Let's Roll Out, Mate! [BOOK 1]

CHAPTER 57: THE MUGSHOT

Meanwhile back at the Autobot's base......

After leaving a note to their respective human charges, Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead went back to base and gathered in the main room. The room was silent; the only sound piercing the silence was Optimus's determined typing.

'Almost.....almost......' Optimus typed a few more buttons..... 'Shift this over here......' he thought and......there!

"Ah...." he said in relief and satisfaction of finally cracking the code. "The entry has been decoded." He told the others and even briefly had a small smile on his faceplate before he slipped back into his usual calm stoic expression.

They all looked at the screen than Ratchet's optics widened slightly. "Has it?" he asked. Optimus turned back and much to his own surprise, pixels were shifting all over the screen in a jumbled cryptic mess.

"Hmm....." Optimus stared at it thoughtfully. "Perhaps it's a layer of secondary encryption." He said. They all stared at the moving pixels intently, wondering what message lay within it.

As they seem to merge together to form a mass of...something, Bulkhead made a guess. "Maybe it's a picture of the relic." He said.

"We already know it's an Omega Key. Of what possible use could that be if we do not know its location?" Ratchet pointed out.

:What if it's another relic instead of a key?: Bumblebee guessed.

"I trust that Alpha Trion had his reasons for this." Optimus said though he was just as lost as the rest of his team.

Blue and red pixels shifted and arranged themselves to form an image. As they shifted, they could make out the shape of a bot and soon, the pixels merged to form a mugshot of............

Their optics widened. "Smokescreen?!" Bulkhead exclaimed as they all stared at a mugshot of their newest recruit.

Meanwhile on the Nemesis......

Soundwave's digits flew across the console in a blurr as he diligently decoded the next entry. At one point, he had become exasperated with the lack of leads- though he didn't show it, then by some stroke of luck when he had flipped the entry upside down for the sake of simply doing something- he spotted the code.

He was admittedly impressed. It was such a simple yet effective code that would make most Cybertronians none the wiser. Regardless, he soon went back to work with renewed vigour.

The doors opened and Megatron and Dreadwing entered. Soundwave didn't pause in his work but his body twitched to the side the tiniest bit to indicate he has noticed their arrival.

"Soundwave." Megatron called. Soundwave paused in his work and turned around to fully face his leader to show Megatron had his full attention. "Despite your primary task, I trust that you have been making progress pinpointing the location of the Autobot's base." Megatron said.

Soundwave inclined his helm and Dreadwing noticed the absence of Laserbeak on Soundwave's chassis.

Soundwave's visor then displayed visual footage from Laserbeak, reporting to Megatron that he had deployed his surveillance drone/ mini-con to scout around Jasper, Nevada.

"Good, given the recent accumulation of evidence, we possess a clear idea where their human colleagues reside. Laserbeak should soon discover where the Autobots lie in proximity." Megatron said.

Soundwave was grateful that Megatron had not least not berate him again for losing the data back at the base in the Atlantic Ocean. He hadn't expected the Autobot- Bumblebee he remembers- to make such a bold reckless move.

Not only were the files destroyed along with the data they contained, but while the attack hadn't injured Soundwave too badly, it scrambled the recent data in his drives, including the data he had attained on Team Prime's human allies.

Then again, he rationalized that it could have worse.

Soundwave went back to work and his body jumped upwards ever so slightly in surprise as he finally cracked the code. Megatron who had been talking to Dreadwing turned around and saw a mass of pixels appear on the screen. The pixels shifted and merged slowly to form a silhouette of something.

"An image." Megatron said. "Why would this Iacon entry be different from the others?" he asked aloud.

As the pixels merged to form clearer lines to define the shape, Dreadwing realized what it more or less was. "Perhaps it is the identity of someone who knows where the next relic is." He guessed.

The pixels soon finished merging to form a mugshot of.......

Megatron's optics widened and his optic ridges rose in surprise. "Prime's latest recruit is another relic of Iacon?" Megatron asked in shock. Dreadwing was as confused as he was.

'How can someone actually be a relic?' Dreadwing asked himself.

Meanwhile back at the Autobot's base......

"Is this that hotshot's idea of a joke?" Arcee asked.

:I doubt he'd joke about something like this.: Bumblebee said.

"Maybe he knows where the key is." Bulkhead said.

"And never bother to mention it?" Arcee asked. She knew that Smokescreen wouldn't hesitate to pass such crucial information to them.

"A more likely possibility is that Smokescreen himself somehow is the key without knowing it." Ratchet said.

"Whatever the case he could be in grave danger." Optimus said. He pressed a digit against the side of his helm on the comm. "Smokescreen, return to base immediately." He ordered.

He waited......and got no response.

"Forget it, he turned his comm off. He probably still has it off." Arcee said remembering what Smokescreen had told her before he left.

"Oh no, Eve is with him!" Bulkhead said.

Their tanks dropped as they realized both of their allies- human and Autobot may be in grave danger at the moment.

"Locate his position and prepare the groundbridge." Optimus ordered.

Arcee decided to try one more time. "Smokescreen? Smokescreen can you hear me? Answer me please!" she said desperately into the comm.

If Ratchet was right, then there was more at stake than the lives of two teammates.