It's that time again, another episode of my own version of season three of Transformers Prime courtesy of LuisJM. Now this is what I think will be a filler story, not much a tie in to the ark I'm setting up, but also a part of it. Let me explain… See, I watched Tron: Uprising a long time ago and there is one episode that had two things happening. Both of which seem to tie in to two different setups. If you like to see an episode like that, then I suggest that you check out the TU episode, 'The Stranger' and you'll see what I mean. It's somewhere in iTunes or YouTube if you're willing to pay a small about of money for it. I want to incorporate something like this into this episode.

See I want to continue with the Decepticons discovering something that would be of use for their armada and the Autobots have to stop it. But I also want to focus on MECH as well, since they are going to be part of a bigger story arc that I would be working on. Not gonna spoil too much, but it will involve a shocking twist that you won't see coming. That's all I'm going to say. But it would fit the previous two episodes where they were working on Project Noah and will continue with it. It would be interesting to read through. But let's not get carried away as I need to put together a brief summary for the episode.

While the Autobots try and stop the Decepticons from transferring a huge asset to Darkmount, John and Elsa went on a mission to find out what MECH is planning to destroy whatever project they have. Will the two succeed?

Chapter Notes

This is where you need to read the previous four episodes to get an idea on what's going on so far. Otherwise you will get lost in the story and have no clue on what's going on. Also, keep in mind that Elsa de Sica is a character on Gunslinger Girls; it's not a crossover. I really don't want to remind everyone on this, so this is the first and last time I have to remind all of you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformer Prime

Transformers Prime Season 3
Episode Five: Double Trouble

Previously on Transformers Prime…

The Decepticons have grown stronger ever since they made their mark on Earth. Not only that they have their fortress and laid waste to Jasper, Nevada, but also regained Shockwave, a mad scientist that gave them Predaking, a dangerous and indestructible Predacon that almost destroyed Optimus and his team. That is until Jack, or Rodimus, became a Prime and took the dragon Con out with one swipe to the main core. Still, with that little setback, they are still strong in numbers and the fortress combined with the barrier that is protecting them from the military outside of Jasper; they won't leave until the whole planet is theirs. But they are not the only threat on this planet.

There is a terrorist group by the name of MECH, and organization dedicated in world domination with the use of the most advance technology and weaponry. Their latest and greatest is Project Metamorphosis. Created and under the watchful eye of The Director, who is the head of MECH's science division, this project's purpose is to turn MECH's military into Cybertronian soldiers. Still, he didn't want to stop there as he has a new project that the Board of Directors does not know about. His newest work is called Project Noah. This project is MECH's version on a ground bridge when they copied and downloaded the schematics from the Autobot's processors when they took them in and wanted to extract all information of Cybertronian weapons and tech. With that type of information, it would let MECH move from place to place through the bridge and would be useful when they try to get into Jasper to initiate a plan the Director is planning on. Already, they have made some progress when they took all the Tusgsten steel from POSGO in California. Now they need to use all the steel to construct the skeletal structure. If they continue with this work, it would ultimately get them one step closer to the Director's main goal.

Chapter One: Red Energon

Down in the mountains of Colorado, there was absolute silence as the sky was clear and not a soul was around. But on the ground, a completely different story. There was a cave located at the bottom of the mountainside and a group of Decepticons around it. Half of them where Vehicons patrolling the area, while the other half were miners working in transferring the energon they discovered in the crates and stacked them up for distribution. Inside the cave, more energon was on the walls and floor as the miners were cutting pieces of them to move in smaller bulk. The rest were on their drills to open new paths to locate more veins of their life source. Once of the miners were on one of the drills as he was moving to the wall that looks promising to find some energon. He's already midway in the digging process as the drill was almost finished. But as he was working, the drill stopped and there was a noise coming from in the contraption he was in. He noticed this and was trying to pull it back, but the drill was latched onto the wall so hard that it was impossible in getting out of it. As he was trying to pry it out of the wall, one of the Vehicons was looking at his pad on the progress of the excavation. But then, he heard the sound of a noise coming from the stuck drill. Turning to that direction, he saw the miner trying desperately in getting his drill out of the wall and called him out.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get that drill out of there or it will break down!"

The miner heard him and explained of the situation.

"I'm trying! This cursed wall won't budge! It's like it won't break through!"

The Vehicon sighed and decided to help him.

"Hang on… I'll help…"

He soon walked towards the stuck drill as the others noticed it to see what's going on. As soon as the Con approached the miner, he checks to see what's the problem.

"Let me see… Try and increase the magnitude of the drill. That will loosen it."

The miner turned to him and was a little skeptic.

"Are you serous?! Increasing the speed of the drill could cause the wall to crumble and bury us! We don't know if this wall is stable enough."

The Vehicon glared to him and told him to do it.

"Not my problem. If this drill gets damage, Megatron will have both our heads for it. Now increase the drill's speed! Now!"

With no other choice, he raises the speed to its maximum output and the drill was struggling to spin. After a few more seconds, the drill immediately spins incredibly fast and broke the wall around it. But as soon as it did that, the cracks were starting to spread fast and went from bottom to top. The ground soon shook as the wall broke apart and started to crumble. The two saw the rocks coming down and were in a complete panic as the drone told the miner to get out of the way.

"Back up! Back up! BACK UP!"

The miner heard him and got the drill in reverse, backing up in quick speeds. They managed to make their escape as the piles of rocks came down to the ground and piled up completely. The drill stopped completely and the two made it out alive while the rest of the Cons gathered around them to see if they're all right.

"You two okay? That was a serious collapse."

The drone looked to his comrades and told them that they're fine.

"Yeah, we're good. Though that was too close for comfort. That wall must've been super hard if it can make it impossible to drill. Wonder what happened?"

As he was figuring things out, one of the miners turned to see what was up with the wall and saw something that nearly got him too shocked for words. He soon pointed to the hole and told the head drone of what he saw.

"Um… Sir? You might want to see this."

The Vehicon heard him and turned to see what he wants him to see. Looking up, his visor was wide and couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the hole of the super hard wall is what looked like a huge vein of what appears to be Red Energon crystals, energon that will grant anyone super speed. The rest of them saw this and couldn't believe it completely as one of the Cons spoke about it.

"Is that what we think it is?"

The Vehicon leading the operation looked right at it and decided to contact the leader of the Decepticon himself.

"Get me Lord Megatron. And cut all that energon out of the wall and set it up for transfer. That Red Energon is our main objective now."

Five minutes later, up on the top of Darkmount, Megatron was sitting on his throne while Starscream and Soundwave stood both sides of their leader. The Vehicon leader of the mining operation in Colorado was on the holo screen discussing of what they discovered. Something that caught the second in command by surprise.

Starscream: "What? Red Energon?! You found it in your mine?"

The Vehicon nodded and explained about it.

"Yes, Commander Starscream. We were busy getting the energon out of the mine when one of my miners got his drill stuck in a super hard wall. By the time he pried it out with such speeds, the wall opened up and revealed all that Red Energon on that wall. We were quite as shocked as you are, commander."

Megatron heard this and was very interested about this discovery.

Megatron: "So there is Red Energon on this planet. This is quite a fascinating find."

The commander turned to him and told him of the last time Red Energon was found.

Starscream: "Actually, my liege, there was a time that human discovered a small chunk of it not to long ago. I learned that when I was in exile."

Megatron peered his eyes to him and understood that part.

Megatron: "That might be true, but not as big as a discovery as this. With this much energon, we can used it to fuel our armada and they will wipe the planet clean and would achieve victory in a matter of seconds. Long before the Autobots would even discover an attack coming. We might even get out main goal of world conquest back on track and then some."

Looking back at the Vehicon, he asked of the energon that they found.

Megatron: "What is the progress of the Red Energon."

Back outside the mine, the Vehicon explained of what they're doing.

"We have already started excavating the energon and are transferring them out of the mine. Once we get them all out and piled it up, we'll be waiting for the Nemesis to come and retrieve it."

Megatron: "Excellent… You have done well. I'll have Starscream pilot the Nemesis to your position as soon as possible. Make sure all that red energon is gathered together and have your team on constant watch incase the Autobots show their faces. No doubt they will pull all the stops in ruining my operations."

The Vehicon nodded and gave a quick salute.

"It shall be done, Lord Megatron."

As he was talking, one of the hover carriers was carrying stacks of Red Energon and was getting to the pile that was building up. But as one of the miners was pulling the carrier, he hit a rock at the bottom and started to shake a little bit. One of the crates started to fall off the stack and hit the ground. Now the container the red energon was in would've kept the energon safe from any impact. But when this container hit the ground, it immediately exploded and created a huge plume of red explosions, destroying it, the miner and the rest of the rest energon on the carrier. The group and caught by the explosion and were knocked out by the impact. Thankfully, the rest of the red energon didn't get caught in the blast and none of them didn't fall from their own stacks. But it did catch Megatron by surprise on the other end and demanded what has happened.

Megatron: "What in the All Spark was that? Have the Autobots attacked? Answer me!"

The leading Vehicon struggled to get up as he responded to Megatron's questions.

"I'm here, my liege. The Autobots didn't attack us. Looks like one of the containers hit the ground and exploded on impact."

Back at the throne room, Starscream heard that and was completely shocked by that.

Starscream: "Impossible?! Those containers are built to withstand even an earthquake and the energon would still be intact. How could Red Energon explode that easily after one fall?"

The Vehicon on the screen looked back at the red flames and that the stacks of energon was located while the rest of the group was trying to put the flames out. Seeing this, he made a real good assumption as to why it exploded.

"Beats me… But judging by the looks of it, all that Red Energon we've discovered might be highly unstable. Not even a container can protect us from it. Guess that could explain the explosion that happened."

Megatron heard that and was relieved that the Autobots didn't attack them. But at the same time, he was iffy about this unstable energon from the start.

Megatron: "Clean up that mess immediately and continue with the extraction. And this time, be careful with the remaining containers. It is bad enough that we already lost a small chunk of it. It will be far worse if we loose it all."

The Vehicon nodded and went right to work.

"Right, my liege. We'll work on that right away. Out."

The holo screen soon vanished from in front of Megatron as the leader was in quite a conundrum.

Megatron: "This has officially complicate things. With this Red Energon highly unstable, it would be difficult in transferring all of it from here to Darkmount."

Starscream, after witnessing the explosion, decided to speak to Megatron of the bigger situation that they have. Turning to him, he cleared his throat to begin what he was going to say.

Starscream: "With all due respect, my liege, this unstable Red Energon could lead to some serious consequences."

Megs heard his Commander and turned to him for an explanation.

Megatron: "Really? Do explain to me why?"

Starscream staggered back a little when the Decepticon leader had that intimidating look on his face.

Starscream: "Erm… Well, as you can see on the screen, the explosion was caused by a drone foolishly hitting a rock, causing the container to hit the floor. All the energon we stored on the Nemesis does tend to wobble and fall when we have more the ship around. If we put all the Red Energon on the ship, and one of the containers fall inside, it might lead to an explosion on the inside that we cannot contain and will crash to Earth.

Megatron heard that and was curious if what he said was true. Indeed, all of the energon in their vessel is a mess and it would be foolish to place something unstable into an engine room that is still volatile. So he sighed and agreed with his commander.

Megatron: "Perhaps your right, Starscream. It will be foolish to place anything that's unstable into our ship with grave consequences. Perhaps an alternate mode of transportation is in order to transfer the energon safely. Maybe use a ground bridge to move the energon safely here."

Scream heard him and was skeptic about those ideas too.

Starscream: "Lord Megatron, we do not have any modes of transportation that can transport our newly acquisition. Not to mention with all that energon being unstable, we have no clue on how it will react from the bridge's energy particles. Might explode and take the citadel out in the process mid transfer. There is no way in getting all that energon here safely."

By the time he said all that, a voice came from the distant.

Shockwave: "Perhaps there is a way…"

They both heard that voice and turned to the front of the throne room to see who was there. Standing before them was a Con with a cannon attached to his right arm and a head that had only one red optic. That Con is Shockwave, the Decepticon's science officer. They both didn't expect him to arrive as Starscream spoke to him.

Starscream: "Shockwave. What an unexpected surprise. Shouldn't you be back in your lab repairing your Predacon?"

Shockwave turned to the commander and explained about his sudden arrival.

Shockwave: "My apologies, commander. I was on my way to check up on how repairs of the citadel is doing to see if I can improve on Predaking's performance without causing a huge amount of damage. As far as repairs would go, it is a slow process. Though I promise you that it will be completed as soon as possible."

Starscream: "Then I suggest that you return to your lab and continue with your work. Predaking needs to be fully operational as soon as possible, so we can eliminate the Autobots and conquer this planet."

Shockwave: "Don't rush science Commander. If you do, then the probability of success will decrease a substantial amount. Though I couldn't help but to overhear the challenge that Lord Megatron is in. Perhaps I would assist our leader in whatever endeavor he's going through."

He soon turned to his leader and asked if he is in need of some help.

Shockwave: "Which is why I ask you, my liege, what is it that troubles you?"

Megatron looked to his science officer and was curious if he would assist him in this situation. So he decided to let him in on what's recently been going on.

Megatron: "Very well, Shockwave. Just now the miners in one of our energon mines have discovered a rare, yet volatile, Red Energon vein. They managed to remove it and have it ready for transport. But then, one of the containers that have that energon inside slipped out of the transport lifts and dropped to the floor, blowing up on impact. It was from there that we learned that all that energon was volatile and one slight hit can destroy everything in their path. We cannot just bring it on board the Nemesis; otherwise one of them will drop and destroy the whole ship. Nor can we send them all through the ground bridge as the energy levels will overload the energon and exploding it like that of an Earth based nuclear bomb, wiping everything in its path. I am at quite a loss here. Though I am hoping that you have something that can resolve our little issue."

Shockwave listened to every word and gave it some thought. Rubbing his lower helm below his optic, he soon came up with an idea and looked to the leader for an explanation.

Shockwave: "I do have a way in solving your problems. But of course, I do need a certain resource to help you in this endeavor."

Megatron was curious about his request and asked about it.

Megatron: "And what resource are you referring to? I want to know."

Shockwave soon explained about the details of what he knows so far.

Shockwave: "As if I would recall you have a monorail system to transport scrap metal to you factory in this fortress. From what I can understand, it would be easy to transfer the Red Energon and won't cause them to fall and get blown up giving the proper safety procedures. I can understand that repairs are made on the monorail trains after my Predacon destroyed most of the front of the courtyard to stop the Autobots. If I can use them to transfer the red energon, you will have your product."

Both Cons heard of this and were a little skeptic about it. Even Star didn't like this idea.

Starscream: "That is your idea? Grabbing our railway system to transport the Red Energon? That's just the complicated idea I believe you came up with since your exile. Even if you pull it off, where are you going to put that said monorail cars? Not to mention that there's a barrier protecting us from the military surrounding our territory. The moment those humans see our train; they will destroy it along with the Red Energon. No way that this strategy of yours will ever work."

The science officer turned to the commander and lashed back with his own thoughts.

Shockwave: "On the contrary, commander, I have taken precautions on those barriers and know of a way in getting the energon safely to its destination."

He clicked a button on the console attached to his mounted cannon and a hologram of a digital map of Jasper appeared on it. He soon explained his theory.

Shockwave: "While I was on that scouting mission in annihilating your human opposition in Jasper, I surveyed the area in case of any interest to some new experimentation or testing. What I discovered while surveying the area is there is an old form of technology that could be of use to this endeavor."

He soon hit a few keys to make a close up to the town and showcased what look like tracks in the quarry.

Shockwave: "I discover what appears to be train tracks that connect from the quarry close to the location of the mine the Red Energon is at. As a bonus, there is a tunnel that would take the tracks in and out of Jasper. Not even the human military has that secured yet. If we use these tracks to take the monorail from here to the mines and back, the probability is succeeding will be a 90% chance. That is if you have another option you would like to share, my liege."

He turned to Megatron, waiting for his say so in the matter. The Decepticon leader listened to very word he said and was in deep thought. The whole idea of giving him his monorail system to transfer the energon from that mine to the base. Still, it is a bit of a risk as there are some variables that would lead to problems. Still, there was no other option to move the Red Energon safely and he can't use the Nemesis or the ground bridge to move it, or it would lead to something catastrophic. So thinking about it, he came to a logical conclusion and gave Shockwave permission.

Megatron: "Very well, Shockwave. I'll let you take my monorail cars to transfer the red energon. Give us a few solar cycles to modifying them to fly over the human tracks and work on the navigation systems to let it transfer back and forth between here and that mine. Soundwave here will aid you in this mission of yours. I'll leave the rest up to you."

He then presented Soundwave to the scientist as a mean of assistance. Shockwave heard that and was pleased with the news.

Shockwave: "Thank you, my liege. I promise you that I'll retrieve all that Red Energon for you."

The science officer turned around and was about to leave. But not before Megatron stopped him and remind him of what would happen if he doesn't succeed.

Megatron: "And Shockwave… Do not fail me… I hate to see my only science officer failing me at a spectacular level."

Shockwave heard that and was understandable by all of it.

Shockwave: "I promise you that there won't be any failures in my theory."

He soon walked away from the thrown and headed back to the elevator, brushing past Starscream in the process. He soon turned around when he was on the lift and let the leader know of one thing.

Shockwave: "I'll be at my lab working on Predaking. Let me know when everything is ready to transport the Red Energon."

With that said, the lift lowered and Shockwave disappeared from view. The moment he was gone, Scream was a little aggravated and paced back and forth.

Starscream: "Argh… What is he thinking? Using our transport monorails to take the energon here? That is just a foolish endeavor that even I believe will not work. I take it all those cycles on Cybertron might have rusted his processor in thinking that it would succeed."

Megatron heard his complaints and assured him that it won't come to it.

Megatron: "Patience, Starscream. Though Shockwave has been back for quite a while, his processor is still at work in creating weapons and technologies that will help us conquer this world. And while his theory on transferring the energon is questionable, he does understand that we need any resource in our disposal to achieve victory."

The commander peaked to the side and still wasn't sure of this idea. Turning back, he reminded him of the last creation he made.

Starscream: "With all due respect, Lord Megatron, need I remind you of the last time we trusted him. He was the one that brought forth that Predacon that was programmed to wipe out the Autobots for us, only to have it beaten by a young rookie kid that soon turned out to be the next Prime. And giving that slip up, we don't know if we can trust him anymore in his work."

Megatron brushed it aside when Scream mentioned that to him.

Megatron: "Indeed the destruction of Predaking was a minor setback. And that boy that became the next Prime was unexpected. But we all learn from our mistakes and try to surpass them. But with the Predacon still in repair, we must rely on other sources to help us achieve victory. Getting all that Red Energon will not only give us an edge, but will help us take over this world in one quick sweep. Not even the Autobots will know what happened until it is too late. Have faith in Shockwave and his plan. I'm sure that he will succeed to bringing the Red Energon here in no time."

Starscream: "And if he fails…?"

Megs was silent until he came up with the only thing he can think of.

Megatron: "We'll just wait and see…"

So that's the first chapter of Double Trouble. Not much to go with considering that it's an introduction, but it's a start of something bigger. Will not explain everything in detail, but the next chapter will suffice. A part of which we get to meet the Autobots and get two situations that will complicate matters. Stay tune for this chapter and find out yourself. Please Review. #WherearetheGoodCartoons?