Transformers: Retribution by David J. Williams, Mark Williams

something, I just don’t know what it is.”
    Bumblebee stepped forward and issued a series of low-pitched beeps. “See?” Rodimus asked. “Bumblebee says—”
    “I heard him,” Ironhide said. “Yes, our scans picked up elaborate undersea structures beneath here, but chances are they use them to store more Energon.”
    “How do you know that for sure?”
    “Because they’re right next to the Energon-mining facilities.”
    “You mean they’re right next to what we’ve been
told
are Energon-mining facilities.”
    Ironhide frowned. “And you think we should go down there uninvited and snoop around?”
    “As a matter of fact, I do.”
    Kup threw the remains of his cy-gar on the ground. “Okay, say I’m with you on this, kid. What’s the plan?”
    “The plan is we sneak into the undercity and find out what these bots are really up to,” Rodimus said.
    “And what about the chain of command?”
    “Optimus will forgive us if we’re wrong.”
    “And if we’re right?” Kup asked.
    “Well, then we’re going to have much bigger problems than not having followed the chain of command. Ironhide, will you cover for us?”
    “Will I … Wait a second. You mean I don’t get to go?”
    “Well, if you disappear as well, Optimus won’t know where we went.”
    Kup was mulling things over. “In order for us to do this quickly, we’ll have to take the dropship.”
    “What? No.” Ironhide crossed his arms across his barrel chest. Kup stepped forward and placed his hand on his old friend’s shoulder.
    “If this plan is going to work, we need an edge. If we take the dropship, we can scoot out to the seabed and take a closer look at this operation from a new angle. Maybe one these fish-bots aren’t expecting.”
    “And with these sensors we can cover a lot more ground a lot sooner,” Rodimus added. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
    Ironhide’s metal brow furled at the notion, but he knew deep down that they were right; there was no sense in going halfway on a caper like this. Sure, he knew Jazz would read him the riot act, but every ounce of his combat experience told him that the only way to be sure about anything was to see it with one’s own optics. And in a situation like this, Kup’s eyes were as good as his own.
    “Fine,” he said. “You go ahead and I’ll keep a lookout here.”
    “Thanks, old buddy,” Kup said.
    “Not a scratch on that dropship, you hear?”
    As Rodimus, Kup, and Bumblebee piled inside, Ironhide couldn’t help thinking that this was the second time that day he had been left behind. He wished he was speeding off to do some exploring, but deep in his circuits he knew somebody had to mind the store. Through the ship’s forward viewports, he watched Rodimus climbing into the pilot’s acceleration chair while Bumblebee joined him at the navigator’s station. Then Rodimus shot him a crisp salute; the next moment, the engines roared as theship lifted off the pad, swerved to the side, and then plunged into the gray ocean. All Ironhide could do was thank Primus that Kup was going with them.
    The kids these days were getting harder and harder to reason with.
    T HE C URATOR LED THE A UTOBOTS DEEPER INTO THE city, along ramps and down elevators, to an area that he described as their social service complex, a group of buildings that apparently served as one of many energy distribution hubs when the city was fully inhabited. At the center of the annex stood a huge hospital. Ratchet, Perceptor, and Jazz escorted Bulkhead as he carried Optimus’s body inside; Prowl and the rest of the Autobots stood guard out on the streets. It wasn’t as if there were any other bots in sight, but as far as Prowl was concerned, that was all the more reason to stay vigilant. His optics swept over empty roads and buildings while he wondered what the hospital looked like inside.
    The answer was impressive, to say the least. It was all Ratchet could do not to stare in awe at the scope of the