Author's Notes: This chapter took a little longer than usual, but I guess it still wasn't too long to wait. I think this one turned out pretty well, and I hope to have the next one out soon. I thank everyone for their kind words and support :)
Chapter 6
Lost Chances
Starscream had finally managed to get rid of that stupid Sunstreaker and was logged into Teletran I. Soon he would download a map of the Ark, a series of security codes for the ship, a list of recent Autobot injuries, and countless other tidbits of useful data. The Decepticons would cripple the Autobots!
Just as Starscream was preparing the disc for download, Teletran cut him out of the system and started blaring a loud klaxon! The room was bathed in red light and a siren was causing a ringing in Starscream's ears!
Have I been discovered? Starscream thought frantically.
Just then, Optimus Prime and several Autobots entered the room running at a hurried pace. Starscream got away from Teletran I and was prepared to make a run for it, but then he noticed that Prime wasn't after him. Optimus was trying to locate the source of the alarm.
"Teletran, report!" Optimus ordered.
"Alert! Decepticons have been detected draining energon from a power plant in sector G7 on the accompanying grid," Teletran informed them.
Then a map popped up showing the northwest region of the United States. It looked like the Decepticons were in Washington state.
"We've got to stop them, Prime!" Ironhide insisted.
"Right," Optimus agreed, "Ironhide, Tracks, Blaster, Hoist, Trailbreaker, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee! Transform and roll out!"
"Wait!" Starscream cried out before they could all transform, "I can't go!"
Starscream knew he sounded desperate, but he didn't care. There was no way he was going to face Megatron in this tiny useless body! Besides, he wasn't going to fight against Decepticons in behalf of these accursed Autobots! He wouldn't!
"What's wrong, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked; concerned.
"Um, I…" Starscream needed a good excuse, "I, um...I don't feel well! I've been having trouble with my transformation circuits, and I feel I would only slow you down. I should stay here and, um, keep watch here. You go, and, um, stop the Decepticons from whatever their latest plan is!"
"Well, alright Bumblebee, if you're sure," Optimus conceded, "Go to the medbay and Ratchet can repair you. Grapple, you're with us! Let's roll out!"
With that the 8 majestic Autobots transformed and made their way to face off against the evil Decepticons.
Starscream smiled as he watched them leave. It was too easy. Even Megatron wasn't that easy to manipulate! Starscream toyed with the idea of staying here and killing off Optimus Prime so he could take control of the Autobots. He dismissed the idea for two reasons. One, Bumblebee was a lower ranking officer and therefore waiting to be promoted would take too long. Two, Starscream truly hated the Autobots and everything they stood for.
Starscream was almost ready to try again with the computer when yet another interruption showed up! Starscream didn't want to turn around to see who it was. He was tired of spending the entire week being constantly thwarted in his plans for domination!
"Bumblebee," he heard a familiar voice say, "Perceptor and I need to use the main console. I know this must be inconvenient, but it won't take very long. We'll be out of your way soon."
Starscream turned around and looked up into the calm blue eyes of Skyfire; his ex-best friend. Skyfire was always tall, but in Bumblebee's body Skyfire looked downright massive!
Starscream sighed irritably, but got out of the chair and said "Fine…"
"Bumblebee. Perceptor won't be here for another 10 minutes or so. Would you care to assist me?" Skyfire asked warmly.
Truth be told, Starscream didn't want to be on the same planet as Skyfire, let alone in the same room! Starscream had done everything for that ungrateful jerk! He was the one that rescued Skyfire from a lifetime of being frozen under the earth in a block of ice! He was the one who convinced Megatron to allow Skyfire to join the Decepticons. He even promised Skyfire the position of second in command once Starscream took over the Decepticons! And how did Skyfire repay him? With insubordination and treason! He joined the slagging Autobots!
Still, as much as Starscream hated Skyfire, he was also curious as to what he had been up to this whole time. He also didn't want to leave the console. So, Starscream agreed to help Skyfire with whatever it was he was working on.
Skyfire backed up a bit so Bumblebee could look at the sample he was working on and the charts that had been drawn about it.
"What is that thing?" Starscream asked when he saw the green stalky plant.
"This is a plant called horsetail," Skyfire explained, "It seemed to contain a higher amount of silica than most plants on earth. While not the richest source, it is still very interesting to see what makes this plant tick."
"You mean you need Teletran I to help you catalogue a stupid plant?" Starscream couldn't hide the exasperation in his voice.
"Not just this plant, but all of them," Skyfire explained patiently, "Perceptor and I have been cataloging every plant on earth and comparing them to what earth scientists know about. We are trying to determine what has gone extinct and what has not yet been discovered by our human hosts. If you could list all of the properties into the system I'll go bring the rest of the samples from the lab. We need to scan them using Teletran I in order to have a full 3D model on file."
"Do I need to list any variable patterns or shifts in emotional stimuli?" Starscream asked as he looked over the data.
"No, just the basics," Skyfire replied, "I'll be back in a minute."
Starscream looked over the data and typed it into Teletran I as quickly as he could manage. It was strange how quickly he forgot about his objective when presented with a new task. Starscream hated to admit it, but even after all these years science was still his natural element. He hated the monotony, but he enjoyed the idea of learning something no one else knew. If there was a newly discovered plant in these samples, he wondered if he would get to name it. The Terran Starscreamer. He liked the sound of that!
Over the next hour Starscream, Skyfire, and Perceptor went over dozens of samples. It felt just like Starscream was back at the Science Academy in Polyhex. Yes, he could allow himself to imagine it just this once. He and Skyfire were still dorm mates and best friends. They were both going to be famous scientists and discover new and uncharted worlds. The war never happened, and the skies were a safe place to fly. He was far away from Vos and far away from his cold unloving creator. Skyfire was not a traitor. He was Starscream's best friend and they were still on Cybertron.
Oh, what Starscream would've given for that dream to be a reality.
Bumblebee felt so dirty. He and the rest of the Decepticons were at the Columbia Generating Station collecting cubes of energon. Bumblebee was trying not to think too hard about what this energon was going to be used for as he filled up his cube. At the very least he was grateful the humans had been allowed to run away without getting blown to pieces or stepped on.
While he was waiting for his cube to fill Bumblebee decided to look around at the other Decepticons to see what they were doing.
He saw Thundercracker and Skywarp filling cubes just as he was. He saw one of the Stunticons doing wheelies around the floor like an idiot while the others egged him on. He saw Soundwave standing guard at the entrance. He saw the Reflector triplets filling cubes as well.
One thing Bumblebee had noticed was that the Reflectors had been avoiding him ever since that night he gave one of them the cubes of high grade energon. He had no idea why they were still scared of him, but then he decided that it might be for the best. If Starscream was still alive then there was no reason for the triplets to get too comfortable.
The cubes were loaded into Long Haul for the trip back to base. Bumblebee just hoped he wasn't going to have to carry that stupid green dump truck all the way back to the Atlantic Ocean. Why were they on the west coast, anyway?
Bumblebee was loading a cube when he heard Soundwave say "Alert! Autobots in immediate vicinity!"
Oh, scrap! Bumblebee thought to himself. Maybe I can play dead…
"Decepticons, attack!" Megatron bellowed as the Autobots came into full view outside the plant.
Most of the Decepticons transformed right away and prepared for the offensive, but Bumblebee didn't want to fight his friends. Thundercracker and Skywarp transformed, but they didn't fly away. They were waiting for their air commander expectantly.
Bumblebee realized he had to avoid raising suspicion, but he also didn't want to go after his friends. If the Autobots didn't attack him then the Seekers would.
With no choice left to him, Bumblebee transformed into Starscream's jet mode and led the trine out to the battlefield.
Megatron was blasting at Optimus Prime; who was dodging the blows with expert finesse. The Constructicons had transformed into Devastator and were making quick work of most of the Autobots! Bumblebee couldn't watch.
Hoist was surrounded by the Stunticons, and it looked as if they were all going to crash into him at once! Bumblebee had to do something!
"I'll shoot that Autobot into oblivion!" Bumblebee shouted to the Seekers.
Instead of shooting at Hoist, however, he aimed his null rays at the tires of the Stunticons! Two of them lost control, and they started crashing into each other; giving Hoist time to escape!
"You idiot! You shot the Stunticons!" Skywarp hollered from Bumblebee's left.
Bumblebee didn't have time to answer, however. The Aerialbots had joined the fight, and were now shooting at the Seekers!
"We've got you now, Deceptiscum!" Air Raid shouted at the Seekers.
"I'll go after their leader!" Bumblebee shouted immediately, "You go after the others!"
"We're on it, Starscream!" Thundercracker acknowledged.
Truth be told, Bumblebee had an ulterior motive for going after Silverbolt. Silverbolt was still afraid of heights, and therefore would be an easy target for one of the other Decepticons. As long as Bumblebee could avoid damaging Silverbolt, then the other Aerialbots would be able to take care of themselves. Of course, now that he thought about it, none of them were as experienced as the Seekers. This could still be a bad idea.
Bumblebee dove down near the ground and stopped when he was flying just over the power plant. Silverbolt gave chase along with Slingshot. That was just what Bumblebee was counting on.
"I've got Starscream in my sights!" Slingshot proclaimed.
"Be careful," Silverbolt warned his comrade, "Starscream's crafty. This could be a trap."
"Don't worry about it!" Slingshot replied dismissively, "We can handle anything he's got!"
Bumblebee noticed that Slingshot was about to fire. He needed to ensure that his wings were left undamaged. Bumblebee had learned the hard way that Seeker wings were sensitive. Still, if he planned this just right…
Slingshot and Silverbolt fired, and Bumblebee flipped his body over in an aileron roll to a harder part of the armor! Both shots barely grazed the powerful Seeker's armor, but Bumblebee forced himself to crash into the mud below just a few hundred yards from the power plant!
"I'm hit!" Bumblebee shrieked; hoping his act was convincing.
"Yeah! Got him!" Slingshot shouted triumphantly.
Bumblebee worried that it had looked too fake, but it hardly mattered. Decepticon and Autobot alike were too preoccupied with the fight to even care if Starscream was lying in a mud bog somewhere nursing a gunshot wound. That was good, because it meant that Bumblebee wouldn't have to fight anymore.
He transformed back into his root mode to wait out the battle. He only hoped that the Autobots would be okay. It looked as if the Autobots were done for, but then Bumblebee saw Omega Supreme flying overhead, and he knew that they would be okay.
He was surprised that no one had checked to make sure Starscream was really down. Honestly, he had wondered if the Autobots would take him prisoner. He did not expect both factions to forget he existed, and frankly it was a little disappointing.
After Omega Supreme made quick work of Devastator the Decepticons lost their main advantage. With only a few cubes left of what they had stolen, Megatron ordered his troops to retreat. Bumblebee took this as his cue and flew away with them; still covered in mud.
As Bumblebee brought up the rear of the disgraced Decepticon parade, he managed to catch Megatron staring at him with a look of pure rancor. Bumblebee knew then that his little performance did not go unnoticed. He was in big trouble now.