Thanks for the patience. :) I aoplogize that this chapter is very short, but I split it up between the former Author's note and this chappy. Enjoy!

"It’s insane,” Calamity growled, cranking up the output of her radio to make sure that her team leader received the message. “Why did you agree on this?"

"We proceed as planned," Apocalypse snapped. "And I don't want any further discussions about whether or not it was a good idea to divide our forces."

They needed spare parts and other materials badly, and with being cut off of the Autobot supply line, their friendly Decepticon neighbor was the perfect choice. The Boss had come up with a brilliant, though dangerous plan to distract the Decepticons until Apocalypse and her team mates had accomplished their mission. It was still a risk, but if they didn't get the needed supplies, their struggle for survival was doomed.

"Keep your scanners on full," Apocalypse reminded her party. "Watch out for those Cons. Phobos was in a really foul mood last time we kicked his shins."

"You did have to say that, didn't you?" Decibelle sighed when five enemy blips showed up on her tactical display. The enemy was tough and gave as good as they received. Even as a combiner, they needed all their skills and power to keep ‘Disposer’ at bay, and more often than not it had been pure luck that decided the battle.

"Shuttup," Calamity hissed and planted the last bomb on the depot's entrance. Then, she grinned and activated the time-set. "One minute to Big Boom. Everybody, take cover!"

She hadn't to repeat that twice.

Hot Rod ventured down the long corridor that lead from the office section to repair bay, deeply lost in thoughts. He had spent the past couple of hours trying to find a solution to a situation that, by all means, was his responsibility. Jazz's words had left Hot Rod confused and angry, and Optimus's breakdown didn't help any to resolve the conflict in his emotion and logic chip.

Fortunately, Optimus was doing better now that the Matrix was back with him, had lost the aggression and unpredictability that had marked his condition. But that did nothing about the undeniable fact that Prime was at odds with Ultra Magnus or the lecture that Jazz had received for spilling the beans to Hot Rod. Of course, he didn't know for sure that Jazz had received a dressing down, but judging by the decidedly lousy mood the older Autobot was in ever since his private meeting with Optimus had ended allowed no other interpretation.

/How can I untangle this web of conflicts?/ Sure, there was always the option of taking to drastic measures. /But I'm not ready for that. Not yet, not anymore./ He sighed. Why was it that no matter what he tried, it was bound to somehow go horribly wrong? It was if his entire purpose for existence was causing problems for himself and others.

On the bright side of things, the Matrix sharing had gone unnoticed by the other Autobots. Of course, that was no guarantee that the secret would stay a secret, but with Jazz as an additional confidant they should stand a better chance against exposure. Hot Rod considered to also include Springer and Blaster into the group, though that was something he had to discuss with Optimus first.

Coldstream muttered curses while he frantically tried to reboot the defense system. The Base was under heavy attack. Or so the readout said, but things at the base were quiet. /So Apocalypse is back in business again./ Always the same old tricks with taking down the defe-

The explosion knocked Coldstream off his feet and he started at the gaping hole that had appeared in the ceiling. /Now, this is new. They never attacked the base directly./

Coldstream yelled orders to his soldiers, while the combiner team was already on its way to track down the annoyance named Autobots.

Phobos jumped to escape a laser shot that almost singed his wings, scanning for his team mates. /Damnation./ Just when he thought he had figured out Apocalypse’s tactics, she came up with something brand new and he was stuck in the next malaise.

Explosions and angry screams showed him the direction. Dire and Xerxes were engaged in close combat with two of the enemy bots – Panic and Vanadis, his memory circuits identified. Disaster tried to get a lock on the Autobot shuttle, but the pilot was skilled, and instead of receiving a hit, managed to fire a full set of bombs and missiles on the Decepticon Base. And no sign of Catastrophe...

"Damn it, Cat, where are you?" Phobos fired a few more shots, until it dawned to him that something was terribly amiss. Where was that dreaded Apocalypse and her team?

He dove for cover quickly, looking nothing but a silver colored blur to the attackers. /Speed does have its advantages./

Then, two things happened at once. First, Catastrophe finally arrived, almost tripping over his all time companion Sidekick. Simultaneously, the intruder alert for the east depot went off.

"Great," Phobos muttered. “That answers the question where Apocalypse is meddling around.”

"The depot!" Coldstream yelled through the radio. Phobos snorted. As if he didn’t know what they had stored there. But going after Apocalypse would leave the base wide open for more destruction. The bombs had taken out three of Coldstream’s soldiers, and the rest of them were engaged in battle. It was a classic, risky, but well executed and rather successful, Phobos had to admit that much. Above him, the shuttle headed towards the depot, most likely to transport away the stolen good. He really hated Autobots.

At the depot, the five bots were moving all kinds of supplies and equipment into two large containers and shoved them over to the waiting shuttle.

"Move it, move it!" Apocalypse rallied her team. "This isn't a vacation!"

When the last of the stuff was stowed away, Binom closed the hatch and took off, his shuttle quickly gained altitude and soon was out of the atmosphere.

"Autobots, retreat!" Elita One's order sounded over the battlefield, and was transmitted by radio to the rest of her party. She would have liked to buy Apocalypse and her team some more time, but they were out of ammunition. Even though Vanadis had taken 'care' of two more soldiers, it was only a matter of time until the they would be defeated.

One by one, the Autobots broke free from the fight, escaping into the jungle that surrounded the base. All they had to do now was get to the rendezvous point and keep a low profile until Binom came back with the shuttle to pick them up. /I should have stayed on Cybertron/ Elita sighed.

"How dare they!" Coldstream grunted, barely suppressed anger in his voice. Not only had those blasted Autobots tricked him yet another time, they also succeeded into stealing more valuable equipment and supplies, damaging his Base, his soldiers, and not to forget, his pride. He caught a glimpse of Crosspatch vanishing in the green ocean of leaves. /Traitor./

Helping the enemy leader to escape was one thing, but joining an attack on your old fighting allies was unforgivable in Coldstream’s book. Oh yes, Crosspatch would beg to die when Coldstream was done with him. “Follow them.”

Phobos looked as if he wanted to say something, then just ordered: "Disposers, transform and follow me!"

Instants later, the five jets - all except for Phobos had Cybertronian design - screamed over the Base with high speed and took after the escaping enemy.

One look at his diminished forces and the smoldering ruin that used to be his headquarters told Coldstream that he was now at a serious disadvantage. He hated the feeling.

To be continued...