Chapter 7-Sting
A small, yellow VW bug drove down the lone, barren Texan landscape. It drove through the rocky terrain, tearing up the ground as it did doughnuts and left a heavy cloud of dust in its wake. The tiny vehicle was moving so fast that the ambulance and the mint green sports car were having trouble keeping up with him.
"Bee, slow down!" Ratchet called out. "You just got out of the med bay. You shouldn't push yourself so much!"
"I'm fine, Ratchet. Hell, I feel great!" Bumblebee laughed and sun in place, kicking up more dust into the air.
If he had been in robot mode, Ratchet would be shaking his head in exasperation. It had been a week and a half since Gina's fantastic voyage to Cybertron. Gina and Optimus were still recovering from their respective ordeals, while Prowl filled Optimus in on everything that went on since the hate plague incident. During that time, Bumblebee's recover was going smoothly, and just two days ago he was cleared or active duty thanks to Ratchet's hard work. The young Autobot was restless as he had to wait for his neuronet to fully assimilate to his newly rebuilt legs.
Bumblebee was disappointed that he missed out on so many things, namely seeing Gina off on what was probably the greatest trip of her life. But the happy faces of his friends curbed his disappointment, as everyone was glad to see that he made it through. They've been through enough already, having their scout back finally set everyone at ease.
"Aw, let him race, doc." Jolt said from above. "You'd be hyper to if you were cooped up inside for three days."
"Honestly," Ratchet sighed.
"Maybe it's a good idea to just let him go." Moonracer said. "He looks fine."
"Moonracer," Ratchet said, but she waved him off.
"If anything went wrong, Jolt knows to contact the others." She told him and looked up at the Minicon. "Isn't that right, Jolt?"
"You got it!"
Arcee's formerly dead sister had hitched a ride on Jetfire's fold initiation and followed her sister to Terra, pretty much stranding herself on the planet with them. It pissed Arcee off something fierce when she realized what Moonracer did, but there was nothing she could do other than teach her sister what there was to know about Terra and its people. Optimus formerly welcomed her to the team and she scanned a terran alt mode to blend in. She got used to life on Terra fairly quickly, but she was a curious femme who didn't know when to sit down for more than five minutes.
Ratchet wanted to berate Moonracer for her bleeding heart. All Bumblebee had to do was give her and the children a puppy dog look and they'd cave in to his side. He shouldn't even be driving around on his wheels right now, he should be doing physical therapy to make sure his legs were operating correctly. Still, it was better to let him run out of energy now, so working on him would be easier later on.
"Fine, Bumblebee can stay out," He said and quickly added, "But I'm staying to keep an eye on you."
"No problem Ratchet!"
It was refreshing to see someone so full of life run and play after all the grim events that had surrounded them the past week. Bumblebee was always the liveliest of the team, the most optimistic, so seeing him in a coma as a mangled piece of metal and circuitry was deeply disturbing for those who had seen him after his near death experience with Megatron. It was odd seeing a mech born in the middle of a bloody war go through life with a smile on his face. With so much violence going on around them, a smile was definitely something they needed.
XXXXXX
Penny wasn't Gina's best friend. They've always been at each other's throats since that feud in Washington began. Sure, Penny had all the money, resources and even her own private stash of hephaestium, but Gina had what he always wanted herself; family (parents that actually made time for their child), friends (Kevin was sweet, but she liked to have someone else to talk to when he wasn't around), and the title of first human to visit an alien world under her belt. Penny tried not to let that last one get to her, but it was grating.
Gina was one of the first to meet an alien race, to learn their language, to make plasma based weapons (how she did that was beyond her), to go to an alien planet and meet a freaking space god! So many discoveries and she wasn't even in her teens yet! Penny was beyond jealous, though that was tempered by the fact that she and her friends were smack dab in the middle of a war that almost let to her cute little behind getting incinerated alongside Kevin one time. At least she discovered Queen Sheba's tomb, so that was something at least. And Gina got some sweet pictures of Cybertron!
"This is unreal." Penny breathed as she cycled through the photos that Gina took during her time on Cybertron. They downloaded the data onto Gina's laptop and were now looking at the pictures intently. "So many Autobots in one place. I wonder how big they're space station is."
"It's massive," Gina said. "Seriously, I think the entire station could be as big as Luna."
"No way!"
"Yes way. And those Autobots you see aren't even the biggest." Gina said and went into detail of what she saw.
Penny studied her friend as she talked and noted how different Gina looked to her. Ever since she returned from her potentially one way trip, Gina had a glow about her, like she had seen something that she couldn't forget even if she tried. Gina talked about her meeting with the other Autobots, traveling with the Valkyries, fighting Insecticons, but she mysteriously steered clear of talking about Vector Sigma. She thought that Gina just didn't think it was that important to talk about, but as the conversation went on, she realized that Gina was purposefully avoiding the subject and wanted to know why. When she inquired about the "mystical" supercomputer, Gina went quiet and her expression fell.
"What is it, Gina? The Bots say that it created them, birthed them and all that but what does that exactly mean?" Penny asked.
"I don't know, Penny. Jinkies, I wish I knew, but I just can't explain it in words." Gina said and shook head with a sigh. "Vector Sigma, isn't just some super advanced machine, it's like this quasi-sentient being. A force of some kind that has powers I can't even dream of. I checked the camera footage on the Athena and apparently I joined with Vector Sigma after it…sent me into some kind of trance."
Penny put a hand to her mouth and unconsciously reached for Gina's hand to support her. That must have been creepy. "Damn girl, no wonder you don't want to talk about it. You doing okay?"
"I'm fine. Ratchet gave me a clean bill of health, but I know something's different about me. You don't just go through what I experienced and not come out unscathed. I'm not having dreams or visions anymore, but then Sara found something else…"
Gina motioned for Penny to get behind her and moved her blonde hair to reveal the back of her neck. At the base of her spine was a black tattoo etched onto her skin. Penny gaped at the odd symbol, it was curved like a letter written in cursive and definitely alien.
"Sara saw it after I got out of the shower last week." Gina whispered. She didn't sound scared, but a little concerned. "It's Cybertronian, but ancient. As in none of the other Autobots could read it if I showed them."
"Have you told anyone this?"
"Aside from Sara? No one knows. I don't want to worry them over something that could potentially be nothing."
Penny stepped back and put her hands on her hips. "Girl, you can't hide something like this from the Bots. Gina, you don't just get alien tattoos after pulling a Vaultron with some freaky magic god machine that births alien robots. That's not normal, no matter what they say."
Gina turned around. "Please, Penny don't say anything. It's just a tattoo, and I don't plan on telling anyone unless something happens to me. I only told you because I trust you to keep a secret."
"You trust me?" Penny said with wide eyes. "Me? The girl who you've been trying to outdo for nearly four years and counting?"
"Penny, you're like me. A girl who wants nothing more than to be recognized for making great discoveries. We a lot alike in that sense. And I trust you because you'd do the same thing in my position and ask me to keep quiet for you."
Penny bit her lip. Yeah, she was right. She would keep a tight lid on this. But there were so many things that could go wrong here. That marking could either be a harmless brand or something that could get worse as time went on. Despite the dangers that could be involved, Penny sighed and nodded her confirmation to keep quiet for Gina's sake.
"I won't say anything to the bots or to the others. But the minute that tattoo start's doing some freaky mojo, we're telling them." Penny said firmly. "We good?"
"I understand." Gina replied and smiled. "Thanks Penny."
"Anything to for a fellow gold digger." Penny grinned.
Gina was happy she could trust Penny with this. She was scared the first time she saw it on her back, but after waiting to see if anything happened, she knew that it was harmless. But what she didn't tell Penny was that Sara knew what the symbol meant. How that was possible only added more questions to the already baffling android, but according to Sara, the symbol was ancient Cybertronian for "Aritificer". She had no idea what that meant, but she knew it was a title of some sort, a status that was bestowed upon her by Vector Sigma itself.
XXXXXX
Bumblebee drove down a loan road in Nebrask, he managed to convince Optimus to let him go out with Bulkhead on patrol for energon. It was just a dull recon mission that wasn't too stressful on him, so he reassured him and Ratchet that he was going to be fine. Their concern was touching, but he could do without the babysitting.
"Hey, Bee," Bulkhead said over the comm. "I'm getting an energy sig near your position. It might be nothing, but could you check it out? I'll be with you in a few minutes."
"Sure thing, Bulk." Bumblebee replied. Maybe it was some energon. They needed some new deposits with the ones they secured starting to dry up.
He drove towards the location where the energy readings were coming from. Once he reached the location, a small canyon near a rocky outcropping, he shifted to robot mode and walked towards the epicenter. Sitting on the ground was some strange device that looked like some kind of locator beacon. But it wasn't one he ever seen before.
"What is this thing?" He asked himself.
He bent down to inspect it, but out of nowhere, something attached itself to his chest and Bumblebee's body was violently electrocuted by the tiny device. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground, his systems overloaded as he fell into unconsciousness.
Not a moment later, three helicopters flew over the cliff side and landed around the fallen Autobot. A group of men in black bodysuits ran out and moved in on Bumblebee, with their commander exiting the chopper after them. The Zodiac general Aries watched his men surround the Autobot with their EMP rifles pointed at him. One of the technicians ran up to him.
"Sir, we've got another N.B.E. on the way. ETA, two minutes."
"Work briskly." Aries commanded.
The technician nodded and was handed a briefcase by one of the other soldiers. Running over to Bumblebee, he knelt down by the Autobot's lower torso and opened the briefcase to take out a few components, which he assembled into a specially made high powered drill. The man then started drilling into the side of Bumblebee's abdomen, making a hole large enough to reach his arms inside.
Aries watched his surroundings like a hawk, and his third eye caught sight of Bulkhead's large form driving down the road. "The backup's ahead of schedule."
"As luck would have it," The technician pulled out a large, round spherical device from Bumblebee's body, his arms covered in energon. "So am I."
"Move out!"
The soldiers piled into the helicopters and took off as soon as the last man was inside. They were already gone by the time Bulkhead arrived in his vehicle mode and transformed to check up on his friend.
"Bee! Bee, you okay?" Bulkhead leaned over the scout and roughly patted his face to wake him up. "Come on, Bee, nap time's over."
Bumblebee groaned as he came back online. His head felt fuzzy as he leaned up on his elbows and saw Bulkhead looking down at him. "What happened?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Bulkhead said and noticed the hole drilled into the scout's side. "Bee, you're hurt. Were you attacked?"
"No idea. I was investigating that energy reading you told me about and the…nothing." Bumblebee rubbed his head. "I don't remember anything else after that."
Bumblebee stood back up shakily, refusing any help from Bulkhead. He hissed and grasped his abdomen, which felt sore and unbalanced.
"You sure you're okay?" Bulkhead was not doctor, but he knew that his little friend was not in prime condition.
"Don't worry, Bulk, I'll live. But we need to get the scrapheaps that jumped me." Bumblebee said. "I think we can still catch them."
Bulkhead transformed and drove back to the road to chase after the three choppers he saw leaving the area. Bumblebee ran forward, fully expecting his body to convert into vehicle mode-except he didn't. He stopped, confused, and tried to transform again, only to feel a sharp pain in his lower abdomen and nothing.
Bulkhead noticed that Bumblebee was not with him and he spun around to drive over to his paralyzed comrade, reverting back to robot mode. "What's wrong? We rolling or not?"
Bumblebee tried to transform again, but only some of his armor twitched before doing nothing. Bulkhead looked at him with deep concern as he saw the scout start to panic.
"Bulkhead, something's wrong! I can't transform!"
XXXXXX
A few minutes later, everyone was assembled in them med bay watching Ratchet do some diagnostic scans on the frightened Bumblebee. No one said anything as they let the doctor work, but finally Moonracer couldn't take the silence.
"Find anything yet, doc?" She asked.
"No more than since the last time you asked me three minutes ago, Moonracer." Ratchet replied, getting annoyed with the femme's constant chatter.
"Do you have an idea on what's wrong with him?" Gin asked.
"I'm hoping it's nothing serious," Ratchet said. "Just some minor damage to his T-cog."
"T-cog?" Annie wrinkled her nose. "What, is that the Cybertronian equivalent of a funny bone?"
"It's the organ that allows us to transform and scan alt modes." Arcee explained.
"And a very important component of our physiology." Ratchet added. Once he finished his scans, he checked the results on his onboard computer, and what he learned wasn't pleasant at all. "Oh, Primus."
"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked.
"Your T-cog isn't damaged, it's missing!"
That statement shocked everyone, even Prowl, but Bumblebee was the most horrified. Ironhide was the first to ask what everyone was thinking.
"What do you mean missing? It couldn't have just gotten up and rolled away."
"I don't know what to tell you, Ironhide." Ratchet hooked some cords to his arm and transferred X-Ray images of Bumblebee's body onto the screen. He pointed to the lower abdomen around the waist. "See? That circular space there is where the T-cog is supposed to be."
"B-but, if I don't have a T-cog, then I can't transform! I can't be a Cybertronian that can't transform. It's what we're known for!" Bumblebee grabbed his head as he began to lose his cool. "Oh scrap, I can't fight if I can use my wheels! This is what bots get jumped in alleyways for!"
Calm down, Bee. I'm sure Ratchet or Wheeljack can make you another one with the right tools." Darren said, but his words only served to make the scout feel worse. "Crap, what did I say?"
"Darren, a T-cog is a biomechanism, not a scrapyard find!" Ratchet snapped. "It's no more replaceable than a vocal synthesizer or a brain module! They can be built, only repaired if damaged."
"You're born with one, you die with one." Prowl said forlornly.
"I'm useless now! What good is a scout that can't make a speedy getaway!" Bumblebee cried out. Jolt jumped onto the slab.
"Don't say that, Bee!" Jolt said. "You're not useless. You've still got your legs and your fists. You can still fight."
"Whatever the case may be," Optimus said to bring order back to the room. "We must find out the identity of the culprit if we are to retrieve Bumblebee's missing organ."
"Wouldn't it be the Cons?" Bulkhead suggested.
"I don't think the Cons would want a T-cog considering they can transform themselves, Bulkhead." Darren said. "Even Knockout isn't into bodyplay."
"So who the hell did it?" Annie growled.
"Was there anything you guys noticed that might give us a hint?" Arcee asked Bulkhead and Bumblebee. The scout looked lost, but Bulkhead remembered something.
"Helicopters!" He snapped his fingers. "I remember hearing helicopter rotors when I found Bee."
"Helicopter blades? Like…" Darren's face darkened. "I think I know who might've done this."
"The ones who cannibalized Lugnut." Annie said.
"And tried to gut me." Arcee hissed. Everyone came to the same conclusion at the same time.
"OZ."
XXXXXX
"Beginning installation."
Aries watched intently as the technicians carefully installed the T-cog into the life-sized robotic skeleton. It was almost as tall as Optimus Prime, sporting a skeletal frame based on the Autobot leader's schematics and only half covered with armor. Once the biomechanical organ was implanted into the robot's torso, the head technician entered the activation code. Aries smiled when he saw the robot's eyes glow as its systems powered up.
Project Mechnoid was already going smoothly. This machine was merely the first step in building a fully functional mechanoid based off preliminary scans obtained from previous encounters with the Autobots and information gleaned from the dissection of Lugnut and the Autobot Jazz's missing arm. It was far from completely, as this was simply the trial run to test the capabilities of the T-cog. But if all went well, OZ could have its very own army of intelligent drones control by the men and women of this proud order.
"Scannnig."
Two beams of light were shot out of the robot's eyes and ran over their test alt mode, the Tumbler, a highly mobile armored truck designed by OZ scientists based on stolen military blueprints. Once the beams washed over the bulky vehicle, a wireframe image of the truck appeared on the computer screen on the second level. With the scans downloaded, that only left one step.
"Initiating transformation."
With the pull of a lever, the transformation sequence was inputted, but instead of an array of moving parts reconfiguring into an entirely different mode, the robot did nothing. Aries scowled as the technician tried again, only to get the same results. After a failed third time, he began to lose his patience.
"What's the problem?" Aries asked.
"Nothing sir. Systems are all fully functional and in the green levels, but the component isn't responding to our commands."
"The find the problem and fix it!" Aries shouted. His anger spurred the men into action, not wanting to piss off the general who could vaporize them with a literal blink of his third eye.
"Well this is embarrassing." Aquarius said as she strolled up to her partner in crime. "All that work to get a T-cog and this is all we get. Honestly, I'm beginning to think this is a waste of time."
"It was your idea." Aries growled.
"I know, but I thought that Cybertronian tech would be compatible with terran technology." She sighed. "Looks like I was wrong."
All activity was halted as a chilling laugh filled the air. Everyone turned to the large doors of the warehouse they were operating in as they were opened slightly and a glowing eye peeked through the crack. Pushing the doors open, the bot entered the warehouse, not caring about the humans pointing their weapons at her.
Just from appearance alone, they could tell that she was a Cybertronian, but her current allegiance was unknown as she didn't have any symbol on her form. She was a deep crimson mixed with magenta, and had what appeared to be thorny vines sprouting from her lithe body. Her face was reminiscent of an Egyptian mask, smooth and mouthless with round, oval shaped eyes that glowed a deep lavender. As she walked towards the two generals, her body would give a little twitch, like she was having minute seizures every few seconds.
"So you are the humans who turned poor Lugnut into a science experiment," She laughed, her voice low and sensual, but was layered with a controlled madness. She lightly tapped a helicopter blade as she walked past it. "Didn't learn much from the experience, did you?"
Six red dots appeared on her chest as OZ's Zygart Talos pointed their weapons at her body, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Despite the obvious threats, she didn't look concerned at all.
"Enough to know where the soft spots are, Decepticon." Aquarius said, mentally summoning water from the air around her.
"I am not a part of that intergalactic pissing contest, human. I am a part of something grander." The femme looked at the robots and sighed. "Put your guns down. If I wanted you dead, you'd all be bloody smears on the floor."
Aries narrowed his eyes and motioned for his men to stand down. Aquarius looked at him shocked.
"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed.
"Letting her say her piece. This may be just the opportunity we've been waiting for." Aries said and looked up at the femme. "Speak."
The femme nodded and casually strolled towards the robot they were building as she explained what they were doing wrong.
"You see, a T-cog isn't just technology, its biology. All Cybertronians are born with one and die with one, but you can't just build it from scratch. Thus, the organ will only work inside a Cybertronian body designed to hold it. Implanting it in some random machine won't do the job." She said. Seeing Aries give her a nod, she continued, "If you want this T-cog to work, you need energon. It's the fuel, the ammunition, the very lifeblood of our species."
She stopped in front of the robot and raised her arm. Cutting into her arm with one of her thorns, she drew energon from her body, which she then deposited onto the inner circuitry of the robot. Aries and Aquarius noted how the robot's eyes seemed to glow brighter.
"So that's how they operate." Aquarius whispered.
"You see, I've run into a little problem on this planet," The femme said. "This planet is ripe with natural energon, but I lack sufficient means of locating it."
"Are you suggesting an alliance?" Aries asked.
"Yes. You see, once I supply you with energon, we can utilize your resources to locate new deposits. For us to share of course."
"If you can meet our rather significant demands." Aquarius replied.
"Oh? Planning to build an army, are we?" At Aries' silence, she chuckled. "I'm no stranger to ambition. Despite our obvious differences, our goals mesh. My comrades off world have learned of your crusade and wish to aid your organization in your endeavors. If you don't believe me, you're welcome to talk to your leader about this."
Aries and Aquarius traded discreet glances at her mention of their leader, the thirteenth Zodiac Ophiuchus. This bot knew more than she was letting on if she knew of her. It raised some warning flags, but this was something they couldn't pass up if they wanted to gain the upper hand against the Autobots and Decepticons.
"Very well, you have a deal." Aries said and held out his hand. "But we're going to need your name."
"I am Thornment," She said, placing her finger in the general's hand as a makeshift handshake. "Proud member of the Order."
XXXXXXX
A few days had passed and there was still no luck in finding any sign of OZ. Between energon scouting, watching out for Decepticons and trying not to get slagged by wayward Dolem scouts, their priorities were split to the fourth degree. And with each passing day, Bumblebee's mood got worse to the point that even the bright yellow luster of his armor looked duller. But for one medic, his constant inquiry was starting to get on his nerves.
"Hey, Ratchet, any-"
"No, Bumblebee. There hasn't been any news since you asked me an hour ago. And the hour before that, and before that as well." Ratchet grumbled. "I will let you know when the others find any clues."
The medic went back to cataloging their supplies, but he barely got anything done when the scout was tapping his shoulder.
"Did they find anything now?" He asked again. Ratchet spun around on him, ready to give him a piece of his mind.
"I swear to all that is holy-"
"Bee, you wanna play a game with us?" Sonar called out form the hallway.
"Sure!" Bumblebee followed the Minicon out of the storage room, leaving Ratchet to his blissful silence, and narrowly avoided getting knocked out by a wrench to the head.
He followed Sonar to the west wing where the kids were going against the Air Defense team in a two player video game. Desperately in need of a distraction, Bumblebee sat down next to the kids to see what game they were playing. To his utter dismay, he saw that they were playing a racing game.
"Oh man." Bumblebee groaned. Annie saw him sitting there and quickly shut the game off, interrupting Darren and Jetstorm's race.
"Oh come on!" Jetstorm complained.
"Shut it!" Annie hissed and pushed them off the couch. "Hey Bee, how about we watch some TV? That'll make you feel better, right?"
"Sure, go ahead." He said gloomily.
She changed the videopane to a TV channel, and to her horror, she just happened to switch it to a program showing a Nascar race going on. As if to add insult to injury, the race went to commercial and showed an advertisement of a shiny new sports car that drove down an empty road with the engine roaring loudly. Humans and Minicons winced at the sight.
"Bad call sis." Darren muttered. Gina looked up at Bumblebee and patted his large foot.
"Bee, look at me," She said, gaining his attention. "It's okay if you can't transform. Your alt mode doesn't define who you are. It's your skills as a scout and a warrior that matter to the team. You can kick as with or without your wheels."
"Yeah…yeah, I know. Thanks." Bumblebee smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm…going to go check up on the guys downstairs."
"Bee…" Gina sighed as her friend walked out of the room. She looked at the others, but they could offer no help.
Bumblebee walked into the shuttle bay, where the landing hatch was open and Prowl was waiting for some of the other Autobots to return from their perimeter patrol. The tactical officer spared him a slight nod before looking back out into the forest. It was typical Prowl behavior, but Bumblebee wasn't offended. The last thing he needed was for everyone to treat him like he lost his voice box or something.
Then he saw two vehicles drive out of the forest and swerve into the shuttle bay, laughing and joking. It was Arcee and Moonracer, having finished their lap around the volcano and were having the time of their lives.
"That was great big sis!" Moonracer giggled. "You broke 120 easy…" Then they noticed Bumblebee standing there and the sisters inwardly winced. "Oh dear."
"That's it! I can't take anymore!" Bumblebee yelled and marched down the landing hatch.
"Where are you going?" Prowl asked.
"Out for a walk, what else?" Bumblebee grumbled as he made his way outside, but Prowl got in his way.
"You can't just go for a walk! We are robots in disguise, and you don't have an alt mode. You'll be seen." Prowl told him and grabbed his arm. "You'll just have to remain in the Ark until-"
"Until what?!" Bumblebee threw Prowl's hand off and glared at him. "Until you can fix me?"
Bumblebee marched away back inside the ship, leaving Prowl and the two sisters alone. Prowl watched him go and sighed.
"Yes, Bee. Until we can fix you." He muttered.
XXXXXX
Gina was still hung up on Bumblebee's little breakdown earlier and she didn't know what else to do than join Ratchet in the med bay. Longarm was nowhere to seen, and Ratchet was simply sitting at his desk reading a medical book on human maladies. It didn't take Ratchet much to see that the girl was troubled.
"Gina, is something wrong?" He asked.
"Hmm? Oh, um, I'm just trying to process all this, that's all." Gina said. Ratchet lifted her onto his desk so they could talk better. "Ratchet, have you ever dealt with patients that have lost their T-cogs?"
Ratchet stopped reading and for a minute, she thought that he wasn't going to answer her. But then he spoke in a quiet tone, "Though rare, you'll find bots who have willingly sacrificed their T-cogs. On Cybertron, there was this activist group call the Militant Monoform Movement, or Triple M. they rejected the existence of Adaptus, one of our chief gods, by removing their T-cogs and only having one base form."
"That's extreme." Gina commented.
"Those were extreme times," He replied. "A T-cog is an important part of Cybertronian physiology. Sure there are the social consequences, such as isolation and discrimination. Shapism we call it."
The parallels all this had with human issues on Terra were all too real for Gina and she began to wonder if pre-war Cybertron was as peaceful as she originally thought. She wondered what it would be like for a Cybertronian who couldn't transform living in a society where transformation was a part of everyday life. The taunts, the jeers, the threats, the general stigma that spawns from such a deformity. But the psychological effects…
"Will Bumblebee be alright?" Gina asked.
"So long as OZ doesn't destroy his T-cog, physically he'll be alright. But mentally is a different question. I once had a patient, a Seeker I recall, who suffered from a rusting agent that spread to her T-cog. It crippled her transformation mechanism and she was stunted for life. When I told her the bad news, she had a nervous breakdown and started clawing and tearing at her wings and face, nearly ripping them off with her hands. She killed herself a day later."
"Good lord…" Gina whispered, putting a hand to her mouth.
"While I like to think that Bumblebee knows better than for him to go suicidal, his morale is dropping by the day. He just got back from a coma, and here he is taken off the field again." Ratchet said. "If this goes on any longer, then I fear that Bumblebee will do something drastic to get his T-cog back…and might die trying in the process."
XXXXX
Optimus walked out of the ground bridge and found Ratchet waiting for him and Ironhide. Waving Ironhide off, he and Ratchet walked down the hall past Bumblebee's quarters, where the scout had been holed up in his room for the past few hours. He didn't let anybody, even Jolt, inside to speak to him.
"Bumblebee's right to have little faith. We have no leads on finding OZ, and we still haven't gotten any word from Jetfire." Ratchet told him. "We can't act without a solid lead, and the chances of finding his T-cog are lowering the more we wait. But there is another solution."
"A transplant," Optimus said. "But that would require a donor. And we can't afford to have anymore Autobots off the field."
Ratchet contemplated his next words before he made his suggestion. "You need look no further than the one standing before you."
Optimus looked at Ratchet surprise. The medic was dead serious about his decision, and was determined to see it through.
"Ratchet, your offer is generous, but you would e only trading one Autobot's handicap for another." Optimus noted.
"optimus, I am a medic, not a warrior. I spend most of my days here, with my tools and my hands." He held up his hands, old and worn with age, but still capable of saving lives. "Hands trained to save lives, not take them. My alt mode is wasted here. So long as I have my tools, I am fine. But we can't afford to lose even one warrior on the field."
You make a compelling argument, my friend." The Prime stated and placed a hand on the medic's shoulder. "But we will find Bumblebee's T-cog."
"Optimus, OZ are savages! You've seen what they've done to Lugnut. What they tried to do to Arcee, Darren and Annie. Heaven knows how much damage they've done to Bumblebee's T-cog…or if I can repair it."
"Ratchet…" Optimus began, but paused. Ratchet took it personally when he was unable to help someone in his care (though he tried hard to be practical and aloof about it).
"As a medic, it is my job to go above and beyond for my patients…and my friends." Ratchet said strongly. "Please, let me do this."
Optimus was silent for a minute before he let out a resigned sigh and nodded his consent of Ratchet's plan. It was no substitute for Bumblebee's real T-cog, but at least it will give the scout a fighting chance until they could get his organ back. He just hoped that they weren't too late.
XXXXXX
A short while later, some of the Autobots were assembled in the med bay and were prepping for an operation. As Longarm set up the medical equipment, Ratchet looked at the few Autobots who weren't out scouting for recon; Arcee, Moonracer, and Bulkhead. The children were watching with their partners.
"As I will be one of the patients involved, one of you must act as my proxy to perform the surgery." Ratchet said, looking at all of them. "Now, I am well aware of your lack of medical knowledge, so Longarm will be guiding you through the operation."
He went down the line to inspect potential candidates, starting with Bulkhead. Ratchet didn't take long to see that the former Wrecker was not for the job. "Nope, better at breaking things."
Bulkhead let out a relieved sigh. He was the last person who wanted to get caught up handling someone's innards. Ratchet moved onto Moonracer, who was practically bouncing on her feet trying to get picked. "I'm not even going to entertain the idea."
Moonracer pouted as he stopped in front of Arcee, who was mentally praying that she wasn't going to be chosen. But when Ratchet didn't give her immediate criticism, she knew she was picked.
"Arcee-"
"Optimus has steadier hands." Arcee quickly said.
"Steady, and much too large to be rooting around under my hood." Ratchet said.
Arcee groaned as Ratchet went to get ready with the transplant. "Primus help me."
"Come on, Cee. You're as brave as they come." Darren said.
"On a battlefield," Arcee corrected. "Not an operating theatre."
"So long as you're using the knife, not under it." He replied. Arcee gave him a weak smile.
Bumblebee and Ratchet got onto the medical slabs as Arcee set everything up under Longarm's direction. She attached some cables to the backs of their heads to induce artificial stasis.
"Inducing stasis." Announced Longarm. Bumblebee turned to Ratchet.
"Ratchet, thanks a lot for doing this." He said. "I mean it."
"Don't thank…me until this is…" Ratchet's voice droned out as he fell into stasis.
Then just as Longarm was about to work on Bumblebee, the radio switched on and Sparkplug's face appeared on it. "Is anyone there?"
"We're here, Sparkplug. What's the problem?" Arcee asked.
Teletran-1 just picked up a Minicon panel and-"
"Say no more, we're on our way!" Arcee dropped her tools and jogged out of the med bay. "Moon, Bulk, you're with me. Don't touch anything kids!"
"Whoa, whoa, what about me?" Bumblebee sat up. "What should I do?"
"We'll continue your operation when you get back, but for now, wait for Ratchet to wake up and tell him why we're gone." She told him and was gone before he could protest.
Bumblebee sighed and looked at the children. Surely they were sympathetic enough to let him go out for some fresh air. "You guys wouldn't mind-"
"No." They shot him down without pause. They weren't going to help him in committing a prison break.
"Scrap."
XXXXXX
A six man mech team-three Zygarts and three Orions-traveled the vast interior of a deep canyon in the state of Kokomo. The squad leader piloting the black Zygart Talos lead his team through the area with a scanner attached to his mecha's arm. Seeing the indicator hit the red zone, he saw that their payload was too far from him and motioned for his men to follow him deeper into the canyon. At the rear, Aquarius and Thornment were walking at a leisurely pace as they talked.
"I admit, I was skeptical about accepting your proposal, but now it seems you weren't trying to lead us astray." Aquarius said. "I can only begin to imagine what the future may hold from working together with you."
"Yes," Thornment nodded, her vines trailing behind her. "Energon has a way of uniting even organics if used correctly. With it, you'll be able to create weapons strong enough to make even Megatron run to the hills."
"I'm sure Aries would be excited at that notion." She said and faced the tall femme. "But I'm curious, why are you helping us? The Autobots and Decepticons move heaven and earth to make sure that we don't pilfer their technology and science, yet here you are, giving us a bevy of secrets to learn from. Are you not concerned with what happens if our experiment fails? What if we lose that T-cog and decide that yours will be perfect compensation for wasting our time?"
Thornment brushed off the veiled threat with a callous wave of her thin hand. "Please, general. Do you think that I'd approach you for an alliance without having my own set of contingency plans? I'm powerful, but I didn't get to where I am by being reckless. I've heard of your little misadventure with Flamewar, and I'm no gung-ho fool like Megatron."
"Hmph, so long as we have an understanding." Aquarius sniffed. She couldn't help but see just how far she could take it with this mysterious being, how much it would take to make her snap. Apparently a lot it seemed, seeing as Thornment wasn't angry at all at being threatened to her face. Probably because she had the power to kill everyone here save for Aquarius herself. "Still, you said that you come on behalf of your comrades…what kind of comrades?"
"The type who seek salvation in the stars. Like you, we have been approached by the divine Host-a white goddess who has shown us visions of the future. Unless we act now, those pompous fools who play their war games will run our entire species to extinction." Thornment gazed down at the Zodiac with rose colored eyes. "My friend, Ember, has told me of you, the thirteen generals born from Her womb to usher in a new era for mankind. It is on her behalf that I come to you now to provide my assistance in achieving your goals."
As cryptic as that may seem, Aquarius believed Thornment's explanation. The White Queen, OZ's true leader, had confirmed it, stating that she had contacted beings from the stars who were like minded individuals, seeking a path of true evolution for their kind as well. That it was the Shapings' will that man and machine unite to save two worlds and combine to form an ephemeral being not seen since the Creation. Aquarius knew they were far from their endgame, but to learn that there were Cybertronians in league with their divine benefactors gave her the strength to continue with the Grand Plan. And when everything was said and done, all will truly be one.
The ladies followed the soldiers and saw them gathered in front of a sizeable collection of energon crystals growing from the ground. A snake-like smile spread across Aquarius' face.
"Energon," She whispered, gazing upon the substance like it was water. "Ready to be harvested."
"And processed," Thornment said, smiling. "To give us the edge."
XXXXXX
Bumblebee didn't even bother getting up from his recharge slab as he waited for Ratchet to wake up from his stasis. It was a perfect excuse he used with the kids, but they saw right through it. As for the humans, they were in the command center with Sparkplug monitoring Teletran-1.
"What great timing," Annie sighed. "You think Bee will actually get this transplant or is this going to be a running gag?"
"I hope not. Bee's morale is low enough as it is." Sureshock said. "Not being able to transform in this chaotic war is nearly a death sentence."
"Right after we just got him back from Death's door too, damn life sucks." Grindor said.
"That's why it's called life." Darren said.
"Guys, could you not be so depressing? We need to be strong for Bee, because he needs all the support he can get." Gina said, giving them all stern glares. "And he's not going to feel any better if we treat him like he's got only two days to live. Pity is the last thing he needs."
"Yeah, but at this point the only thing that'll get him out of that funk is finding those OZ bastards," Annie said, balancing her chair on the back of its legs. "And the chances of finding them is about a thousand to on-"
"YO!"
"Ah!" Annie screamed and her chair fell back, sending her to the floor. "What the fuck!"
"Is something wrong, Jetfire?" Sparkplug asked.
"I just caught wind of a moving energon signal and trailed it to this warehouse in Nebrask." Jetfire said on the comm. "And I saw a lot of Talos parked outside."
"Black Talos? As in Zygart units?" High Wire asked.
"The very same."
That got the kids' attention and they immediately knew this was what they were waiting for. "So you've actually found…"
"OZ, and a lot of them." Jetfire said.
"What?!"
The group turned to see Bumblebee marching towards them. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Hold your horses, Bee," Sparkplug said. "Optimus specifically ordered you to remain here for the time being. We should call the others back."
"Optimus is stopping a polar ice cap from melting," Darren said. "And Arcee's group is trying to retrieve a Minicon panel. Everyone's too busy to spare the time right now."
"Except us," Annie pointed out. Bumblebee's face brightened up.
"Does that mean…?"
"Against our better judgment, we'll go on ahead and help you get your T-cog back." Gina said, smiling up at him. "Our Talos are more than enough to fight the Zygarts, and we have Jetfire on our side."
"Kids this is the most reckless thing that you're planning!" Sparkplug said. "I can't let you all go alone into the lion's den like this."
"I'm sorry, Sparkplug, but we're going. This is our only chance of catching OZ off guard and getting Bee's T-cog back in one piece." Darren said. "We can't wait any longer."
Sparkplug rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Why did he even bother trying? "Fine, but be careful. If things get too dangerous-"
"You're pulling us back, got it." Annie said, already making her way to the armory. "Let's go people!"
As the kids went to get their mecha, Bumblebee took a deep breath and prepared himself. He was going to get those bastards back for attacking him, and he wasn't going to stop until he got his T-cog back.
XXXXXX
Aries and Aquarius stood in front of their remodeled robot with Thornment watching the technicians hooking up energon lines to the drone. It took some time to process the energon into a liquefied form, but once it was processed, all they had to do was channel the energon through fuel lines connected to the robot's power source. They had already scanned the vehicle mode, and came the hard part.
"Is everything all set?" Thornment asked.
"Yes, preparations are already underway." Aries said, noting the look of glee on the femme's face. "Are you ready?"
"Let's get this over with before something happens." Aquarius said impatiently. She had seen enough Bond movies to know that taking too much time will allow the heroes to arrive and screw things up.
"Very well," Aries smirked at Aquarius' mood and turned to his men. "Begin the activation sequence!"
The technicians got to work, powering up all the robot's systems as they switched on its power source-a hephaestium reactor-remotely. The robot's eyes glowed and one of its hands actually clenched. It was working!
"Finally, something's going our way for once." Aquarius smiled.
"This is only the first step. Scanning and transformation are both extremely complex processes, and the drone will need time to reconfigure. But for now, you've achieved at least part of your goal of giving life to this machine." Thornment said. "Anyone up for drinks?"
Their joy was brought crashing to the ground when they heard loud explosions going on outside. The generals were immediately on alert as they tried to learn what was going on.
"Status report!" Aquarius yelled into her comm. "What the hell is going on out there?"
"We're under attack, sir! Three Talos and two Autobots are storming the base." The team leader exclaimed. "They're mowing us down!"
"Don't let them reach us you fools! Kill them all!" She yelled at them.
The large doors were suddenly smashing in by a powerful punch and the humans barely made it out of the way to avoid getting crushed. It was Bumblebee, and he was glaring down at the humans with anger he never felt before.
"The scout." Aries smirked.
"Welcome to the party, young Autobot!" Thornment greeted, her eyes shining with glee. "But you'll have to show your invitation!"
Bumblebee didn't even register that there was another, unknown Cybertronian standing there in front of him as he pointed his blaster at the generals. "Here's my invitation!"
He pulled the trigger and the Zodiac jumped to the side to avoid the fatal blast he fired at them. The soldiers opened fire on Bumblebee, but they were forced to evade when the Autobot shot back at them with surprising ferocity. He punched the catwalk where the computer was and tore it off the upper scaffolding, slamming it to the ground and forcing the other soldiers to run away. Aquarius tried to summon her water from the surrounding air, but Bumblebee threw a grenade that exploded not too far from her. The blast wave sent her flying and it was only thanks to her ice shield that she avoided getting serious burns.
"Ah!" Aquarius grunted as she hit the hard metal floor of the warehouse and landed on her shoulder, dislocating it. "I thought you said the yellow one was the weakest!"
"I did." Aries replied.
He ran forward and fired a combustion beam from his eye, hitting the Autobot in the shoulder. To his surprise, Bumblebee forced himself to ignore the pain and transformed, driving straight at Aries. The Autobot did a vicious hit and run maneuver, ramming into Aries and sending the man tumbling over his hood until he fell to the ground behind him. Surprisingly, the general was still alive, but was sporting some broken bones from the immense force the Autobot had hit him with.
"Where is my T-cog!" bumblebee roared as he returned to robot mode and his answer came in the form of a magenta colored beam that he ducked under. The attack singed his back and blew a hole in the wall behind him, where some unfortunate scientists were hiding amidst the chaos.
The blast came from a giant metal flower, a rose with four elastic tendrils covered in thorns and four spiny legs that dug into the floor as it stomped towards the scout. The center of the large rose was smoking, showing where it fired its beam.
"How savage of you," Thornment laughed, her voice coming from some unseen part of the flower. "I thought Autobots enjoyed playing fair."
"Only when we're not pissed off!" Bumblebee growled. "Who are you?"
"Thornment, proud member of the Order and your executioner!"
Thornment pushed off the ground and lunged at Bumblebee, spinning around so her sharp pointed feet were aimed at the scout's chest. Bumblebee scrambled back and leaned backwards to avoid getting gored by the plantformer and extended his vibro-blade from his arm, slashing at her. Thornment transformed to her bipedal mode and kicked his blade arm to downwards before lashing out with her vine extensions, slashing him across the face. He stepped back, but he still fought back, firing another shot that caught her in the face.
As the two bots fought, Aries pulled himself to his feet and spat out a wad of blood before scowling at the Autobot. "All units, we're making a tactical retreat."
"What?!" Aquarius screamed, snapping her arm back into place with a pained curse.
"Our location and prototype have been compromised. We're not equipped to handle a surprise assault." He said. "We must take whatever data we can and fall back to another facility."
Aquarius gritted her teeth, but agreed with his reasoning nonetheless. She and Aries made their way to the secondary exit in the room, and just made it out the door before Thornment's body crashed into the spot they were just seconds before. Unfortunately, one man wasn't fast enough and was crushed by the femme, dying instantly.
Bumblebee ran over to the robot and tore its chest panels open. He saw his T-cog, that tiny spherical organ that granted the gift of transformation, and pulled it out of the robot's torso. He smiled as he finally held his missing piece in his hand.
"I got it!" He cheered.
At that moment, the kids ran into the warehouse, having chased the soldiers and Talos outside away, but before anyone could react, a trio of vines drilled into his chest, thorns tearing at his armor and knocking him to the ground, making him lose his T-cog. The little component flew in the air before it was caught by the clawed hand of the Order member, Thornment.
"I don't think this belongs to you anymore." Thornment remarked.
XXXXXX
Being in an induced stasis lock was certainly an experience for Ratchet. He was always on the opposite end of the operation, performing the life saving operations on his patients. Was this what it felt like? Drifting aimlessly in a dreamless sleep? It felt kind of nice actually.
'Ratchet…'
Who was calling his name?
'Ratchet…"
The medic found his dark surroundings slowly get illuminated by a bright light. Then his vision started to take shape as his optics rebooted. When his sight returned, he found that he was lying on a recharge slab in the med bay, where he was last positioned god knows how long ago.
"How are you feeling Ratchet?" Longarm asked.
"Fine. More than fine actually." Ratchet said as he said up and rotated his stiff joints. Stasis lock was not kind to old mechs. "I feel no different than I did before. Maybe I should have Arcee fill in for me some time." Then he noticed the absence of a certain scout. "Where's Bumblebee?"
"He's…out."
"Out? Bumblebee's recovering from surgery, he shouldn't even be moving!" Ratchet exclaimed. Longarm looked very uncomfortable now.
"Yeah, about that…"
XXXXXX
Bumblebee glared at Thornmnet as she held his T-cog hostage. The children had their Talos aim their weapons but did not fire, not knowing if the femme would use the component as a shield. It was an incredibly tense moment for everyone.
"Put the T-cog down now!" Darren demanded.
"Or you'll do what?" Thornment said. "You're not in any position to make demands of me."
Another explosion was heard from outside; Jetfire trying to chase down the fleeing generals no doubt.
"Why are you helping them? Do you know what those people are capable of?" Bumblebee asked.
"I'm well aware of OZ's credibility and it's the reason I work with them." Thornment said. "I am no Decepticon, if that's what you're thinking. My goals and those of my comrades in the stars are more than your petty squabbles. These generals are like kindred spirits to me, mortals touched by God herself."
"You're insane." Annie growled.
"Insanity and genius go hand in hand. If you want to excel in something, then you must lose something n return." She replied and squeezed the T-cog in her hand. "If you fools know what's good for you, you'd back off. Or you'll be walking for the rest of your natural life."
"Here's another option!"
Darren's telekinetically lifted a steel beam that was lying on the floor and slammed it into Thornment's chest, hitting her hard enough to knock her down and make her lose her grip on the T-cog. It was thrown into the air and Bumblebee jumped to catch it. Time seemed to slow down for Bumblebee. He was almost there, and his fingertips grazed the rigid surface of his T-cog. He almost had it…
BANG!
The children watched in horror as an energy bolt hit his T-cog and it crashed to the ground in a smoky, blackened heap. Thornment's palm was smoking from her recent attack and she grinned.
"First rule of warfare: never let the enemy have the spoils."
Thornment transformed into a modified version of her plant mode, her legs split into four points that extended into a sort of nose, and her rose top was situated at the back to act as a thruster, expelling large amounts of heat as she flew past the children in her aerial mode. She rammed into Jetfire on the way out, knocking him over as she flew into the forest, cackling like the witch she was.
No one pursued her, as they were all focused on the damaged T-cog. Bumblebee sat on his knees in shock, looking like his whole world had been completely destroyed.
"No…" He whispered.
"Damn." Gina cursed. She jumped when her comm switched on and Ratchet's angry voice rang in her ear.
"Gina! Damn it, Gina answer me. What the hell are you and Bumblebee-"
"Ratchet, we've got Bumblebee's T-cog but…we need some help here. Now." She said.
XXXXXX
A few tense hours later, Bumblebee was back on the recharge slab with Ratchet running some last minute medical scans on his body. When they returned, the kids were fully prepared to get a full dressing down from Ratchet, hell even Optimus, but that was at the back of everyone's minds for now. Bumblebee took top priority.
Ratchet spent a few hours repairing the damage done to the T-cog, and it took even longer installing it back into Bumblebee's body. It was a long process that had everyone on edge and stressed out, but once he was done, Ratchet had invited everyone into the med bay to see their friend again.
"I…did what I could." Ratchet said. Optimus patted him on the arm.
"Bumblebee could not have been in better hands." Optimus said.
When the stasis wore off, Bumblebee groaned and sat up on the slab. "Ugh, I thought I wouldn't have to go through this again." He said groggily, rubbing the spot where Ratchet inserted his T-cog.
"Easy, Bumblebee," Ratchet cautioned. "Recovery takes time, and you're still sore."
Bumblebee slowly stood up and stretched his limbs before immediately focusing on transforming. He willed his T-cog to spin, but all he heard was a clicking noise before nothing happened.
"The damage was…severe. I did the best I could but…" Ratchet trailed off, unable to even think about failing his friend when he was needed the most.
But Bumblebee didn't give up. He continued pushing and pushing, hoping to any god that was out there that he could transform again. As if to answer his prayers, Bumblebee felt his T-cog spin and then felt the familiar experience of his body folding and rearranging into is vehicle mode.
"It works!" He cried out.
The whole room erupted into cheers of joy and relief from everyone present. Bumblebee transformed back into his robot mode and ran over to Ratchet to hug him.
"Ratchet, I got my wheels back!"
"I can see that!" Ratchet laughed.
"Unbelievable," Prowl muttered. "I thought Bumblebee's T-cog was scrap. The damage done to it was extreme and the chances of it being repaired were almost in the single digits."
"Never underestimate Ratchet's expertise, Prowl. As much as skill factors into saving lives for a living, faith must also be present for miracles to be made." Optimus said. "And Ratchet has faith in himself, as much as his abilities."
No matter the reason, everyone was just glad to have their scout back, and that Bumblebee was whole again.
XXXXXXX
Thornment led Aries and Aquarius through a forest in an undisclosed location. The femme looked eerily calm despite the threats being made against her.
"If you want our alliance to continue, Thornment, then I suggest that you find a way to replace our missing T-cog," Aries demanded, still sporting the wounds he got from his first Autobot hit and run incident. He would still be in the hospital were it not for his superhuman healing. "Or we'll help oursele sto yours."
"Of course, because you've proven yourselves capable of fighting Cybertronians. That performance you gave with those humans and single scout was riveting." Thornment replied sarcastically. Dodging the combustion beam that was fired at his head, she continued, "Relax, Aries. I have another gift that can solve your problems."
"Oh really?" Aquarius sneered.
Thornment led them to the mouth of a cave, where the Zodiac generals were met with an unexpected sight. Two dozen Insecticons were flying about the hovering in and around the cave like the insects they were. One of the three alphas in charge of this hive noticed Thornment and his little companions.
"Thornment, what is this?" Venom growled.
A wicked gleam appeared in Thornment's eyes. "Insecticons, I am in need of your assistance. These humans require a valuable item that can fully cement our alliance."
"And what would that be?" Venom asked, his wings tensing up.
"Your bodies."