DISCLAIMER: I do not own this franchise I am only using it and some of its characters as a base universe for this story.
Chapter 20- Operation: Breakdown
POV: Twinwave
" " Normal talking
": :" Bumblebee talking
(Note: this c chapter takes place during season 1 ep 16, "Operation: Breakdown" of TFP)
"Has anyone heard from Bulkhead?" I asked walking into the main base area, I knew Optimus sent him to track down a stray energon signal in the middle of nowhere but I didn't think it'd take this long for him to report back to us. "Not since he commed in saying he'd spotted Breakdown a while back." Arcee replied, she like the rest of us was lounging around the base. Other than the stray energon signal and Bulkhead's sighting of Breakdown there hadn't been much excitement going on around base today.
"I could call him!" Miko piped in from the human area, the kids too were lounging and playing video games. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try." I said, I saw her do a tiny fist pump of joy before she produced her flip phone and dialed Bulkhead. We waited in silence and anticipation as it rang, "Marco. Marco. Marco!" Miko said yelling into her phone, the more marco's she did the louder she got. She made a buzzer noise and said "You're supposed to say 'polo'." a little sarcastically, I assumed Bulkhead hadn't played along with her joke.
She covered the microphone for her end and looked at Arcee and I, "He sounds like he got knocked out or something." she seemed concerned and Cee and I exchanged glances. "Uh Miko, can you make sure he's okay?" Arcee asked before pulling me towards Ratchet, Miko despite being the absolute hard core rocker that she seemed genuinely concerned when she nodded her head as Arcee dragged me away.
"Ow ow, hey watch it Cee you're going to tear my arm off at this rate." I complained she loosened her grip a little but still made a fierce march towards Ratchet. "Bulkhead got himself hurt." she stated the obvious to Ratchet, "Why did she bring me along if it was going to be a her, him converstantion?" I thought. "I'll send a ground bridge." Ratchet said a little on edge like the rest of us. Arcee nodded and dropped her servo from my wrist as Ratchet walked away.
"So what did you need me for?" I asked she was looking at me like my carrier did when I'd done something stupid. "What was that about yesterday? You completely tuned out everyone including Optimus and engaged Rainjet." She whisper yelled, "Ahhhh so that's what this is about." I thought before I responded. "I dunno." I said bluntly "I just got this overwhelming feeling of rage seeing her helping Starscream and I acted on it." I knew it was a dumb excuse for violating orders but I'd just gotten so mad seeing her on the other side instead of standing with me.
"Well-" Arcee was interrupted by Bulkhead hobbling in supporting some of his weight onto Ratchet who was taking him over to med bay for patching and repairs. "I guess that's our cue to go see what's happening." I said following behind them, Optimus and Bumblebee who had been on patrol were already standing there waiting to lecture him.
Ratchet managed to sit him down and get the welder started before me and Cee had gotten there to check on Bulkhead, we both took our places behind Optimus and next to Bee waiting for him to step forward and give yet speech/ lecture on engaging enemies alone. I remember him doing it so much during the war to a few stray soldiers who'd almost gotten themselves massacred by a vehicons squadron, Bee and myself of course had been two of those stray soldiers.
"Engaging the enemy on your own was foolish, Bulkhead." Optimus said starting what could've been yet another long winded lecture, "I'm starting to see why him and Ratchet are such good friends." I muttered. "Breakdown jumped me. I knew I could take him. Ugh!" Bulkhead interjected, he winced from the torch hitting some of his protofrom as Ratchet continued to repair him. "Stay still." Ratchet reminded as he went back to welding. "But we should see the other guy, right, Bulk?" Miko this time interjected from the human area excitedly.
The look on Bulkheads faceplates told me he hadn't finished the job or something had gone wrong during the fight. "What happened?" I said , he still looked ashamed but brought himself to talk "Uh...yeah. About that." He started. "You didn't torch him?" Miko said as equally disappointed in Bulkhead as he himself was. "Not exactly, I-I figured you all did." he said gesturing with his servo to the rest of us, Miko let out and "Oh." and now I was confused.
"Bulkhead, we just sent a ground bridge for you, that was it. Nobody else was on sight with you." I said trying to get him to explain more about the situation. "Well, when I came to, Breakdown was just gone. I remember hearing a copter. Uh… maybe it was agent Fowler." Bulkhead said, trying to get a grasp on the information he could remember before he blacked out. "Not me. But I have an idea who." Fowler's voice rang out through the base as the elevator doors shut, "Talk about convenient timing but also why didn't the proximity alarm go off?" I thought turning my optics with everyone else towards the elevator and where Fowler's voice was coming from.
"Show me where this 'Con-napping occurred." Fowler said leaning on the railing above us, Ratchet nodded and pulled up a map with the coordinates he'd retrieved Bulkhead from a few moments before. "This is where we picked up Bulkhead." Ratchet started to gain Fowler's and the rest of our groups attention and bring us over to the monitors, which worked because everyone shifted our gathering from around the med bay to Ratchet's computers. "The Kamchatka (why is this a word?) peninsula in eastern Russia. Much of it was abandoned 20 years ago when it's volcano first erupted. My intel reported M.E.C.H activity there earlier today." Fowler said, giving "His idea on who took Breakdown".
"M.E.C.H? You mean those techie guys?" Miko asked Fowler whom she was standing next to at this current time. "The very ones who know of our existence on our planet." Ratchet confirmed for her, "They must've tracked one of us there." Bulkhead inputtered furthering the theory that we had going. "But what would they want with Breakdown?" Miko asked, "What's it matter? they can have him." Arcee said. I shook my helm "No if we can help we should, I know who it feels to be experimented on. And trust me when I say it's not fun, Con or not we need to help him." I said to Arcee, Bumblebee buzzed a "Yes" to help further convince her.
Bulkhead chuckled "Yeah dragged off by humans. Ha! Guess I softened him up for them, huh?" Miko just rolled her eyes and played along with him, even though we both knew M.E.C.H was the one who brought him down.
"Ratchet, reactivate the previous ground bridge coordinates. We will rescue Breakdown like Twinwave suggested." Optimus said, a mix of shock and confusion fell over the room and I was about the only one who didn't have "Are you serious?" written all over my faceplates. "What?!" Ratchet said in disbelief, if he had been drinking energon it would've been all over his screens by now. "Optimus, you can't be serious." Arcee said, ":Why would we go help him?:" Bee buzzed in equal confusion. "M.E.C.H can melt him down for all I care. Let the Cons rescue their own." Bulkhead practically yelled. "Except everyone here knows how deposeiable bots are to Megatron, if Breakdown can't help himself he won't be leaving their facility alive." I said turning to Bulkhead, Bee and Cee.
"Twinwave is right, it is unlikely that Megatron would bother with an errand of mercy." Optmus said siding with me, he knew I was right. We'd both seen the horrors that Megatrn made his army march into. "Okay. But this is Breakdown we're talking about." Arcee said, she still didn't want to go through with this and she seemed to be voicing everyone else along with her. "Sometimes we must rise above ourselves for the greater good." Optimus replied, he did have a point. If he hadn't done that all those years ago on Cybertron we might not be standing next to Optimus Prime.
"Oh, what's that supposed to mean?" Breakdown's gonna be grateful and go all soft and join the cause?" Bulkhead remarked, he was the most adamant about going to get Breakdown and I could tell there was not changing his processor. "In a sense it would be like trying to get Soundwave to help rescue me again, or get Rainjet to help me get Cee back from Airachnid." I remind myself retuneing in on the conversation.
"I knew where this was headed!" Bulkhead complained angrily, he was very very upset that this was our plan for today. "By 'Greater good', I meant humankind." Opimus said to Bulkhead who seemed a little regretful now. " M.E.C.H presents a clear and present danger." he finished, "Prime's right two-ton. We know M.E.C.H is obsessed with obtaining groundbreaking technology." Fowler said, remarking on both Bulkhead's weight and agreeing with Optimus' point. "Which means we cannot allow Cybertronian biology to fall into their hands. Autobots if you are willing to come grab any necessary weaponry and head to the ground bridge." Optimus said dismissing us.
I already had my swords equipped into their case so no point in me running back to my room. I just joined Arcee and Bumblebee as they walked over to the ground bridge. I noticed Bulkhead stayed behind, "I guess he's really not coming." I muttered but I knew there was no trying to convince him. Miko however clearly didn't understand that, "Come on Bulk, you got to go with." she said walking towards him. "Don't wanna." he replied stubbornly, at this point the ground bridge was active and me, Cee, Bee and Optimus were waiting at it ready to go.
"Bulkhead." Optimus started, Bulkhead in turn spun around to face his leader. "Optimus, I'm sorry. I just can't do it!" Bulkhead said, cutting him off. "I support your choice." Optimus said, Miko and Bulkhead let out a stuttered "What?!" before Optimus managed to finish his sentence. "Given your history with Breakdown, your judgement may be clouded and thus jeopardize the mission. Besides, the Decepticon may be in more need of a medic than another warrior." Optimus said turning to face Ratchet who had been walking over towards us with what I'm assuming was some sort of energon detection unit similar or exactly like the one Arcee had used when me, Jack and her had stumbled upon Airachnid's ship. "Locked and loaded, Optimus." he said, joining us at the portal's frame.
"Autobots, Roll Out!" Optimus said giving us the signal I transformed before the rest and ran into the portal while the rest were still in bipedal mode, Bumblebee was the last to transform and gave me enough time to catch up with him and hop on top of his alt before he made it through the portal.
When the five of us entered through to the otherside of the portal aka where Breakdown was abducted we were met with a heavily over casted and dark landscape. Nothing moved and nothing seemed to be alive around here, not even any plants. The dirt seemed to have been replaced with ash after the vacono explosion Fowler had told us about earlier.
Everyone immediately untransformed and transformed their blasters, me not having the luxury of that produced both my swords from their case and stood battle ready with everyone else until Optimus gave us the all clear. "No signs of life- human or Cybertronian." Opimus said, lowering his blasters, I dropped my arms to my sides by still kept a tight grip on my swords just in case. ":Guys there are tire tracks over here.:" Bumblebee buzzed, "This must've been the way they dragged off Breakdown." I remarked.
"Forget the tracks, you two. I'm picking up a faint energon signal three clicks north by northwest." (In case you don't understand every click is a mile so three miles north by northwest.) Ratchet said pointing with his energon signal device towards the direction we should be headed in. "Breakdown." Optimus said looking towards our next location. "But we shouldn't be getting a reading unless…" Arcee trailed off, "Unless they're cutting him open." I said, horrified. I remembered that feeling all too well, the noise of drills and the feeling of my armour from the back of my helm chipping off little by little as I laid in stasis waiting to be found. A chill went up and down my spine as I shook the memory from my helm. "We need to hurry." Ratchet said walking towards the coordinates.
He was the only one without any sort of weapon equipped at the moment. So as the five of us walked along, through the abandoned town and around it's buildings, we made sure to keep optics on the ground and on the sky in case M.E.C.H got wise about us beginning here and set a team to bring us down. "This way." Ratchet said as we cleared another section of the town and it's buildings. Everything around us was eerily quiet except the repeated beeping of the energon signal device Ratchet held in one of his servos.
The signal seemed to be coming from the town's square, and so as we got closer to it, me, Bee and Arcee got more and more cautious. We were stood behind a building close to where the signal was coming from, Arcee stood at the front of our party, Bee second and Me close behind. She peered around the building's corner making sure it was clear, when we deemed it to be. Arcee turned her helm to face me and Bee and nodded to him and I. Arcee and Bee ran towards the signals source and hid behind a crumbling stone wall scouting to make sure it was clear again. I stood in wait, waiting for them to wave me, Optimus and Ratchet over. When she did the three of us quickly ran towards them, well Ratchet was helm down looking at his device almost constantly so he walked over.
"Reading's coming from right...here." Ratchet said looking at what probably would have been a pentagonal fountain. We were all gathered around it, covering every angle and watching each other's backs in case anything happened. While we stood on guard, Ratchet approached the fountain and looked to see what was sitting on top of it, like a statue or a jewel on a pedestal. "Breakdown's optic." Ratchet uttered loud enough for us to hear.
Arcee let out a silent gasp and Bumblebee's optics whirled around in shock. "Where's the rest of him?" I asked equally as horrified and shocked as they were, "I don't know…" Ratchet replied. Everyone untransformed their weapons and I put my swords back into their case before we gathered behind Ratchet as we picked the severed optic up and placed it's wiring into some sort of import on the top of the device he was carrying. "WHat are you doing?" Arcee asked, she asked the question I was pretty sure everyone was wondering at that point.
"The optic receptors might have retained the final images seen." Ratchet replied as the yellowish gold glow returned to the optic as it powered on. "What do you know? Weird science wins again." Arcee said as an image of a shadowed figure and a drill can into view on the screen of the device, the drill seemed to have been aimed right at the optic so when the sparks started the feed cut out. "We need to get him out of there." I whispered as another chill went through me, the drill had brought back some even more unpleasant memories of when I'd gotten myself kidnapped.
The feed slowly started to turn itself into a semi blurry picture and our group let out a unison gasp. Silas or the glitch who ran M.E.C.H appeared into the foreground and in the background drills and the dismembering of Breakdown could be seen. "Well, well. Optimus Prime. A pleasure to set eyes on you again." Silas said as he stared down Optimus and the very back of us. "He's converted the optics into a two-way feed." Ratchet said filling us in on what he'd done to Breakdown's optic. "And you must be Silas." Optimus said coldly, the sparks in the background got bigger as they used saws to cut into Breakdown's chassis armour. "In the flesh. But being that our captive is not one of yours, I have to admit I was expecting Megatron." Silas said.
"So Breakdown must've squealed on how Megatron is." I thought, watching Breakdown instead of SIlas. Even though he was our enemy I felt empathy for him because I'd been in the same situation a few centuries ago. "In this circumstance, Autobots and Decepticons share a common foe." Optimus said coldly. The optic camera seemed to have moved closer to Breakdown because he was more inframe than he had been before. I shuttered again as a chip of his armour came loose on his chassis. "M.E.C.H is anything but common. Out guest is yielding quite a bit of information about your biomechanics as you can see…" Silas said turning most of his body towards whatever demented table they'd strapped Breakdown onto. "Although breakdown himself can't see so well anymore." Silas continued turning himself back to the optic camera.
"We don't fear you." Ratchet said to the human. "Oh, but you should. In fact, I would strongly urge that you not stand your ground." Silas said getting a little too close to the camera, the five of us looked up and towards the fountain. Bombs, five maybe six surrounded it. They were counting down from ten seconds, "Scap." I muttered. "It's a trap." Optimus said stating the obvious. "Would this be a 'roll out' kind of trpa?" Arcee asked sarcastically, wasting the precious seconds we had left before the damn thing exploded on us. "Evacuate-Now!" Optimus yelled, everyone took off in a run in an attempt to get out of the blasts range.
We transformed and I hopped back onto the top of Bumblebee's alt as we sped away from the blast. As each bomb blew up one by one, the plum of fiery smoke and air got bigger. I looked behind me as Bee drove away and the fire was catching up to us, quicker than I would've liked. "Uh Bee, I don't know if you can go any faster but we're about to still be just short of out of range." I said, but instead of speeding up Bumblebee transformed with the rest. I followed suit, and the speed that we'd gained was enough to launch us out of range before the blast reached us. The scraping of metal on metal screeched through the ashy air as our pedes hit the ground and slid until we stopped.
"So, any idea where they're keeping the rest of Breakdown?" Arcee said exasperated and I couldn't blame her. That would've been really tiring if I had to have driven from that. We all looked into the fiery death that we'd just escaped. "What about those tracks we saw when we first got here? They seemed to be heading towards the railway and I'm pretty sure that's big enough for one of us to stand up in, let alone be strapped to a table." I said, remembering the huge tire marks we'd seen heading south, southwest of us when we'd gotten here. "Then that's where we check first." Optimus said transforming into his alt.
Everyone followed suit and I jumped and landed as soft as I could on top of Bee before we all went speeding towards the tracks, understandably there was lots of gunfire to be heard in the distance. "Bulkhead to Optimus, rendezvous with my coordinates. I'm in need of back up." Bulkhead's voice sounded through our comm links, in the background gunfire and explosions were heard except closer. "Well now we know where all that noise is coming from." Arcee remarked as we got closer to the target. "And we've got company." I said as a squadron of eradicons and possibly Starscream flew over us.
"Autobots disengage vehicle mode and ready balsters." Optimus' voice sounded, almost on cue everyone transformed and readied their blasters while I took out my swords again. "Hammer time!" Bulkhead's voice echoed as we got closer to Starscream and the eradicons. He seemed to have tossed an unconscious Breakdown at them and managed to knock them over like a bunch of bowling pins. With a few letting out grunts as they fell. "Come on! I'll scrap all of you!" Bulkhead yelled again readying himself for a fight. "Now would be a good time to step in." I said watching Starscream and his eradicons transform blasters and run towards him.
Though they didn't get very far because the return of everyone but my blaster fire stopped them in their tracks and Starscream being the coward he is called for a retreat. Except for breakdown the r4es few off, Breakdown in turn body checked Bulkhead and transformed himself in his own retreat as we got closer.
"Engaging the enemy on your own was even more foolish this time, Bulkhead. But I am honored that you saw fit to rescue your rival. You have truly risen above yourself." Optimus condemned him for having a whole proud sire moment for Bulkhead until he decided to speak and everything returned to normal, "Did you see? I beat Breakdown with and bashed them all with his own hammer! I won the rematch!" Bulkhead said excitedly. "I'm sure Miko would be proud." Arcee said and I saw Bulkhead smile a little. "Speaking of Miko and the base, how in a kaon put are we getting home? Because you're here and Raf is the only human who understands how to work the ground bridge." I said , Ratchet let out a scoff and left to call Fowler to walk him through how to get us home. "Well, I'd call operation: Breakdown a success." Arcee said proudly as Ratchet began to get angry in the background.
Hi yes this is your writer speaking, because my girlfriend is the amazing and awesome human that sh is she's creating a new story! It's going to be based around me her and a few of our other friends. So if you want to please go read it, the first chapter should be out sometime today or tomorrow. Stay safe and be happy!
RainjetLoyalDecepticon, "Looks like we're in transformers..."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave some feedback for me so I can make it a better reading experience for you guys!
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