Sorry if this chapter is shorter than the last one. I kinda suck at writing introductions

Autobot Outpost Omega 1...

"Bulkhead! I needed that!" Ratchet shouted.

"Oh... uh... hehe." Bulkhead chuckled sheepishly.

"Aw, come on, Ratchet. Lighten up a little! I've hardly ever seen you use it." Miko says in Bulkhead's defense.

"Just because I rarely use it does not mean that it's not important!" Ratchet exclaims.

"Right, sorry." Miko says.

"Ugh, it's like caring for a group of restless sparklings." Ratchet groans.

Ratchet then returned his attention to the terminal.

As he was looking over the status of the base, a yellow sports car with black stripes entered the base. When came to a stop, a small boy with glasses hopped out from the passenger seat.

"Hey Raf! How was the science fair?" Miko asked.

"It was awesome! There were so many cool things! And the best part is, I got first place!" Rafael exclaimed excitedly as he pulls out a trophy from the back seat of the sports car.

"Awesome!" Miko exclaimed.

The sports car then transformed into a bipedal robot.

"[Yeah! Ratchet really helped Raf out with his project.]" Bumblebee beeped.

"Wait, Ratchet helped?" Bulkhead asked.

"Yes, I did. I had some downtime when Rafael asked." Ratchet explained.

Just then, a teenage boy riding a blue motorcycle. The boy hopped off the motorcycle, which also transformed into a bipedal robot, though this one was feminine.

"Arcee. How was patrol?" Ratchet asked.

"Not a 'Con in sight, as usual." Arcee replied.

Miko suddenly starts sniffing the air.

"Is that... cologne?" Miko asked.

"Jack? You want to tell them about that girl I saw you with?" Arcee asked teasingly.

Jack stuttered for a moment, then quickly changed the subject.

"Where's Optimus?" Jack asked.

"Convenient that you mention that Jack. He should be arriving any moment now." Ratchet replied as he pulled the lever to activate the Groundbridge.

The Groundbridge then whirred to life, and the portal opened. Mere moments after the Groundbridge opened, a large red semi truck rolled through. When the portal closed, the semi truck transformed into the Autobot leader himself.

"Welcome back, Optimus. Any news on the energy signature in the Antarctic?" Ratchet asked.

"It was a false alarm. There was a simple power fluctuation in a human military research facility." Optimus Prime replied.

"That's good. At least it's not the Decepticons working on a super-weapon like we feared." Ratchet said.

Just then, Ratchet's monitor began to beep. Ratchet turned his attention to the terminal to investigate. And what he found was shocking.

"Optimus! I'm getting a life signal about 30 miles south of Las Vegas." Ratchet said.

"'Bot or 'Con?" Arcee asked.

"That's the odd thing. It's neither." Ratchet replied.

"A neutral Cybertronian?" Raf asked.

"No. I mean it's not Cybertronian." Ratchet explained.

"What?!" Arcee exclaimed.

"Whatever, or whoever, this is has a similar life signal to a Cybertronian. Similar, but not the same. That may be why we were able to pick it up." Ratchet explained.

Suddenly, about 20 red life signals popped up on the monitor.

"I guess the we ain't the only ones looking to throw a welcome party." Bulkhead growled.

"Ratchet, get us as close you can to the life signal without being detected." Optimus ordered.

Ratchet nodded, then he inputs the coordinates into the Groundbridge controls. The then Groundbridge opens back up.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus said.

Then he, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee transformed into their vehicle forms and drove through the Groundbridge.

30 miles south of Las Vegas...

Somewhere in the desert of Nevada, the other side of the Groundbridge opened up, and out rolled the Autobots. They then transformed back into their robot modes and scanned the area with their weapons drawn.

"[Nothing so far...]" Bee beeped.

The Autobots proceeded to walk forward in the direction of the mysterious life signal. As they got closer, they eventually reached a mineshaft. Optimus then called Ratchet.

"Ratchet, we are going underground. Expect radio interference." Optimus said.

"Roger that, Optimus." Ratchet said over the radio.

And with that, the Autobots entered the mineshaft. As they proceeded through the old tunnel, they encountered nothing. Which was kind of surprising to them.

"Not a single 'Con yet. Odd, they're not usually this subtle when hunting someone." Arcee said.

The Autobots continue through the mine. Bumblebee turns his head and sees something shocking.

"[Uhh, guys? I think I found why the 'Cons are so quiet.]" He beeped.

The others turned to see what Bee was talking about.

It was a bunch of dead Decepticons.

"It seems that the Decepticon squadron we picked up was not the first." Optimus said.

"Yeah, no kidding. At least we know now that whoever we're looking for isn't a fan of 'Cons." Bulkhead said.

"But if Ratchet was right and they aren't Cybertronian, they might think we're with the 'Cons." Arcee said.

"I agree with Arcee. If this being is indeed unfamiliar with Cybertronians, then it would be best if we use a friendly, yet cautious approach." Optimus said.

The Autobots inspected the Decepticon bodies.

"They all have some kind of puncture wound on them. The long and thin ones would suggest some kind of blade." Arcee said.

"There also the small, round ones. Similar to human ammunition." Bulkhead said.

Just then, a loud bang came from deeper in the cave.

"[What was that?!]" Bee exclaimed.

Then three more bangs.

"Sounds like our mysterious visitor is hard at work." Arcee said.

The Autobots hurried towards the source of the sound... only to be met with the Decepticon squadron they picked up earlier, as well as a few more that must have gotten here before the squadron.

The Decepticons turned around, and immediately began firing on the Autobots. Four of them charged at the Autobots.

Arcee jumped over one, kicked him in the face, punched him, then swung her bladed servo into his neck. Bumblebee punched the second twice, kicked him away, then shot him a whole bunch. Bulkhead simply smashed the third's head with his wrecking servos. And Optimus dispatched the fourth by kicking him to the ground and blowing his head off.

However, there were too many remaining Decepticons firing at them, so the Autobots were forced to take cover. They assess the situation, and they don't like their odds.

"Optimus, as much as it pains me to say it, our only options here are to retreat or die." Arcee said.

"I don't like either option, but I'm refuse to be a prisoner." Bulkhead agreed.

"[If we retreat, then at least we tried. If we die here, then it was an honor to serve with you all.]" Bee said.

Optimus did not want to even consider either option. But the situation they were currently in left him with no other choices.

He refused to lose any more friends.

"Autobots-"

"LOOK OUT BELOW!!!"

Suddenly, an object came out of nowhere and exploded, which knocked a few Decepticons back. Then, the shards that came out of the object began flying towards the other Decepticons, knocking them down and even killing two of them.

Then a figure jumped over the Autobots and landed in the middle of the Decepticons. The Autobots couldn't see his face, as his back was turned to them. What they could see was that this person wore clothes, as well as a hooded cape.

He then pulled out a black and white handgun.

"Alright everybody. Let's take it from the top." He quipped.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(Replace Fallen with Decepticons, and 0:51 to 2:26.)

When the person was done, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead were in awe at his fighting capability. Optimus was also impressed, however it didn't show as much as the other three.

Given that he was moving so fast that they couldn't see his face, they were surprised when he turned around to pick up his gun. Like them, he appeared to be some kind of cybernetic-organism, only much more advanced.

"Ok, so who wants to go next?" He asked.

The Autobots then made themselves known. When the robot saw them, he immediately aimed his weapon at them, but held his fire.

"Huh. Finally called out some muscle. Alright, let's see what you got big guys." He said.

"Uh, we're not here to fight you. Especially not after that." Bulkhead said nervously.

"Oh, well thank you for noticing my little performance. So, if you'd like to leave with your lives, or if you came looking for something, I suggest you do so now." He said.

"Uh, about that..." Bulkhead stammered.

Without hesitation, the stranger suddenly put the pieces together.

"You're here for me, aren't you?" He asked.

"Uh... yeah." Bulkhead admitted.

The stranger then sighed.

"Before you continue... you with them?" He asked, gesturing to the dead Decepticons.

"You see these symbols?" Arcee asked, gesturing to the Autobot insignia on her winglets.

"And that tells me all I need to know." The stranger replied immediately after seeing the insignia.

He then put away his gun. Then Optimus stepped up.

"My name is Optimus Prime. We came here to investigate a life signal similar to the one that our kind emits. And we believe that you may be the source." Optimus explained.

"... yeah, probably. Oh, and since you introduced yourself, Cayde-6, at your service. But I really prefer you just call me Cayde." The stranger, 'Cayde', said.

He then turned around and walked towards one of the dead Decepticons.

"[What do you mean 'Probably'?]" Bee asked.

Arcee began to translate, but before she could utter a word...

"Look, my vocally challenged friend, I've been in this body for... I don't really know how long, but I will say that despite being in this body for a long time, I still don't know everything it's capable of." Cayde said as he yanks a knife from the head of a dead Decepticon.

"Wait, what do you mean 'this body'?" Arcee asked.

"Oh yeah, my kind has reached a point in technology where we can upload our brains into cybernetic bodies." Cayde explained.

"What?!" Arcee exclaimed.

"Look, I would love to tell you a story that I didn't really pay attention to, but it's a long one. And normally I love telling long stories, especially ones that depict my me in all my glory. However, I don't want to do it here if they got more friends coming." Cayde explained as he gestured to the dead Decepticons.

"[He's got a point. I don't want to stick around if the 'Cons have reinforcements on the way.]" Bumblebee beeped.

"Yeah, so... you guys have a way out of here? Preferably one that isn't the front door? Y'know, just in case those reinforcements you mentioned are already here and are waiting for us." Cayde asked.

"We do, but our guy back at base would need to know our exact coordinates, and being underground is causing interference with our comms." Arcee explained.

"Right... what if your comm signal was boosted, would that help at all?" Cayde asked.

"Uh... yeah, but how are you-" Bulkhead started.

"Think you can help with that?" Cayde asked someone the Autobots couldn't see.

Before the Autobots could even ask who he was talking to, a small robot materialized out of thin air.

"I can, but I would need their radio frequency in order to do so." It replied in a feminine voice.

Arcee was about to ask what it was, then Cayde explained before she could say anything.

"This is Sundance, Sun for short. She's basically an AI robot that helps out when I'm running ops. Again, long story that we don't have time to explain right now." Cayde said.

"Right. What was that about needing a radio frequency?" Arcee asked.

"Well, in order to boost a frequency, I'd have to know what said frequency is." Sundance explained.

"[How would you get it?]" Bumblebee asked.

"I'd have to scan it, of course." Sundance replied.

"And how does that work?" Bulkhead asked.

"Like this." Sundance said.

She then emitted a blue laser into Bulkhead's Audio Receptors. Arcee and Bee were about threaten Sundance to stop, but didn't when they heard Bulkhead tell Sundance to 'cut it out' and said 'it tickles' while laughing uncontrollably.

After three more lasers, Sundance was done.

"Got it. Boosting signal now." Sundance said.

Then her pieces suddenly split away from her eye. Then the Autobots noticed that they were getting a signal.

"Ratchet, do you read me?" Optimus asked.

"Optimus, I'm reading you. I don't know how, but your signal was somehow boosted." Ratchet said.

"Yes. We found the source of the life signal." Optimus said.

"Really? What was it?" Ratchet asked.

"A man called Cayde." Optimus replied.