"2x18" " New Recruit" "Removing Bumblebee and replacing him with..." "The tap-dancing monkey strikes again." "Bumblebee sightings on the world wide web are no laughing matter." "7... 8... 9..." "Why can't I just drive from now on?" "Because your legs will atrophy if you choose not to use them." "1... 2... 3..." "Wait." "What's that?" "A Cybertronian escape pod?" "Here in Earth's atmosphere?" "Autobot or Decepticon?" "Impossible to tell, given the image resolution." "In any event, this merits investigation." "Could be a trap, and we're down one bot." " Should we reach out to Wheeljack?" " I can hear you!" "I don't care if Bulkhead isn't combat-ready." "After that revenge stunt he pulled with Miko, Wheeljack can stay rogue." "An Autobot may be in distress." "Ratchet, bring your medical kit." " It is of Decepticon origin." " And the Con inside blew his way out." "All those Cons came out of one pod?" "The humans refer to the phenomenon as a clown car." " Incoming!" " Down in front!" "Friendly?" "Fall back!" "Whoo!" "Two hot for you, Cons?" "!" "Friend of yours?" "Never seen him before." "Torching that Energon leak ..." "pretty good plan, right?" "Except that it wasn't your plan." "It was a random shot that almost fried us to a crisp." " Worked out, didn't it?" " Thank you, fellow Autobot." "Your... valor..." "is to be commended." "I... don't believe it." "Y-You're Optimus Prime!" "He's Optimus Prime!" " We know." " Yes, yes..." "It's an honor to be here..." "especially with you." "Now what?" "It's not like we can just bring him back to base." "Wouldn't be the first time an ally turned out to be a plant." "I see that you received your training from Cybertron's elite guard." "True enough ... though it wasn't more than a boot camp by the time I joined." "I never even got a proper graduation ceremony." "There was a war going on." "Hey, all I ever wanted was to be a soldier, serve the Autobot cause." "But what I got was security detail at Iacon." "The Hall of Records of all places?" "Optimus, do you not find this highly suspicious?" "Smokescreen, what was your assignment inside the hall?" "Guarding Alpha Trion during what turned out to be the final days of the war." " You served under the master archivist?" " Eh, I wasn't thrilled at first ... watching the back of an old bot instead of kicking Con tailpipe." "Sorry." "But the big "A" turned out to be a great teacher and a... true friend." "I mean, he was the one who petitioned Halogen and the High Council to make you a Prime." "Rafael... activate the ground bridge." "That's it?" "That's all you need to hear before inviting him to the party?" "If my former mentor shared this information, it is because he considered Smokescreen a trusted ally." "We haven't had somebody new here since Wheeljack." "What's your story, Smoke?" "Where'd you come from?" "How'd you get here?" "How many blasters you packin'?" "So, these are the life-force we're supposed to protect?" " Are they all like this?" " Fortunately not... but I too share Miko's fascination with how you came to arrive on Earth." "In a Decepticon escape pod." "Still got trust issues, huh?" "Tough crowd." "The main thrust of combat operations was at least 20 clicks from the Hall of Records, so things had been pretty quiet." "But the situation went downhill fast." "The Cons launched a massive surge that wiped out the last line of defenses surrounding Iacon." "I was the only thing left to them back, and, let me tell you, I was pumped." "I mean, this was my chance to see real action for the first time ... to prove myself." "Until everything went black." "Cons took me prisoner and dumped me onto a transport ship." "But I managed to give a guard the slip and hopped in an escape pod." "Apparently, it was a long-distance pod, 'cause it knocked me into stasis." "Next thing I knew, I'm hitting solid ground ... hard." "The Decepticon warship must have picked up pod's beacon and guided it to Earth." "Which would explain Smokescreen's welcoming committee." "Bet those Cons were disappointed not to find one of their own inside." "Smokescreen, do you know of Alpha Ttrion's fate, after the fall of Iacon?" "I wish I did." "But that was the last I ever saw of him." "That's it ... my life story." "Not exactly the glory I envisioned for myself... until now." "Being here with Optimus Prime ..." "I knew I was destined for great things." "I mean, now that you have help, how hard could it be to end this war?" "Take a good look, Newbie." "This is how hard." "Smokescreen, I would suggest that you take some time to become acclimated to your new surroundings." "A tour of the base would be an excellent start." "Sure thing!" "I mean..." "Jack here offers a very informative tour." "This is what the humans call "the information superhighway."" "A trillion gigabytes of data ..." "none of it's useful!" "Though some oddly engrossing." "What is this?" "Ah... ignorant life-forms have no idea what they've uncovered." "Red Energon." "If I can possess its power, not only will I be stronger but also faster." "Significantly faster." "Phase shifter..." "Spark extractor... immobilizer..." "this is where we store the" "Cybertronian relics we found buried on Earth." "And talk about a small universe 'cause most of them came from the ..." "The Iacon hall of records." "I remember these." "Whoa." "What kind of relic is she?" "The kind you don't want to mess with." "If you wanted to replace me, you should have called Wheeljack." " I could have lived with that." " No one is replacing you, Bulkhead." "For one thing, Smokescreen's too green." " Well, Bulk's as green as they get." " What Arcee means is..." "Smokescreen still has a great deal to learn." "And once you got him trained, then what, huh?" "He's in." "I'm a doorstop." "Bulkhead, your place with us is not in jeopardy, but there is no dispute that we have long required additional firepower." "It is essential that our team learns to work with our new recruit, not against him." "Better hope the hotshot's blasters are as big as his mouth." " How hard can it be?" " Hey, everyone." "Check this out." "But don't tell me it's another Bumblebee sight... oh my." " Red Energon." " Here... on Earth?" "What's Red Energon?" "An extremely rare and volatile form of Energellum." "Refined into fuel, it provides the power of hyperspeed." "We must have Agent Fowler clear the dig site of all human presence in the event we are not the only ones who have discovered its location." "Now you're talking." "Let's scramble up some Cons' circuits." "Given your limited field experience, I believe further training is required before you are battle-ready." "Optimus, with all due respect ..." "Furthermore, we Autobots live on this planet as robots in disguise." "You will need to obtain an Earth-based vehicle mode." "In order to maintain a low profile..." "if that's possible for you." "If you're talking wheels, bring 'em on!" "The Red Energon is mine, humans!" "For you are powerless in the face of the mighty star..." "What?" "Where is it?" "Nope." "How about that one?" "Eh, it's more Ratchet's speed, don't you think?" " Cement truck?" " Yeah, if I were a Constructicon." "Seriously, this is the best your planet has to offer?" " No, but this is Jasper." " I feel for you." "Fowler couldn't have the crane operator lower the thing?" "The humans must have been preparing to transfer the meteor to a cargo ship when they received his evacuation order." "Run along home, Autobots." "That Red Energon has my name all over it." "And I am more than willing to fight for it." "Secure the Red Energon and have Ratchet bridge it back to base." "Don't tell me you've already forgotten our last encounter, Prime." "Keep moving, B." "Optimus, is something wrong?" "Starscream has come for the Red Energon, and I fear he will not be deterred in his quest." "Starscream?" "I heard stories about that stiletto-heeled creep back on Cybertron." "Send me in, Doc." "When Optimus requires backup, he will ask for it." "Aw, come on." "I got my V-mode and everything." " I'm souped up and ready to roll." " Eh!" "Eh!" "Eh!" "What part of "further training" did you not understand?" "The higher you climb, the harder you fall." "Autobots ..." "such slow learners." "Optimus, what is your status?" "Ratchet, they need me." "I can do this." "Arcee?" "Bumblebee?" " Did you hear what I said?" " I heard, and I'm ignoring you." "This may be your opportunity after all, Smokescre..." "Where is Smokescreen?" " That's the one." " You, there!" "What in the name of the Allspark do you think you're doing?" "Time to unload some more deadweight." "No!" "Watch your step, Autobots!" "Apparently, no one defined "low profile" for him." "So, the Autobots have a new recruit." "And you must be Starscream." "I thought you'd be taller." " This will not end well." " Smokescreen, stand down." "You are no match for Starscream's Apex armor." "Any last words, Smokescreen?" "Just four ..." "kiss your armor goodbye." " A Phase shifter?" " Now, that was a plan!" "You aren't the only one sporting a fancy wrist-mounted device." "Think fast!" "No!" "Told you I just needed to borrow it for a while." "Doc here thought I was trying to steal your relics." "Only until you explained your plan, which I then sanctioned." "It's called protocol." "Ratchet is correct." "Standard procedure must be observed by every member of this team." "However..." "I believe we must also commend Smokescreen." "You have proven to be a quick study by choosing to place strategy above bravado." "There is gonna be no living with him now." "While this may lack the pageantry of a proper elite guard ceremony, I wish to welcome you to team Prime." "The Newbie did all right." "Don't worry, Bulk." "He's got nothing on you." "Seriously, once we get that leg of yours back in shape, old Smokey's gonna learn real quick who the top wrecking ball is run here." "Bulkhead?"