//------------------------------//
// Break In 
// Story: Top Of The List 
// by dudenotactive 
//------------------------------//

Starscream awoke with a painful sting in his back, he felt a little heavier than before also. The seeker pushed himself back on his two feet stumbling a bit as he did so. He stretched his body, shaking off his drowsy self. Both of his wings fluttered as he yawned, then it hit him, his eyes landed on the new addition to his body. The wing that was attached to him, he smiled widely as the wing flicked once. 

The seeker became overjoyed to see that his wing was repaired. He spun and turned on his heel as he gleefully examined his own wing. He wasted no time and transformed on the spot, his jet mode hovered happily and Starscream could only squeal in delight now that his ability to fly has returned. 

And he would've flown to the sky, but he heard something coming from the forest. It was an engine, it roared deep within the forest and it was just getting louder and louder. Quickly, the seeker shifted back to his bot form and ran towards the others to warn them. Starscream entered the hangar and found the four wheeler Autobot and Shockwave, the 'Con was busy with building some kind of energon processor while Smokescreen simply watched. But now both mechs turned towards the seeker with a curious look on Smokescreen's face. Before anyone could even question, Starscream alerted them both of the incoming vehicle of unknown origins. Both bots immediately snapped into action, Shockwave with his cannon and Smokescreen with his issued baton. The Autobot had no other weapon to use, so he had no choice but to use what he had on him, which was just his baton and taser. He had lost his pistol after the blue mech of the DJD had eaten it. 

As soon as they were ready, the group quickly hid away from the light and waited for whoever it was that was coming. 

Starscream peered around the entrance and scanned the treeline for any movement, he could hear it, but couldn't see any signs. Then there it was, a single car burst out of the forest and entered the clearing. Starscream was right to be worried, it was as he feared, Earth military. This was bad, if the humans on this planet were to discover them, then they would practically kiss their freedom goodbye. Unless they managed to bargain with them, maybe give Smokescreen as an offering for a new alliance. 

But that was against the Decepticon cause to align themselves with organics unless it was merely business. 

Speaking of which, the military car that entered the scene was a brown Humvee with purple highlights and windows. On top of it was a cannon, one that was big enough to deal some damage to a Cybertronian. Whoever this human was, they were armed with enough power to put a large hole into their chests. 

Starscream had taken the lead and raised his servos in the air, signaling the two mechs with him to be ready. It was like he was a natural born leader, which he is. But before he could even order the attack, the Decepticons and Autobot were taken by surprise as the Humvee shifted and transformed into a bot. A mech by the looks of it, he wore a basic helmet which most Decepticons shared, but two square lenses that glowed brightly purple was what made him different. 

Starscream gasped, even Shockwave was shocked by the discovery. The bot was looking around as if he was finding something, or someone. "Starscream? Shockwave?" They heard him call out. 

It was then Starscream took a step out of his hiding spot and into the light. "Swindle you son of a glitch!"

"If it isn't the Red Baron of the skies!" Swindle smiled, both mechs quickly locked into a fearsome handshake which none of them show no sign of letting go. "Last time I saw you, my pals were still on the Nemesis!"

"And last time I saw you, I bought a defective laser rifle from you!" Both then laughed it off as they retracted their servos away. "May I ask you what you are doing here, my fellow Decepticon?" The seeker asked. Meanwhile, the two bots that were hiding were now out in the open. 

"Ah, just doing business! Selling scrap and junk across the stars, until my Decepticon life signals picked up your sparks!" He explained himself, that was when he noticed a certain out of place character among Megatron's two lieutenants. "Hey, is that Soundwave? He sure does look different."

"Uh, no, I'm not Soundwave." Smokescreen corrected the merchant. "I'm Smokescreen, the hero of Cybertron!"

"You guys have an Autobot here?" Swindle questioned with a brow raised. "I honestly thought he'd be taller."

"It is merely a short truce," Starscream explained. "Smokescreen is currently aiding Shockwave and I against a dangerous foe, the Decepticon Justice Division."

Swindle gasped. "My condolences, I honestly thought you'd stay off the list, by Megatron's orders."

"Sadly those fools ignored the rules for once just to snuff out my spark!"

"Guess you're starting to regret all those times you tried to take out Megatron, aren't you?" Swindle chuckled.

"So what do you do?" Smokescreen asked the merchant before Starscream could even retort. 

"I, my good sir, am what many would call a salesman! I left the Decepticon cause to travel across the universe making businesses with many lifeforms!" Swindle brought out three datapads and quickly placed them into their hands each. "Guns, energon, or even spare parts! I have them all! And for the right price my friends, you can get yourself a one of a kind ultra rare trading card of lord Megatron!"

"Wait, you left the Decepticons?" Smokescreen was honestly shocked to find out about it. "Does that mean the DJD are after you?"

Swindle gave a hearty chuckle and waved a dismissive hand. "Of course not! Megatron was my number one customer, and he saw fit to make Tarn himself sign a contract to keep me off the list! That's right, I'm off limits for the DJD. As long as I don't make any deals with Autobots." Swindle narrowed his eyes at Smokescreen for a second then simply shrugged his shoulders. "Meh, I can make an exception, as long no one finds out that is."

"Swindle," Shockwave spoke as he browsed the datapad. "do you perhaps have a ship to offer?"

"Nope! You'll have to speak with a friend of mine when it comes to ship deals! Sadly, he's currently at the planet Kamino. So tough luck buddy."

Shockwave took an intimidating step forward. "What about yours."

"Hey now! That's not for sale! I also don't give rides to anyone!" Swindle was quick to retreat, making sure he had some distance between him and that cyclops. 

"What if we take it."

Swindle glowered at the three bots. "I don't like your tone, Shockwave."

Starscream was quick to pull back his fellow Decepticon. "Shockwave, it would be logical to accept what we can get and simply purchase the things we require."

Shockwave stared at the seeker silently, but then nodded. "I will need proper tools for my projects and experiments as well as maintenance. These tools must be of high quality." He ordered, selecting everything he needed on the datapad that was generously given to him to use.

"Done!" Swindle received Shockwave's orders on his own datapad. "Anything else?"

"Weapons," Starscream requested. "we will need guns if we were to stand a chance against the DJD if they ever find Shockwave and I. We would also require ammunition, I am running low on missiles right now. Maybe your best null ray if possible."

"My friend, you will not find any better guns than mine!"

"Oh, we should buy something for Arcee!" Smokescreen suggested. 

"We must only purchase things that would be of help to us." Shockwave said monotonously.

"Let him be Shockwave, if the Autobot wishes to purchase something meaningless, then we should not stop him." Starscream snickered. 

"Fine."

"Alright, go ahead hero, if you want it I have it!" Swindle waited for Smokescreen to make an order. 

Smokescreen paused to think about what he should buy for his friend, there were certainly a number of options, so much that he just couldn't choose. "I honestly don't know..."

Starscream scoffed. "Are you serious!? Just buy that femme a perfume or something!"

"Like you would know what a femme even wants."

"Wait," Starscream came to a realization. "where is Arcee?"

"The Autobot went to deliver the human, Sunset Shimmer, back to her home." Shockwave answered. 

"She left us!?"

"Easy Starscream, let's just get back to business." Swindle spoke softly. 

"Fine."

"Oh," Smokescreen smiled, his finger tapped on the screen of the datapad, and there it was, the perfect gift for his friend. "this one!"

Swindle took a closer look and whistled. "My friend, that is a Triple Minigun mark X! Three devastating machine of death on one gun! Enough to shred even the toughest armor on any bot! Six barrels on each equally, a total of eighteen! And trust me on this my friend, it spins! But, I don't think someone like Arcee could even hold that piece of machinery."

"Are you kidding?" Smokescreen scoffed. "She's the toughest gal I know! This gun is right for her."

"Well I have to warn you though, I picked this off a dead Autobot, I think his name was Hound. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, if anything, that's better than getting a Decepticon owned weapon."

Swindle clapped his hands together. "Alright then! That would be a total of 60,000 Shanix!"

"What!?" Starscream exclaimed. "But we don't have that kind of money!"

"He is correct," Shockwave sighed. "ever since the war ended, I could no longer access my back account."

Smokescreen quickly raised both his servos in the air. "Don't look at me, I only get discounts on stores. Doesn't mean I'm rolling in Shanix."

"Then I'm afraid that we must cancel all your orders and end our business here. Oh well!" Swindle turned with a smirk. 

"Wait! We'll do anything! There's an energon mine close to us, I can trade you some!"

"Sorry, but I have my own energon mine in this solar system, a planet called Pluto." Swindle continued his stride. 

"Weapons," Shockwave started. "I can build you weapons that would be praised by Megatron himself."

"Nope! I have all the guns and swords I need." But then he stopped just half way to the forest. "There is something that you can do for me, Starscream."

"If it is our only option, then who are we to say no." Starscream sighed as he awaited for whatever Swindle had in mind just for them to get their orders. 

"You see, trading cards are quite popular these days for collectors, and just so you know, business is booming."

"I will not participate with this foolish game." Shockwave was quick to back off. 

"Hey now, I'm not gonna challenge you in some card game, I simply want the help of the resident seeker!" From out of nowhere Swindle produced a camera. "You see, I have most of the famous seekers, everyone except for Skywarp since I can't find him."

"And you want me to pretend?" Starscream guessed right. 

"That's correct my deceitful friend! You, Thundercracker, and Skywarp share the same body design. So a change of color would be enough and no one would even notice!"

Starscream's wings and shoulder sagged a bit. "Fine, as long as we get what we want."

"That's right! Do this for me, and I'll give you everything for free! Now strike a pose Starscream," The 'Con chuckled for a second. "or should I say, Skywarp?"




Bumblebee was in a moment of dread, the sight in front of him was not for the faint of spark. Bits and pieces of Autobot guards and Decepticon prisoners were all over the place, this was the darkest day in Cybertron's strongest prison, Alcatraz. Named after one of Earth's federal prison, Bulkhead had chosen that name after he built the impenetrable prison. Only for a break in just to happen. Reports were called in earlier about an alarm being set off, the next thing anyone knew was that the whole prison was emptied out. 

A big giant whole in the wall leading into the building itself, a trail of devastation and death went straight through. Bumblebee, against his own energon tank, followed this trail. Just as mentioned before, guards and 'Cons were scattered everywhere he looked, it was like a bloody picture painted by a sadistic artist. As he moved forward past all these broken cells and shattered flooring, Bumblebee couldn't help but feel remorseful for not just the guards, but the prisoners they guarded as well. 

Whoever did this, they were strong. 

Bumblebee then entered the courtyard and found an interesting sight, the surrounding was littered with parts and bodies just like inside the prison, but the courtyard had a large Decepticon insignia painted against the wall with what he could only guess as energon. Upon closer look, Bee could tell that the energon used for this painting was in the middle of processing, not processing to be used by bots, but it was energon straight from someone's tanks. 

Quickly, he called for HQ and reported his findings, he was met with a gasp. Bumblebee could tell that who ever answered had never thought to hear something like this in all their life. After making sure that he's getting a clean up and some proper detectives for this butcher show, Bumblebee returned to his own investigation.

His mind and body led him over to a corpse slumped against the wall just to the left of the symbol, the body was mostly intact, legs but no arms. A Decepticon by the looks of it. The only thing different for this bot other than the lack of arms was the large chunk missing from his head. There were no burn marks, meaning that no bullet or laser round was used. This points towards close execution.

"You know this guy?" A voice spoke from behind him, Bee didn't need to turn to tell who it was for it was none other than Prowl, the current captain of the guards. 

"Never thought you'd get here so quick." Bumblebee said as while his eyes were so focused on the dead bot. 

"I was having a leisurely drive until I got phoned by HQ saying there was a massacre, never thought it would be Alcatraz." Prowl sighed as he scanned his surroundings. "All these 'Cons were given a second chance, but now look at them."

"I know, I was there when they tried to start up some trouble." Bee glanced over his shoulder. "Five hundred Decepticons were housed in this prison, all of which were veterans who didn't surrender after the restoration of our planet. For so long they all were just waiting for their time to end, but then someone broke in."

"Just to slaughter them all." Prowl added. 

"That's right, but why exactly?" The yellow mech pondered it for a second, trying hard to understand who and how. 

Before Prowl could even speak a word, his comms buzzed to life, the guard was quick to answer. Then his face shifted to a look of confusion, he then locked his eyes with Bumblebee's making Bee feel another wave of dread. Once his call was over, Bumblebee immediately questioned him. 

"The Winglord of Vos has issued a full lockdown on the whole city and they aren't letting anyone in or out. Something is wrong, Bee."

"You're right," Bumblebee stared at the corpse he was inspecting before. "First Arcee goes missing after finding Starscream, next, there are over a hundred missing Decepticons, then this attack on Alcatraz. And now Vos."

"You see what I'm seeing, Bee? All of those are related to Decepticons, you reckon that this is some plot by Starscream?"

Bumblebee kneeled down to examine the corpse even closer, especially the 'Con's face, after a short second of searching, he turned towards Prowl with a face of worry. "I don't think it's Starscream." Bee claimed as he raised a brain module in his hand that he found straight from the mouth.

"Wait... please don't tell me..." Prowl didn't want to believe it, he wanted to think of it as merely a coincidence, but he knew that there was no denying it. 

Bumblebee felt the same, he didn't want it to be true. "All signs point towards five certain Decepticons who could be as ferocious as this, and I wish I was wrong."