On the Nemesis......

"That damn Autobot!" Megatron roared and punched his fist into a target in the training room, smashing it into a hundred pieces. While he was proud of his small victory in destroying the legendary Star Sabre, he was still upset over the fact that his arch-nemesis, Optimus was still alive.

"If it weren't for his meddling, I'd have Optimus's spark by now." He hissed. Then he took a deep breath and ex-vented. He couldn't let his anger cloud his judgement.

But still, Smokescreen was beginning to become a thorn in his side like Bumblebee. The two were the youngest among Team Prime, yet they were beginning to become the most bothersome too.

He took a deep breath and ex-vented. He could not let his anger cloud his thinking. 'What would hurt the Autobots more than any assault?' he asked himself.

Then he remembered the time he had injured Bumblebee's human partner and sent him to near-death. He still remembers the pure rage and hate the scout had directed at him for hurting his friend.

Megatron chuckled darkly. 'If I can't hurt the Autobots, I'll just have to make do with their precious human allies....and their families.'

"Sir! We've detected a large energon signal!" one vehicon called.

"Where?" Megatron asked gruffly.

"In the Atlantic ocean, sir." He said.

"How is this information relevant when we already have an energon mine secured there?" Megatron asked.

"It's nearby and it's bigger compared to the other, my liege." He said and showed him the radius of the energon signal.

Megatron then remembers that Soundwave was there and he required his help.

"Very well, prepare the troops and set course for the Atlantic Ocean." He ordered. As soon as the vehicon left, Megatron contacted his communication specialist.

Soundwave's visor covered faceplate appeared on the screen, albeit the lighting was a bit....off seeing as to how he was underwater.

"Soundwave, you are aware of the identities of Team Prime human allies." It was a statement not a question but Soundwave nodded in confirmation nonetheless.

"Gather as much intel as you can on them and their families, both close and distant and send them to me when you are done." Megatron ordered.

Soundwave nodded and ended the call.

Meanwhile back at the Autobot's base......

"Score!" Evelyn said as her avatar executed a devastating combo move on Miko's avatar. They were currently having a video game tournament. After some debate, they chose to play Mortal Kombat.

"No fair! That's cuz you know how to actually fight in real life!" Miko protested.

"Sore loser much~" Evelyn taunted and stuck her tongue out at her. "One more point for Eve."

"Okay, hotshot, move aside, it's my turn." Jack said.

Evelyn pouted but handed over the controller anyway. "You're up Raf." Miko said passing the controller to Raf.

It's been four days since 'Smokescreen's Fake Death' as Miko has dubbed it and four days since.......Optimus loss the Star Sabre.

As Jack and Raf battled it out in video games, Evelyn once again gazed at the broken sword sadly. "Too bad we don't have the Forge, eh? That along with the sabre would've packed one helluva punch." she said.

Miko nodded then a thought struck her. "Wait, maybe we can fix it." She realized.

Ratchet scoffed. "Oh please, unless you have a copy of the Forge, that's highly unlikely."

"Then what about the Alterare?" Miko asked.

At that, Ratchet stopped typing on the console and Jack and Raf paused their video game.

"I mean, all you have to do is scan what it's made off, do your Science magic, typity typity on the screen and boom! Star Sabre's fixed!" Miko said.

Ratchet opened his mouth...then closed it and thought it over. "That.....might actually be possible." He realized.

Evelyn cleared her throat. "I hate to be a wet blanket but isn't the Star Sabre supposedly made of a mix between Science and magic?" she pointed out.

"I'm afraid Eve is right." Optimus said. "And must I remind you that the Alterare doesn't create elements, it simply transmutes one matter to another and there is no telling when the effect will wear off."

"Well it was worth a shot." Miko said a bit dejected that her idea couldn't work.

Jack patted her back. "It was a pretty good idea. And that's saying something coming from you." He said.

"Thanks- hey! What do you mean coming from me?" Miko asked offended at the implied insult underneath.

"Well, most of the time your 'ideas' involve recklessness and possible injuries....or death." Evelyn said.

"My ideas aren't that bad, right Raf?" Miko asked turning towards their quiet friend.

Raf scratched the back of his head. "They aren't exactly wise plans and I can't say their safe either. They're....more of a...last ditch effort type of plans." He said.

"Ok, who wants to watch a movie?" Evelyn asked before an argument could take place.

Smokescreen and Bumblebee raised their servos and joined in. "So what's on the list today, chief?" Smokescreen asked.

Evelyn took a DVD out of her bag- Aquaman.

"I just got it yesterday." Evelyn said.

"But I thought those wouldn't reach Jasper till next month." Raf said surprised.

Evelyn smirked. "Got it mailed over from jolly ol' England." She said.

"Girl, you are so lucky." Miko said.

"Tell me something I don't know." Evelyn said before loading the DVD in.

"Another movie?" Arcee asked as she walked in.

Ratchet looked at them and shook his helm. "I'll never understand what's so interesting about those shows. Why watch that when you could watch something that's actually helpful like....a Science documentation?"

"Because those are considered 'boring and lame' to youths as they say." Optimus told him. "I find Earth movies to be quite entertaining." He admitted.

"I find them trivial." Ratchet said.

As Evelyn watched Arthur learn more about his Atlantean physiology, a question came to mind. "Wait, do you guys need oxygen to breathe?" she asked them.

Smokescreen shook his helm. "Nope. Sure, we breathe sometimes to cool ourselves down or get rid of the dust inside of us but we don't need oxygen." He said.

"Yeah, which also means they can do epic smack downs in space!" Miko said.

"Oh yeah, the undead Cybertronian event you told me about." Evelyn said remembering Miko telling her about it once.

"So, does that mean you guys can breathe underwater?" she asked.

"Yes, for a limited amount of time." Ratchet said. "Sometimes it depends on what body type or alt-mode you have."

Jack took the remote up and pressed the pause button to pause the movie. "Care to explain?" he asked curious.

Raf turned around and looked at Ratchet expectantly, even Miko seemed intrigued.

"Well, there are actually more to alt-modes than you think. As you already know, the two most common ones are land vehicles such as cars and bikes or air vehicles such as jets. But there is also another type of alt-mode where a Cybertronian can transform into sea vehicles." Ratchet explained.

"Woah!" Miko said surprised.

"So, they could transform into boats, jet skis and even submarines?" Evelyn asked imagining it already.

Ratchet nodded. "However, after the war began and the AllSpark was sent off world, Cybertronians with the ability to transform into said alt-mode are now rare if not extinct all together." He said.

"But even if you don't have the same alt-modes as them, you can still breathe underwater, right?" Jack asked.

"Yes, but if our vents are damaged or we linger too long, it could begin to harm us. Plus, we aren't as used to fighting underwater since the water resistance will hinder us. But if it were a Cybertronian with a sea vehicle alt-mode, he'd be able to fight as good as on dry land, if not better." Ratchet said.

"What exactly happens if you stay there too long?" Raf asked.

"It depends on the injury. Worst case scenario the water floods your internal systems, messing with your sensors, pipes and the hydraulics and trust me, sooner or later the water pressure will take effect. It will feel as though you are being pulled apart from the inside out. Wire by wire, circuit by circuit. I haven't seen this kind of scenario up close but trust me, it's a slow and painful death for any bot." Ratchet said his voice dropping into a dramatic low serious tone.

They all gulped.

"Aren't you laying it a bit thick?" Arcee whispered to Ratchet.

"Oh hush, let me have my own form of amusement every once in a while." Ratchet said evidently taking some joy in terrifying the human teens.

"Well that was a nice topic." Smokescreen said sarcastically.

As the movie went on, they watched how Mera and Arthur eventually fall for each other despite the fact that one was a pure blooded princess of a kingdom while the other was a half-blood breed from the surface world.

'I wonder if Smokes/ Eve and I can be like that.' Smokescreen and Evelyn both thought.

Smokescreen spared a quick glance at Evelyn and once again noticed her wavy brunette and sky blue highlighted hair and those warm brown eyes and that amazing slender figure and-

Smokescreen's faceplate went red and he shook his helm before his processor could go any further.

Ratchet glanced at Smokescreen and saw his flustered expression. The medic may be old and his pistins were rusty but his senses and mind were as sharp as ever.

He wasn't blind. While he was anything but a love expert you'd have to be a true idiot to not see Smokescreen's feelings towards Evelyn.

'Young love, I'll never understand it.' He thought. For all his smarts, love and crushes was a subject he could never fully grasp.

They continued watching the movie but were promptly interrupted as an alarm went off on the computer. "It's another energon signal." Ratchet said and typed away. "And By the AllSpark it's quite big."

The others gathered around and saw that it was at least as big as three football fields.

"Wait a minute......" Ratchet typed again. "It's not one but two. They're two energon signals at the same location."

"Where are they exactly?" Arcee asked.

Ratchet brought up the coordinates. "14.5994 ° South, 28.6731° West."

"And where's that?" Smokescreen asked.

Ratchet's optics widened as he brought the place up. "The Atlantic Ocean." He said.

"Nani?!" Miko said in surprise. "It's in the middle of nowhere?!" she wasn't exactly the best at Geography but even she knew the Atlantic was the second largest oceans in the world.

"How can an energon mine be on water?" Jack asked.

"It's not on the water it's underwater." Ratchet corrected him.

"Looks like you lads are goanna have to grab your snorkels and flippers." Evelyn said.

"How are you even going to get there? I mean, if you open a groundbridge directly, won't it just flood the base?" Raf asked.

"Not if we do it precisely. Let's see, if we were to.....mm-hmm and then......hmmm...maybe...." Ratchet went deep in thought and began to type out calculations.

"Before you all leave, I have to make quick adjustments. Your bodies aren't suitable for water combat. It won't be permanent and it won't be as perfect as Cybertron's but it'll have to do. Everyone to the med bay now, chop chop." Ratchet said and practically pushed every bot into the med bay. He went off to gather some tools and equipment.

"Well someone's gone into mad scientist mode." Miko said as she climbed down the rec-centre.

"I wonder what kind of upgrades they'll get." Raf said.

"We must hurry, this may take a while so do me a favor and stay still. Who's first?" Ratchet asked standing beside the surgery table.

:I'll go first.: Bumblebee said and lied on the table.

Ratchet nodded and activated his blowtorch. "I want everyone who is not involved in this procedure to evacuate." He said and looked at the children. "With all due respect, you might not want to stick around to see this and I can't have any distractions."

"Hey!" Miko said. "We aren't distracting you."

"Well you are right now, please leave." Ratchet said.

Evelyn pulled her away by the hand. "He's right, Miko. They need to hurry to beat the cons and the doc needs his focus to work."

One hour and ten minutes later, the Autobots came back.

"Looks like they got themselves some new accessories." Jack said.

They now had pieces of thin metal resembling fins behind their forearms (A/N: Fore-servos?), back and calves. Optimus's and Bulkhead's plating also seemed less bulky compared to before.

Some of the extra layers on Optimus's shoulder plating had to be removed as the extra weight could further hinder his movement and even some of Bulkhead's extra plating for defense had to be removed but the Wrecker and leader were still as strong and sturdy as before.

The color of their plating even had a slight bluish sea green tinge to it now for a bit of camouflage.

Miko and Evelyn whistled. "Wicked. / Rad." They both said and snapped a picture.

"Man, I'm so pumped!" Smokescreen said as he began to stretch.

"You're pumped to head into unknown enemy territory?" Arcee asked dryly.

Smokescreen shook his helm. "I mean, yeah I'm kinda nervous but I'm also excited. I'm finally goanna get to experience an actual underwater combat!" he said.

"Smokescreen, Bumblebee, are you two certain you will be able to fight under these circumstances?" Optimus asked. He himself has done actual underwater combat but his two youngest teammates? He was uncertain.

Smokescreen nodded. "I've done stimulations before back at the academy and I passed them all with flying colors." He said proudly.

Bumblebee nodded in confirmation. He seemed to be slightly buzzing with excitement as well as the scout has never been underwater before either except during stimulations back in his training. Bumblebee gave his leader the thumbs up.

"Wish Seaspray was here, he'd be a good help in this." Bulkhead said with a bit of sadness at thinking of his fallen Wrecker comrade.

"Don't get cold feet, boys. This isn't a holiday." Arcee reminded them.

"Here, put these on." Ratchet said and handed each of them a type of badge of sorts. It was a plain red in color.

"What are these for?" Bulkhead asked holding the badge in between his massive digits, dwarfing it.

"It will allow me to monitor your vitals in case things go wrong and let me know if I'll have to bridge you back." Ratchet said.

"It's like hooking them up with a heart monitor." Raf said.

Optimus, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Smokescreen simply placed theirs on their shoulders while Arcee placed hers on one of her winglets.

The members of Team Prime sans Ratchet stood in front of the groundbridge and Ratchet pressed a button, activating a barrier of sorts.

"What's the barrier for?" Raf asked.

"To prevent the water from flooding in. It's a weak barrier not meant for battle and it can only hold a limited quantity of water." Ratchet explained.

"Pity you and I didn't bring our swimsuits along." Evelyn said nudging Miko with her elbow. Miko snickered at the thought.

"Hey, bring me back a souvenir, Smokes?" Evelyn asked half-joking.

Smokescreen winked and gave her the thumbs up.

"Ratchet, triangulate the signals location and activate the groundbridge." Optimus said.

"Wait, aren't they going underwater?" Evelyn asked. "I'm no mechanic but even I know cars and water don't mix."

"They can still drive on the underwater ground." Ratchet said. "Activating groundbridge." He pulled the lever down.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus ordered and they transformed and sped off.

The moment the groundbridge opened, they could already see seawater rapidly flood within the barriers. The Autobots drove through it and the groundbridge closed.

Ratchet pressed a button and a vacuum opened within the groundbridge and sucked the water away. Miko, Jack, Raf and Evelyn watched as the water swirled around the vacuum hole like a whirlpool and the water levels drop.

"It's like flushing a toilet." Miko joked.

They snickered at that.

Ratchet however couldn't really share their lightheartedness. 'I've got a bad feeling about this.' He thought and hoped that for once, he was wrong.

**************************************************

As they drove out of the groundbridge, the salty seawater of the Atlantic Ocean enveloped them like an entity titan's hand and shocked them to their systems.

They briefly stayed suspended before gravity took hold and their weights caused them to land softly on the underwater ground, only kicking up a small screen of sand to mix with the water, briefly turning it murky.

"Woah...." Bulkhead said wind milling his servos as he landed and tried to regain his balance. "It's ok, this isn't space, and you can look up and down....and left and right." He muttered to himself.

"Woooo! Nothing like a nice dip to cool you down, huh Bee?" Smokescreen said as he transformed, the water slipping through the chinks in his plating.

:This feels kinda weird. Like Zero-G.: Bumblebee beeped as he felt the water buoyancy.

"Team, status." Optimus said.

"Functioning and ready for battle." Arcee said. She wasn't as badly hindered as the others as her sleeker and smaller build wasn't as heavy but it also served as a disadvantage since the stronger currents might sweep her away.

"Bring on the cons." Bulkhead said.

"Let's do this!" Smokescreen said and transformed.

They all transformed and rolled out.

Meanwhile at the energon mine a few miles away......

Soundwave typed away on the console. Row after row of data scrolled through the screen and reflected off the visor on his faceplate.

His sharp slender digits flew across the console typing button after button, key after key, gaining dozens of intel with the simple tap of such a small object.

Soundwave has known Megatron for a long time. He knew the way he thinks and knew why his master, one who he admittedly would even consider a friend, wanted him to do this.

The file was loaded with information on Miko, Jack, Raf and Evelyn. Their addresses, their health conditions, their relatives, the addresses of said relatives and so on.

Soundwave has to admit that he was surprised how far a human's 'family tree' could stretch. He was also surprised at how many children one human could choose to offspring. There seemed to be no end to them.

Unlike Megatron, Soundwave was honestly a bit intrigued in humans. They had a lot more in common with Cybertronians than one would think. Their personalities, their jobs, their interests and so on except more....primitive in his opinion.

He heard the doors open but didn't bother to turn to see who it was....or were seeing as to how there's at least three sets, the heavy pede-steps were all to recognizable to his audio receptors.

He could see the newcomers were Dreadwing, Breakdown and Knockout. 'At least they're better than that pain in the aft Starscream.' He mused.

"Soundwave, Lord Megatron has sent me to check on your progress." Dreadwing said.

Soundwave pointed towards the screen that showed how much data has already downloaded- 68%

"How much longer will the download take?" Dreadwing asked.

Soundwave shrugged and stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean, you are uncertain?" Dreadwing asked.

:Scans// Extra data// Firewalls: Soundwave 'explained'.

Dreadwing nodded and looked at the screens on one of them, a picture of each of Team Prime's human allies were displayed.

"I thought they were only three?" Dreadwing said noticing the addition of one more. "Who is this one partnered with?" he asked pointing to Evelyn's picture.

Soundwave displayed an image he once took of Smokescreen on his visor.

"So even Team Prime's newest recruit has been assigned his own human liability." Dreadwing remarked.

"Trust me, that fleshy's no pushover." Knockout snorted. "I've met her face to face once."

"And? Of what do you make of her capabilities?" Dreadwing asked.

"She scratched my paint." Knockout muttered bitterly.

Had his visor been off, Knockout would've noticed Soundwave roll his optics at the vain Decepticon medic. Of course, anyone who messes his paint job up is on his bad side.

"She's got spunk, I'll give her that." Breakdown said reluctantly.

Dreadwing's optic ridge raised a fraction. "It seems she has gained your grudging respect." He said.

"She kicked Starscream in the optic and the guy has always been a bit of an aft-hole." Breakdown admitted.

"Can't say he was happy about that." Knockout said.

Dreadwing was surprised a human would actually have the gall to do that. He looked back at the screen. All the human children had a spark of sorts in their eyes, perhaps there was more to them than he thought.

Then the alarms went off.

"Sir! Intruders! The Autobots are here!" A vehicon said storming into the room.

Soundwave typed on the console and they saw footage of Team Prime fighting against the vehicons, their pede-steps kicking up mud making the water murky, their blasts standing out and cutting through the murky waters, closing the distance between them and the mine.

:Tear them apart.: Soundwave 'said' with a recording of Megatron's voice.

"Gladly." Breakdown said.

Meanwhile with the Autobots...... (a few minutes before the fight began)

Underwater missions were a bit harder than Smokescreen thought. It felt weird. His body felt lighter and at the same time, the simplest of moves such as a backflip which he could do as easily as breathing on land seemed a bit more sluggish underwater.

But he couldn't deny that the underwater world was also beautiful. It was dark but then again, they were more than 27000 feet underwater, that made sense. They were too deep for the sunlight to shine through but there was still an amiable light of sorts to make out silhouettes.

He gazed at the corals in awe. They were so many of them! Some were as big as his servo while some were even smaller than his digit.

:That looks like a human brain.: Bumblebee said and pointed towards a mound of said coral that looked just like its namesake.

"Weird." Smokescreen said. Okay, it was beautiful and weird.

There were various sounds registering in his audio receptors from the slight crunch as their pedes stepped on the sand and a small squish when they stepped on mud. The seaweed tickled his pedes and the coral crunched and snapped when he brushed pass them too hard. The brightly colored coral stood out against the dark rocks and the green algae was slippery like ice.

Bulkhead yelped as he slipped on a rock covered in slippery green algae. The good thing about water resistance is that it works in Bulkhead's favor when he trips since it gives him time to right himself before crashing onto the floor.

Then there were all those...things swimming past them.

"What are those things?" Smokescreen asked pointing towards a school of fish above them.

Back at the base, Ratchet, Miko, Jack, Raf and Evelyn crowded around the computer to see. "Those are fish, Smokes. They live underwater, remember?" Evelyn said.

"They're a slippery bunch." Bulkhead said. He stretched a servo up but the fish zoomed away before he even got close. "Fast too." He said.

"Am I the only one craving sashimi now?" Miko asked.

"Look! It's a Northern Puffer!" Raf said leaning forward in excitement.

Arcee looked around and saw a club-shaped fish with brown scales that faded to yellow and a white belly swimming towards her.

"It's kinda cute." Arcee said putting her digit out.

"Uh Arcee you shouldn't-" Jack warned but not fast enough.

With a small 'poof' the puffer fish puffed up like its namesake becoming twice its size.

Bulkhead screamed like a little girl and Arcee yelped and activated her blades.

"No don't! It's harmless!" Raf said stopping Arcee before she could slice the poor puffer fish into sashimi.

"Sweet Solus Prime." Arcee muttered.

Smokescreen and Bumblebee on the other hand were laughing at her reaction.

"That was....unexpected." Optimus remarked. He tentatively poked the puffed up puffer fish and it swam away. "Arcee, Bulkhead, I believe it merely did that as a defense mechanism in an attempt to scare you away as it did not know if you were friend or foe."

"It sure did that." Smokescreen said and laughed again at the memory of Arcee's scare and Bulkhead's scream.

"You know, I hear the good thing about the deep sea is that you won't have to find a body if it dies down here. Wanna see if that's true?" Arcee asked.

Smokescreen's mouth snapped shut and Bumblebee's beeping subsided.

"Did....Bulk just scream like a little girl?" Miko's voice asked through the comm.

"Uh...hey look I think the signal's pretty close." Bulkhead said and walked off.

Optimus looked down at the tracker and realized that they were getting close. "Autobots, prepare for battle. Bumblebee, scout ahead and assess our enemy's current status."

Bumblebee nodded and went ahead, the yellow scout soon becoming a small dot in the distance. Smokescreen slapped the Phase Shifter on in preparation and wriggled his body to get used to the water resistance.

Bumblebee went ahead. It took some time for him to get used to sneaking around underwater but it didn't take long for him to adapt. The vehicons pede-steps kicked up sand and mud, creating a smokescreen of sorts that gave Bumblebee ample cover to sneak past them.

He waited for two vehicons to pass then pushed himself towards a stack of crates and hid behind there.

"Did you see that?" one of the vehicon asked turning around. "I think I saw something."

'Scrap.' Bumblebee thought. Looks like this one's senses are sharper than he thought. Luckily his comrade was more laid back.

"It was probably just another one of those fishes." The other said. With that said, their pede-steps faded away in the distance.

Bumblebee ex-vented in relief and continued on. Then he found himself on a cliff edge with a drop down. Bumblebee crouched down to avoid being spotted and his optics widened when he saw the energon mine below.

(A/N: Something like this but darker and gloomier. Imagine it as black with purple accents.)

It was like a space colony. There were glass domes emitting a blue glow, he guessed it must be where the raw energon was being mined. He counted at least half a dozen of those glass domes and a building in the midst of it.

'Their base of operations and communication centre on so on.' Bumblebee thought. He didn't want to risk the cons hearing his 'voice' seeing as to how the various tones can sometimes be a bit loud, so he decided send them a visual via the comm.

:Are you guys seeing this?: he asked linking them all up to what he was seeing.

"Yes, Bumblebee." Optimus replied.

"That's something straight out of a movie." Evelyn said back at base. "Gosh, I am so envious."

"It's like some space colony on the moon." Miko said.

"Judging by the scale, it looks like the Decepticons have been for quite some time if they could establish a base there." Ratchet said.

:I'll go scout *kzzt* base *kzzt* report *kzzt*: Bumblebee 'said' his voice getting harder to understand as static mixed with the comm.

"Bumblebee? Bumblebee repeat yourself....do you copy?" Optimus asked but only heard static.

"The water and their communications must be messing with their comms." Ratchet said. "Optimus, I'm afraid Bumblebee will not be able to receive any more messages via the comm."

"Then we'll just have to deliver it to him in person." Smokescreen said. "So, what's the plan?"

"We assess the situation ourselves beforehand and try to rendezvous with Bumblebee. Stay in pairs, with the comms down it is best if we do not fight individually for the time being." Optimus said.

Then he pressed another digit to his comm. "Bumblebee, if you receive this, let us know your location and rendezvous with us." He said then he looked at the others. "Autobots, roll out!" he said.

With that, they transformed and sped towards the domes. It didn't take long until the energon mine appeared in the distance.

Bulkhead drove head first and smashed through the doors before transforming, mace activated and ready. "Knock knock con." He said and with a roar charged into battle with the others.

Meanwhile with Bumblebee......

"Bumblebee, if *kzzt* receive this, let *kzzt* your location *kzzt* rendezvous wi- *kzzt*." Bumblebee frowned in confusion and tapped his digit against his comm.

'Scrap, I must've gone too far ahead and the water must be jamming the signal.' He realized. Bumblebee shifted uncomfortably and asked himself why he chose to hide here of all places.

In case you were wondering where 'here' is, right now Bumblebee was hiding in the vents in the base. He had decided to snoop around to gather more intel seeing as to how the cons had established a bigger than usual base in a bigger than usual mine. Plus, after what happened last time, who knows what he might find out.

Since he was a cadet, his sergeants had drilled it into his processor that sometimes even the smallest of intel can turn the tables in war. He's learned that a good few times during the war.

Bumblebee looked down and saw no one. He gently eased the grate opened and dropped out. The good thing about being underwater is that you never have to worry about dropping something because said dropped object won't end up clattering on the floor to gain unwanted attention.

He crept through the halls, blaster cocked and ready, his pede steps barely making any sound on the now smooth metal floor. His optics darted everywhere, looking out for even the smallest hints of danger. His audio receptors picked up the smallest of sounds; the occasional pede-step from a vehicon passing by or the pop of a bubble. Then he heard a door opened and he panicked when he realized he had nowhere to hide....except......his optics fell upon a pair of rafters on the ceiling.

The doors opened and Knockout, Breakdown and Dreadwing came out.

'Great, they're here too.' Bumblebee thought. He also prayed that they wouldn't look up....seeing as to how at the moment, Bumblebee had his servos and pedes spread out spread-eagled with his palms and soles pressed against the rafters, keeping him suspended there. There had been no time to re-enter the vents so this was his only option.

Another good thing about being underwater was that it wasn't too hard to reach the ceiling. All he had to do was push off something and kick hard enough.

'Good thing bots never look up.' Bumblebee thought then he tilted his helm and strained his audio receptors to eavesdrop on the three Decepticons current conversation.

"I still don't understand why Lord Megatron would even bother to ask Soundwave to go through the trouble of collecting data on Team Prime's human allies." Knockout said.

Wait, they were gathering intel on Miko, Jack, Raf and Evelyn? Why? His question was answered by Dreadwing.

"Do you really not grasp the true reason as to why he is doing this?" Dreadwing asked.

Breakdown shrugged. "Nope." He admitted.

"Lord Megatron wants to hurt the Autobots not physically, but mentally and emotionally." Dreadwing said. Bumblebee's optics widened and his tanks dropped. 'Oh no...' he thought getting an inkling of where this was going.

"So he plans on attacking their human pets instead." Knockout said confirming his worst fear.

Dreadwing nodded further confirming it.

'Oh no.' Bumblebee thought. He waited for them to move on then immediately commed base. :Ratchet, can you hear me?:

Back at base, Ratchet ex-vented in relief. "Loud and clear. We lost you there for a moment."

:We've got a problem.: Bumblebee said.

"What is it?" Ratchet asked. "Are the others in danger?"

:I don't know but I do know this, Jack, Miko, Raf and Evelyn are in danger too.: Bumblebee said.

Raf gasped and the others look at him in confusion. "What'd he say?" Miko asked.

"Bee said we're in danger too." Raf translated.

"How?" Evelyn asked.

"The cons don't even know where we are." Jack pointed out.

:They know where your families are.: Bumblebee said.

"By the AllSpark, Megatron is even more of a ruthless monster than I thought." Ratchet said.

"What's he say this time?" Jack asked.

Raf gulped. "H-he said they're gathering intel on us...and our families." He said.

"My god they plan on attacking us?!" Evelyn said.

"Why?!" Miko asked.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because they want to hurt the others through us." Jack said.

"And if they get all that intel, that may very well happen." Ratchet said.