"Hey, Skydive! Catch!"

Skydive lifted his gaze from his datapad in mild surprise. The basketball hit him between his optics with such force that the black Aerialbot got knocked out of his chair.

"Ow…" he said mournfully, rubbing the sore spot in an attempt to ease his pain. He looked up at his siblings indignantly. "Blast it, Slingshot! Are you out of your mind?"

"Hey, it's not my fault if you have such poor reflexes," Slingshot said defensively. He picked up the basketball and started dribbling it loudly. "Besides, it's about time you put that datapad down. Come on, let's play! Air Raid could use another teammate."

Air Raid, who was at the other side of the common room with Fireflight, nodded emphatically.

"I'd rather not," Skydive replied coolly, and got back on his feet. "Where did you find that ball anyway?" he asked.

"That green guy that transforms into a jeep, Hound, had it. I asked him if we could play with it, so he lent it to us," Slingshot replied.

"Yeah, he's cool like that," Fireflight seconded. "Although," at that he scratched his head in thought, "He gave it to us on the condition that we wouldn't get spotted by Prowl or… what was the other thing again?"

"Play indoors, I suppose?" Skydive pointed out.

Fireflight blinked as realisation dawned on him. "Oh, right."

"Bah! Relax, Skydive! What could possibly go wrong?" Air Raid said, grabbing the ball from Slingshot's hand.

"Hey!" the Harrier jet said, "Give that back!"

"Come and get it!" Air Raid declared with a grin and ran off as fast as his feet could carry him. Slingshot took him up to that challenge and lunged at Air Raid, tackling him forcefully on the ground.

"Ha! I win!" Slingshot said smugly, his hands reaching for his sibling's. "Now hand over the ball."

"Wait, wait!" Air Raid replied, checking himself. "I don't have it! It rolled away while we--"

"Looking for this?" a voice said out of the blue.

All four Aerialbots turned around and winced when they saw Prowl. The second-in-command was currently standing at the doorway, holding the basketball and looking back at them quite sternly.

"Care to explain how Hound's basketball came into your possession?" he asked, raising an optic ridge.

Slingshot scratched his head in an embarrassed manner. "Well, uh… you know, that's a funny story…"

"Really?" Prowl said, not believing the small Aerialbot even for a second.

"Yeah," Air Raid replied. "You see--"

Neither Air Raid nor Slingshot got the chance to answer, for Teletraan I's alarm system went off at that very moment.

"Alert. Alert," the mechanical voice sounded through the speakers. "All available Autobot personnel please rally to the control room."

Prowl shook his head and put the ball in subspace before casting a cool glance at the four Aerialbots.

"You may consider yourselves fortunate for the present," he said. "Now proceed to the main control room at once."

"Yes, Sir!" the Aerialbots said. They stood in attention and saluted the second-in-command, a gesture that made Prowl simply huff and turn around. After all, if there was an emergency, his services would be required as well.

"Prick," Slingshot muttered as soon as Prowl was out of sight.

"Shh! He'll hear you!" Skydive exclaimed in a hiss.

"And do what? Ground me?" Slingshot said, snorting. "They need all five of us to get them out of their messes."

"Their messes are our messes too, Slingshot. Remember that," Skydive said. "Now come on. Silverbolt is probably already waiting for us in the control room."

Just as Skydive had said, Silverbolt was in the control room, and he wasn't alone. Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Prowl were there as well, their expressions serious and business-like.

"Well, it was about time you showed up," Ratchet said when he noticed the four Aerialbots coming in.

"Geeze, relax, doc," Air Raid said. "Where's the fire?"

"The 'fire', as you so eloquently put it, is right there," the medic replied, pointing at Teletraan I. There was the image of a dock on the monitor, as well as several yellow dots flashing brightly. "Teletraan I picked up a distress signal from a nearby dock on the west coast."

"And what are those?" Fireflight asked, looking at the blinking dots curiously.

"The Stunticons," Optimus Prime said. "According to Teletraan I, there are several tankers anchored at that dock. That means the Decepticons are after the oil inside those tankers."

Prowl nodded in affirmation. "Ironhide, Brawn, Huffer and Wheeljack are already at the site of the attack, but reinforcements are required. If the Stunticons form into Menasor, the damages on property and human life could be disastrous."

"Say no more," Silverbolt said, understanding what Prowl was implying. "We'll head out now."

"Good," Optimus said. "But keep any damages at the area to a minimum and don't form Superion unless you absolutely have to."

"Understood, Sir," Silverbolt replied with a nod and turned to his teammates. "All right, Aerialbots. Let's go."

"What else is new?" Slingshot muttered. Nevertheless, he followed his siblings outside and transformed to his Harrier mode, eager to battle.

"Are you all right there, Silverbolt?" Skydive transmitted, focusing his optic sensors on the Aerialbot leader. Silverbolt's flight didn't seem smooth anymore, and Skydive couldn't help but feel concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Silverbolt transmitted back, though his voice sounded weak.

"Right. You're getting dizzy again, aren't you?" Slingshot asked. If he could, he would eye Silverbolt in an accusing manner.

"Lay off him, Slingshot. What's your problem?" Skydive said, regretting that he couldn't glare at his sibling in his Falcon mode.

"My problem, as you well know, Skydive, is having to put up with an air commander who can't actually stay up in the air for three seconds without feeling sick," Slingshot declared indignantly, "If the Seekers ever find out about this, we'll become the laughing stock of the entire Decepticon faction."

"They won't find out about it if you stop naggingabout it," Skydive argued.

"Stop it, both of you. We have more important things to deal with at present," Silverbolt ordered, his voice firmer than before. "And, Fireflight, get back in formation. You're lagging behind again."

"Sorry," Fireflight said, and increased his speed in order to catch up with the others. "So, are we there yet? Things certainly look quiet around here."

"Not anymore!" Air Raid said, focusing ahead. "Party at twelve o'clock!"

The rest of the Aerialbots looked ahead, only to see that Air Raid was right. They could clearly see the light of laser-fire in the distance, where a battle was taking place.

"I'd better contact the Autobots," Silverbolt said and opened his communication frequencies. "This is Silverbolt. Come in, Ironhide. Do you read?"

"Ironhide here. Care to explain what took you so long?" the veteran's voice sounded from the other side of the link.

"Better late than never, Ironhide. What's the situation?"

"We're pinned down so far," Ironhide answered in a grim tone. "Huffer and Wheeljack are dealing with Drag Strip, and Brawn and I are a little busy with Wildrider." The deafening sound of a blaster gun almost pierced Silverbolt's audio sensors, and it was followed by a string of curses.

"Ironhide, are you all right?" Silverbolt asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the veteran Autobot replied gruffly. "Just handle the other Stunticons."

"Copy that, Ironhide. We've just got visual on them." Indeed, Silverbolt could see Motormaster, Breakdown and Dead End on one of the tankers, filling energon cubes. "We'll make things easier for you now. Silverbolt out."

"Heh… Four Autobots can't handle two Stunticons. Could it be more pathetic?" Slingshot said as soon as Silverbolt ended the transmission.

"Quiet, Slingshot! You know that the Stunticons have force fields!" Skydive said. "The Autobots are still doing everything they can."

"Look, all I'm saying is that if the old-timers can't take the heat, they should stay out of it," Slingshot retorted.

"That's enough, Slingshot," Silverbolt said edgily.

"Yeah, it's time to bust some Stunticon caboose anyway!" Air Raid intervened in a cheery tone.

It was then, however, that Motormaster, Breakdown and Dead End heard the Aerialbots' engines and started firing at them.

"Disperse and start evasive manoeuvres!" Silverbolt ordered, already spinning around so that the laser-fire didn't hit him.

"They're really not happy to see us," Fireflight noted, following Silverbolt's example.

"The feeling's mutual," Slingshot said. "Let's see if they'll like the taste of my--"

"Negative. We can't retaliate when they're so close to the energon," Silverbolt said.

"What are you talking about?" Slingshot exclaimed. "I've got them on target lock!"

"I said no, Slingshot, and that's an order," the air commander said. "If we want to fight them, we'll have to go through a different route."

"Which one?" Skydive asked.

"This one!" Surprisingly, Silverbolt started rising upwards, flying to the direction of the sunlight. In moments, he had rendered himself practically invisible, since the powerful beams of the sun blinded anyone who tried to locate the Aerialbot.

Air Raid was the first to catch on.

"Now you're talking my language!" he declared, and started gaining altitude as well. "And just so you know, I've got dibbs on Breakdown."

"Noted," Silverbolt said. "Just don't crash again."

"That happened only once!" Air Raid objected.

"This year…" Skydive muttered, flying closely behind the other two Aerialbots.

"I heard that!"

There was no time for any further argument though. Silverbolt plummeted towards the ground, thus giving the signal for the rest of the team to attack as well. By the time the three Stunticons could locate the Aerialbots and realise what they were up to, the latter were already onto them. Silverbolt and Skydive transformed and tackled Motormaster, while Slingshot and Fireflight tackled Dead End. As for Air Raid, he charged at Breakdown.

All Transformers ended up in the water with a loud splashing sound. The three Stunticons were certainly not pleased about that, and they tried to grab any of the Aerialbots they could lay their hands on even while still in the water, but the Aerialbots were faster. They transformed and used their thrusters to the maximum setting so that they blasted off the water.

"Okay, that's three of them, two more to go," Slingshot declared, his grin audible in his voice.

"I wouldn't count on it, we've only slowed them down," Silverbolt said. He directed his optic sensors to the ground and gasped at what he saw. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Fireflight asked, not really understanding the reason behind the air commander's alarm.

"Ironhide's down!"

Sure enough, the veteran Autobot was on his knees, his torso looking as though a great mecha-bear had ripped it to shreds. Tubes, relays, even a whole console, were left exposed, hanging from just a few feeble cables; fluid was gushing all over Ironhide and on the ground. Even so, Ironhide still struggled to get back on his feet and keep fighting. Wheeljack apparently noticed Ironhide's predicament, for he hurried to the red mech's aid. Dragstrip and Wildrider noticed that and they aimed their weapons at the engineer, ready to shoot him while he was distracted.

"We've got to help them!" Silverbolt said.

"Uh… Brawn and Huffer seem to be in control of things," Skydive said.

A quick surveillance on the ground showed what Skydive was talking about. Both minibots charged at the Stunticons with such speed and force that neither Wildrider nor Drag Strip knew what hit them. And before they even got the chance to recover, the minibots lifted both Stunticons up in the air as though they weighed nothing and threw them over the pier.

"Whoa…" Fireflight said before he could help it. "Did I ever mention I'm glad those guys are on our side?"

Silverbolt was far from comforted though. To his horror, he realised that all five Stunticons were in the water and that meant one thing.

Menasor.

"Silverbolt to Brawn. You'd better clear the area. Do you read?"

"Brawn here. Heard you loud and clear, kid," the tough minibot said. "We'll get Ironhide under some safe cover so Wheeljack can do the emergency repairs. You show them what you've got."

"We intend to, Brawn. Silverbolt out," the air commander replied, noticing how the water started swirling wildly. A loud growl reached his audios and, moments later, all the Aerialbots saw Menasor surface from the water. The giant Decepticon instantly locked his optics on the five airplanes.

"MENASOR DESTROY!"

Fireflight looked as though he was ready to drop on the ground. "That's… not good."

"The game's not lost yet," Silverbolt declared, rising his nose up in the air. "Time to form Superion!"

"Wait, I have a better idea!" Slingshot said, diving towards the energon cubes. "If they want that energon that badly, let's let them have it!"

"Slingshot, no!"

Skydive's warning was to no avail. The Harrier jet already opened the flaps to his cargo hold and scooped several energon cubes inside him.

"Slingshot, abandon current course of action and return to formation. That's an order!" Silverbolt said.

"Not this time, Sir," Slingshot replied. "I've got Menasor in my sights."

"Slingshot!"

Slingshot just turned off all his communication frequencies and flew even closer to Menasor. The giant mech saw him and tried to catch him with both hands, but, thankfully, Slingshot was fast enough to stay out of Menasor's grasp.

That, however, only angered Menasor more.

"MENASOR SMASH BUG!"

"I don't think so!" Slingshot said, now flying dangerously close to the enormous face. "The bug is about to show how bad it can sting!"

With that, he released the energon cubes, then fired at them in mid-air. The last thing Slingshot registered was the deafening roar of an explosion and the sensation of smouldering heat surrounding him.

To Be Concluded...