Back on Decepticon Island, the returning Cons were finally starting to settle down into their new surroundings. Fresh Energon and hot oil was prepared for them, Shockblast tended to any wounded, and others would just kick back and relax. Thunderblast especially was excited to be a part of it all.

"Eeeee! Thank you, Tempest, I'm so happy you decided to pick me here!"

Tempest rolled her eyes. "I was told that your speech would be good for distracting the enemy, as well as your charismatic charm. I hope you can put that to use?"

"Oh don't worry, I will!" Thunderblast giggled. "Half of Cybertron knows who I am!"

Shatter shook her head. "Thunderblast seems to be more of a dunderhead, doesn't she?"

Dropkick nodded. "Very much so. Not the strongest cog in the machine."

Barricade chuckled as he walked by, "Neither are you, Dropkick."

Dropkick snarled. "I will kick you to the ground if you make a comment like that again."

Barricade smirked. Pushing buttons, he was? "Well, its in your name, isn't it, Dropkick?"

The smaller triple-changer slammed his fists together, "That's it!"

"Dropkick, no," Shatter stopped, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Lets not waste your energy. After all, Barricade lacks a certain mode that you and I share."

Dropkick chuckled. "Yes... yes we do."

Tempest shook her head. "I'm surrounded by idiots... Shockblast. Has there been word on those drones you sent?"

"None, Tempest. I've contacted them for the past few megacycles, and still no word on their progress."

Tempest tapped her toe, and came to a conclusion. "Then we must find them."

"They're just 3 disposable Vehicons, why bother?" Barricade asked.

"Because if we are going to accomplish our goal, we need as many forces as we can gather. I don't care how many Autobots you have to turn evil or blackmail, we need as much as we can. Which is why you, Barricade, are going out there to find them."

Barricade stopped. "... Me?"

"Yes."

"But what if there's more than one Autobot? I can't just go out there alone."

"Then, take an assistant," Tempest hissed.

"I'll do it! Blackout!" Barricade hollered. "Want to go hunting?"

Blackout stomped over with a stupid grin on his face. "Very much so..."

"Then lets get going."

The two Cons gave their quick goodbyes, and ran for the silo where they would need to depart through the Groundbridge. Finally glad they were out of her hair, Tempest stomped away from the area to get some fresh air, and some time to herself.

In another section of the base, Cyberwarp was sitting at a small little campfire that had been set up and made, under some shade. Sitting around her was Skyjack, Spacewarp, and a still scorched up Steve. And Betamax was with them as well, sitting closely to Cyberwarp and not wanting to leave her sight.

Skyjack's head looked over to Steve, observing his wounds. "You know, I think Shockblast may need to do more work on Steve, he looks worse than any of the other Decepticons he brought in."

Spacewarp looked as well.

Steve's face was covered in smoldering ash, as well as some marks on his chest. The claw mark was still visible, and a few exposed wiring and circuits were shown to be sizzling and sparking.

"I'm fine, girls. Besides, its not the first time I was set on fire."

"Still, you should consider getting a check-up," Skyjack replied.

A deafening silence followed, but the sounds of the fire still kept going. Cyberwarp tilted her head down, looking at Betamax who kept looking back to see if anyone else was nearby.

"Max? Are you okay?"

Betamax looked up and slowly nodded.

"Those other Cons scare you?" Spacewarp asked.

His head turned back and looked to Spacewarp, and gave the same quiet nod as he did to Cyberwarp.

"Do we scare you?"

He shook his head.

"Oh. Well, um... glad we don't scare you," Spacewarp said, hesitantly.

Once again, another drop of silence.

"So... um..." Cyberwarp coughed, trying to break it. "Betamax, these are... well, they're my friends. Family. You have any friends?"

"Mmmhmm," Betamax nodded.

"That's good, that's good. Oh, this is my twin sister, Skyjack," Cyberwarp leaned back, so he could see. Skyjack smiled and gave a small wave to the child, who reluctantly waved back.

"Nice to meet you, kiddo," Skyjack said.

"N-Nice to meet... you too," Betamax stuttered.

"This is Spacewarp--"

"--Hey kid," Spacewarp winked. "Don't worry about us, we're not gonna hurt ya."

"And I'm Steve," Steve answered.

Betamax blinked. "Steve? But isn't that... Aren't you--"

"--Yeah, I agree, not really a name for a Decepticon, I know. I actually had a name, but now its Steve. Easy to remember, you know?"

The kid just nodded again. He didn't know what to say to any of them at this point, and he was too shy to even say a thing. These were complete strangers to him, and he was terrified beyond belief to say something.

Skyjack groaned, throwing her head back. "This is just getting really awkward--GRUBBER, WHERE ARE THE HOT DOGS!?"

"Hang on, I'm comin'!"

Grubber skedaddled over with a hot dog jabbed through a stick, panting heavily once he arrived.

"Sorry... too busy unwrapping all the food--"

"--you were ogling the cakes--"

"--yeah, I was ogling the cakes! Look, I got it, don't worry," Grubber protested. "In fact..."

He passed the stick over to Betamax who accepted it, but without any response. Then with a big breath, he ran away again, this time getting some ketchup and mustard.

"So, um... Betamax, are you... okay?" Cyberwarp asked.

Betamax looked down at the fire. "Yes."

She could feel the fear in his voice. "Max?"

Betamax looked up, greeted with Cyberwarp's warm face. She slowly raised her arm up, allowing him to move closer for some comfort. Reluctantly, he scooted over, close to her armor, and she raised her arm down, patting his shoulder softly.

"Where did you even find that kid?" Steve asked.

Cyberwarp shook her head with a less than happy look. "I found him alive back in the place where... Shatter and Dropkick, last... visited," she said, trying not to remind the child of the tragedy that hit him in the morning.

"You know for a kid, he's really taking all of this unrealistically well," Spacewarp commented. "Kid, are you sure you're--"

"I said I was okay!" Betamax snapped.

And like that, Betamax stomped away from the campfire. He pushed through some of the trees and parked himself onto the beach, hunched up and burying his face into his arms, hiding in his knees as well.

The four Cons saw him step out, and Cyberwarp sighed. "I think right now he just needs time alone. I'll leave him alone for a bit, and I'll check on him later. Can you guys please not bother him too while you're at it?"

"Yeah."

"Roger."

"Got it."

As Cyberwarp walked off of the campfire ground, everyone else just remained sitting around the little campfire they made.

"I crossed the line, didn't I?" Spacewarp asked, embarassed.

"Yeah, you kind of did," Skyjack commented. "From Cyberwarp told me, that kid's been through a lot today, and I think just talking about it only makes things worse."

"Maybe so, but talking about it actually may be helpful," Steve answered. "You can't hold something as bad as that in forever. Eventually you hit a point when you just explode, and that kid needs someone to let it all out. And I'm no expert, but I think your sister may be the one to do so."

Skyjack nodded. "Probably, yeah... How do you even know stuff like that?"

"Years of experience back on Cybertron. Trust me, during our break times in the war, I had to be counselor for a lot of Decepticons who weren't entirely stable with their emotions. Diabla, Dustorm, Firebreaker, a lot of them."

Skyjack nodded, listening to him. "Well if you know some stuff about that... You think we may end up back on Cybertron?"

"I'm the wrong Decepticon to ask, both Autobot and Decepticon forces weren't really lenient with me. Sentenced to eternity in Vehicon class. And for what?"

Skyjack blanked. "I don't know, for what?"

"Oh, like any Cybertronian forced in war, I dreamed of living in a world without war and violence. And for some, it meant taking matters into their own hands and trying to take control. Of course they really crack down when you act upon it."

Skyjack snickered a bit. "So that's why you think all of the Decepticons are idiots then?"

Steve nodded. "Mmm, it would have been glorious. Things would have been different. No one would be mean to each other, we would have gotten smarter... being changed into a punching bag Vehicon wasn't even part of the plan."

As Steve talked, Skyjack wiped away some of the burning ashes off of her plating, dusting herself off. "It's not that bad, is it?"

A heavy pause was set, and Steve didn't allege until a few seconds after.

"I don’t have five fingers on each hand, I have no face, half of my strength and speed is gone... I look exactly like every other disposable, worthless, useless Vehicon. The sound and smell hot fresh oil and Energon is the only thing that makes me feel truly alive."

Spacewarp and Skyjack looked at each other, and looked back with some small grins. Well, a grin was visible on Skyjack's face, it couldn't be seen under the mask of Spacewarp's face.

"Steve? You want some EnerGULP? I smuggled some cans with me when I came here," Spacewarp asked.

Steve waited to think and came short with a reply.

"Please."

---

In another part of the United States, Barricade and Blackout were out and about in search of their missing squad. Blackout took to the air while Barricade stayed low to the ground.

"I don't see anything yet. You?"

"Nothing. Not a thing."

Barricade groaned, "They couldn't have gone far, could they? Unless whoever they were hunting took them all out."

"Vehicons are punching bags, that's all they're made for," Blackout joked.

"Yeah, true... besides its not like--holy scrap!"

Barricade slammed on the brakes and violently transformed to keep himself from crashing. His heels slammed into the stones and gravel as he got himself to stop. As he looked ahead, he found a bayou before his eyes. The place he stopped at was a small parking space for people to park at, and then could easily climb into the boats and just use it to get across the waters.

Barricade's tracker kept blinking, and he raised it up with his hand. "The signal's coming from down the bayou. I think we'll have to walk."

"And if there are humans?"

"We'll take caution. Besides, the sign I stepped over said it was closed, we'll be fine."

Carefully, Barricade walked out of the grass and put his feet down into the water, stepping into the swamp waters. Thankfully it wasn't that high, only reaching as high as his ankles. Blackout came down too, carefully stepping into the waters as well.

"Ugh, my foot's going to rust," Blackout complained.

"Which is why we'll make it fast. Just one quick search, and we'll get out. The signal came down that way," Barricade pointed.

And like that, they started to walk.

Throughout the journey, their feet continuously splashed in the water as they walked. The sounds of ribbiting frogs and crickets and birds filled the air. Their hands brushed away leaves and branches, even slicing some of the branches down just to clear them from their path.

"How do humans live in this stuff?" Blackout questioned, cutting down another branch. "Its disgusting, its organic, its just... unnatural."

Barricade nodded, agreeing. "I don't get it either, especially with all this gunk." Raising his foot up, he could see a bit of some plants and tiny pieces of moss stuck. "Oh, great. Just brilliant."

The Decepticons took five more steps, until Barricade stepped in something again.

"Oh great, that... wait a minute. That doesn't feel organic."

Barricade looked down, and raised his foot up again. His foot was pushing down on something hard, and when he put his foot down, he could see a big chunk of orange and blue. He lowered his hand down and snatched what he could, raising up the strange thing. It quickly revealed to be the back of a bot, and upon flipping him over, all that was left was a wasted piece of scrap.

The bot had an Autobot insignia, with a red chest and motorcycle handlebars sticking out the sides behind his head, but he was long gone. A big portion of his side near where his stomach would have been was gnawed out, like a giant monster took a big bite out of him. His face now permanent with a horrified face, hung back creating the deceased outlook even more overt explanation.

"Who's this tin can?" Blackout asked, hovering over Barricade's shoulder.

"Dart. Two-wheeler... looks like he bit the dust. But I don't think it was our Vehicons," Barricade observed.

"Wait a minute, what about that?"

Blackout pointed to something in the water just ahead of them. It looked like one of the Vehicons that had been sent out hours ago by Tempest, but on all fours like he was trying to hold himself up and stick his head into the water looking for fish.

"Oh there you are. Unit 3-R-1-C, what are you doing?"

No reply.

"Unit 3-R-1-C, will you answer me!?"

Nothing.

"I'm not getting through to you. Am I? Hello???"

Barricade was growing impatient.

"That's it!"

He stomped over to where the Vehicon was, splashing more of the swamp water along the way. When he finally got up front, he got down on one knee so he could get him up.

"Why are you ignoring me, what can be so--soooo-- SOOOO AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

He grabbed the drone's shoulders, raising him up. But when he raised him up, all he found was most of the head had been chewed off, and all that remained was the neck and part of the mouth.

"AAAAHHH!" Barricade quickly jolted back and backed away like a little girl seeing a spider. But as he backed up, kicking up more swamp water, he slammed into something that felt hard and metallic. He turned around and jumped again, screaming like a little girl like before. The Vehicon he ran into was nothing but just a head removed from its body, laying against the tree.

And when he backed up again, he was received another shock, this time his girlish scream joined by Blackout as they looked up into the trees and saw another Vehicon found, dangling. With all of its limbs ripped apart and left hanging in the vines.

"This swamp is just a land of death!!" Blackout shouted.

As the two of them felt their sparks ready to pound and escape their chests, the two of them slowly backed away to try and calm down. They looked at all of their surroundings again, and looked into the air. Nothing. In the trees? Nothing. Swamp water? Nothing.

Barricade's metal plating shook and clattered from fear.

"Okay, lets think about this... whoever did this is long gone, just based on the wounds. And I have a feeling whoever killed that Autobot wasn't from one of us."

Blackout looked at Barricade, "What makes you say that?"

"They carried guns, and whatever took out that Autobot was from something savage, like some wild animal."

"You think some Insecticons would have done it?" Blackout asked.

"Can't be. No Insecticon came down to Earth, at least, not to my knowledge. But I have a feeling that something with a bigger jaw took a bite out of him," Barricade noted.

The two looked back at the deceased Autobot still drifting afloat on top of the water, rusting away.

"Well what do we do now?"

"I don't know. But I think its time we call for a strategic evacuation," Barricade advised, starting to walk away from the area.

"Don't you mean running away and screaming?"

"I made it more dignified!"

Blackout rolled his eyes, and started to chase after Barricade. Whether it was dignified or not, he agreed. There was no way they were ready for something like this, and besides, this was something Tempest had to know.

Kicking and running away from the water, they left the swampy bayou, the sounds of them transforming into their alternate modes vanishing into the bog. All that was left behind were the four dead corpses that were left strewn about in the swamp. And only a small frog hopped onto the chest of the demised Autobot. A soft croak escaped its lungs just before hopping onto a nearby lily-pad.

Next Chapter: Chapter 16: Misconceptions Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 44 Minutes