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Shockwave Rises:

Prologue

The Autobots all watched anxiously as Ratchet continued his repair work on the Dinobots. Fortunately he had managed to patch Snarl up. While still in need of recovering from his wounds, Snarl was at least capable of helping Ratchet repair his teammates. The two of them were starting on Slag, who was in shut down mode so as to make the repairs easier.

"Question," Snarl asked as he removed shrapnels from Slag's body. "Starscream blows the Apex Armor from the inside, right? Then why the scrap didn't he blow up?!"

"Starscream is quite resilient," Ratchet admitted. "Many Autobots speculated that he has some unexplained ability to survive even the worst conditions."

"Makes me think of a cockroach," Arcee mumbled dryly.

"Cockroach?"

"Disgusting Earth insects said to survive some of the worst injuries." She smirked. "Suits Starscream pretty well."

Bulkhead and Bumblebee both chuckled and even Ratchet allowed himself a small smirk. Optimus was too busy contemplating to give any kind of reaction.

"Something wrong, Optimus?" Smokescreen asked, noticing his idol.

"Merely concerned, Smokescreen," Optimus answered. "The Dinobots will be out of commission for some time now."

"Which means we lost about half our team," Arcee figured.

"And with so many Cons here, that's not good," Bulkhead added. The base became quiet as Ratchet and Snarl silently continued repairing the others. Deciding to try and start a conversation "Say, isn't it about time we picked Miko and them up?"

"Right," Arcee said as she and Bumblebee started heading toward the exit. However, Optimus blocked their path.

"The two of you are still injured. Even picking up Jack and Rafael would not be advised."

"You mean we can't even just pick the kids up?" Arcee asked incredulously. Sure she and Bee were injured but it was nothing that serious.

"While your injuries are minor, I don't want you to put any further strain on them until Ratchet has had a look at you. Smokescreen," Optimus addressed their newest member. "May you accompany Bulkhead to pick up the children?"

Smokescreen smiled. "Sure, thing.

"Is…June coming too?"

Everyone's attention was on Sludge, who had regained consciousness some time ago. Like Grimlock, Sludge insisted on his teammates being worked on first.

Grimlock looked at Sludge suspiciously. "What do you want her here for?"

"I liked her being here," Sludge admitted. "She was nice."

Grimlock didn't reply instantly. He had heard more about June from the other Autobots. Apparently she was extremely overprotective, flew off the handle whenever the slightest thing happened to the children, and was quick to blame the Autobots when they didn't even mean to. Did the woman not understand there was a war going on? She should be grateful the Autobots even bothered to protect the humans. Still, she apparently got on Sludge's good side.

"Fine," Grimlock conceded. Sludge smiled.

"We'll have to see if she's available," Optimus told them. "She might be busy."

"We'll be back," Bulkhead called. He and Smokescreen transformed. Arcee noticed that Smokescreen transformed into a fancy looking sports car with a large 38 on the side as they raced out of the base. She rolled her optics.

"Somebody should have explained the whole "low profile" thing to him,"

Grimlock shook his head. He had met some recruits who didn't understand the seriousness of the situation before but this was ridiculous. That Smokescreen saw this as some game.

"We're not exactly low profile either," Snarl reminded Arcee. "In fact, we're even less low profile than Smokescreen is."

"Snarl, focus!" Ratchet snapped after removing another scrapel and patching up the wound. "I don't want to push any of these further into Slag than they already are!"

Snarl grumbled in annoyance as he resumed assisting Ratchet.

"Will you be able to reattach Swoop's wing?" Sludge asked Ratchet, looking back and forth between his teammate and said broken appendage.

"It should be possible but the procedure will require delicate precision. The tricky part is making sure that Swoop will still be able to fly with the wing."

"I am confident in your abilities, old friend," Optimus reassured Ratchet.

"Snarl too," Sludge added.

Optimus nodded. "Snarl too."

"Once we have taken care of Slag, we should be able to divide patching everyone else up," Ratchet assured them. "Having an extra medic is most helpful."

Sludge grinned. "Which means we'll be getting back to trashing Cons sooner!"

"No promises, Sludge, but I'll see what I can do." Snarl told him.

Optimus noticed Grimlock being quite silent. "Something wrong, Grimlock?"

Grimlock looked up at Optimus. "Starscream did this. Starscream, of all cons, did this!"

Snarl and Sludge cringed. "Grimlock, calm down!"

"Starscream, the most pathetic, backstabbing, cowardly, little scrapheap of the entire Decepticon army, was able to make me and my team look like fools!"

Optimus was instantly on guard. Apparently Grimlock still had some anger left over from the recent events and couldn't hold it in anymore. Something had to be done and fast.

But he didn't need to. Sludge quickly ran over and got Grimlock in a lock from behind.

"Let me go!" Grimlock growled as he tried to fight his teammate off. But Sludge held on tightly, straining against his injuries and Grimlock's impressive strength.

"We need to calm him down, now!" Snarl cried as he ran over to join Sludge. With surprising agility for one who just recently recovered from deadly injuries, Snarl struck Grimlock in the area of his wound. Unexpectedly, Grimlock shuttered for a moment and then slumped in Sludge's arms. The bigger Dinobot gently lowered Grimlock.

"What was that all about?" Arcee asked, surprised as was every non-Dinobot in the base.

"I struck one of his exposed energy relays that fed into his lower body regions. It caused his systems to mistake the strike for an energon interruption and forced Grimlock's body to do an emergency system restart. In his condition he had no way of preventing this but if he was in any better shape Grimlock would have been able to prevent the restart. I'll keep him shut down until we can fully repair his systems."

"Was that really necessary?" Ratchet asked, though he couldn't help but be impressed by Snarl's knowledge of vital areas. Apparently he had underestimated the Dinobots' skills at anything other than combat.

"It was," Snarl admitted. "If Grimlock got angry enough, he probably would have transformed again. Aside worsening his injuries, any attempts to calm him down would've probably gotten this base reduced to slag in minutes. When Grimlock's angry...he's really hard to calm down."

"Really?" Arcee asked. "But he seemed coherent enough those other times we saw him in his dino mode."

"Arcee, we've put up with Grimlock's berserk anger for cycles so I know from experience," Snarl told her. "You all should consider yourselves lucky that Grimlock hasn't given into his anger like he used to. But something tells me it's only a matter of time before his temper starts getting the better of him again. And when that happens...you better pray to Primus we're all as far away from Grimlock as we possibly can."

That left the base with a very ominous atmosphere. Was Grimlock really that destructive in his t-rex form? Optimus always knew Grimlock had great issues with his anger but had the experiments done to him increased it to such great lengths? Optimus wasn't certain but he really didn't want to find out.

"You're certain about this?" Ratbat asked Shockwave cautiously.

"My findings are not yet 100% accurate but they are substantial enough to take things into consideration." Shockwave replied to his co-conspirator.

"So...should we have Airachnid offlined on sight? Or bring her here for further examination?"

"Further research into this could prove most useful," Shockwave concluded. "Though it would be more suitable to assign this task to the Predacons once Razorclaw has fully recuperated. As of this moment, no Insecticons are to go anywhere near Airachnid. I shall inform Megatron that all Insecticons need to be placed under close surveillance and that necessary measures need to be taken."

Ratbat frowned. "That serious?"

Shockwave turned his head and the former Senator found himself unnerved by that eye looming at him. "Completely."

"Knockout will be pleased to hear that. Honestly, when he's not bragging about some new paint job, he's gripping about the Insecticons."

"I am not concerned with Knockout's grumbling," Shockwave said as he looked at his computer. "I have far more important things to be concerned about right now."

At the Harbinger, Starscream was making his own moves.

As the former 2nd in command of the Decepticons worked on the computer systems inside the downed freighter, Starscream started to voice his thougts out loud with smirk of anxious glee.

"Now let's see. I've recorded on board memory files from Megatron's rant about Dark Energon and then him stabbing himself with a shard...if that doesn't surprise Shockwave I don't think anything will." He said, "Now a few files where Megatron's orders endanger the mission and...he he he...Let's not forget the video transmission I got from a security camera on the old Space bridge. I think Shockwave would find it most 'fascinating' that our illustrious leader fly's right to an exploding space bridge just to reach out to an army of zombified Decepticons."

Starscream continued to download and transfer every file he had on Megatron's questionable orders and actions when he arrived on Earth. Starscream did however decide to transfer almsot all info on Megatron's actions when he enacted his Dark energon plan and this was only small part of the data he had. Starscream had to admit giving Shockwave info that could compramize Megatron gave the Seeker some dark mirth.

And also

Starscream felt smug as he examined the chunk of red energon. "Oh poor, Grimlock. Not only did I best you and your entire team, but I managed to obtain all the red energon. It would seem the tales of your group's exploits were obviously...exaggerated." He had gotten his hands on red energon, had a plan to bring Shockwave to his side, and single-handedly bested five of the Autobots' greatest warriors. Everything was looking up for Starscream. He was in such a good mood that he didn't even mind his other hand, which was sparking and throbbing in pain due to it being the one he blew the Apex Armor up with.

Back at the Autobot base, everyone's attention was drawn to the sound of car horns. Bulkhead and Smokescreen drove back in. Miko hopped out of Bulkhead while Jack and Raf left Smokescreen. Once the kids were out, the two bots transformed.

"Hey, Arcee," Jack said as he walked over to his partner.

Arcee gave him a light smile. "Hey, Jack."

"Hey, Bee," Raf greeted his own partner. "How you feeling?"

Bumblebee beeped, explaining that while he felt a little sore in some place, and his joints ached, he was fine.

"Hey, what's up with Grimlock?" Miko asked, spotting the unconscious Dinobot leader.

"We believed it was best to keep Grimlock in shut down mode for the time being." Ratchet explained. "The last thing we need is him going on the warpath in his, and everyone else's condition."

"I've patched Slag up as best I could," Snarl said, moving away from his teammate. "All that's left for him to do is rest. Alright, Sludge. Let's take a look at you."

Sludge nodded and lowered himself down so that Snarl could start operating on him. Ratchet went over to Bumblebee and Arcee.

"Alright, you two. While Snarl is working on the other Dinobots, I'll start on you." Arcee and Bumblebee nodded as they went over to Ratchet for examination. "Once I'm done with you two and Snarl is done with Sludge, the two of use will start on Swoop and Grimlock."

Jack looked over at Swoop, looking back and forth between Swoop's unconscious body, still in dino mode, and the severed wing. He was sure that, to a flyer, losing a wing was painful. And...he become quite fond of the Dinobot. He really hoped Swoop would still be able to fly. He looked over at Arcee, who was also looking at Swoop, guilt evident on her face. Jack wasn't sure what had happened but apparently Arcee blamed herself.

"Are you guys gonna be alright?" Miko asked. "I want to see the Dinobots in action again."

Snarl rolled his optics and Ratchet let out a small groan.

"With two medics on the job, we should be able to fix them up very quickly," Ratchet replied. "However, that doesn't meant they should immediately go back into battle just to get injured again."

"But that leaves only Optimus, Bulkhead and Smokescreen against all those Decepticons," Raf spoke.

"Hey! Bulkhead can take on any of those Cons with one hand tied behind his back!" Miko argued.

"Uh...I'm gonna go with Raf on this one, Miko. Sure I can handle plenty of those Cons but they've got us outnumbered and outgunned."

"And that's not all," Jack gained everyone's attention. "With both Arcee and Bumblebee out...what about me and Raf?"

Optimus pondered this predicament. Indeed, until Arcee and Bumblebee were cleared by Ratchet, someone else would have to watch over Jack and Raf. While they did have Smokescreen, he was just one bot. It would be too much of a task to assign him to be guardian of both children. Smokescreen still had much to learn about Earth and humans, plus he wouldn't always be able to watch over both of them at the same time.

"Hey!" Snarl barked. "How about you guys go plan somewhere else. I need to focus on fixing my team up and all your talking is distracting me."

Everyone was taken aback but Snarl's snapping.

"Rude much?" Arcee asked but Ratchet, who was used to commotion in the medical wards back on Cybertron, only gave them a glance before getting back to examining Bumblebee.

"Fine. Don't blame me if Swoop's wing gets put on backwards. You all continue talking amongst yourselves."

Arcee flinched. She didn't know if Snarl using Swoop as his example was intentional but it sure drove the point home.

"You're sure in a talkative mood," Miko noticed. "And here I thought you were the quiet one."

"Snarl's always like this when it comes to repairing us," Sludge explained. "We get plenty of injuries but we always dish out worse than they can."

Ratchet nodded. "With some of the more rowdy patients we medics have, it's actually quite normal behavior."

"Sludge, I'm gonna need you to be quiet for a moment," Snarl ordered his larger friend. "I can't examine your wounds right with you moving around."

Sludge nodded and held still so Snarl could get a better look at him.

"Bedside manner could use some improvement," Jack whispered to the others, causing Raf and Miko to hold back their laughter.

Optimus motioned for everyone else to move out of the room to give the two medics some space. Once Optimus was certain they were far away enough, he resumed their conversation.

"It appears we do face a difficult problem. For the time being, Smokescreen can be assigned to either Rafael or Jack. Though this would still leave one of you without a guardian."

Jack and Raf looked at each other. They didn't mind Smokescreen but they weren't sure if each other wanted to be partnered with him instead.

"You can have him if you want, Raf," Jack offered kindly.

Raf looked at Smokescreen. The Autobot didn't really understand the situation but he was obviously eager to help. Raf gave a small smile. Ah well. It probably wouldn't be long before Bumblebee was all better.

"Sure."

Optimus nodded. "Very well, then. Smokescreen for the time being, you will be Raf's guardian."

Smokescreen saluted. "I won't let you down, Optimus!"

Raf hoped he was doing the right thing while Jack hoped he hadn't made a mistake by offering Raf as Smokescreen's partner.

"Now, all that is left is you, Jack," Optimus said, looking at the teenager.

"Hey, it's cool, Optimus. I'm sure I can go a few days without Arcee."

"Given how many Decepticons we are up against now, that is a chance I am not willing to take." Optimus told him solemnly. "Until Arcee and Bumblebee are fully recovered, I will be your guardian."

Everyone else's jaws hung open at this announcement. Miko, predictably, was the first to recover.

"Dude! You get the boss bot as your guardian! How cool is that?!"

Jack took a moment longer to get his wits together. "Are you sure, Optimus? I mean, I don't want to, I don't know, get in the way of anything."

"Now doubt Megatron has told Shockwave of your affiliations with us. I know Shockwave. He would not hesitate to harm you to get to us. Your protection is of the utmost importance, Jack."

Jack let this all sink in. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, was willing to be his guardian. This, this was really an honor.

Back in the main part of the base, Ratchet had finished his examination on Bumblebee.

"You appear to have some sustained minor external and internal injuries. Nothing that can't be repaired but putting too much strain would have dire consequences in the future. You both should consider yourselves lucky."

"We know," Arcee muttered. She didn't like being reminded that they got off well compared to the rest of the team.

"I've checked over Sludge's injuries and he should be good once he's patched up and rested. All that's left now is Grimlock and Swoop."

Bumblebee beeped, voicing his concern about Grimlock.

"Yeah, something tells me Grimlock's not gonna be happy when he comes back online." Arcee figured.

"Leave that to me," Snarl told her. "I've put up with the boss long enough to deal with his temper."

"I'll get Swoop's wing," Ratchet said. But just as he went to get the wing, he spotted something out of the corner of his optic. Was it his imagination or was there something on the computer? Turning around to make sure, what he saw left him with only thing to say:

"Scrap!"

End of Prologue

Well, everyone, that concludes the prologue to the sequel of Dawn of the Dinobots. In the next chapter, Team Prime discovers a signal coming from a fellow Autobot. But their comrade is in an area known of them suspected. Who is this new Autobot? Can the Team hold out with so few members? Will Starscream succeed in forming an alliance with Shockwave? And what has Airachnid done that has Shockwave so interested in her? Will Swoop and Arcee finally get together? And what about Sludge's newfound liking to June? Find it all out in Transformers Prime: Shockwave Rises!