The scene changed from Mobius to Washington D.C. of 2014. Ironhide used to transform into a 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan. His wife, Chromia, transformed into a deep blue Harley Davidson Street Glide Special. The wheels were on her back. The front of the motorcycle served as her chest unit. Her exhaust pipes were rifles that she could wield in one hand each. The side bags served as hip mounted battery packs for the rifles if power is too low for them. Firestar transformed into a red Harley Davidson Wide Glide. The fuel tank served as shoulder pads. The exhaust pipe served as an arm mounted flamethrower. The rear wheel well served as kneepads while the rear wheel split and attached to her hips. The front wheel folded into her back. A frog like robot that transformed into a 2015 Hummer H2 was shouting orders to the group. Ironhide still narrated what was going on. “We had just gotten President Obama and his family out of the White House. Springload, a Decepticon turned Autobot, ordered us to take down any Decepticons that would try and finish the job there. We obeyed. Springload followed the rest of the Wreckers. We stood guard. It was then Firestar saw something. ‘What in the Pit?’ she muttered. ‘Dad, I saw something over at the Washington Monument. I think we should check it out.’
“‘Not without backup,’ I replied. ‘Chromia, I think you should go with her.’
“‘Will do,’ she answered. The two headed in that direction and hid themselves. From what Chromia told me, they heard Cyclonus, the leader of the Seekers, talking with Starscream and Skywarp, more streamlined Seekers. Starscream and Skywarp turned into F-35 fighter jets while Cyclonus turned into a RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. The five helicopter blades turned into two machete-like swords. Swords are a Seeker’s main weapon.
“‘Is everyone preparing for the deed?’ asked Cyclonus.
“‘We are,’ answered Starscream.
“‘Good,’ replied Cyclonus.
“‘You know,’ remarked Skywarp, ‘the Seekers would have a better chance of victory if Starscream would just…well…you know…’
“‘Summon him?!’ yelped Starscream in terror.
“‘Just once,’ assured Skywarp, ‘just once and you can go back to normal.’
“‘Normal?!’ gasped Starscream. ‘There’s no normal! I don’t even know what normal is!’ He grabbed Skywarp by the shoulders at that point. ‘Every solar cycle, I live with a beast raging inside of me!’
“‘I taught you those exercises so you can control him,’ growled Cyclonus.
“‘Control?!’ repeated Starscream. ‘There is no control! There’s only anarchy and chaos and the whole universe writhing in pain!’
“‘But he could benefit us if you would try!’ urged Skywarp.
“‘Try?!’ argued Starscream. ‘There is no try! There is only the insane light!’
“‘Give in, Starscream!’ insisted Skywarp. ‘Give in for me! And Cyclonus! And the Seekers! And the Decepticons!’ Starscream shuddered.
“‘I left that Covenant-thumping lunatic behind me a long time ago!’ he declared. ‘You will not find him here!’ Unbeknownst to Chromia and Firestar, a Seeker named Thundercracker was behind them. The only point they heard him was when he spoke.
“‘Come, ladies, your passado,’ he commented. The ladies turned and dodged his blade. ‘I said passado, not retreat.’ The other Seekers heard him.
“‘Autobot spies!’ called Starscream.
“‘Kill them!’ ordered Cyclonus. They swarmed the two as they headed to my position. With four flying Decepticons, we almost died. It was then when Springload arrived. He could jump pretty high and bring the Seekers down to our level. It was then that Skywarp punctured two Energon cubes and let the contents spill all over the area. Firestar was flung into the middle of the reflecting pool. Starscream fired from one of his null rays and the shot hit the Energon. The place went up in flames quickly. Firestar could withstand the heat, but it wouldn’t be long before she went offline. She was battling one of the Seekers, I couldn’t tell who, when Chromia and I charged towards the flames.
“‘Stop!’ demanded Springload. ‘The flames are too hot! We have to get out of here!’
“‘Are you still looking for Doradus?!’ protested Chromia. ‘My daughter’s in there!’ I charged towards the flames, and then Springload held me back.
“‘Let me go!’ I snarled. ‘I have to rescue her!’
“‘You’re not going anywhere, Ironhide!’ declared Springload. ‘The unit is more important than a single soldier!’ It was then that the Seeker…the Seeker…,” Ironhide couldn’t continue as he was trying to hold back tears. The scene faded back to Mobius. Amy now knew why she felt an aura of weariness from him.
“What happened to Springload?” she asked.
“He was court martialed for leaving a bot behind,” revealed Ironhide, “and stripped of rank. His sentence was life imprisonment. I no longer need to worry about him, but I still want to know which Seeker killed her and why he did it.”
“No revenge, I hope?” gulped Amy.
“I went down that path once,” shuddered Ironhide. “Almost lost Chromia in the process. Never again.”
“Here we are!” called Sonic. The convoy stopped and the more alien members changed back into bipedal mode. The place was…interesting to say the least.
“What a piece of junk!” whined Bumblebee. “We’ll never have a decent sized base!”
“What are you talking about?” quizzed Sonic. “Just pick a spot and expand.”
“But what if someone has claimed that spot?” asked Optimus.
“Optimus, on this planet, it’s first come, first serve,” replied Sonic. “When I owned the place, I only had the land it sat on and the front yard.”
“So, you’re saying that now we have the place, we can include the whole mountain area and forest behind it?” quizzed Optimus.
“Yep!” confirmed Sonic. “There’s even a grassy plain behind the forest.”
“And you said we wouldn’t have a decent sized base,” snarked Optimus to Bumblebee.
“I may have been too quick to judge,” remarked Bumblebee.
“Ratchet, with the materials we have,” inquired Optimus, “how big a base do we get?”
“Ideally,” figured Ratchet, “we could get a good chunk of the forest and the mountain area.”
“Then let’s set up the main command center first,” declared Optimus. “That plane should work.” There was a lot of hustle and bustle as the convoy unloaded and put equipment inside the plane. Things are about to get hectic in Autobot HQ.