“They did what?” Prime thundered, slamming his fists on the table in outrage.  He’d have to stop doing that, he found himself thinking.  He was beginning to damage the table quite badly.  Those spider web cracks were beginning to criss-cross the top.

     “During the night, Dogfight, Backstreet, Kobal, Chamber, Cable and Warpath snuck out of the area and infiltrated Viridia.  We think they intend to rescue Punch.” Ironhide replied.  A shame one of the new recruits had happened to be watching the screen at exactly the wrong time.  Otherwise, this whole conversation could have been put off for a while.  “What would you like me to do?” he asked.

     “Nothing, for now.” Prime responded.  “Sending in more troops to get them would only exacerbate the problem.  We have to wait for them to come out.”  And they had better come out.  If, after all this, they failed to rescue Punch, then it would all be for nothing.  Though war would probably follow, he wouldn’t mind it quite so much if it was started for something.  He was sad, however.  To think, that after all his attempts to hold this wild alliance together, it was about to fly apart.  More Autobots would die because of this, more loved ones would be sacrificed upon the altar of battle.

     “And Ironhide, when they come out,” he said, making sure to use ‘when’, not ‘if’.  “I want them brought to me.  Immediately.”  The last word was heavily emphasised, making sure there were no misunderstandings this time.  For, although he could never really prove it, Optimus knew that Dogfight and his men hadn’t left without talking with Ironhide first.  Reaching out, he cut the transmission, getting up and walking around for a bit.  A little stretching, before he got back down to work.

     “Blaster?” he said, waiting for his communications expert to respond.  In a moment, the crimson cassette player answered him.  “I want you to get Scattershot for me.  I have a job for the Technobots.”

     Meanwhile, within now-burning Viridia, Dogfight, Backstreet and Kobal made their way towards the prison.  A squat structure, it was heavily fortified and, under normal circumstances, heavily guarded.  Now, however, many of them had been drawn away from their posts, leaving only a skeleton guard here.

     “I can’t believe that they left it so open.” Backstreet said.  “They must have been overconfident.  We’d better hurry, before Warpath and the others are overwhelmed.”  With a small click, both Triggerbots flipped out their weapons, while Kobal simply drew his rifle the old fashioned way.  The trio raised their weapons and fired, concentrating on a section of the wall.  Rather than attempt to cause it to explode, however, they concentrated simply on melting the panels.  Though it seemed like a useless distinction to make, the sensors ringing the area actually were not configured to report things like that.  When they had been designed, it had been assumed that there would be guards around at all times, and that someone trying to melt through would be too exposed for too long.  Thus, it had been left out.  A mistake on their part.

     It took them about five or six minutes to get through the wall.  While that may not sound like a lot, it would be deadly to people trying not to be shot at by guards along the walls.  It was then another few minutes before the surrounding metal had cooled enough for them to pass through.  Once they were through, they took off at a run, however, not wanting to waste any more time.  At roughly the same moment, Dead End was taking his last breath, and Optimus Prime was having a private conversation with Scattershot.  And though neither knew what the other two were doing, all three would have a profound effect on the future of the Transformer race.

     But such concerns were not foremost in the mind of Dogfight at this moment.  In battle, he had trouble thinking past the next five minutes.  Long term planning went out the window, and only the dangers of the moment mattered.  Raising his right arm, he snapped off a shot at a surprised guard, catching him in the knee and dropping him to the ground.  Off to his left, he saw Backstreet do something similar, while Kobal concentrated on collapsing the routes the guards might use to enter the area.  Ahead of them now was the main entrance, through which they had to pass.  It was dangerous, because enemy forces could ambush them by accident, but it was the only hall that connected to Punch’s cell.

     “Let’s go, bots!” Dogfight cried, leading the way.  “We’ve got to make this quick, because there is no way Chamber and the others can create a big enough diversion to cover this.”

     “You got it, boss.” Backstreet responded, reverting to his car mode.  He sped ahead, slamming into Decepticons and causing them to scatter out of his path.  In a few seconds he had reached the entrance, transforming without stopping and hurling himself through the door.  He rolled a couple of feet, before coming to a stop with weapons drawn.

     A totally unneeded tactic, it turned out.  There were no Decepticon soldiers in the hallway for him to have been worried about.  He got to his feet in time to meet Dogfight and Kobal.

     “His signal’s coming from that way.” Kobal said, checking the scanner they’d trusted him with earlier.  Holding it out, he followed the blinking dot that denoted Punch.  They passed through winding corners, always seeming to go down deeper.  After ten minutes, Dogfight put his hand on Kobal’s shoulder.

     “Look, kid, you sure you know how to use that thing?” he asked, his voice low.  Kobal turned and shot him a nasty look.  As though reading a dumb scanner could be too much for him.

     “Yes, Dogfight.” He replied, keeping his own voice low as well.  “According to this, he’s right around the next corner.”  Tossing the machine to Backstreet, he hurried around the corner, eager to prove the Triggerbot run.  If he’d had a mouth, Dogfight would have smirked at the kid.

     A smirk that would’ve been wiped away in the next instant.  From around the corner, the sound of gunfire broke the silence, followed by a low grunt and a thud.  Backstreet and Dogfight exchanged worried glances, before flipping their weapons out and proceeding cautiously.  They inched around the corner, four rifles at the ready, not sure what to expect.

     What they saw, however, was somewhat reassuring.  Kobal was still alive, but slumped against the far wall and holding his lower right side.  From around his fingers they could see mechfluid trickle out, running down his arm and onto the floor.  Across from him, a Decepticon guard lay on the floor, a hole blown in his chest.  While Backstreet hurried over to open the cell, Dogfight moved to Kobal.

     “Sorry sir.” Kobal said without looking up.  “I know you wanted no kills, but it was me or him.”  Then, at last, the enormity of what he had just done sunk in; he had taken a life.  The fact that it was self-defence didn’t matter to him.  He had killed another living being, and that was never going to change.  He began to shake slightly.

     “Calm down, kid.  The first one’s always the worst.  Just try and keep it together, and we’ll get out of this.”  Sliding his guns back, Dogfight reached down to help Kobal to his feet, steadying the younger Autobot.  From behind them, he could hear Backstreet and Punch hurrying over, and a moment later they entered his field of view.  Punch looked pretty beat up, but not as bad as Dogfight had feared.  Turning slowly, so as not to injure Kobal any more, he looked at the other two.

     “We have to get out of here.” he said.  “Punch, are you good to go?”  Though he looked alright, there was no telling what might have happened to him in here that wasn’t visible.  Punch, however, answered that he was, which was a load off Dogfight.  Unfortunately, he had just gained a new one in return.

     “Alright, Backstreet and Punch, you two are going to drive out at top speed.  Backstreet, you show him where to go.”  Backstreet nodded, and the two started off down the hallway.  He waited a few moments before turning to Kobal.  “You gonna be alright, kid?” he asked, glancing down at the wound.

     “I think I’ll make it.” he answered, though his voice was a little unsteady.  “But there’s no way I can keep up.  I never got around to getting an alternate mode.” he confessed.

     “Dang.” Dogfight muttered.  “Alright, here’s what we’ll do.  When we get out there, I’ll transform, and you hop on.  Got it?”  Kobal nodded and gripped his rifle tightly.  There was no way this was going to be pleasant, but he had accepted such risks.  Taking a deep breath, the two of them started off, Kobal leaning rather heavily on Dogfight.

     “Dang it, what’s taking them so long?” Cable fumed.  He, Chamber and Warpath were hiding outside the city, trying not to get noticed by the patrols out hunting for them.

     “You had to kill Dead End, didn’t you?” Chamber muttered.  “Now Motormaster’s going to want us melted down to scrap.”

     “Would you rather have faced Menasor?” Warpath shot back.  “You’re just lucky I was out there to slow them down.  A gestalt would’ve made short work of you and him.” he said, jerking his thumb at Cable.  Cable, who seemed to be the only calm one here.

     “Look, getting upset won’t accomplish anything,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.  “They’ll be out when they’re out, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”  Not that stopped them each from worrying, though they were now doing it to themselves.  Peeking his head from behind the scrap metal they were concealed behind, Cable searched the horizon for any sign of the other three.  Unfortunately, all he could see were Decepticon units searching for them.  It wasn’t long, however, before he spotted a disturbance, off in the distance.  The Decepticons seemed to be both rushing towards it and falling back from it, indicating it was something that wasn’t their doing.

     “I think they’re on their way.” Cable whisped, motioning for his two companions to look out.  “About slagging time, too.”