other Predacons he once called his teammates. He had something they didn’t have – honor.

Finally, Ultra Magnus asked the question. Why are you here? Howlstrike extinguished his torch, as well, and looked over to the City Commander. “It’s not an easy answer to give, sir,” Howl began saying, as he turned to face Magnus. “Honestly, I’m here because no one else will have me. I'm here because it's the only place I can find redemption for what I have done.” The Autobot tracker looked down to the floor before returning his gaze back to Magnus. “I was ejected from the Predacons because I have honor and they don’t. There is nothing honorable in killing an unarmed mech. I tried to make them understand that, but Razorclaw wouldn’t listen. He killed that mech anyway and then kicked me off the squad. After that, the other Decepticons shunned me as well. They all saw me as weak and not worthy of their time, so they rejected me. I soon found myself alone without a side."

Howl paused a moment before continuing. “At first, I considered returning to civilian life, but that’s just not who I am. I’m a warrior, not a merchant or simple working mech. So, I wondered through the war torn wastelands as anger and rage welled up inside me. My life had no purpose anymore. I was rejected by those whom I had once considered to be brothers. I was a warrior without a side or a reason to even exist. I hadn’t even considered joining the Autobots. They had been my sworn enemy for so long. I couldn’t imagine being one of them.”

Howlstrike turned to face the wall again, placing a hand against it. “But, then everything changed one cycle when I witnessed an Autobot shuttle craft crash land near my position. I went to investigate and found the crew was mostly deactivated already with one exception. I carried the lone survivor out of the wreckage just before the shuttle exploded into a ball of fire. That survivor was Kup. I don't know why, but I stayed and tended to him until an Autobot rescue team arrived. We were then taken back to Autobot Headquarters.”

Howl looked to Ultra Magnus again. “I was treated as a prisoner at first, as I’m sure you know from my files. But what you might not know is that it was Kup that often came to visit me in my cell and ultimately convinced me to join the Autobots. He showed me that there was a place for a mech like me and that in time the Autobots would come to accept me in their ranks. He made me understand the Decepticons' true nature, which is one of dishonor and chaos. I found Kup to be an honorable warrior like me, and I came to trust him like I had never trusted any mech before. The old timer accepted me for who I am and has taught me so much over the vorns. I owe him more than I can describe.”

The Autobot tracker then smiled. “I just wished he had taught me how to work a computer.” Howlstrike chuckled as his gaze remained on Ultra Magnus. He wondered what the City Commander would think of his explanation. It was one he had given many times before, with a variety of reactions. It would be interesting to see what Magnus’ response would be.

Autobase- Level Three

Ultra Magnus listened intently as Howlstrike told his tale, searching the feature. Most of the facts of it were already known to the Autobot officer. But then he hadn't asked for the facts. He wanted to fill in the holes. The former Decepticon's file had indeed gone on for some length regarding the chain of events led to his defection.

Nonetheless, the official incident report was much like the ones his brother Optronix had filed so many of, ages ago. It was a dry thing, bare facts and dates and times. Where certain details could not be verified, there were simply gaps. There was no conjecture as to Howlstrike's motives. And the tracker wasn't shedding much light on those himself.

The white mech could empathize with what his subordinate was saying. He understood clinging to ones principles in a world seemingly gone mad. He understood the hollow ache of purposelessness. He'd felt it when the Senate had been massacred all those years ago. And Magnus understood guilt and loss in a way only a soldier truly could. He understood what the hunter was saying all too well.

But he was more interested in what Howlstrike wasn't saying. He claimed he didn't know why he helped Kup, but Magnus wasn't so sure. There was something hesitant in the way he'd said that. Something that didn't fit. Add to that certain details missing from the report on the shuttle crash, and Magnus felt certain that finding out how these things connected was the key to the mystery standing before him.

"That's quite a tale, Ultra Magnus replied when Howlstrike had finished. He placed a friendly hand on the former Predacon's shoulder. "You know Kup speaks very highly of you. It's a very large part of the reason you're here. I value his opinion. And his judgment of character." The City Commander paused a moment to allow his statement to sink in. He took a step back, crossing his arms.

"I find it a bit interesting that you just happened to be first on the scene when Kup's ship went down." Magnus kept his tone soft and calm, careful not come off as confrontational. "The reports say that shuttle was shot down. They never found out by whom."

"But I think you know who it was. Don't you?"

Autobase – Level 3

Howlstrike was a bit taken aback at Ultra Magnus’ response. Most of his former commanders had simply accepted Howl’s story and let it be at that. But, not Magnus. The City Commander knew that there was something more to it, and he was right. Howl’s motives at the shuttle crash weren’t what they seemed to be and he knew full well why he had rescued Kup so long ago, and it wasn’t for some sudden change of heart, either.

Howlstrike looked at Ultra Magnus and sighed. The tracker didn’t respond right away, but instead leaned back against the very wall that would soon be used to patch up the breach. Howl looked down at the floor in shame before looking back at Magnus.

“You know history well, sir,” Howlstrike began. “And you’re right. I do know who shot down Kup’s shuttle.” Howl hesitated a moment, not sure whether he should tell the truth or make something up. Knowing that Magnus would most likely see right through a lie, the hunter opted for the truth. “It was the Predacons. I know this because I saw them do it. It was many stellar-cycles after my ejection from the group and I was tracking them through the wasteland. My intent was to challenge Razorclaw to a fight to the death. If I had won, I’d be the new leader of the Predacons. If I had lost, well, at least my pointless existence would finally be over.

“However, that all changed once I saw the Preds shoot down the shuttle. It crashed closer to my position which allowed me to reach it first. When I arrived, it was as I had said. All were already dead except for Kup. He was in stasis, but still alive. I knew instantly that he was the Predacons’ target. You see, back then they had a list of important Autobots that were a top priority to either capture or terminate. Kup was on that list. It would have looked extremely good in the optics of Megatron if Razorclaw had succeeded in getting an Autobot of Kup’s stature. So, I decided to deprive Razorclaw of his prize, and I hid the old timer like I explained and stayed with him.

“I then watched from a distance as the Predacons arrived at and searched the shuttle, finding nothing. I could tell that Razorclaw was angry even from where I sat. He destroyed the shuttle out of sheer frustration that he had lost his catch. The Preds then began searching the area for Kup, which is why I didn’t leave his side. If they got too close, I could simply move him again. Before too long, the Predacons withdrew from the area as the rescue shuttle arrived. The Autobots found us before I could leave and took me prisoner.”

Howlstrike looked down again, a frown forming on his faceplate. “At first, I gave the Autobots as little information about the crash as possible. I still considered them to be the enemy. Like I said, it was Kup that eventually made me see things differently, but I never told him the whole truth. He thought I had saved him because I was really a good mech deep down. It was the whole reason he had come to visit me in my prison cell in the first place. Kup thought I was worth his time.”

Howl pushed off from the wall he had been leaning against and stood before his commander, barely able to look Magnus in the optics. “But the truth, sir, was that I saved Kup to get back at Razorclaw for expelling me. I didn’t do it because I wanted to help Kup. I did it for revenge. My rage had consumed me by that point and all I could think about was retribution. It was Kup that guided me onto the path of redemption, instead. If he had known the real reason I saved him, I was afraid he would have shunned me like everyone else had. And I didn’t want to take that chance. Kup was the only friend I had, and he still is.”

Howlstrike fell silent, studying his commander’s demeanor. He wasn’t sure how Ultra Magnus would react to this revelation. Would he be angry with him for keeping this a secret for so long or would he understand Howl’s position? “Well, that's the whole story, sir. I regret my past actions and motives for them, but they ultimately led me down the right path. I don’t know if that makes it all okay. What I do know is that I’m here now to serve the Autobot cause and I wish to continue doing so. It’s where I belong.”

Ventilation Shafts

Hot Rod crawled slowly through the ventilation shaft as he scanned for any unusual or unwanted vermin. He made his way around a corner where he noticed an intake vent that was chewed open. He took the opportunity to make the hole bigger and crawled his way into a small chamber. It was dark and tight, but there were no signs of the creatures that made the hole. He turned around, but paused for a moment as he heard something from behind him. Casting his gaze over his shoulder he swore he saw a shadow move. The cavalier shrugged it off to a glitch in his optics, as he was in the dark for quite sometime.

Once he was back in the main corridors of the ventilation system he returned to his searching. As he moved his thoughts traveled back to Springer and what he said. Hot Rod could feel a ball of anger begin to grow within him. As his pace increased he began to grind his teeth. The thought of Springer and his comments caused him to puch a hole in the side of the shaft. He sdwiftly turned around and made his way out of the system. He stood up, a sneer spread across his face. His hands balled into tight fists as he transformed and sped off in the direction Springer was headed.

Autobase- Level Three

Ultra Magnus placed a hand on Howlstrike's shoulder. His scarlet optics softened as he nodded slightly by way of a response. The tracker was right on all counts. This -was- where he belonged. Magnus could sense the conviction in his subordinate's voice. Magnus couldn't be more pleased. He'd taken Howlstrike's measure, and the former Decepticon had not been found wanting.

"You're a good soldier, Howlstrike." With a firm pat he released the hunter's shoulder. "And you're an honest mech. You own up to your faults, and you speak your mind. I'm glad to have you my unit."

Rebooting his vocal processor with a slight cough, Magnus turned back to the work at hand. He scanned the bulkhead they had been cutting. "Looks Like it's ready to go," he announced after a moment. The City Commander took hold of one end of the massive hunk of metal, preparing to pull it loose and deposit it on his waiting trailer.

"On three."

Autobase – Level 3

Howlstrike listened as Ultra Magnus spoke to him in a calm and accepting tone. The City Commander showed a level of understanding that Howl had not experienced with another mech before with the exception of Kup. Most would not have been so sympathetic to the tracker’s situation, and some may have even demanded that he be punished for keeping such a secret for so long. Thankfully, Magnus recognized the reasons why Howl had kept silent and knew that he was a good mech deep down and a valuable asset to the unit.

“Thank you, sir,” Howlstrike responded. “I’m glad to be here.” The Autobot hunter then turned his attention to the bulkhead as Ultra Magnus scanned over it and took hold of the far end. Likewise, Howl wrapped his clawed hands around the close end of the huge metal chunk and looked over to Magnus. “I’m ready, Commander. One…two…three!”

Howlstrike then pulled back on the bulkhead, helping to dislodge it with relative ease considering how big it was. Keeping his end held up, Howl slowly and carefully eased his way over to Magnus’ trailer and gently placed his end of the bulkhead down. Once it was securely in place, Howl looked over to Ultra Magnus again with a nervous expression.

“Commander, I was thinking, since you now know my secret regarding the crash, it would probably be a good idea to come clean with Kup, as well. I’d rather him hear it from me, anyway.” Howlstrike hesitated for a moment. He wasn't known to be afraid of anything or any mech. However, the circumstances here were different. This was his friend, after all, and Howl was still fearful of loosing Kup's companionship. “I just don’t really know how to tell him. How do I tell my only friend that I've not been completely honest with him all these vorns? Do you have any advice on how I should approach Kup, sir?”

Some Distance from the Autobase

Springer had gone back and forth over the connections to this particular sensor node several times now. Even for someone with more technical knowledge than he had this would be tedious work, trying to find where the cables might be severed or damaged. It didn’t help that he was having to do it just with his own personal optics and sensors.

The triplechanger let out a sigh. Yeah, it wasn’t really the work he was built for, but they all had to make do as best they could hear on Cybertron. It wasn’t like there was anyone else they could call in to help, nor did they have a whole lot of resources like portable scanners he could use. He wasn’t really the type to complain though. He’d been in much tougher spots then this before. Heck, anytime when there wasn’t a small army of Decepticons shooting at him had to be considered at least halfway decent.

Springer stopped in his tracks and examined a bit of cabling a little closer. “Finally,” he muttered to himself as he spotted the tear. Using an adhesive strip he was able to give the cable a quick and crude repair job. He glanced over at the sensor node to see it beginning to come to life. A slight smiled crossed his face as he opened a line back to Magnus. >>”Alright, the sensor node in outer sector 1 should be operational now. I’m uploading my scans of the city to the node so you can take a look at them.”<<

He plugged into the node and downloaded the data. Once the download finished he turned to leave when he spotted something approaching him, fast. Springer frowned, figuring that he would have been told if someone had been sent out to help him. His frown turned into a smile when he recognized Hot Rod approaching. “You didn’t skip out on your assignment did you Hot Rod? I know it was probably boring but you know you’ll just get a long, boring lecture from Kup for bailing on it.”

Some Distance from the Autobase

Anger welled deep within the Cavalier as he made his way through the city streets towards the outer rim of Sector 1 where Springer was located. He skidded around a corner and spotted his target at the location’s sensor node.

Once Hot Rod caught sight of the triplechanger he accelerated. Without stopping the young mech transformed and lunged directly at Springer.

“AGHHH! You should be more concerned for yourself!”

Autobase – Level Three

Ultra Magnus heaved with all his not inconsiderable might, helping Howlstrike bring the slab of metal they'd cut free come to rest on his trailer. Once it was secure, the former Predacon voiced his concerns regarding Kup.

If he'd had a mouth in his current configuration, Magnus would have smiled at the tracker's nervous question. As it was, what facial features the white soldier did possess did their best to convey the twinkle behind his scarlet optics.

"Son," he began gently, with just a hint of bemusement. "After I read your file, it took me less than a Cycle to deduce most of what you just tell me. After all this time, do you really think Kup doesn't already know? And even if he doesn't...Do you really think he'd hold it against you? I think you're selling the old mech short."

Turning away from his subordinate, Magnus checked the fastenings on their cargo one last time. Then he transformed, reattaching his trailer in preparation for the haul.

"Now let's roll out, soldier," he said, a familiar timbre returning to his voice. "That hole's not getting any smaller!" With that, he started off towards the breach in the south wall.