Dogfight tensed for the last time, then swept out into the intersection.  Holding his twin weapons at about waist height for a normal Transformer, he peered into the darkness.  “Freeze, whoever you are!” he shouted, searching desperately for a target.

     A search which was cut short when Mirage stepped out from the shadows.  “You really are too impatient, Dogfight.” Mirage said.  “And had I been an enemy agent, you would have been dead by now.”

     All too quickly, Dogfight remembered why he didn’t like Mirage.  The bot was too full of himself.  He was also so smug, and seemed to delight in showing up others, with his knowledge of fine energon and his overdone manners.  Still, he was a decent soldier, and Dogfight was glad to have someone at his back.

     “Well, come on.” Mirage said, motioning down the tube for him to follow.  Dogfight dropped in behind him, feeling a little surly at being upstaged but willing to let Mirage led.  After all, Dogfight knew that he was still the tougher of the two, and if Mirage felt like trying to show off his smarts, he could go right ahead.

     They walked on in silence for a few meters, until Dogfight struck up a conversation.  “Have you heard anything about what’s going on in the Decepticon area?” he asked.  He had, of course, heard all manner of rumors, ranging from a total collapse to a rebuilt Unicron waiting to devour them all.  Of course, he didn’t really believe most of what he’d heard.

     “I don’t concern myself with idle gossip.” Mirage replied, and the way he said it made it clear that he didn’t think highly of those who did.  “However, I have it on good authority that Megatron is preparing for a major offensive.” he said after a few moments.

     Ahead of them now, they were picking up some slight energy discharges.  It was hard to tell what it was, as this was a pretty badly maintained area.  From the output, it could be anything from a broken power main to a hiding Transformer.  Probably, it was a broken main, as a hiding Transformer would still be giving off an IFF signal.  Still, it was worth checking out.  Mirage motioned for Dogfight to move forward with him, and both of them made sure their weapons were charged and drawn.  Nobody knew for sure what lay beneath Transformer cities, really, and with the proof from those things that attacked the Dinobots after the battle with Unicron, everyone was on their guard.

     Time was running out, and Grimlock was getting increasingly worried.  They were on their last day before the deadline, and there was no sign of the Combaticons.  Even worse, Megatrons jamming towers had extended out over all of his territory, effectively hiding anything in the Decepticon area.  There could now be no doubt that Megatron was planning something large, but nobody could figure out against who.

     Tempers were beginning to flare between the Autobots with all this tension.  It seemed that they couldn’t go a day without some kind of fight breaking out.  Absently, Grimlock wondered if a fight would do him good.  Surely the chance to relieve some tension could do no harm.

     But not now.  For now, he was stuck in the Council chamber, trying desperately to think of some way out of this.  With him were Optimus Prime, Goldbug, and Prowl, none of whom were I a significantly better mood than he.

     “Does no-one have any ideas?” Optimus asked the group.  For a moment, nobody spoke.  Then, Goldbug piped up.

     “I still say that we should strike now.  Megatron’s construction, whatever it is, can’t be ready yet, and this may be our last chance.  I know how much you detest the idea of another conflict, Optimus, but it might be the only way.” he said.  Not for the first time, Optimus sighed at his suggestion.  Prowl, however, beat him to a response.

     “Goldbug, that is completely illogical.” he said.  “With no intelligence on Megatron’s activities, it is impossible to know if he is finished with whatever it is.  Added to that, the time needed to re-equip and train the Autobot forces for actual, front line combat would mean that Megatron, who we know keeps at least a part of his forces on constant alert, could still attack before us.”  He paused, thinking.  “The most reasonable thing to do would be to try and reopen communications between us and the Decepticons.  The time might not have passed yet.”

     “No good trying to call Megatron.” Grimlock said.  “Jamming towers sure sign of hostility, and it probable that Megatron gearing up for Morrow.” he added, making an astounding leap which everyone thought might, after all, make sense.  “And if that true, communication would draw us into the problem, instead of being able to mediate dispute.”

     “An intelligent observation, Grimlock, and a useful suggestion.  I am pleased that somebody is thinking of the big picture.”  Optimus said.  “And Goldbug, even setting aside the arguments that Prowl has given, we Autobots are not one for initiating conflict.  Though we have no problems with finishing them.”  Getting up, the statuesque red leader stares out the window.  The sun is just rising, signaling the dawn of the last day of Morrow’s week.  Today, it seemed, was determined to be a great day, in defiance of the chaos that was promised.

     “A splendid plan, Prowl.” Bumblebee said.  “We’ll just hang back, and wait for Megatron to launch whatever massive attack he has planned.”  He pointed to the window, with a mock look of fear on his face.  “Oh look, it’s an army of Trypticons!  Thank heaven we’re readyto sit down and talk.”

     Further mockery was cut short, however, when Optimus whirled around and slammed his fists down on the table.  “Damn it, Goldbug, what is wrong with you?” he bellowed.  “You’ve been combative since the mission to the Infinity wreck.  Do you have some sort of malfunction?”

     All the humor was wiped off Goldbugs face, and he looked down at the table.  “I’m sorry, Optimus.  It’s just that…” he said, pausing for a moment.  “In the last war, I got blown up and reborn more times than I care to remember.  And it seems like every time, I was trying to reason my way out of some difficulty.  I just don’t want to go through that again.”

     For a moment, Optimus felt somewhat bad about yelling at the Throttlebot.  Though Optimus had gone through more bodies than Goldbug, and rarely without suffering at least a good amount of discomfort, he knew that he had no right to expect all his Autobots to feel like he did.  “All right, Goldbug.” he says.  “Perhaps that’s enough for the day.  You are all dismissed.”  He turns back to the window, and looks out at the sun.  The day looks like it could be a good one, he thinks.  But it remains to be seen how it truly works out.

     There was a low energy discharge ahead, and Dogfight and Mirage were cautiously moving towards it.  They had had their optics turned up full, and so were temporarily blinded when they rounded a bend and spotted the discharge.  While normally it would have had little effect, the two Autobots had been forced to amp up their vision, since all the power in the surrounding area had been turned off.  They were at a loss as to how nobody noticed the power loss.

     Not wanting to give their position away, Mirage used hand signals to give Dogfight orders.  Placing a finger over his mouth, he motioned for him to stay back.  Activating his cloak, Mirage crept forward, being careful where he put his feet.  It would not do to give the game away before it started, he said to himself.

     Up ahead now, he could tell that there were people there after all.  He could hear voices, subdued, whispering.  From so far away, he couldn’t hear what was going on.  Making sure his weapon was powered up, he inched forward.  There was a slight bend in the tube, so he would have to walk around it to see the speakers.  This was unfortunate, as it would leave him totally open for a second or two if they knew he was coming.  Taking a deep breath, he rounded the corner, to find a truly surprising sight.

      The Combaticons.

     “This is our final day of Rear Admiral Morrows week, Megatron.” Soundwave said.  They were in Megatrons quarters, but this time Hook and Snaptrap were not with them.  Megatron had wanted to talk privately with his most trusted advisor, and one of the only Decepticons that he truly trusted.  Sometimes, he wondered if it was a reflection of Soundwaves personality that two of the other ones, Ravage and Laserbeak, were the tape deck’s troops.

     “Indeed, Soundwave.” Megatron replied.  His attention was elsewhere, making a last check of the plan for the forces he had that he had prepared.  At last, he turned away, satisfied that Morrows troops would never make it down to Cybertron alive.  “Now, is everything ready?  No last minute problems?  No freak ammunition shortages or low power ratings?” he asked.  He didn’t expect that that would be the case, and his confidence in Soundwave was rewarded when he answered.

     “All goes as planned, my lord,” he replied.  “All goes as prepared, and everything will be ready by midday.”  Megatron stood up from his chair and walked over towards Soundwave, and more importantly the door.  Striding forward, he noticed that the door was a little slow in sliding up.  He made a note to contact maintenance.  It would hardly be fitting for the leader of the Decepticon Empire to walk into the door to his room.  Of course, he could always just blast it open, if he had to.  But then he’d have to put up with an even longer wait while they repaired the door.

     “Now, what is the projected response from the Autobots?” he asked Soundwave.  This had been the most difficult thing to try and deduce, as the ever shifting moods of the Autobot command had proven difficult.  With the brief absence of Optimus from the scene, the analysts had been forced to come up with a profile on Grimlock, something they had never done before.  Megatron had been most displeased when he learned of that, and several of the analysts had been… demoted.  Then, Optimus returned from his injury, and Megatrons advisors had hurried to work on a combined Optimus Prime/Grimlock model.  But at last, they were reasonably certain as to the Autobots reactions.

     “The latest models on the leaders have struck a 78% certainty rate.  They predict that the Autobots will respond with at least political and economical sanctions, and may even become involved militarily.  However, they doubt that the Autobot contribution will be more than a peacekeeping effort, little more than a buffer between us and the Terran Hegemony.  They are confident that the Autobot responses can be handled easily.” Soundwave said, briefing his leader.  Soundwave had spent the night motivating the analysts, making sure that they had a comprehensive model prepared for this morning.

     “Excellent.” Megatron said.  “The worst thing would be for a concentrated Autobot military response.  Thankfully, they are so predictably spineless.”  Letting a little  chuckle out, Megatron motioned for Soundwave to keep pace with him.  The two of them strolled through the streets of Polyhex, marveling at the massive structures.  There was no doubt that the Decepticons would be prepared if Morrow made good on his threat.  And Megatron had no doubt that he would.

     “Is everything prepared?” a voice asked.  There were five Transformers sitting in the passage, though the darkness meant that they were visible as little more than outlines.  It was odd, Mirage thought, that they weren’t giving off an IFF signal.  All Transformers did it naturally, and they would have to actually turn it off on purpose.  And that meant that they would be more likely to be attacked by friendly forces who thought they were trespassing.

     “Yes.” another voice said.  “The package is set, and the timing is perfect.  They’ll never know what hit them.”  This second voice was from a smaller Transformer, while the first one had been quite large, with odd little cylinders sticking up over its shoulders.  The other three were deeper into the shadows, though what looked like rotor blades could be seen on one of them.  From his vantage point, Mirage couldn’t really make out enough details to be certain who they were, though he had a guess.

     Silently, he moved backwards, towards where he had left Dogfight.  When he decloaked in front of the aerial Transformer, Dogfight almost gave them away, barely cutting off his shout of surprise.  “There are five Transformers out there.” Mirage said, motioning towards the lift seeping around the corner.  “And they seem to have turned off their beacons.  I don’t like it.”

     “And here I thought I was the only one.” Dogfight said, somewhat sarcastically.  “Do you think we have time to wait for backup?”  Suddenly, both of them heard the sound of movement from the around the corner, and the light suddenly went off.  “Guess not.” Dogfight said.  The two of them raced around the corridor, still trying to stay quiet.  Mirage, fortunately, had the presence of mind to activate his cloaking device before they rounded the bend.

     “Hold it where you are!” Dogfight shouted, both of his weapons held out in front of him.  In the shadows, his infrared was picking up five hear sources, though they were oddly low for fully functional Transformers.  Stopping for a moment, the largest one turned back to him.

     “And what do you intend to do if we don’t, little man?”  His voice was very familiar, but Dogfight couldn’t quite place it.  Plus, he had other things on his mind.  “We seem to have you at a disadvantage.”  Suddenly, one of his contemporaries pitched forward, his back sparking and the wires and servo-muscles within clearly visible.  Another went down from a shot to the kneecap before the three remaining opened fire.  Fortunately, they had forgotten about Dogfight in their desire to exact revenge on their hidden assailant.  Dropping back, Dogfight ducked behind the corner, with only his arm and head showing around the bend.  Firing rapidly, he forced the enemy Transformers back, the big one carrying the two who had gone already.  The other two that remained functional, amongst which was the one with the rotor blades.  They returned fire, forcing Dogfight back into cover briefly.

     “Hurry, Dogfight.” Mirage whispered.  Apparently, he was standing next to Dogfight, his cloak still active.  “They’ve planted explosives just up ahead.  The timers set to blow soon, and we’ve got to stop it.”

     “No kidding.” Dogfight replied, pausing to snap off a few shots at the retreating group.  “I hope you realize where we are?” he asked.  “Right beneath the Council chambers.” Mirage shot back.  Fully aware of the damage that would be caused should an explosive go off where they were, the two redoubled their efforts, and were rewarded to see their enemies falling  back.

     “We’ve got ‘em on the run!” Mirage shouted, rushing forward.  Unfortunately, his outburst had given the enemy a place to lock on to, and Mirage was sent flying backwards, his chest a mess of wires and leaking mech fluid.

     “Mirage!” Dogfight cried out, watching as the enemy fled, and Mirage fell.  And there was little he could do about either.  Leaping out from his hiding space, he snapped off a few shots at the fleeing enemy, then knelt down beside Mirage.

     “Mirage, are you…” but Dogfights question was cut short when he was slammed up against the wall.  It seemed the enemy had not been cowed after all, and had snuck back to take one last shot.  Raising his undamaged arm, Dogfight fired again and again, driving him back.  But he knew that they had simply retreated to escape the blast range.  Those explosives Mirage had seen were bound to be incredibly powerful, and those Combaticons were going to need to get pretty far to escape the kill zone.