//------------------------------//
// Rules Of Nature 
// Story: Top Of The List 
// by dudenotactive 
//------------------------------//

The moon was deathly silent, every vehicon stood on guard and was careful with their surroundings. An energy fence was erected around the Nemesis, a line of sentry watch with open optics for any sign of danger. 

This whole picture was an odd one for Arcee, she would've expected that the Decepticons would guard the ship and keep intruders out. But instead, it looked more like they were keeping something in. A few officers patrolled around, the members from both the Rainmakers and Coneheads. The two seekers walked around as if they expected an ambush or a full-scale attack. 

Whatever it is that got them spooked, it certainly made it harder for Arcee's scouting mission. And all she could get from all this is that there was something about the Nemesis that worried them. That wasn't Arcee's concern, her focus was on a small structure instead, and a very familiar Decepticon. Two of them. 

Swindle and Astrotrain.

A scowl appeared on her face as the former conversed with a Minicon, she seemed to be the leader of this sad bunch. As for Astrotrain, Arcee had forgotten how large he was, some could mistake him as a combiner if he was tall enough. Arcee wondered if Swindle had betrayed them, and there was only one way to find out. One quick change of frequency, she called him on the spot. 

Swindle excused himself from the Minicon and answered. "Swindle here, if you bought it from me, no refund!" He sang to his communication.

"Hello, Swindle."

He tensed up upon hearing Arcee's voice, he glanced over to Astro and Nickel before shuffling away awkwardly. "Ah, Nightbird!" He said the name aloud to avoid suspicion. "Is there anything you need? I'm kinda busy with another client."

"I see you Swindle, talking to the enemy."

Swindle nearly panicked as soon as he learned that Arcee was around, and Swindle turned to face her. It was a random act, but somehow he discovered her the moment after their call started. But in turn, Arcee could see his fear. 

"No, Nightbird, I haven't told the mafia about your involvement with that hit."

"Really?" Though he was speaking about unrelated things, Arcee knew that he merely masked their conversation just so he wouldn't be found out. 

"Nightbird, we go way back, like I'd rat you out to them! Listen, I know I may seem suspicious most of the time, but I am just... making business. So maybe we should all go home before one of us gets hurt?"

"Swindle, is Wheeljack in there?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, but whatever it is you're planning, I can't help. The mafia will be on my aft if I do anything out of line."

"Tell me where he is and I'll bust them out myself."

"Sure, Knock-" He winked in her direction. "yourself Out. And Nightbird? Please clean up after, the cops nearly bagged me instead of you the last time I helped."

"So, guess the comms are in working order, you were all lucky that I was nearby! It would have taken about a year if you had tried to call anyone else." Astrotrain commented. "I get paid for this, right?"

Swindle chuckled. "My friend, you and I have been working together for so long, I'm sure you know now how fair I am towards my colleagues."




Slowly, Arcee sneaked behind enemy lines towards the Storm Slicer. Infiltration was easy when most of the patrols were around the ship, not inside. There were a few vehicons in her path, but she easily avoided them.

She did thank Swindle for his little hint. Knockout was here, not only that, he had Wheeljack and the others. This meant that Arcee must search for the medical room if she wanted to free her friend. Arcee traversed the halls like a shadow, no drone noticed as she linked past them. 

As she peeked around a corner, she came face to face with a terrifying sight. Brawl. 

The combaticon stood there with his back turned, both hands resting on his hips. It was a stroke of bad luck, if she was caught by him then she'd be in bigger trouble than she already is. But something caught her eye that prevented her from fleeing. Brawl was busy with a holographic map displayed in front of him.

"Stupid security system, how was I supposed to know I wasn't allowed there?" Brawl grumbled loudly to himself. "Stinking ghost probably was Starscream messing with us."

Arcee took a quick good look at the map and memorized the path to medbay. She quickly rushed over to where her friend was imprisoned. If she had looked back, then she'd realized that Brawl was staring right at her as she headed for Wheeljack.

It wasn't long before she arrived, the door to the medical room was wide open. And from it, she could hear... Singing?

It was indeed what she had thought, once Arcee had a good look inside she discovered Knockout and Wheeljack singing despite Flamewar's frustration. She recognized it as a song from a movie back on Earth. 

Knockout laughed as he finished. "This reminds me of karaoke night back in MacCadams! Oh, those people were so clueless about the culture from Earth."

"You said it, buddy, Blurr got it stuck in his head for so long. Bet he still hums it today."

"Oh, how is Blurr anyway? Been busy lately, especially now as you can tell."

Wheeljack shrugged. "Nothing new, still making drinks. Though I did hear that he was looking for some help. Guess running the whole joint alone is starting to take a toll, despite being one of the fastest Autobot on Cybertron."

"Well unlike back then, there are more customers nowadays and-"

His sentence was cut short as he felt a blaster pressed against the back of his head. Knockout remained calm and wore a smirk on his face. 

"Arcee, you should really call first."

"Nice to see you too, Knockout, how's the academy?"

"Ah, well, I had to put a pause on my study. A business that needed my attention, if you hadn't noticed." He answered as he faced the Autobot. "Before you say anything, I was forced."

"I don't blame you," She said. "Though I will be needing those three there if you don't mind."

He chuckled. "Of course, and if they ask, I wasn't here."

Arcee smiled a little as she went over to open up the holding cell, only to stop as she came face to face with someone she'd rather not see again.

"Arcee," Flamewar hissed, her eyes glowed intensely as she stared at Arcee with a strange glimmer in her eyes. "Arcee, I found you."

Arcee sighed. "Honestly, I was reluctant to help you guys knowing she's here." She said to Wheeljack. 

Wheeljack grinned. "Oh, you know crazy wheels here? You two do kinda look alike. Sisters?"

"I wish..." Flamewar said with a manic smile. A low chuckle escaped her as an aura full of malice filled the room. 

"Hi, I'm Warpath! Rookie member of the Wreckers, nice to meet you!" Warpath went on to introduce himself with his loudness.

Arcee scowled at Flamewar, she ignored Warpath as her attention was on the Decepticon. "Listen, I am in a truce with Starscream, and if you so much as do anything I don't like. Well, there will be consequences."

Her threat only excites Flamewar. "Yes, it's been far too long, Arcee! Once this is all over, I will keep your spark as a trophy!"

Knockout just went ahead and deactivated the barrier that separated them. "Sheesh, didn't expect her to be this crazy."

"Why are you even with these Decepticons, Wheeljack?"

Before he could even answer Arcee's question, the alarms blared and the halls were flooded with red lights. 

"Quick, hit me!" Knockout immediately ordered his former allies. To which Flamewar obliged. "Thanks," He said as he caressed the dent on his face. "You should all get out of here before the others arrive."

With that said, the four ran out of the room and bolted towards the exit with Arcee in the lead. 

They rounded a corner and came right into the enemy's line of fire. A wall of vehicons stood in their way, weapons ready to blast them all off the face of the moon. Quickly, Arcee and Flamewar acted before their enemies could. The two ran on each wall and towards the drones, the bullets trailed behind them. And before Wheeljack or Warpath could shoot back, the two femmes had already eliminated the threat.

With the drones out of their way, they continued forward.

Somehow, everything became a maze to Arcee as she realized now how unfamiliar the ship was to her. It didn't help with how much Flamewar stared at Arcee as she kept her pace. And though Arcee was at odds with the Decepticon, they worked together well. The two were like two peas in a pod. Arcee and Flamewar gave each other a nod of recognition, it was a chance to prove themselves as they dealt with every encounter. Every drone that crossed their path was terminated with quick and precise strikes at the weakest point. 

Honestly, Wheeljack started to feel left out. He tried to keep up, but the two were far too fast for him even after Knockout's surgeries. Warpath at least weighed as much as an actual tank, he got a pass and a good excuse. 

"You know what? I need to stretch my legs here!" Wheeljack declared as he finally outpaced the smaller bots. 

"I'm with you, boss!" Warpath transformed into his tank mode just so he could gain enough speed to follow his superior into the front lines. 

Once both were upon the Emmy drones, Warpath shifted back into his bot form and blasted the first vehicon with the cannon on his chest, and of course, he let out a loud "Kaboom!" after decimating the drone. 

Wheeljack tore through the waves of drones with his swords, he silently thanked Knockout for not removing his weapons after imprisonment. And now he finally could let loose on the Decepticons.

"Shockwave!" Arcee contacted the cyclops. "We need a Bridge on my coordinates right now!"

"Arcee-?" Only static came through. 

"Scrap," She cursed. 

Flamewar cackled. "Yes, a chance to really tear at them!"

"That's the first sane thing you've said this week!" Wheeljack grinned wildly as he hacked through another wave. 

The battle continued until something far worse than a vehicon arrived. The four came to a full stop as a behemoth of a Decepticon stood in their way. 

Brawl.

Warpath wasted no time and ran up to the opposing tank, but Brawl caught him by the neck and slammed Warpath into the wall. The Autobot tried to land a hit, but Brawl simply headbutted Warpath deeper into the interior of the Storm Slicer. After making sure that Warpath was now stuck as a modern art piece, Brawl turned to face the other three. 

"Who's next?"

Flamewar was kind enough to oblige and humor the bigger Decepticon. Brawl stood defiantly as Flamewar dashed towards him. He opened his palm and tried to catch her, but Flamewar ducked in time just to deliver a jab into Brawl's abdomen. The tank shrugged it off and replied by bringing down both his fists at her, but the femme proved to be quicker than he. 

The other two did not stand idle, they quickly rushed in to give Flamewar some help against Brawl. As for Brawl, he welcomed the challenge, and he'd very much enjoy crushing them.




"This just had to happen now!" Nickel felt her patience run thin. Her hands gripped the edge of the console tightly, some drones feared that she might even break it. "Shatter, hurry up and patch us to Tarn!"

"Diagnosis is nearly complete," Shatter informed the commander. "We will contact Cybertron soon enough."

"Swindle, Astrotrain! Go make yourselves useful and detain the escaping prisoners!"

Swindle raised his hands in front of his chest. "Woah now, fighting isn't really part of my business, I supply fights, not join them."

"And I don't even know what's going on!" Astrotrain reasoned. 

"Fine, if you two won't fight, then bring me crates of ammunition!" She then turned towards Shatter. "How is that call!?"

"Everything is in order, I am connecting to the private channel of the Peaceful Tyranny now." Shatter finally brought Nickel some good news. 

"Nickel, you've finally called." And just like that, Tarn had already connected their calls. His voice sounded as if he was glad to see Nickel. "Is there something to report?"

"Tarn, we have discovered the whereabouts of both the Nemesis and Starscream."

Tarn wore a mask, but Nickel knew that he was smiling behind it. "I am impressed, good work my friend. Kaon, take note of their coordinates, we will prepare some supplies and join you soon enough."

"Bring materials to construct a Space Bridge, we will need it if we were to return to Cybertron faster."

"Nickel, what is that noise?" Tarn finally questioned. 

"Our prisoners escaped, but do not worry, we have everything under-"

The screen turned to static, the ship shook violently and tossed Nickel to the floor. 

"Tarn!?" She called out, but no answer was given.

"Communication is down!" A drone informed them. "A Decepticon aircraft spotted, commander! It's Blitzwing!"

"What!? Slipstream, intercept!"

"Yes sir!" The seekers rushed out of the bridge.

Nickel pulled herself up and held a scowl on her face. She glared out the window and saw the decimated long ranged communication tower. "Why in Primus is Blitzwing attacking!? That doesn't make sense, unless... Starscream!"

Thanks to the fact that Blitzwing had everyone's attention, none noticed Starscream who stood on top of the highest point on the Nemesis. A prideful smirk plastered on him as he witnessed the destruction that Blitzwing brought upon the enemy. And as he expected, the seekers had gone and chased after Blitzwing. With their only air warriors out of the way, it was only a matter of time before Starscream would strike. 

This was just how it is with Cybertronians, they can't deny the rules of nature, for war and conflict is just a part of them. 

He still had other plans.

"Are you here to report something?" He asked out of the blue. "I see, so they tried to enter my room. Forget it, they will not find anything there. I have a mission for you, the Void Gun is in their possession, retrieve it and bring it to me after the skirmish. If you excuse me, I will now go save an annoying Autobot and her friends."

Starscream leaped off the Nemesis, he waited until he was close enough to the ground before he shifted into his jet form. The guards that patrolled closest to him could not react in time as he zoomed through their defenses and towards the Storm Slicer. 

As the battle within the ship continued, and Slipstream's seekers were distracted, a shadowy silhouette stood where Starscream was. It did not move, the shadow simply spectated the chaos below. After a few more seconds, it vanished.