31- Operation Bumblebee (Part 2).
Bumblebee was lying unconscious on a medical berth in the Autobot base's control room, with the kids next to him waiting for him to wake up, specially the Skywalker twins.
"Of all the scrap brained ideas, taking Bumblebee into a potential chase scenario when he no longer has the ability to access his engines?!" Ratchet yelled at Bulkhead.
"He improvised."
"Hey, Bee's waking up!" Luke called.
"(Oh, my head is buzzing.)"
"You've already lost your voice box and your T-Cog. Were you really trying to add your spark to the list?" Ratchet asked.
"(It's no use. I'm useless.)"
"Don't say that, Bumblebee. You're not useless." Leia said.
"Look, I hate so much to break up the pity party but the Cons just added unknown Iacon payday number two to their armory." Cliffjumper reminded.
"Neither blame or praise will modify past events. But we cannot afford to take further unnecessary risks: Bumblebee, you are not to leave our base. Not until we can retrieve your missing biomechanism." Optimus declared before he walked away, leaving Bee with the others, still depressed.
Ratchet went with Optimus. "Bumblebee's right to be less than hopeful, but you and I know there exists a way to make him whole again."
Optimus knew what he was referring to. "A transplant. But that would require a donor."
"You need look no further than the Autobot standing before you." Ratchet offered himself.
Optimus was shocked. "A generous offer, old friend. But your solution would merely trade one Autobot's handicap for another."
"I don't rely on my T-Cog, not like Bumblebee does. The ability to transform is virtually wasted on me. This is where I spend my days, where my thoughts and hands are a value, not my weapons or engines. Our team can't afford to be shy even one warrior on the field." Ratchet explained looking at Bumblebee while the others tried to cheer him up.
"You make a compelling case, but know that we will find Bumblebee's T-Cog."
"Optimus, Grievous is a savage monster, and his droids are only programmed for violence and nothing more. Who knows what damage they may have already inflicted upon it. Or…or if I will be able to repair it."
"Ratchet, you did everything in your power."
"Ugh, please. Do you really think this is simply about my inability to restore Bumblebee's voice box? I…I just want to do what's right, for our scout. For the team."
Meanwhile, on the Nemesis bridge, Knock Out showed Megatron the relic he recovered.
"Ah, excellent work, Knock Out."
"I live to serve, Lord Megatron. But what exactly is it?"
Megatron fired his fusion cannon at Knock Out. As the soldiers behind him jumped out of the way, he got startled and a force field generated from the artifact and deflected the blast.
"Now you know." Megatron simply said.
"I think I leaked a little transmission fluid."
Geonosis
Grievous was with a small group of B1 battle droids and commando droids inside a canyon, using a device to track an energy signal. Finally, it detected something.
"Source located." A captain commando droid announced before it and its squad advanced inside the canyon.
"Yes, gratifying, isn't it, Grievous?" Starscream said approaching from behind him. "I often advised Megatron to seek out native allies, after all it seems to provide the Autobots as an occasional edge. But despite his reputation as a brilliant strategist, Megatron is woefully small-minded when it comes to working with minds smaller than our own." He said, until he saw Grievous looking at him, the same way Megatron used to do. "I…was simply referring to head size."
"Interesting. Your previous master reminds me to those who once dare to consider themselves my masters. You have been learning about our history of the Clone Wars, don't you?"
"Sometimes, learning from past events can provide useful data for future ones, especially when it comes to warfare."
"Right there, I agree with you, Starscream." Grievous admitted before he followed his droids.
Starscream noticed a battle droid next to him, looking at him. So he decided to be impressive. "Did I mention that I almost managed to interrogate a Jedi master?"
"Really? We merely are able to cause them to say a word." The droid answered.
"Wait? Have you said you managed to bow down a Jedi? Who?" Grievous asked interested returning.
"If I remember correctly, I think he was called master Kenobi."
At hearing that, Grievous laughed maniacally.
"There's something amusing?" Starscream asked confused.
"Obi Wan Kenobi was my archenemy during the war, the Jedi who I had more encounters than with anyone else. And the one who almost managed to destroy me. Hearing the fact that he almost surrendered himself completely to you, cheers up my organic heart."
"Oh, so that's it. You have no idea how amusing his screams were as I tried to pull out any information about the Autobot base from his so-called strong mind."
"A shame that I wasn't there to hear him scream in pain."
"General, we found it." A commando droid called.
Everyone found inside the canyon a stockpile of energon crystals.
"Energon, in its purest state." Starscream recognized.
"Ready to be mined." Grievous added.
"And processed, my metal covered compatriot. To give us the edge."
Back to the Autobot base, Ratchet already explained his plan to everyone, so Bulkhead, Arcee and Cliffjumper lined up for his request.
"Obviously, since I am the other patient involved, I will be unable to perform the surgery. Therefore, one of you must serve as my proxy." Ratchet said before walking next to Bulkhead. "Uh-huh, better at breaking things." That made Bulkhead sigh in relief. Next, he stopped next to Arcee. "I don't know, too small to perform correctly such procedure with bigger Bots. No offense." Arcee sighed in relief too. At the end, Ratchet chose the last candidate. "Cliffjumper."
That caught the Autobot by surprise. "What? Optimus has steadier hands."
"Steady, and much too large to be rooting around beneath my hood." Ratchet clarified, making him sigh in defeat.
"Sorry partner, I guess is bad luck." Arcee said.
"Cliff, you can do this. You are steely as they come." Aris said, trying to cheer him up.
"I'm a warrior. I'm good when it comes to combat and tasks on a battlefield, but medicine is a completely new field for me."
"You don't need to worry. Just follow the instructions carefully and everything will be fine." Aris supported, but Cliff remained nervous.
"Does this mean Bumblebee's gonna transform into an ambulance from now on or be all cranky? Cause that would be weird."
"Not helping, Han." Sky said.
Moments later, both patients were lying down on medical berths as Cliffjumper began the procedure.
"Inducing stasis." He announced typing on the terminal, starting Ratchet's power down.
"(Thank you, Ratchet. This means a lot for me.)"
"Dat dat dat, you can…thank me when…it's over." Ratchet said before falling into stasis.
"Okay Bumblebee, your turn." Cliff informed.
But suddenly, the alarm sounded from the computer.
"What's happening?!" Luke asked alarmed.
"Ratchet's flat lining!" Han shouted.
"Calm down kids, is not that." Arcee reassured.
Optimus went to the terminal to check it out. "It's an Iacon homing beacon."
"If we're picking up the signal, it means the Cons just unearthed another relic." Bulkhead deduced.
"Autobots, prepare to roll out!" Optimus proclaimed.
"Yes." Cliff celebrated quietly.
"(Okay, let's get that relic.)" Bee said getting up from the medical berth.
"Except for our patients." Optimus said, stopping Bee.
"(Alright.)" Bee said sitting down again.
"It would be best to interrupt stasis." Optimus said to Cliffjumper, who did it. Of course, Ratchet was completely asleep.
Vanqor
The ground bridge transported the Autobots to a mountainous region. The scanner signaled that the relic was on the highest mountain. Seconds later, someone called to base.
"Prime, breaking news." Commander Cody called through a com-link.
"(Commander Cody. What is it?)"
"Heh? Where's Prime?"
"(He and the team are busy looking for a relic.)"
"Look, let him know: our secret spying service has recently received evidence from one of our probes, which we believe pinpoints an operational center of operations, occupied by the Separatist Remnants."
Bumblebee widened his eyes in shock. "(Just send the coordinates, I will handle it.)"
"Oh, in the name of…! Get me someone who speaks something other than like a droid!"
"We can help, commander." Aris volunteered.
"What?! Do I hear a Fuzor in need of voice box repair?!" Ratchet shouted, but he was dreaming something, and the way he was acting was funny, so the kids did their best to no laugh.
"What's a Fuzor?! What's going on over there?" Cody asked confused.
"I am able! Just ask Bantor, he was all mandrill before I…put a gundark in his tank!" Ratchet ranted like if he was waking up, until he went out again.
At the end, the children couldn't contain the laugher, while the clone commander looked at them confused.
"(I have to get my T-Cog back.)"
"But Bee, you heard what Optimus said about leaving the base." Leia reminded.
"(Guys, I have to do this.)"
"Looks like to me that he's not going to change his mind." Han said.
"Okay, but since you're not on the top of your game, we're coming with you." Leia decided.
"(What? No, that's too dangerous for you.)"
"Trust us, we've faced droids before. And since they will be focused on you, they will not see us coming until it's too late." Luke supported.
"Send the coordinates, commander Cody. We will make sure Optimus gets them." Aris said.
Meanwhile, Team Prime was climbing up the mountain side. When they reached the top, they spotted Knock Out and Breakdown. The last one was smashing a rock, crushing it to break free something incrusted on it: some kind of giant golden hammer.
"I don't get it. All this chipping away with my hammer just to bring Megatron another hammer?" Breakdown asked confused.
"That hammer is a sacred relic of the 13 original Primes." Optimus corrected.
"Really?" Bulkhead asked surprised.
"Isn't that the opposite of Decepticon doomsday device?" Arcee asked.
"It would stand to reason that in addition to confiscated Decepticon artillery, any artifacts of great significance stored in the vaults of Iacon would also have been shipped off world. And none would be greater than this: the Forge of Solus Prime. For it possesses the power to mystically infuse raw material with working mechanisms." Optimus explained.
"As in, if we had it we could pound any weapon we can dream up into existence?" Bulkhead suggested.
"Or possibly construct a new T-Cog for Bumblebee."
Rodia
The coordinates revealed a facility in a clear in middle of a jungle, where the separatists were working on finishing their new prototype, by adding the last component.
"Initiate transfusion." Kraken ordered.
The droids operated the terminals, making a tank, full with liquid energon, to flow through a cable inside the new cybertronian-like droid. Immediately, it started to move its hand by its own.
"Sir, all lectures indicate that the prototype is accepting the energon. Its powering up all its systems, and also indicates us which points need proper retouching." One of the droids reported.
"It's working." Grievous observed pleased.
"Energon, it will do wonders for our future army." Starscream pronounced, making Grievous to give him a glare.
"Are you saying you plan to join our cause?"
"Ah…no. Well, that doesn't matter. In fact, we are mere moments from beholding the miracle of transformation."
Then both of them felt a crumbling shake and heard a banging noise coming from the entrance. They saw the gate opened by brutal force, and Bumblebee coming out from the smoke. Immediately, lots of droids appeared everywhere: medium and small size walker droids and droidekas in front of him on the ground and some B1 droids equipped with flamethrowers and others with some kind of plasma weapons; infantry from the upper levels, including sniper droidekas and a pair of T4 turret droids; all aiming their weapons at him. Bee took a look to the prototype droid, deducing that's where his T-Cog might be, and Starscream.
"No T-Cog. He's unarmed." Starscream said as fired him a missile.
"Fire!" Grievous ordered.
Bee managed to dodge the missile, but the droids' shots swarmed him. The normal shots seemed to not made him nothing, not even tickles, but he tried to evade the bigger droids' shots. For now, the bigger problem was Starscream, who fired at him as well. So, he grabbed a silo and threw it at him, taking him down. Bee used another to shield himself from the blasts of the bigger droids, but immediately more shots came from above him, a new kind of droid (D-wing air support droids) started to fly around him as they fired at him. Back to the mountain, Breakdown ended the smashing, freeing the forge from the rock.
"Time to get a grip." Knock Out declared.
Breakdown grabbed the forge to pull it completely out of the ground, just when they heard engine noises. It was the Autobots, who approached them in vehicle form before changing to robot form, except Bulkhead. Optimus, Arcee and Cliffjumper fired at Knock Out, who used the force field generator to deflect the shots. Bulkhead passed him, jumped and changed to robot form, ready to use his wrecking ball against his rival again, sending him flying a few meters. The others were about to hit Knock Out, but the shield became an energy wall which pushed them backwards.
"Autobots, check out my new finish protector." Knock Out smirked.
Back with Bumblebee, he was trying his best to break through the droids hitting them in groups. Meanwhile, the prototype droid was seeing the entire scene with one of his optics operational, until it cracked when a droid was sent flying toward it. But there were too many droids for him to handle.
"Finish him. When he falls, his remains will serve us to develop more of his kind." Grievous smirked.
In that moment, he heard a familiar sound, and saw some of the droids from the platforms falling in pieces. It surprised him to see them fall constantly against two lightsabers: it was Luke and Leia, who were battling the droids Bee couldn't reach.
"Jedi? Here? Take them down, and bring me their lightsabers."
The droids' infantry started to shot at them, but they had no problem in deflecting the blasters and cut any droid which got too close. They even managed to dispose of the droidekas with the Force push, making them roll back and hitting the droids on their way.
"Like play bowling." Luke remarked.
Leia saw the droids of the other platforms still shooting at Bee and tried to find a way to help his friend. Then, she spotted an Ultra battle droid and an idea came to her mind: she started to levitate it with the Force.
"Eh, what's happening?" The droid asked confused.
Next, she turned the droid at the ones from the platform and aimed its weapons at them, eliminating them one by one.
"Get out of the way. I'm suffering a huge malfunction."
And finally, seeing that Starscream was almost recovered, she aimed the droid at him.
"Wait, don't fire! I'm in your side!"
"You're replaceable." Starscream said firing at it.
Even it was already broken, Leia threw whatever remained of the droid at Starscream, taking him down again.
"You can leave the rest of the droids to us, Bee. Take care of the big ones." Leia reassured.
"(Thanks pals.)"
Unfortunately, when both siblings were about to reach the control panels, two more droids appeared in front of them. But these ones were EG-5 Jedi Hunter droids, with red lightsabers ready. Deducing these ones could be harder to deal than the Magnaguards, Luke and Leia decided to not engage them, instead they ran back where they came, with the droids after them. That worked, dodging the droids' attacks by jumping out of the way constantly, until they reached to a dead end. But when it looked to be the end, they saw a huge canister above them, so they used the Force to disengage it and let it fall above the droids. The plan worked, allowing them to return to the control panels, but then, Grievous jumped in out of nowhere. This time, they surely were truly scared by simply looking at the cyborg's face.
"You must be very brave to enter here by your own, little Jedi. Your father must have taught you well."
"You know our dad?" Leia asked.
"Indeed. Mostly by reputation and other facts, but never faced him in person. But this may be my chance to finally do it. Just imagine his reaction, his needs for revenge when I show him your lightsabers, proof that I took them from your lifeless hands. And when that happens, I will enjoy battling him before claiming his own, surely that would spread the fear through the entire Jedi Order about my return, knowing that I finished with the Chosen One. And his brethren." Grievous proclaimed threateningly as he walked closer to them.
"(Not on my watch!)"
Bee appeared suddenly swinging a giant metal bar, sending Grievous to the other side of the room. Next, he grabbed another silo and sent it rolling at the remaining big droids, smashing them or making them lose their balance.
"Yeah! Go, Bee!" Both twins cheered.
As Grievous was getting up, he saw Bumblebee opening up the prototype and pulling out his T-Cog. But a shot from Starscream sent him against the control panels, causing the electricity to zap him.
"So close and yet." Starscream smirked.
"Our location and prototype have been compromised. Destroy the intruders and meet me at the rendezvous point, with my T-Cog and lightsabers." Grievous ordered as he and the surviving droids evacuated the facility.
"I am not one of your mindless droids, I am a consultant!"
In that moment, Bumblebee regained conscious. "(Oh, my head. What?)
Starscream took the T-Cog and changed his other hand for a laser gun. "One step and your precious biomech is scrap."
Meanwhile, at base, Ratchet finally awakened.
"Ratchet, how are you feeling?" Sky asked.
"Fine. In fact, I feel as though nothing's changed." He said checking himself.
Then, someone contacted again.
"Prime."
"What is it, commander Cody?" Ratchet asked.
"As Prime reached the coordinates?"
"Coordinates?"
"Possible droids' location. I sent them a half hour ago."
"Don't worry, commander Cody. It's taken care of." Aris answered.
"Optimus has to go lock fenders with some Cons." Han added.
"So, Bumblebee went instead." Sky revealed, putting the others nervous.
"What?! Bumblebee can't do that! He's recovering from surgery!" Ratchet yelled frustrated.
"No need to worry about that. Luke and Leia went with him." Aris added.
"More reason to be worried."
In that moment, in the facility…
"(Give me back my T-Cog, Starscream.)"
"Or you'll what? Shoot? How sad to be incapable of achieving vehicle mode. Experiencing the sensation of speed." Starscream said as he played with the T-Cog. "How very pathetic to be a failure as an Autobot."
"No, he's not." Luke's voice sounded.
"And he's not alone." Leia's voice followed.
Suddenly, Starscream had only three seconds to see somethings flying toward him. And next, he felt a hard pain on his face, so hard that made him drop the T-Cog, which Bee recovered. When he went back on his feet, Starscream now had two very ugly cuts on his face making an X on his forehead, made by Luke and Leia's lightsabers, which flew back to them.
"So, what are you going to do now, Screamer?" Luke mocked.
"You will pay for this, little insects! Time to jet, because I can!" Starscream shouted before he changed to vehicle form and exited the facility, leaving the place.
"You got it, Bee?" Leia asked, and Bee showed it to them. "Great. Now Ratchet can make you like you were before."
"It's a shame that those terminals are not functional, we could know how extended the Separatists Remnants are, but what matters now is that you have recovered your missing part." Luke said.
Bee approached and grabbed them both gently. "(Thank you, fellas. I don't think I could do this without you.)"
Inside the forest, Grievous was waiting next to a tree, until Starscream arrived and changed to robot form.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Urg, those cursed Jedi pests. They managed to hurt me with their lightsabers. Now I see your point of view of why you hate them so much." Starscream answered in pain as he covered his mark with his hands.
"And my T-Cog?"
"Yes, that. Unfortunately, they managed to take it after inflicting me such pain." Starscream answered a little nervous, earning a glare from Grievous. "Uh, temporary setback. Other Autobots, other T-Cogs. We shall find a replacement soon enough."
"Not soon enough. Now." Grievous corrected as a squadron of commando droids appeared from behind the trees and surrounded Starscream, aiming their disruptor weapons at him. The next thing heard was Starscream's screams with some electric sounds in echo.
Back with the Autobots, they were still being pushed back toward the edge of the platform by Knock Out's force field generator.
"For the most creative use of a shield generator in a supporting role, the winner is: Knock Out." He said to himself.
Bulkhead continued his fight with Breakdown, hitting him three times. But before he could strike again, Breakdown hit him first, sending him backwards, close to the forge. Optimus and the others were almost at the edge. Seeing the forge was next to him, Bulkhead grabbed it, pulling it out of the ground, as Breakdown was ready for another round.
"Mine's bigger." Bulkhead challenged.
Breakdown looked at his own first, but he snapped out any doubts and charged at his rival again. Bulkhead hit him with the forge first this time, with so much force that sent him flying right to Knock Out, making him lose grip of the force field generator, freeing the Autobots from their tight situation. Knock Out ran to recover it, but Cliffjumper jumped above him, pushing him against the ground, and grabbed the device first, and used it to push both Decepticons against the ground more. At the end, they ended like buried a little. Suddenly, a ground bridge appeared behind Bulkhead, who received a shot in the back.
"Bulkhead!" Arcee shouted.
It was Megatron, who walked out of the portal, the one who fired at Bulkhead. The Autobots aimed their weapons at him, but he saw the forge at his feet and grabbed it.
"Nah ah ah." Megatron said, menacing to fire at Bulkhead again, who was in the ground a few meters from him. That allowed Breakdown and Knock Out to return with their master. "A relic of the Primes, here on this galaxy? The Decepticon cause is once again indebted to the contributions of Orion Pax."
Megatron walked to the ground bridge with the forge at hand, followed by Knock Out and Breakdown, who changed to vehicle form to dodge the Autobots' shots. Immediately, Arcee and Cliffjumper were with Bulkhead to see how he was.
"I'm fine." Bulkhead said.
"Well, at least we manage to recover another artifact." Cliff said showing the force field generator.
"Optimus, we have reason to believe we have located the separatists center of operations. Bumblebee is already there, alongside the Skywalker twins." Ratchet announced.
As for Starscream, he started to wake up in the same place.
"Ah, what?"
There was no sign of Grievous and his droids. He took a look to the facility and saw in that moment appear a ground bridge, and the Autobots.
"Autobots."
He decided to change to vehicle form and leave the planet as well. But when he tried, nothing happened. Then he realized what the droids did to him.
"My T-Cog."
Starscream had no choice but to leave the area running in silence. Meanwhile, the Autobots saw a figure walking to the hole of the entrance: it was Bumblebee, with Luke and Leia on his shoulders, and the T-Cog at hand.
"Ratchet, reopen the ground bridge, and prepare for surgery." Optimus communicated.
"We may not need it for this now, but thanks to me Megatron has the forge." Bulkhead said feeling a little guilty.
"While we would have put the Forge of Solus Prime to valuable use, I do not believe we have reason to fear Megatron's possession of it." Optimus reassured.
Back inside the Nemesis, Megatron was smashing an energon container with the hammer, probably to create something. But no matter how many hits it received; the container did not change, only became smaller.
"Hmm, it doesn't look like a Fortress Maximus great nucleon shock cannon." Knock Out observed.
"It is as I suspected. Without the power of a Prime to activate it, the forge is merely another addition to our tool chest, one we must nonetheless keep as far as possible from the reach of a Prime." Megatron said.
Later, back at the base, Ratchet managed to perform the surgery to put Bumblebee's T-Cog back on its place.
"I did what I could. Now we only need to wait." Ratchet reported to everyone.
"Our scout could not have been in better hands, old friend." Optimus said putting a hand on Ratchet's shoulder.
"(Well, how was everything?)"
"Bumblebee, please." Ratchet warned.
"(Hey, I do feel better.)" Bee said checking himself.
"Please, recovery takes time."
Bumblebee tried to transform, but had the same result. "(What? But I have my piece back.)"
"I already told you. Your biomechanism needs time to reconnect all its connections with your body."
"(I won't give up.)"
Bee tried again, but this time it worked, he changed to vehicle form. Everyone smiled and the kids cheered. Bee started to charge his engines before he opened his door.
"(Hey pals, where do you want to go?)"
"Anywhere." Leia answered as she and her brother got inside Bee.
"Just drive." Luke added as he and his sister buckled their seatbelts.
Bumblebee drove out of the base as fast as he could.
"Go easy! Hahaha, adhere to standard breaking procedure!" Ratchet shouted happy.
"Whoa. I didn't believe a T-Cog could be functional in the moment is put back into a Bot." Cliff said surprised.
"Hard to believe the doc repaired it." Arcee said.
"That is not all that Ratchet repaired today." Optimus said with a smile.
Optimus was right, because in his inside, Ratchet was happy that everything ended well.