Transformers is owned by Hasbro/Takara, I own nothing.
Also, time to get a bit personal. Lately I've been feeling a little bit..unappreciated with these stories. People like them but I haven't been seeing much in the way of reviews for them. Veiws are nice but it's feedback that really matters to an author, I kind of feel like I'm throwing my work into an empty void, or that it's terrible and no one likes it. So if you can/know how please leave a review so I can know what you all like, what you dislike and what I need to fix.
Anyway, onto the story
Without a single moment of hesitation, the drones opened fire on the trio. They scattered as energy blasts came raining down all around. The Autobots were no fools to this and all ran for the nearest cover. Sari and Bumblebee made for a large pillar while Arcee hid behind a piece of segmented wall.
"I thought your dad would keep this much firepower here!" Bumblebee shouted. "But I'm glad it was never used on me."
"Daddy only keeps like half that many drones in case of serious emergency." Sari said.
"Powell brought the rest in here and we've been trying to remove them, they've just been really hard to find."
"What did he build secret passageways or something?" Bumblebee asked. Sari gave a nod of affirmation and a smirk crossed Bumblebee's face.
"How long do you think we could make out in one of those rooms without anyone noticing?."
"Not the time!" Sari said, thankful that her mask hid how red her face was getting. Her wings told a slightly different story as they rose up slightly.
A couple of helicopter drones flew overhead and shot at the two of them. Bee blasted at the drones with his stingers, frying their circuitry and blowing them up in mid air. Sari summoned up a ball of fire and shot it at a security drone that was getting too close.
"We're having to do this a lot today." Sari muttered as the drone partially melted. It tried to turn itself to shoot at her but Sari send another burst of fire at it, melting the rest of it.
Bumblebee ducked down as a pair of shots passed overhead and shattered some of the windows behind them. Glancing over they could see that Arcee was watching them and the drones. She had no ranged abilities to combat the drones but she seemed to be coming up with a plan.
Another blast hit Bee and Sari's cover, causing it to crack and buckle. Both Sari and Bee glanced at it nervously.
Arcee decided that enough was enough and she pulled out her swords. Swiftly she carved out a section of the wall and threw it at a pair of approaching security drones. One was crushed and the other was knocked onto its side. A burst of electricity from Bumblebee finished the job.
Repeating the process, Arcee managed to take down three aerial drones before the section of wall crushed another security droid. Bumblebee cheered in delight as the drones went down and struck back with his electricity once again.
Sari had her mind on other matters though as she looked around the room. She knew exactly what Soundwave was pulling and she was surprised that the others weren't picking up on it.
"We need to get moving." Sari said and looked at Bee. :If we stay here too long when we're just playing right into Soundwave's hands."
"I hope you've got an idea!" Bumblebee fired off another bolt of electricity and destroyed a drone.
"I do but you've just gotta trust me." Sari said while extending her wings. Bumblebee just gave her a smile and a nod as she shot up into the air.
Sari spread out her arms and flames shot from them and onto the ground in between the drones and her two friends. Using her concentration, she managed to raise the flames high above the drones and the heads of her fellow Autobots.
"Get to the stairs!" She called down.
Despite their initial shock and surprise both Arcee and Bumblebee transformed and drove around the flames, while keeping a close optic on the drones and Sari. Sari bit her lip as she concentrated on keeping the fire contained.
The drones lasers kept slamming into the wall of flames, their programming still believing the bots were there, in an attempt to break it down. Clearly these things don't know about physics. Sari thought to herself as Bee and Arcee finally reached the doorway to the stairs. She sent the flame rushing toward the drones and shot off like a rocket.
She didn't look back to see what the flames were doing. The sprinklers were bound to kick on any second now and put an end to her work. Diving inside the room, she pulled the doors shut just as the sprinkler system turned on.
Arcee and Bumblebee slammed the doors shut behind Sari, so as to deter any survivors. Sari got out from her landing position and shakily stumbled back. Arcee bent down and offered her hand for support; Sari sat in it and sighed, retracting her helmet as well.
"Are you okay Sari?" Arcee gently asked.
"I'm fine I just used a lot of energy doing that trick." Sari said between gasps. Her internal systems were feeling slightly overheated and her human side wasn't coping every well.
"Well that little trick saved our bumpers." Bumblebee said with a reassuring smile. He looked over and spotted a water cooler sitting nearby, this gave him zero hope for how long it would take them to get upstairs.
As he walked over to get Sari a cup, Arcee's com link pinged.
"Is everything alright Arcee? Ee saw smoke coming from the lobby."
"Everything's fine sir, Sari just stopped an attack from some pesky little drones." Arcee glanced at the tired out techno organic.
"Have you found a way to shut down the force field?"
While Optimus and Arcee talked, Bumblebee was still trying to get Sari a cup of water. He's already crushed three cups and had finally gotten the forth under the nozzle. He sighed as the water flowed from the nozzle into the cup. In doing so he shifted his weight and caused the water to splash onto his fingers. His hand slipped and he crushed the cup, splashing his face with water.
"No sir, it appears that Soundwave has compromised all means of shutting it down." Arcee did all she could to keep from laughing.
"Okay we'll try and figure something out." Optimus's sigh was heard over the com.
"Try and figure out what Soundwave's doing and then report back okay?"
Bumblebee walked over, dripping wet and he handed Sari the cup that he'd successfully filled with water. Sari graciously took and drank it in under five seconds.
"Understood sir, over and out." Arcee said.
"I'm not a sir Arcee, you don't have to keep calling us that."
"Yeah we work for a living!" Ratchet's shout made Arcee smile as she deactivated her comlink.
"Do either of you know the quickest way to the top?" She asked.
"The elevators are the most straight way up but I doubt they're working now." Sari shook her head sadly.
"Even if we could fit into them." Bumblebee pointed out.
"The next best option would be the stairs, it may take us a bit to get up there though." Sari glanced towards the spiraling staircases. The others followed her gaze and then exchanged looks. It was going to take them longer but they didn't really have another choice now.
"Looks like we'd better get moving!" Arcee said cheerily. Bumblebee gave her a blank look, confused by her enthusiasm.
"We've gotta deal with it sometime Bee, come on." Arcee said. "Besides I'm carrying Sari with me."
Sari playfully waved "bye" to her boyfriend as Arcee began her ascent up the stairs. Bumblebee watched them for a few seconds before, with an upset sigh, he sprinted up after them.
"I hate it when you do that to me." he huffed. Both Arcee and Sari just rolled their eyes.
On the outside it would appear that Soundwave was calm as he worked on cracking the space bridge's access codes. On the inside he was seething with rage as he watched the Autobots make their way up the stairs.
With his mind hooked into all of the devices in the tower, he could mentally watch and control everything without even moving. It had been one of two new features he'd added with this body. He was hoping that he could go without the second feature being used.
The Autobots were an irksome lot who never knew when to quit no matter the odds. While some might find it "heroic" it was annoying to Soundwave and a great deal of others. He needed to remind the Autobots that despite what they thought he was now in control.
He was the chestmaster now, planning this for over a year and watching every move the Autobots made since they returned. He was more than confident that he knew their every move more than the Autobots themselves.
They'd put themselves into this game and he was determined to win it.
"Laserbeak, Ratbat, come." He ordered. His two creations let out screeches and flew circles over him, waiting their orders.
"The Autobots cannot be allowed to get close to my work, destroy them." He ordered without even looking at them.
Both creatures gave out twin avian screeches before flying down and into the tower. Soundwave didn't even spare a second glance as he continued his work.
As far as he was concerned victory was already his.
"Are we anywhere near the top yet?"
"Bumblebee you go to this tower almost every day you should know where we are!" Arcee said, giving Bumblebee a cross look.
"But I'm usually taking the elevator." Bumblebee said. Sarcee and Sari both sighed as they rolled their optics.
It hadn't taken long for them to get fatigued from all of the walking up the stairs for so long, only twenty minutes and they were still nowhere near where Soundwave was. Arcee had them being cautious as they made their way around.
As they approached the next floor, she held out her arm to stop Bumblebee. Sari sat on Arcee's shoulder, still trying to recover from her firewall. Bumblebee looked past Arcee's arm and sighed.
"I'm pretty sure I know what's going to be on this floor." He said. "Absolutely nothing!"
"That can all change and in less than ten clicks your spark could be in Decepticon hands." Arcee said coldly.
"I liked you better as a school teacher." Bumblebee grumbled under his breath.
Arcee shot him a look and then carefully took stock of their surroundings. The floor was empty as far as her scanners could see. That didn't mean she wasn't about to drop her guard though and she moved slowly onto the floor.
Bumblebee followed behind and crossed his arms angrily, he respected that Arcee was a spy but in his opinion this was going too far.
"Find any of those imaginary Decepticons yet?"
"I wouldn't call the Decepticon hiding out on the roof imaginary, he already sent those drones after us so who knows what's next?" Arcee whipped her head around just to be sure that it was safe. As she turned to look for the next flight of stairs, they all heard what sounded like someone moaning in pain.
Everyone froze and didn't dare to move. The moan came again and this time Sari was able to pick up on where it was coming from.
She whispered in Arcee's audio. "It sounds like it's coming from the elevator"
Arcee started to walk towards the elevator doors, blades out and ready should something leap out to attack them. Soon she was standing at the doors and got down onto her knees. Sari stood up on her shoulder before hopping down and tapping the doors.
She jumped back in case they blew up or something but that didn't happen. A long silence rested in the air for a moment, and then the moan came again followed by a voice.
"H-Hello is someone there?"
Sari's wings flew upwards in alarm when she heard the voice
"Daddy?, are you okay?" She asked, sprinting to the elevators doors. "Were you in the elevator when Soundwave took over?"
"Oh no, I got thrown in here by Soundwave when he took over." The elder Sumdac responded. Sari bit her lower lip and she grabbed the doors.
"Hold on daddy, let me just get these open." Sari said. Arcee and Bumblebee moved to stop Sari from over exerting herself but before they could she;d forced the elevator doors open. She stepped back and stared. The evaluator was jammed halfway between floors, it's top half was the only part visible to them.
Bumblebee reached for the cables and then tried to pull up. To his surprise the elevator refused to budge an inch.
"Okay did someone glue the elevator in place?" Bumblebee asked.
"It's not "glued into place," I hit the emergency brake system that stopped it from plummeting." Sumdac explained as Arcee gently moved Bumblebee away. She brought her sword close to the elevator and then tapped it.
"Mr. Sumdac if you could please step back from the wall and move to the other side of the elevator it would be appreciated." She waited until she could hear the professor back away from the doors. She thrust her sword into the elevator and sliced it across.
Arcee pulled back her sword and grabbed the elevator's top. Carefully she pried it open and glanced down into it. Professor Sumdac sat still and looked up at her in awe, a look of relief soon crossed his face. He hadn't been this happy to see an Autobot since they brought Sari home from Cybertron.
"Daddy are you okay?" Sari asked, poking her head over Arcee's shoulder.
"I believe I am fine." Sumdac tried to stand but his leg refuses to stand properly. He pitched forward and landed on his arm.
"Okay, maybe I'm not as well as I thought," he admitted. Arcee reached down and gently scooped him into her hands. She got up and moved back from the elevator shaft.
It was plain to see that he'd twisted his ankle, but more pressing was that his left arm was now hanging limply by his side, and slightly swollen. Sari gasped and carefully moved to hug her father.
"Woah, looks like you put up a fight." Bumblebee said. "What happened up here?"
"After I saw that robot bird I ran to my office to activate the tower's forcefield, but I found Soundwave there first, he didn't pay me much mind until I tried to fight back.":
"Okay, I was just kidding about you putting up a fight but you actually did it?" Bumblebee exclaimed
"After everything that's happened, wouldn't you take steps to protect what you hold most dear?" he asked, trying to hug his daughter back.
Unbeknownst to them, Laserbeak had witnessed them rescue the professor. He circled around the tower and called out to Ratbat, who flapped down to join him. They flew away from the tower and up into the air.
With a stunning accuracy and speed he turned back and swooped in low. Opening his mouth, he let out a concussive blast against the window before ramming iit at full speed. The Autobots and human all jumped as the window shattered to pieces.
Laserbeak let out a triumphant screech and buzzed over Bumblebee, leaving a pair of scratches across the top of his helmet.
"Hey I just had that painted!" he shouted.
Laserbeak ignored him, circled back around, and dive bombed Arcee's head. Arcee jumped back and kicked her leg out. It connected with Laserbeak's torso and he was sent crashing to the ground.
Bumblebee ran over with his stingers charged up, determined not to let Laserbeak get away. His plan was marred by Ratbat coming in and charged right toward him. Bee shouteed in surprise and dove for the ground.
Ratbat barely just missed his head and let out a screech in anger. Bee turned and began to try and blast him with his stingers. Rabat flew out of the way and seemed to screech mockingly at Bee. Arcee set Sari and her father down, a ways away from the danger.
"Hey, I can fight too!" Sari protested.
"You're still a bit weak from creating that fire wall, right now over exerting yourself isn't advised." Arcee said. Sari glared at her but then sighed, knowing that Arcee had a point.
Bumblebee slid under another attempted strike from Ratbat and blasted him right in the back. Laserbeak tried to strike Bee next, but this blow was also evaded.
"It's gonna take more than that to get the drop on me!" he boasted.
.Arcee kicked out as Laserbeak circled around to get a shot at the yellow pest, knocking him into the wall". He screeched as she held him down.
"Normally I don't approve violence against animal Cybertronians…" She trailed off and Laserbeak nipped at her arm. "But for you, I'll make an exception."
She grabbed Laserbeak's neck and slammed his head into the floor, pinning him to it. He struggled and cried out but Arcee refused to let up. Ratbat, however, didn't take this lying down and swooped to the defense of his fellow deployer while Arcee was distracted.
His kill was cut off as Bumblebee blasted him from behind with a dual shock blast from his stingers. Ratbat cried out in pain as the blast shocked his systems and then spiraled out and crashed into the floor. Before he could even think about getting up, Bumblebee stomped his foot down onto Ratbat's torso and pinned him.
"I think that's us two and team Soundwave zero!' Bumblebee pumped his fist smiled at the young bot's enthusiasm and then looked down at the captured Laserbeak
"What exactly are these?" She asked. "They're unlike any type of Cybertronian creature that I've seen.
"Soundwave's little pets, he's lonely enough to have become a crazy bird man." Sari said, walking over to them, supporting her father with his good arm.
"Fascinating..in a sick Decepticon way." She said while trying to get a better look at Laserbeak, who didn't take it well. He tried to chomp down onto her hand as it came close to him. Arcee pulled it away right before he could.
"They're rude as Decepticons too." She said.
"So...what do we do with them?" Bumblebee asked as he grabbed Ratbat by the wings and pulled him up. He made Ratbat's wings wrap around and held them tight so he couldn't escape.
"I'd suggest holding them somewhere until we've got a better plan." Arcee said while attempting to copy Bumblebee's actions with Laserbeak.
Unbeknownst to them Laserbeak and Ratbat had been watching a plan. As Arcee placed her hands onto Laserbeak's wings, both he and Ratbat simultaneously opened their mouths. Before Arcee and Bumblebee could react they both unleashed their sonic screeches at the same time.
They dropped the two and gripped their audio receptors in pain as the screech rang throughout the room. Bumblebee wasn't sure but he thought he heard Sari and her father's screams as well, the ringing was too much already.
The windows began to crack and before long they exploded outward, but not just that floor. The windows kept exploding up until the floor directly under Sari's room. Both Decepticons made good to take their leave, but Arcee wasn't out yet.
Ignoring the ringing in her ears she ran forward and grabbed onto Laserbeak's torso.
"Where do you think you're going?" She said.
Already annoyed by his defeat at her hands before, Laserbeak was now peeved at the former schoolteacher. He jerked up and flew up into the air, trying to throw her off his body. Arcee stubbornly clung to him and refused to let go.
Laserbeak flew up into the sky, above the roof of the tower. Arcee didn't look down but braced herself for whatever Laserbeak had planned next. He turned and went into a nose dive toward the roof.
Before she knew what was happening Laserbeak pulled up, causing Arcee to lose her grip. The fall was shorter than what she'd expected but it still was a blow to her systems.
As her systems tried to sort out the shock, as well as try to figure out what compelled her to leap out of a window, she heard footsteps approaching her. She turned her body and gazed up at the bot standing before her.
"So you are the Autobot who has been interfering with my plans." Soundwave droned.
He raised his arm, allowing Laserbeak to perch onto it. Soundwave looked into the optics of his bird and then back at Arcee.
"You have harmed my creations." He said.
"Sorry about that but they weren't exactly friendly to me." Arcee stood up and stared Soundwave down. He was shorter than her but something about him warned her to be careful with him.
"This isn't a fight you will win Autobot, I shall prove that I am superior." Soundwave boldly stated. He raised his arms up and as Laserbeak flew away, a pair of small devices extended from each arm. The devices sputtered to life and then activated, energy flowed from both and formed into twin pairs of shields on his arms.
Arcee grabbed her swords and held them out in front of her, she watched and waited for him to make his move. Soundwave crouched low, and then sent out a massive burst of sound with his speakers. Arcee cried and tried to hold her ground as Soundwave charged.
He moved his left arm in front of his body and crashed into Arcee. She flew back and had to dig her swords into the floor to keep herself from flying off the roof. Her audios rang with both the cry of his minions and his blast of sound.
Arcee struggled to push through the pain as Soundwave made ready to bash her once again. She jumped up and stopped his advance with her blades. Pushing against the smaller stopping him in his tracks.
Soundwave pushed back harder and right as he was about to push her, Arcee rolled to the side and kicked her leg out. As Soundwave ran forward he tripped and fell to the floor. Arcee wryly smirked and then stood up.
"I don't think you're as superior as you think." She said.
"You haven't even begun to witness what I have done to myself, I will not be defeated this time or ever again."
Soundwave turned to face her and his visor lit up. The shields began to crackle with electricity and sputtered. Arcee bit her lip, she hadn't been in a fight like this in years. But she she knew that she couldn't give up not now or ever.
She took a deep breath and ran forward to clash with Soundwave once again. Their fight had only just begun.
Fight Night! The Pink Teaching Unit and the Master of Sound!
FYI guys, you may notice some changes done to Arcee's character in that she's more spyish. Well thing is she was an intelligence officer, which is just a fancy way of saying spy. So TFA Arcee must have had some pretty good know how in that field.
Anyway, hope you all stick around and reembmer to review..please.