PROLOGUE
--Outpost One--
This mission could certainly have gone better.
Blaster fire peppered the hallway, plasma bolts ricocheting off the walls. Ricochet winced as one narrowly missed his head and hit the control panel behind him, permanently sealing the door shut.
"No way out," he said to his partner, who was crouched down across from him, returning fire. "We're trapped here."
"Just as well," Artfire muttered. "There's no turning back at this point."
Ricochet grimaced, knowing what he meant. This mission was a dangerous one, a mission no one else could perform. If they failed, then there would be no hope for anyone else who followed in their shoes.
Primus forbid on that last part.
Just as Ricochet was about to return fire again, something unexpected happened: the gunfire stopped. Exchanging a look with Artfire, he risked a peek around his cover.
Their enemies were retreating. Not out of fear however; they were moving much to orderly for that to be the case. No, this was planned. This was part of their defense, as if they had been prepared for this.
That was when it hit him. In more ways than one.
Ricochet let out a scream as he was suddenly pulled up into the air. Electrical shocks coursed through his systems, frying each component. Artfire joined him and both Autobots were convulsing in mid-air. Over their screams, a sly voice spoke over the intercom.
"Hello, you two. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Ricochet wanted to deny it, but he knew that voice. It carried a a different, more sinister edge to it now, but it was unmistakable. The current pain he was in prevented him from saying the name.
"You've probably already figured by now, but I had been expecting you." A low chuckle came over the intercom. "Prowl thinks he's got his eyes on me, yet he doesn't realize I have eyes on him. Six more than he does, in fact!"
This gave way to a loud cackle, one which sounded like it was teetering on the edge of sanity. Once it was finished, the voice returned to normal -- or as normal as it could get.
"Now then, you might be wondering what I'm going to do to you. I could kill you, for one. It would be ridiculously easy to do so -- so easy, it wouldn't be funny."
Suddenly, the electrical pulses stopped and both mechs collapsed to the floor, smoke emitting from their bodies.
"But on the other hand... imagine what juicy details I could glean from your processors. Imagine all the dirt I could accumulate and use against Prowl. Oh, I can already see the look on his face. Be still my spinnerets...."
Just to the side, a panel in the wall slid open. Ricochet then felt himself being lifted up and taken towards the opened door, Artfire right beside him.
"Come in, please. Make yourselves at home." The voice belted out another deranged laugh. "I want you to show me something naughty."
ALL THAT GLITTERS
Part I: With Friends Like These
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