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"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," General Sanchez said as he entered the hangar. "Again, I wish the circumstances were better, but..."

"As do we," Prime said, lowering himself to one knee and leaning forward so the general and his aides wouldn't have to twist their necks quite as far to look at him. "Do we have any information on the families of Raf and Miko?"

"Agent Fowler has teams keeping an eye on both families." Sanchez took a seat between a colonel and a major, and placed a tablet computer on the table that had been set up here for the briefing. "So far, everything's pretty quiet in both locations. No further incidents at the Darby residence, either."

Raf and Miko, seated at the far end of the table, slumped forward and sighed. Jack, to Raf's left, glanced at June and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"That's a relief," Bulkhead said, crouching beside Optimus.

Bee sat behind Raf, leaned over so the kid could see him, and gave him a thumbs-up.

Arcee watched Sanchez unfasten his uniform jacket and tug on his shirt collar. Huh. Everything's quiet, yet something's bugging him. She kept it to herself for the moment.

"What about the agents who were staking out our house?" June said, bracing her right elbow on the table and running a finger over her lower lip. "Last I heard, they were in the hospital. Will they be okay?"

"They didn't make it." Sanchez rubbed the bridge of his nose, picked up his tablet and studied something on its screen.

June covered her mouth with her hand.

"Examination of the bodies revealed something we didn't expect." Sanchez held the tablet up and pointed at it. "What was originally thought to be bullet wounds were, in fact, something else entirely. The projectiles were very small--each about the size of a BB--but they packed a much bigger punch than any gun currently available to us." He turned the tablet so that the screen faced the kids and the Autobots. "And then there's this--a set of photos taken by the agents before they entered the house."

Arcee crouched behind Jack and his mom, and zoomed in on the tablet. The current image was of three men in black armor and helmets picking the lock on the front door.

"That doesn't look like the armor the MECH guys had when we ran into 'em," Miko said. "Their armor was green."

"There's no reason to believe they use the same suits for every operation." Raf shrugged. "Maybe the green armor was meant to blend in with trees, or something. And the black suits are for nighttime missions."

Sanchez nodded and smiled at him. "That's a good theory. Not correct, as it turns out, but in any other case, you'd be right." He tapped a button on the screen and it switched to a video clip. "You may want to look away for a few moments, kid; this isn't pretty."

Raf braced himself and kept his eyes on the screen. "I can handle it."

Sanchez took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright," he muttered, rather than argue. "Fowler's men had button cameras on their jackets, and recorded...well, this."

On the screen was a first-person view from one of the agents entering Jack's house. Through the empty living room, into the hallway, a quick look into the bathroom. Then a left turn to June's bedroom.

A humanoid shape moved in the darkness, barely discernable from the room itself.

The figure snapped around to face the agent--and in the dark hovered a pair of small, glowing red lights.

Optics, Arcee realized as the agent released a startled grunt.

A sharp, metallic click--the all too familiar sound of a Cybertronian arm cannon deploying.

Rapid muzzle flashes pierced the night.

Miko whipped her hand up in front of Raf's eyes, blocking the sight of blood spraying across the screen. She flinched, but didn't look away.

The image spun as the man collapsed, and stopped at an upward angle. The other agent rushed into the camera's range, firing his pistol off to the left--until he was perforated by dozens of shots from another intruder's weapon.

Sanchez turned the tablet back around, ran the video backward, and advanced it frame by frame.

June held her hand over her mouth and released a muffled, "Christ..."

Even Miko looked badly shaken. Raf stared at the table, trembling. Miko patted his shoulder.

"That wasn't MECH," Jack muttered. "That wasn't even human."

Arcee shook her head and kept staring at the tablet as the general turned it back to them and held it up. Is that...? No, it can't be.

"Okay," Sanchez said softly, "what do you guys make of this?"

The video had been paused on the first muzzle flash from the intruder; the flash illuminated its metal body--a monstrosity whose only resemblance to a human was its number of arms, legs, and eyes.

"No," Arcee whispered, leaning forward for a better look at the image. On the upper-left part of the robot's chest was the Decepticon insignia. She looked up at Prime. "Optimus...what the hell?"

"I don't know." He stared at the tablet with his mouth hanging open in shock. "I have never seen anything like that before."

"Oh, man," Miko said. "That can't be good."

"So," the general said, "there's a new player on the field."

"New, but working with the Decepticons." Optimus stared numbly at the image. "If they can now impersonate humans..."

"Then they can hurt us in ways I don't even want to think about. But since it comes with the job, I have to." Sanchez placed the tablet in front of him, untied his ponytail, and ran his fingers through his hair. Maybe trying to put himself at ease, Arcee guessed. "So, you've never encountered anything like this?"

"No, General. On Cybertron, there was no need to mimic organic life forms, and on the rare occasion when our battles were waged on inhabited planets, disguising ourselves as organics was impractical at best, due to the differences in our sizes."

Raf took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together. "Created by the 'Cons, maybe?"

"That'd be my guess," Arcee said. "We could probably detect them the same way we're able to detect the 'Cons, but since the five of us can't be everywhere at once, these...whatever they are...could infiltrate almost any military base or research lab. Or anything else. The 'Cons could start attacking humans whenever they want."

"Well, speaking of attacks on humans, that's exactly what--" A soft beep from the tablet interrupted the general, and he picked it up and read a new message that had just popped up. He sighed and pushed his chair back. "That's exactly what happened. A camp we'd recently set up was attacked a few hours ago. The bodies were transported here; they've just arrived."

"How many bodies?"

"Everyone at the camp. Soldiers and the investigative team--eighty-nine, total." He stood and looked up at Prime. "I'm a little hesitant to bring up the subject given your refusal to share any of your technology with us, but--"

"I am sorry, General, but I have already explained why we can't do that," Prime said.

"I understand your concern. Believe me, I do. I even support your decision. I don't even want to imagine what might've happened if, for example, terrorists got their hands on any of your weapons."

Arcee nodded. "We saw our homeworld die. The last thing we want is to let that happen to Earth."

"Not to mention the possibility that such technology could be used against you if it fell into the wrong hands. But things are changing." Sanchez opened another image on the tablet and held it up. "This is a still from one of the camp's security cameras. If I'm not mistaken, this guy resembles the Vehicons that Arcee fought before Mr. Darby was brought here."

"That's what it is, alright." Arcee had to fight the urge to clench her fists. "I also recognize the forest in the background."

Jack leaned forward, his face suddenly pale. "That's where Airachnid's ship crash-landed."

Sanchez nodded. "There was a young man camping in the area where she and Arcee duked it out. He'd just arrived and set up his tent. The sounds of your fight caught his attention and he grabbed his camera." He looked up at Arcee and a grim smile flickered across his face. "He took pictures of your first fight, Airachnid's ship, you pinned to the side of that cliff, and your rematch. He had dozens of pictures of you beating the shit out of Airachnid."

"That must've been the tent Airachnid was approaching when I caught up with her. She was planning to kill a human and take his head as a trophy." Arcee's mouth curled in disgust. "She called it 'sport'--but there's no sport in killing someone who can't possibly defend himself against you. She's nothing but a third-rate serial killer. If I ever get my hands on that bitch, I'll beat her like a rented mule."

Jack started to reach out for her hand, but restrained himself. She flicked a glance at him and softened her expression briefly to let him know that she appreciated the gesture.

Sanchez nodded. "Well, the witness came to our attention when he contacted the local authorities and showed them the photos. We interviewed him, examined the photos, and I sent a team to the crash site to investigate the remains of Airachnid's ship and whatever else they might find there."

Prime frowned. "You hoped to reverse engineer whatever you found."

"Given the threat the Decepticons represent, yes. But I assure you, I'm more interested in defensive measures than offensive weapons. On our own, we've already developed weapons that can wipe out a continent and leave it uninhabitable for thousands of years; merely thinking of the ones we could build with your technology is enough to give me nightmares." Sanchez looked at Jack and chuckled. "We couldn't salvage much from Airachnid's ship, though; you did a real number on it. Destroyed the hell out of it."

Jack blushed, but managed a quick smile. Arcee grinned at him.

"We returned to the site to remove anything that could be used as a weapon," she said, "but there wasn't much except scrap left after the explosion Jack set off. Wish I could've seen Airachnid's face when she realized her ship was about to blow."

"The team did find a few pieces of what we assume to be Airachnid's 'skin' which was shot off during the fight," the general continued. "They also found remains of the webbing she used to immobilize Arcee and Jack."

"Oops." Bulkhead winced. "We must've missed some of it."

"The webbing is being analyzed now. If we find a way to neutralize it, we'll inform you immediately. Obviously, you'll need a defense against it if you run into Airachnid again."

"And I hope I do," Arcee growled.

"We would be grateful, General," Prime said. "However, the matter of Airachnid's armor..."

"I understand--if we find a way to punch through Decepticon armor, that weapon could also be used against you. But we'll need such a weapon if they continue attacking us directly--and we'd be fools to assume they won't. As Arcee said, you can't protect the whole world at once. And since this is our home, too, we should join you in defending it."

"You have a point. But you must understand, we are concerned about other uses which might be found for our technology. I am not worried about it being used against us as much as I am about you using it against yourselves. You could easily wipe yourselves out--and it would be our fault."

"As I said, I understand your concern. But now that the 'Cons have attacked us directly on more than one occasion, your war has become our war." The general turned and waved a hand at the hangar door. "There's something I need to show you. If you'll follow me, please."

He stopped at the door and waited for the others to join him.

Arcee hung back for a moment, waiting for Jack as the others walked to the hangar door. He stepped up beside her and raised an eyebrow.

"How did those new 'Cons find my house?"

"Any number of ways. Since most of them have already seen you, Raf, and Miko, they all have a visual record of you, and could've used that to track you down."

"They could've ID'd you from a picture in your high school yearbook," June muttered, shivering. "Or one on your Facebook page. Or even one of the pictures I emailed to my parents. They could've intercepted it. Or they could've hacked into the DMV and found your motorcycle license. Oh, my God. Arcee was right about you becoming a target as soon as they saw you with her."

"Guess it's a good thing Arcee came back for me, that first day," Jack said. He tried to grin up at her, but could hold it for only a few seconds. "In more ways than one."

She smiled, glanced at the others to be sure they weren't looking in her direction, and leaned over to caress his cheek. She looked into his eyes for a second, sharing a brief, quiet moment with him, glanced at the other 'Bots again, and shifted back into all-business mode when she joined them at the door.

"Over there." Sanchez pointed at a large airplane not far away. "I assume your optics include a zoom function?"

"They do," Optimus said.

"Okay. Take a look at that, then."

Frowning, Arcee zoomed in on the plane. She found men and women unloading plastic bags on gurneys, pushing them down the plane's cargo ramp and wheeling them into a nearby hangar.

"Body bags," she whispered. "Damn."

"I'm afraid that's a sign of what's to come," Sanchez said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and shaking his head. "If this continues, we won't have a chance in hell. I know you don't want to give us weapons, but we need something. How about defensive measures--better armor for our troops, something that can withstand a shot or two from your blasters? Or personal forcefields? Anything to prevent more massacres like this one."

"General..."

"Please, at least consider what I've said." Sanchez pointed at the bodies. "Look at that. Enough parents have lost their sons and daughters, don't you think?"

Arcee shared another look with Jack, and turned to Prime. "I have to admit, he's got a point."

"True." Optimus stared at the plane as the rest of the dead were unloaded. "We...will see what we can do."

#

"They were so young," Optimus said softly.

Arcee leaned against the wall back at the Autobot base and watched as he read the dossiers of the people killed in the latest Decepticon attack. Given humanity's track record, she wasn't thrilled about handing any Cybertronian tech over to them, but without some serious technological leaps forward, no human would have a chance of surviving a full-on assault by the 'Cons.

"Many of them were less than two years older than Jack," Optimus continued in a low voice. "Human lives are far too brief as it is, without the Decepticons cutting them short."

Someday, I'll lose Jack, Arcee realized suddenly. Even if he survives this war, even if it ends within his lifetime, he'll grow old and eventually, his body will simply shut down. In only the blink of an eye, compared to the average Cybertronian lifespan. She winced. I hadn't even thought about that before.

Still, it was too late to back out of their relationship now. Not that she could even if it were an option. Knowing his life would be brief didn't change how she felt about him. If anything, it made her feelings even stronger.

"Humans are such a violent, primitive species," Ratchet grumbled. "It'll be a miracle if they don't destroy themselves even without help from our weaponry. But if we give General Sanchez what he wants, they'll only kill each other with it."

"How are we any different? We waged a war that destroyed our home." Prime looked away from the huge screen and shook his head. "And now we've brought our war to a world that already had more than enough problems of its own."

"I suppose you have a point. But you're the one who was so adamant about keeping our tech out of their hands. Are you sure you're making the right choice?"

"I'm still concerned about the things they could do with our technology, but if we do nothing, each time the Decepticons attack humans and we're unable to get there in time to stop it, the humans will be swatted down like insects."

Arcee grimaced again. Every time she thought about that happening, she couldn't prevent herself from imagining Jack crushed under a Decepticon foot or seared to a crisp by one of their guns.

I won't allow that to happen, even if it means giving humanity something that can be misused.

"Maybe we can start small," she said, and the others turned to look at her. "Improved armor, like Sanchez suggested. Better armor for their vehicles. Maybe figure out how to make some sort of cloaking device like the thermoptic camouflage used in that anime Raf likes."

"Hmm." Ratchet raised a brow. "Invisibility would certainly give them a chance to evacuate a site when it comes under attack."

Prime nodded and returned his attention to the main screen of Ratchet's console. "That is a good start."

Arcee pushed off from the wall and waved a hand at the screen, which continued to scroll through the dossiers. "There's also the matter of weapons. All the 'Cons need to do is launch more simultaneous attacks than we're able to counter, and the loss of life--"

"I know." Optimus advanced the screen to the next file and continued reading for a moment. "I don't want them to be defenseless, but we would be taking a terrible risk if we arm them."

Arcee started to respond, but soft voices echoing up the tunnel behind her drew her attention. She looked over her shoulder and found Jack and June approaching. His mother had accompanied them back to the base, and he'd given her a brief tour while Prime and the others contemplated their next move.

Jack met her gaze and smiled. She gave him a quick nod and turned back to Prime.

"Some things are worth the risk."

#

"Hey, Arcee," Jack's smile faded as he and his mom walked up to her. "You okay?"

"Just thinking." She'd been sitting in one of the chambers the Autobots used as storage rooms, staring at the floor and trying not to think about human lifespans. She sat up straighter upon hearing his voice and smiled at him and June. "How's the tour going?"

June shook her head slowly. "Every time I start to adjust to everything that's been going on, something else comes along and throws me for a loop. I had no idea this place had practically become a second home for Jack."

"Oh, speaking of homes..."

"Yeah," Jack said, "since the 'Cons know where we live, we need to relocate. We were just discussing that a while ago."

"I know it has to be done," June said with a sigh. "But I liked living in Jasper."

"I guess the other 'Bots and I have screwed your lives up pretty thoroughly," Arcee said.

"Since the alternative would be to not have you in my life, I'm okay with the way things have turned out." Jack walked over to her and took her hand in both of his.

Arcee chuckled and nudged his shoulder. "Someone like Sierra would've been much safer for you."

"Eh, she didn't even know I existed until my new motorcycle caught her attention. If someone is only into you because of what you drive, that's a relationship that'll never go anywhere." Jack grinned. "Besides, safe isn't nearly as interesting as what I've seen since we met."

"Sounds like you've been hanging out with Miko too much."

"I'm not that fearless." Jack leaned against Arcee's right thigh. "One of these days, that girl is gonna get herself killed."

"Actually, I think she's calmed down a bit since she found out that you lost both legs in our last fight with the 'Cons. She seems to have finally realized just how much any of us can lose in this war."

"Well, then maybe it was worth going through."

Arcee let her hand rest gently at his side. "So...about relocating--any idea where it'll be?"

"Agent Fowler's working out the details," June said. "In the meantime, General Sanchez has offered us quarters at Groom Lake." She managed to smile briefly. "Never pictured myself living on a military base, especially one like Groom Lake."

"That's one of the reasons I hope Miko is losing her 'ready-fire-aim' mindset," Jack said. "I can totally see her wandering into a restricted area because it simply didn't occur to her that there might be something dangerous inside."

"Oh, yeah." Arcee laughed. "Or even if you don't get anywhere near anything hazardous, all you have to do in a place like that is walk through the wrong door and armed guards will drag you into a room with no windows and give you the jelly-finger."

Jack burst out laughing and June tried to hold her composure, but lost it after a few more seconds.

"Eww!" she finally said.

"Glad to see you're in better spirits," Jack said once he'd caught his breath. "You were looking pretty grim earlier."

"Well, finding out about Decepticons who can pass for human, and seeing what they did in your house, shook me up. But Optimus and Ratchet are kicking around ideas for defensive measures we can help the general set up. And they're considering limited co-development on weapons systems. So things are looking up."

"Glad to hear that. Bit of a surprise, though. I thought Optimus was pretty dead-set against anything like that."

"Sanchez is putting together a team to work alongside us in the field; Optimus objected at first, but since we're guests on your world, he realized that we should be more willing to follow your rules." She smirked. "Especially since Sanchez stated an intention to send his team after the 'Cons with or without our help."

"He seems like a decent guy," June said. "Hell, Jack and I owe him for those prosthetic legs and not making us pay through the nose for them."

"Speaking of which, how're they working out?"

"I'm still getting used to them, but I'm glad to have 'em. I'm really surprised at how fast I healed after both surgeries, too."

"I overheard one of the doctors saying something about nanotechnology," June said. "I guess it's another one of their experiments."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm grateful for it. I might've been stuck in that hospital bed for weeks or even months without it." He yawned suddenly and glanced at his watch. "Whoa. It's almost two in the morning."

"You're kidding." June looked at her watch and ran her hand through her hair. "Okay, you're not kidding."

"There's some cots in another storage room." Jack waved a hand at the door. "I'll grab one for you, then you can pick a room to crash in. Or would you rather bridge back to Groom Lake?"

"That ground bridge thingy probably uses a hell of a lot of power each time it's turned on. It's probably better to spend the night here and drive back in the morning."

"Yeah, Ratchet tends to gripe if it's used too frequently. Though that could just be Ratchet griping for the sake of griping"

"Hey," Arcee said, "tomorrow morning might be a good time to give you that spin on Jack's bike that you asked for my first night in your garage."

June blinked several times before she remembered what Arcee was talking about. "Oh, right--you were sitting right there, weren't you?"

Arcee grinned. "Bulkhead will be transporting a few pieces of the Vehicons I wasted back to the Lake for Sanchez's research teams to test weapons on. Just parts of their outer shells--their 'skin,' you might say. We can ride out with him in the morning."

"Sounds fun. I've been wanting to take Jack's new bike for a spin since he got it." June grinned. "It'll be kinda surreal, now that I know you're his bike. But then, almost everything in the past few days has been a little weird."

"Don't worry, after a while, the weirdness will seem perfectly normal." Jack chuckled and led her down the corridor to another storage room.

"That's what worries me." June tossed him a lopsided grin.

As Arcee followed them to the next room, a giggle caught her attention and she looked into the room on her left. There was Miko, grinning at a pipe framework with some sort of webbing stretched between each end.

"Uh, Miko, what's up?" Arcee raised a brow. "What's that thing?"

"It's a hammock! Found it in a store room." She rubbed her hands together. "I've always wanted one of these!"

Okay...and what exactly is a 'hammock'? Arcee connected to the internet, but before she could start a search for the term, Miko climbed into the webbing--which instantly flipped over and dumped her face-down on the floor.

"Whaaaa-uhhff!" Miko rolled over, sat up, and grimaced. "Damn it!"

Arcee stared at her, cocked her head, and blinked. Jack sighed and shook his head. June stared for a few seconds, turned and aimed a puzzled look at Jack, and pointed at Miko.

"Uh..."

"Miko's just being Miko." He stepped into the room where the cots were stored. "She'll either figure out how it works and go to sleep, or she'll knock herself out cold."

"Ah. Okay."

Miko climbed back into the hammock. She remained stable for about two seconds, then it flipped her over and dropped her again. She sighed. "Ow!"

"You'll probably want a room far, far away from hers," Jack said with a chuckle. He picked up one of the cots and handed it to his mom. "I know I do."

"Good idea. Thanks." June flicked her eyes back and forth between him and Arcee, cleared her throat, and took a few steps farther into the tunnel. "Well. Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, June."

Jack headed in the opposite direction. Arcee followed, glancing into Miko's room just in time to see her fall out of the hammock again. Arcee shook her head and kept walking.

Jack passed several rooms that were either full or nearly full, found one that had only a few crates of car wax and polish that the 'Bots sometimes used, and set up his cot behind a pair of them. He sat on the cot and smiled up at Arcee.

"Well. See you tomorrow."

She smiled, crouched, and leaned closer until their mouths were inches from each other. "Goodnight, partner."

"Ah, not junior partner?"

"Not anymore. Not since...well..." She glanced at his legs.

"I've been promoted, then. Sweet."

She chuckled. "You earned it." She moved closer, as did he, and their lips met. Briefly, like the first time, a quick peck. Then, after gazing into each other's eyes for a moment, another kiss--this one lasting several seconds.

Huh. That still feels weird. One corner of her mouth curved upward. But I kinda like it.

"That was perfect." Jack stroked her cheek and smiled.

"Thanks. Not bad for a girl who doesn't know what the hell she's doing, eh?"

"Well, I'm learning as we go, too." Jack mimicked Optimus Prime's deadly-serious vocal mannerisms. "Our ignorance will be a beacon lighting our way into the uncharted future."

Arcee burst out laughing and gave him a gentle push. He lay back and laughed with her.

"I think you'd better get some sleep, Jack. You're getting a little doofy."

"Yeah, I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to use a hammock." He waited for her to stop laughing and said, "Goodnight, Arcee."

"Goodnight, babe." She leaned over to give him one more quick kiss, and headed back to the base's main hub.

A small smile remained on her face through the night.

#

"And here we are," Arcee said, slowing as she approached the Groom Lake base's front gate.

"Already?" June chuckled. "Darn. I'm having too much fun."

"Maybe we can do a few laps around the parking lot later on. Or cruise around outside the base, if you want."

"Cool. I haven't been on a motorcycle since I was around Jack's age."

"I didn't know you used to have a motorcycle, Mom." Jack dug out his ID and handed it to the guard at the checkpoint.

"I didn't. Got a lift one day from the only person in school who wanted to date me." June shook her head and sighed as she handed her ID over to the guard. "She wasn't my type, though."

Jack glanced over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow. June snickered.

"You're not the only kid who ever had a run of bad luck in romance."

"Oh, I dunno, I think I got pretty lucky." He grinned and patted the side of Arcee's gas tank.

"Uh...yeah, you've got a point. At least you didn't keep striking out all through high school like I did."

After passing through the checkpoint, Arcee and Bulkhead split up, the former taking Jack and his mom to meet Carla and settle in to their temporary quarters, and the latter dropping off the pieces of Vehicon armor at one of the weapons testing facilities. A few minutes later, Arcee met up with him in the huge building, which looked like an ordinary warehouse.

"Hey, Arcee," Bulk said as she walked over to him, taking a slow look around the interior. He had to crouch to keep his head away from the ceiling. He pointed at a dark-skinned human in high-tech armor beside him. "This is Ashanti McKenna. She's on the taskforce General Sanchez is putting together." He flicked a sheepish glance at her. "Uh, sorry, but nobody told me your rank."

"Major. But just call me Ashanti. We're pretty informal around here." She nodded over her shoulder at a handful of guys in white coats at the far wall, mounting part of a Vehicon's chest plate on a rack. "You got here just in time. We're about to start throwing stuff against the wall and seeing if any of it sticks."

"Just like that?" Arcee raised a brow.

"Well, most of the pieces were sent to one of our labs for analysis, but we were given a few pieces to play around with. I figured we might as well hit 'em with the biggest stuff we've got and see if any of it works."

Arcee zoomed in on the lab-coat guys and watched them wheel a pair of huge metal plates over and place them on either side of the target to keep the bullets contained. One of them turned, gave Ashanti a thumbs-up, and all of them hurried out of the way.

"I'll start with armor-piercing rounds." Ashanti turned and walked over to a cart holding numerous clips of ammo. Attached to a clip on the back of her armor, Arcee noticed, was a huge sniper rifle, an assault rifle, and a shotgun. The diameter of the sniper rifle's barrel appeared to be at least sixteen millimeters. Ashanti plucked the massive rifle from its clip and inserted an equally large magazine. Holding the gun in one hand, her bicep bulging but not straining, she tapped her tiny earpiece with her free hand. "Clear?"

She listened for a moment and nodded. She remained standing, aimed the sniper rifle at the target, and punched a round square into its center.

Arcee zoomed back in and found a considerable dent in the metal, but no hole. "Close, but not quite."

"Huh. Have to go bigger, I guess." She popped the clip out and looked at the cart. "Or...how about something a little hotter?" She picked up another clip and inserted it. "Clear!" She listened, nodded, aimed and fired.

Arcee zoomed in on the chest plate and found a glowing-hot spot where the explosive round had hit, but still no penetration.

Ashanti stared at it for a moment. "Hmm. If we can put this kind of bang into an armor-piercer, we might have something."

"It's pretty resistant against our own weapons," Arcee said. "Might be a good idea to adapt it into armor for your troops."

"I was just thinking about that." Ashanti unloaded the sniper rifle, switched the safety on, and returned it to the clip on her back. "Even if it can only take a shot or two from your directed-energy weapons, it could make the difference between survival and finishing the day at room temperature."

Arcee nodded. "So, Ashanti, what exactly will you be doing on the team? Sniper?"

Ashanti smirked. "Sometimes. Usually, they have me doing the heavy hitting, but I have other talents as well."

"Well, when you're sniping 'Cons, I recommend aiming for their optics. Putting armor on those would blind us, so it's a vulnerable point."

"Thanks." Ashanti glanced at her watch and then at the door. "The rest of my team should've been here by now." She tapped her earpiece. "Guys, what's keeping you?" She waited for a few seconds. Frowned. "Do you read me?"

Arcee and Bulkhead exchanged a worried glance.

Ashanti tapped her comm again, switching channels. "Col. Watson? Can you read me? Colonel?"

Arcee activated her own comm. "Jack? You there?"

Nothing.

She tried calling Jack's cell. Again, nothing.

Bulk shook his head. "I've tried to get through to Jack and our base--no joy."

"We're being jammed." Ashanti grabbed her assault rifle from the holster on her back and flicked the safety off.

-clickclickclickclickclick-

"Wait--what the hell was that?"

Arcee turned slowly, sweeping the warehouse's interior. "Sounds familiar, but..."

"Oh, no," Bulkhead moaned, backing toward the door.

-clickclickclickclickclick-

Ashanti snapped her rifle up to point at a spot high on the wall to the left. "Sounds like it's coming from the air ducts."

"Bulk? What's--?"

"I've heard that sound before." He looked at her, his eyes wide, his face almost panic-stricken. "In our base, when--"

A vent cover near the ceiling popped off and clattered to the floor, causing several nearby personnel to turn toward it and stare in mild confusion.

"Scraplets!" Bulkhead shouted.

Ashanti raised an eyebrow. "What are--?"

"Oh, shit!" Arcee deployed her arm cannons and backed toward the door. "I don't say this often, Bulk, but..."

The vent filled with tiny metal beasts. They swarmed out over the wall and ceiling, clung to them, and looked around, scanning the floor for their prey.

"What?" Ashanti lowered her rifle ever so slightly. "Aw, those are cute."

Hundreds of Scraplets opened their mouths in perfect unison, revealing row upon row of pointed teeth sharper than any razor blade.

"Whoa!" Ashanti snapped her gun back on target. "What the hell are those?"

Arcee stepped aside to give Bulkhead a clear path to the door. "Run!"