Frozen in Prime

Inside Job

"Wakey, wakey." Knockout said with a creepy smile as Smokescreen woke up. "What?" Smokescreen asked as he tried to move, but Energon cuffs pinned him to a berth. "If you're looking for your Phase Shifter, finders keepers." Knockout said and held the relic on his wrist.

"Enough prattling, Knockout. Hand me the final Iacon Relic now." Megatron commanded. "Yeah, I can't really help you. That's the only one I was packing." Smokescreen said. "Soundwave." Megatron said. "You got the wrong guy, chief. Optimus Prime's the one who can decode the Iacon Database." Smokescreen said.

Megatron smiled maliciously. "Ah, but you misunderstand. The final entry has been decoded by us. And according to our findings, it would appear I do indeed have the right guy." He said as the pixels on Soundwave's visor turned into Smokescreen. "The question is, what is it that you are still packing?" Knockout asked and used a data pad to scan Smokescreen, and found the final Omega Key in his torso. "Why, hidden treasure, of course!" He said.

"Smokescreen must have been taken aboard the Decepticon warship. Tracing his signal through its shielding will be impossible." Ratchet said. "Continue monitoring all frequencies, Ratchet. Far more than Smokescreen's fate may be at stake." Optimus said.

"I don't get it. How could Smoke be an Omega Key?" Bulkhead asked. "Perhaps he isn't the key, but its container." Ratchet said. "The other Iacon Relics were sent to Earth in pods. Why not this one?" Arcee asked. "When the Decepticons stormed Iacon, it may have been too late for Alpha Trion to launch the final Omega Key into space. At least by standard means." Optimus said.

"So Smokescreen assumed everything went black because he was hit by Decepticons -" Arcee started. "But Alpha Trion's the one who actually turned out the kid's lights." Bulkhead finished.

"It stands to reason that my mentor did not want Smokescreen to know what he was carrying in the event of capture." Optimus said. "And with a mobile relic, Alpha Trion couldn't possibly supply fixed coordinates." Arcee said. "So, the Big A slipped us a clue instead. Smoke's mugshot." Bulkhead said.

"The Decepticons got to Smokescreen first, I fear they have decoded the same clue." Ratchet said.

"Yet another of these identical relics? Remove it swiftly." Megatron said. "With pleasure." Knockout said and readied his saw. "I do so resent a finish flashier than my own." He said. Knockout lowered his saw towards Smokescreen's torso but then changed it back into his servo. "Made you squirm." He said.

Knockout then put a servo on his own arm, but it passed through like a ghost. "Trippy." He said. Knockout stomped his pede, and it didn't go through the floor. "And intuitive. Proper grounding ensures that its user won't phase through the floor." He said. "I said swiftly." Megatron said.

Knockout put his servo into Smokescreen's torso. "Get your stinking hand out of my gears!" Smokescreen said. "And gotcha!" Knockout said as he yanked out the final Omega Key. "Tell me the function of these relics." Megatron ordered. "Doorstops, shavers, bling. Beats me." Smokescreen said.

"Hmm. A pity this little gadget won't allow me to just reach into his Brian pan and pluck out the info." Knockout said. "Fortunately, we possess a device that can." Megatron said.

"Individually, each of these so-called Omega Keys is useless. Yet possessing even a single one grant's me tremendous negotiating power with either Autobots or Decepticons." Starscream said. He approached his terminated clone. "Still, imagine if I managed to acquire the other 5." He said.

Starscream imagined a revived Cybertron. "I could revive Cybertron and seize the throne as Starscream the First Supreme Overlord and Emperor of Destruction!" He said. He started laughing but got serious again. "But unlike Megatron, I lack the necessary infrastructure to enforce such a reign. No warship, no army, only my meager laboratory finds, a Ground-Bridge remote control, a single remaining does of Red Energon, and you, old friend, but I would all too gladly trade this simply to be restored to my former glory." Starscream said.