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_ Into the Lair _

"Have I missed much?" Clayton entered the room, glanced around, and picked the empty seat beside Sierra. "My boss let me off work early so I could haul ass over here as fast as I could. Is June okay?"

"She's fine, so far." Sierra smiled at him and turned back to the bank of monitors. "They're all okay. They've followed Sokolov to his base and now they're getting ready to go in."

"Good." Clay leaned back and grinned at the monitors. "After seeing June work Silas over, I've been eager for more. I'm a little nervous at the same time, though. I don't want her to get hurt."

"I know how you feel." Sierra glanced at the screen showing the feed from Smokescreen's optics. "Smokey really threw himself into the last battle, which is awesome, but it also worries me." She took a slow breath and tried to keep an eye on the other monitors. "You did miss some hilarious commentary from Miko and a few others. You'll have to watch the whole thing when you have time."

"Can't wait." A blank monitor came to life with an image and data from June's helmet camera. Clay leaned forward and rubbed his metal hands together. "Ah, here we go!"

Arcee's voice came from the speakers under her monitor. "How do we play this?" Her optics zoomed in on the tents and sheds in the crater that used to be part of Airachnid's base.

"Maybe Miko should sneak in and fart a few times," Terwilliger said. "That'd clear those MECH guys outta there in no time."

Sierra burst into laughter. "The poor girl's never gonna live that down."

Miko snickered. "I'm pretty sure that'd violate the Geneva Conventions."

Several other team members laughed before Col. McKenna replied.

"Well, since we're not equipped with hazmat suits, how about we get a scan of the mountain's interior instead? We need to be sure there are no other exits and no booby traps. If there are none, we'll surround them, close in, and pin them down."

"Sounds good." The image on Arcee's screen bobbed up and down as she nodded. "Let's go get 'em."

"I hope June doesn't get too close," Clay muttered. "She just started her combat training yesterday, so she's not ready yet."

"Colonel McKenna said she learns fast, but yeah, she hasn't been in the middle of it for several months like the rest of the team." Sierra glanced at him and smirked. "Also, she's really sore from the workout yesterday. A while ago she said every inch of her body hurts, even her nipples."

Well, any excuse to think about June's nipples … Clay grinned and kept watching her monitor.

"A few of us have stealth systems in our armor," Jack said, "but how are the rest of you going to approach without being spotted?"

"Assuming they don't already know we're here," Terwilliger added. "Wouldn't surprise me if they do."

"Hmm." On Jack's screen, his mom glanced around and smirked. "I have an idea."

---

"Is a good sniper nearby?"

Whoa. Jack stared at his mom and flicked a glance at Arcee. She can't be suggesting we just blow his head off. Can she?

"I like where this is headed," Elita-1 said over the comms. "Moonracer's closest to your position. She can shoot the wings off a housefly from three thousand meters away. What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing fatal, hopefully. If we can get him in our sights, maybe we can convince him to surrender."

"Hmm." Ashanti pondered it for a few seconds. "We've already seen that not all of his troops are willing to die for the cause. We should at least give them a chance to stand down, even if Sokolov won't."

"I approve," Optimus said. "Once we have a thorough scan of the mountain's interior, we can contact them and hope they will see reason."

"Bumblebee and I almost have it," Smokescreen said. "Just a few more seconds. Heh, these human-size bodies we're using give us more of a tactical advantage than I thought they would. Our real bodies are way too big to get anywhere near the base without being noticed."

"Scan complete," Bee cut in. "All the tunnels come to dead ends. Looks like Airachnid didn't leave any back doors."

"Well, she could've drilled a new one easily enough if she needed to."

"True." Ashanti took a slow breath. "Alright. Those of us with stealth gear will slip into the tunnels and see if we can trim MECH's numbers, either by talking them down or taking them out. Once that's done or the op goes tits-up on us, then June and Moonracer can do their thing."

"Guess I'm up." Jack locked his helmet and tapped the control on his belt that would engage his armor's stealth system. He caught a worried glance from his mom as the light distorted around him and blended him in with his surroundings.

"Be careful," she said softly.

"I'll keep him safe," Arcee said with a wave of her hand at her human-size doppelganger.

June took a quick breath and managed a nervous smile. "Go get 'em."

---

Ashanti crept past the guard at the nearest tunnel with Miko following close behind. She'd split the team up to cover more ground, and had almost sent Miko with Terwilliger. She'd quickly remembered how the two behaved together and paired him up with Jack instead. She trusted Terwilliger to keep his hands off the girl, but the last thing the team needed was for them to be distracted by each other. Bulkhead's mini-me had gotten as close to the base as he could, but since he didn't have a stealth system, he'd had to settle for keeping an eye on enemy troop movements. Arcee was doing the same for Jack and Terwilliger.

Ashanti glanced at the data in her HUD and led Miko down the tunnel to a pair of blips at the far end. Miko's blip remained at a steady distance as they made their way deeper into the mountain, passing crates and pallets here and there, some open and some still sealed. The open ones contained assortments of weapons and other gear.

She made out a pair of female voices growing more distinct. She led Miko around one last curve in the tunnel and found it widening into a roughly spherical chamber. More crates lined the walls and sat in the center, with two women in MECH tactical gear opening one after another and removing the contents.

"Found 'em," the dark-haired woman said. "Some of 'em, at least. Once we get these sentry turrets set up around the perimeter, we'll have a lot less to worry about."

"Good," the redhead replied. "Last thing I want is to wake up in the middle of the night and find another goddamn bear sniffing me."

The other woman grinned. "And the last thing I need is to be scared awake in the middle of the night by my girlfriend screaming like a little kid. My heart is still pounding."

"Your heart? What about mine? I didn't even know there were any bears in this area." She shook her head. "I'll be glad when I can get back to the city, where I belong. This close-to-nature bullshit is gonna give me a fuckin' heart attack."

"Well, I'll do what I can to make your stay in the great outdoors a little more pleasant." The dark-haired one sauntered over and slipped her arms around the redhead's waste.

"Now?" The redhead glanced over her shoulder into the tunnel, and Ashanti doubled her efforts to remain motionless. The active camouflage kept them invisible, but too much movement tended to produce a rippling effect in the air, rather like heat waves. "With everybody else just a few dozen yards away?"

"Come on, you know the danger of getting caught turns me on. At least give me a few points for refraining from saying, 'make your stay in the great outdoors a little more bearable.'"

"Just for that, I'd make you spend the night on the couch -- if we had one."

"Since we don't, we'll have to settle for a spot behind one of these crates. Or maybe on top of one. I'm flexible." She kissed the other woman.

Ashanti shook her head. I hate to break this up, but we're on a clock, here.

A rippling in the air to her right drew her attention and she found Miko deactivating her cloak and leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. Just watching them with a shit-eating grin.

Aw, hell.

"Well, you've talked me into it." The redhead laughed softly, turned, and waved a hand at one of the crates. "I guess that one's as good as any."

She finally noticed Miko, gasped, and spun toward her. Miko shrugged.

"Don't let me interrupt you." She twirled her hand as if to say, "Please, do continue."

Ashanti sighed and disengaged her cloak so the two women could see her P90. She glanced at Miko and grumbled, "Fuckin' pervert."

"Guilty as charged." Miko smirked and turned back to the MECH troops. "My friend here has some handcuffs for you. I strongly advise you to slip into them and not give us any trouble."

The dark-haired woman grimaced, sighed, and raised her hands. The redhead plucked the radio from her belt. Ashanti snapped her rifle over to aim at her.

Miko lunged forward and grabbed the radio. The woman cocked her left fist back and launched it at Miko's helmet. Miko clamped her robotic hand around the fist and stopped it cold. A shocked look crossed the redhead's face before her expression twisted in pain as Miko applied pressure.

"What did I say about giving us any trouble? Huh?" She squeezed a little harder and the woman groaned and sank to her knees. Her girlfriend dropped to her knees and raised her hands higher.

"Don't hurt her! We'll do whatever you want, just …"

The redhead held the radio to her mouth and snapped a single word through clenched teeth.

"Intruders!"

---

"Uh-oh," Moonracer blurted.

"What?" June aimed her helmet cam into the crater, zoomed in, and found MECH troops rushing around, unpacking crates and pulling equipment out. Some of the devices looked like plastic boxes and others appeared to be tiny satellite dishes. Sokolov barked orders at them and they ran to the edge of the crater and began assembling the pieces. "Huh. What the hell are they doing?"

"Looks like they're setting up a sensor array. Or maybe signal jammers."

"They know we're here," Ashanti said over the comms. "Everyone, circle the crater and get ready to close in on 'em. June, whatever your idea is, now's as good a time as any. Distracting Sokolov should give us the wiggle room we need to get into position."

"On it." June stared at the encampment, glanced at Moonracer, and pointed at her railgun. "Can you draw a frowny face in the side of that shipping container behind Sokolov with that thing?"

"Absolutely!" Moonracer giggled and lined up a shot.

"On my signal. Raf, can you patch me into Sokolov's radio?"

"Gimme a sec." The clicking of a mechanical keyboard came from her helmet speakers. "Okay, you're on."

June tried to summon up the steely yet slightly-unhinged tone she'd used when working McClory and Silas over. "Hey, Sokolov!"

In the camera window in her HUD, Sokolov froze for a split-second, stared at his handheld radio, and then turned slowly, sweeping his scowl over the edge of the crater and the trees beyond.

Great. The only way we could see down into the crater was to climb the trees around it, and now we'll have a hell of a time getting back to the ground once he spots us.

"To whom am I speaking?" Sokolov didn't bother to hide his accent.

"Someone who doesn't react well to terrorists trying to get their hands on her son and his girlfriend."

"Ah, I recognize your voice now. Jackson Darby's mother, yes? The nurse." He chuckled.

"That's what I wanted everyone to think. Worked for quite a while, too -- until you brought me out of retirement."

"Retirement from what?" Sokolov motioned at the guy with the face that reminded her of a thrombosed hemorrhoid. The guy nodded and jogged over to the nearest men setting up one of the dishes, then moving from one to another around the edge of the crater.

"Guess your information isn't up to date. Long story short, I made my living by taking out people who tended to cause problems for my employers, but tried to turn over a new leaf when I had my son. Now that you're a threat to him, I'm back to doing what I do best."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I got Silas to spill everything, including your location. Well, once he stopped screaming, that is. You can make things easy on yourself and surrender now, or I'll give you a taste of what I put him through. Maybe I'll start by hooking up a car battery to your nipples and work my way down from there. Slowly."

Sokolov arched an eyebrow. "Even if I believed you, the people you work with can't torture prisoners. They have rules against that."

"I never let little details like that stop me." June giggled. "I'd never let anyone find your remains, either. You'd be amazed how a body can be folded up and stuffed into a compact space after all the fluids have been drained."

"Holy shit, Mom," Jack said under his breath.

"If you think this 'crazy act' of yours will intimidate me, you really are insane." Sokolov laughed and moved the radio away from his mouth long enough to snap an order at one of his subordinates. "We've been scanning the area. We're detecting quite a large number of your alien-robot friends as well as a handful of humans."

"Then you know you're pinned down."

He smirked and shook his head. "It was very kind of all of you to deliver yourselves to me."

June nodded at Moonracer and pointed at the shipping container. The 'Bot grinned and aimed her railgun with one hand while keeping a firm grip on the tree trunk with the other. She fired twenty rounds in the span of about two seconds and June returned her attention to the image of Sokolov in her HUD. He'd turned to stare at the frowning emoticon Moonracer had just carved into the shipping container.

"Hey," June snarled into her helmet mic. "Asshole. Do I have your attention now? This is your last chance. Drop your guns and assume the position, or the next shot makes you dead and me happy." She put an almost aroused breathiness into her voice. "I've been in a rotten mood since you came after my son, Kazimir. I want to be happy again."

"Good to know you enjoy your work. Under other circumstances, I might've tried to recruit you." Sokolov laughed. "But now that you've brought all this marvelous alien technology right into my hands, I have more important matters to attend to."

"That's it," Ashanti muttered. "Everyone, close the box."

June pulled her camera back and swept it over her surroundings. She caught glimpses of Bee, Smokescreen, Elita, and Chromia storming through the trees toward the crater. A few seconds later she spotted two of their new Vehicon allies approaching from the opposite side.

"On it." Arcee took several steps forward, reached out to brace her hand on a tree as she stepped over a crevice, and suddenly yanked her hand back. "Ow!"

June glanced over and found her grimacing and holding one hand over her forearm. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I've lost the connection to my mini-me and I … I can't move my arm." Arcee shook her head. "It's like I was hit by an EMP, but that only affects us for a moment. This is … it feels different. I'm running a diagnostic." Her face twisted into a scowl. "The circuits and servos in my arm have been fried. I'm gonna need to get the whole thing replaced."

"Don't get any closer, Arcee!" June glanced around at the 'Bots and Vehicons. "Guys …"

One of the Vehicons shuddered and let out a strangled scream before toppling over.

"All Cybertronians," Strika snapped, "do not approach! Fall back."

"I agree," Optimus said. "Everyone, hold off until we understand what happened and find a way around it."

"Jack?" June's heart pounded. "Can you hear me?"

"I'm still here. Whatever it is, it either doesn't affect our armor, or it's just not, uh, happening inside the crater."

"It's those gadgets they set up around the edge." Moonracer shifted her aim, fired, lined up another shot, fired, and continued until she'd blown all the satellite-dish devices into scrap. "Problem solved."

"I'll test it." Another Vehicon appeared in June's HUD and strode toward the other two. He crouched beside the one who'd fallen. "Campbell's still down. Either whatever did this is still active, or the damage is permanent." He stood and marched on toward the crater. The other Vehicon tried to grab his arm and missed.

"Bilby, wait!"

Bilby took a few more steps and shrugged. "Nothing, so far."

"Good enough for me," Bulkhead growled. "Ashanti's team is still in the tunnels. We can pin 'em between us."

"Approach with caution," Optimus said. "We don't know what else they have waiting for us."

"Let's go." Bracing her hands and feet on nearby branches, June made her way back to the ground. Moonracer glanced down at her.

"Uh, maybe we should …"

"They've got my son in there." June double-checked the seals on her helmet and ran a systems check while she marched up the hill toward the crater. "I'm going in."