Enemy of my Enemy

Chapter 2: Onslaught

"Well, this went to hell faster than we expected," Jensen muttered after Bulkhead followed everyone else into Knockout's lab and closed the door.

Bulkhead rammed his fist into the control panel beside the door. The destruction of the controls caused the locking mechanism to slam shut with a boom that shook the floor. He smirked and backed away from the door, keeping his gun ready. He was still getting used to the scaled-up rifles, shotguns, and other weapons built in the labs of the Groom Lake base, but with Team Prime's energon reserves depleted, none of them could waste a single drop for their built-in blasters. They'd need all of what they had left just to keep their bodies functioning, unless they managed to swipe some from the Nemesis's stockpiles.

Still, he kind of liked these new guns. The ones he'd chosen--a grenade launcher magnetically clamped to the metal skin on his back, an enormous pistol on his right hip, and a shotgun loaded with 200-millimeter rounds gripped in his hands--suited him perfectly. Big and loud and powerful enough to nearly cut a Vehicon in half. Just the kind of thing that would be on any Wrecker's Christmas list.

In addition to those, the team's human members had their own guns which, while quite small, were just as effective as his if used properly, plus grenades and satchel charges enhanced with Ratchet's synthetic energon. They'd be able to raise a lot of hell once the 'Cons started shooting at them.

Something tapped the other side of the wall, to the left of the door--one of the Vehicons pushing the button on the control panel. Jensen, Case, and Dawson glanced around, took cover behind the side panel of a console, and aimed their rifles at the door.

Starscream gibbered and backed away until he bumped into another console.

Bulk activated his comlink. "Hey, Optimus, made any progress yet?"

"We are ready to begin fabricating the parts Arcee needs, but when the machinery starts up, the crew manning the command deck will detect the energy spike. So far, though, no one has come near us."

"Good. We'll keep their attention on us as long as we can."

A shower of sparks pierced the door and zipped downward, leaving a thin, molten gap in the metal as it moved. Starscream shrieked and stumbled along the wall until he tripped over a cable running across the floor.

Dawson arched an eyebrow at him, rolled his eyes, and turned back to the door.

"What was that?" Optimus said. "What is your status?"

"They're cutting through," Starscream said.

"How long do you have?"

"Maybe thirty seconds." Starscream stared at the door and trembled. "This mission sucks."

#

June shook her head. "This guy was in charge of the Decepticons?"

"Yep." Arcee chuckled. "You can see why I'd prefer him running the show instead of Megatron."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Starscream grumbled over the comlink.

"Yeah." Arcee grinned.

"I won't stand here and be insulted when I'm helping you."

"Well, make yourself useful, then," Bulkhead said.

"Fine. I still have limited access to the ship's systems. I'll see what I can do."

"Hurry it up. They're almost through."

"So," Jensen said, "any estimate on the TTM index for today?"

June raised an eyebrow. "TTM?"

"Time-to-Miko." Jack shook his head, but couldn't help grinning as well. "It's only a matter of time before she shows up."