48- Legacy.

Fondor

It was a natural day while Smokescreen and Bumblebee were patrolling through a desert area.

"Energon signal's getting stronger, above five klicks due north. You know, Bee? It's still hard for me to believe about our special little friends and their powers. But it's great, I mean, having them with us is indeed a good advantage against the Cons." Smokescreen communicated as he speeded up.

"(Smokescreen, slow down. You're about to overpass the speed limit.)"

"What do you mean speed limit? I have a gage in here that goes to 150. If the natives who designed my vehicle form didn't want it to go that fast, they shouldn't have given me the option."

And Smokescreen continued getting faster, until he almost smashed against another speeder honking, which was coming from the other way.

"Wow."

That forced both vehicles to slow down so sudden and side out of the opposite lane. The speeder's driver, a male Twi'lek, came out of the vehicle really mad.

"Hey, you blind runner! When I'm through with you, you're gonna need more than a pit crew to put you back together." He menaced with a crowbar in hand.

Immediately, Smokescreen changed to robot form, scaring the Twi'lek a lot, especially when he approached his face to him.

"Bring it! Who's the tough guy now, huh?"

Bumblebee honked his horn and transformed to robot form before pushing Smokescreen away. "(Smokey, what are you doing?! We're supposed to not harm natives.)"

Smokescreen just laughed. "Relax, Bumblebee. I'm just messing around."

Immediately, the Twi'lek pulled out a com-device with intention to capture them with a photo.

"(No! No pictures!)" Bee exclaimed as Smokescreen posed with the victory sign.

But too late. Moments later, everyone saw the image already on the Holonet.

"Found it. That guy didn't waste any time posting your victory pose." Leia reported.

"Aris will scrub this as soon as things calm down on her home." Luke reassured.

"Is this what you learned while serving Alpha Trion?! I highly doubt that he would have condoned such irresponsible behavior!" Ratchet exclaimed irritated.

"Blowing your cover is not okay." Arcee added.

"Sorry guys. I know I really messed up." Smokescreen apologized.

"While Ratchet and Arcee are correct, I believe that we are all equally responsible for this incident." Optimus said.

"Us?!" Arcee asked in disbelief.

"How?!" Ratchet followed.

"We weren't even there." Cliff added.

"(How is this our fault?)"

"Well, Bee was." Bulkhead pointed.

"(Hey!)" Bee protested as he hit him a little.

"Our recent efforts have been so intensely focused on averting crises that we have overlooked simple matters, such as teaching Smokescreen how to best function on this galaxy. It is an oversight that must be corrected."

"Optimus, I'm honored to train under you. And will do whatever it takes to make things right. To make you proud." Smokescreen swore.

"Perhaps the best way for you to learn about the galaxy's worlds is from a native."

"Smokescreen gets his own partner?" Cliff asked interested.

"Please, is it having five humans and a droid here enough?" Ratchet asked, causing that everyone looked at him with confused looks during a silent while.

"You know, doctor? Some times you should think things better before saying anything bad." Cliff advised, making Ratchet simply groan before getting back to the computers.

"I was referring to one already among us." Optimus corrected, looking at the children.

"Us? But we all have our own Autobot partners." Luke reminded.

"Maybe we need someone new we trust. What about your girlfriend, Luke?" Han suggested.

"Don't put Mara in this, Han. And she's not my girlfriend!"

"Are you sure? Then what about the times you ask dad to take you to the Jedi temple when you know he's going there?" Leia teased, making some of the Autobots laugh.

"Is not that! Besides, today we're going to visit our relatives from mom on Theed, alongside senator Organa."

"Oh, you're right. We're going to be busy and don't know when it will end."

"Don't look at me." Han called. "Today I'm starting my practices on the flight academy, and I have been waiting for this chance."

"Well, I guess I remain the only one. If Arcee doesn't have any problem with that." Sky said.

"Ah, no. I guess it's okay." She answered.

"Then it's decided. You know what to do exactly?"

"Uh, yes Optimus. Robots in disguise, traffic laws, don't harm anyone…I can bring Smokescreen up to speed." Sky reassured.

"We've all put in curbside duty. Part of the gig." Bulkhead said putting a hand on Smokescreen's shoulder.

Smokescreen approached Sky as he climbed down the ladder. "Then let's go for a drive, teach." He said before changing to vehicle form, allowing Sky to enter inside and drove out of base.

"Please, don't be jealous, Arcee!" Sky shouted as they left.

"Don't worry. That's not what I feel." She said, even if he didn't hear her. Then, she turned at her leader. "Optimus, with all due respect, Duchess Satine and Lady Bo-Katan are still upgrading Mandalore's defenses because the Cons discovered where Aris lives, following the tactical advices of one of Bo-Katan best elite warriors: Din Djarin. Meanwhile, Smokescreen, in all his wisdom, chooses a vehicle mode with screaming double 38s on the doors, making him an easy target. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than concerned about Sky's safety. And it's not that I'm jealous that he can have another guardian, which it's not."

"Nonetheless, the fact remains that our new recruit is in need of instruction. I believe that Smokescreen's spark is in the right place, and that he now understands the necessity of protecting the Republic's citizens."

At the same time, Sky was practicing with Smokescreen driving lessons through the streets of Theed.

"Okay, intersection. Let's review, light's green?" Sky started.

"Green for go." Smokescreen answered.

Then, the next intersection's light turned yellow.

"And yellow?" Sky asked again.

"Go faster." Smokey said before speeding up.

"No no no, Smokescreen!" Sky said alarmed.

Fortunately, when the light turned red, he stopped.

Smokescreen laughed. "Just messing around."

"That's not funny, you scared me!"

"Sorry. I though you would be used of these kinds of situations since your partner's V mode is something made for more speed than mine is."

"Well, it's not. And Arcee know that."

Suddenly, a kamikaze speeder came driving at high speed from behind them. Fortunately, Smokey dodged aside, but the speeder's speed was so high that splashed out some mud at Smokescreen, staining his left door.

"Seriously? Mine was only a joke, but that guy did it on purpose. I'm going to teach him a lesson."

"No. Just let it go, the authorities will take care." Sky stopped.

"Are you kidding me? Where's your self-respect? We got to stand up for ourselves."

"We also have to follow Optimus's rule: it's not just about protecting natives, you can't harm them either."

"Who said anything about harming?"

"Not that either. My parents told me the best way to be better than people like those is not to be like them. And that's what we're going to do."

"Uh, if you say so." Smokescreen accepted. "Okay, let's forget about it, let's do something fun. What do you like to do?"

Moments later, the duo returned back to base, and they were laughing a lot.

"I would never have dared to do that before." Sky howled continuing laughing with Smokescreen after he transformed, while the others looked them confused.

"Did I miss something?"

"Arcee, quick, take a look at this." Sky said showing her his com-device.

"What is it?"

She knelt down to see better. There was a lot of pictures of Sky riding on some animals of Naboo's meadows, and even Smokescreen too.

"Ah, well…sounds like fun." Arcee answered, not knowing what words to use.

"Indeed. We are going to repeat this afternoon after practices. After all, he did fine."

"I don't know, Sky. I thought that kind of thing scared you."

"That was before, but not anymore." Sky answered before he left with Smokescreen.

"Yeah, and no Gungans were harmed in the making of these photos. Honest." Smokey added.

"Are you okay, partner?" Cliff asked.

"What? Who? Me? Yeah, is nothing." Arcee answered.

"Are you sure of that?" Ratchet asked too.

Arcee sighed. "Is the first time Sky tries something new, without me."

"(And that troubles you?)"

"Ah, no, not a bit."

"Arcee." Cliff continued.

"Okay. I'm a little jealous of that, I admit it. Normally I'm the one who pass that kind of free time with Sky, and we have experienced a lot of things, but only try new ones when we are together, both of us. This is the first time he does that with somebody else." She said a little sad.

"Arcee, he's teaching Smokescreen how to operate here. And it's normal that they spend some time in all of that. You shouldn't take that as something personal, your place with him is not at risk." Ratchet reassured.

Meanwhile, aboard the Nemesis, Soundwave was showing his master his new results.

"You have decoded the next Iacon coordinates? Excellent, Soundwave. Then it is time to beta test our decoy." Megatron said, holding a device that constantly beeped.

Back at base…

"I am nearly finished decoding the next Iacon coordinates." Optimus announced as he continued working on the terminal.

Then a noise came from the terminal.

"You may not need to complete your task, Optimus." Ratchet observed.

"An Iacon locator beacon."

"It seems the Decepticons have already excavated the next relic."

"Ratchet, triangulate coordinates and activate the ground bridge."

As the ground bridge turned on, the rest of Team Prime reunited with Optimus in front of the portal.

"Bring on the Cons." Bulkhead said smashing his fists.

"Where is Smokescreen?" Optimus asked.

"Out training again with Sky." Arcee answered, a little annoyed.

"We cannot wait. Autobots, transform and roll out."

The team changed to vehicle form and went through the portal.

Devaron

Meanwhile, the Decepticons were drilling through a mountain site. Everyone was busy, both Decepticons and Insecticons, while Megatron was coordinating the whole operation giving the orders. Then, one of the soldiers spotted something after moving a big boulder.

"Lord Megatron!" He called.

"I certainly hope that our new acquisition is of Decepticon origin." Megatron said as he walked to the place, but when he saw the relic he stopped in shock. "It cannot be."

There was something inserted in the rock, like a sword.

"Power of this magnitude must never be allowed to fall into the hands of Optimus Prime. No matter what."

Megatron grabbed the relic and tried to pull it out, but nothing happened. Megatron continued trying to pull it out, with the same result. That made some of the Cons to look between them confused. Megatron even roared as he tried with all his forces, but nothing. Tired from pulling, he fired his fusion cannon a dozen shots at the relic, but after the smoke cleared, he sighed in shock as he saw the relic intact.

"The rock is impermeable. The relic is emanating a protective shield. It will only respond to the power of a Prime." Megatron realized, and groaned in anger. "We will remove it even if we have to take the entire mountain."

Suddenly, the base's sensors detected the same location.

"Optimus, I just picked up a second Iacon locator beacon." Ratchet communicated, but he received static. "Optimus, do you read?"

Teth

The team was searching through a bunk of mountain covered in fog.

"No sign of Cons." Cliff noticed.

Arcee was the one who had the scanner at hand, so she was one guiding the team. But they were not aware that very above them, Soundwave was carrying the decoy device, the origin of the signal they were tracking. Meanwhile, Smokescreen and Sky returned to base, laughing again.

"Whoa, I've never seen so many birds taking flight like that." Sky laughed.

"That thing we used to scare them and take flight…what's it called again?" Smokescreen asked.

"Whistle!" Sky howled, making them laugh again.

"Will you two keep it down?!" Ratchet yelled as he continued trying to reach the others. "Arcee? Bulkhead? Cliffjumper? Can anyone hear me?"

"Ratchet, what's going on?" Sky asked.

"Our sensors detected a second Iacon locator beacon, but I can't reach Optimus."

"I'll go." Smokescreen offered.

"Alone? That's crazy." Sky objected.

"He's right, Smokescreen. You can't go alone. I never thought I will say this, but Sky, I'm putting you in charge of the mission. You and Smokescreen go and recognize the area and contact me to report whatever you discover." Ratchet authorized.

"What? Him in charge? He's just a child." Smokescreen said in disbelief.

"Indeed, a child that managed to survive multiple encounters with situations worse than this and knows how to act. And this is not the first time he survives a close encounter with the Decepticons. So, or you go with him in charge, or not you go."

Smokescreen sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'm in. Or you have a better option?"

"That's the only one I have for now." Ratchet said before kneeling down to Sky's height. "Remember Sky, only recognizing, do not engage the enemy."

Sky nodded as Ratchet went to prepare the ground bridge. Moments later, the duo was transported in middle of a forest of the exact location.

"I hope I didn't act like Han." Sky said to himself.

"Let's go grab a relic." Smokey encouraged before they advanced.

They hid behind some boulders, with a good view of the excavation site. They spotted where the relic was.

"Is that a sword?" Sky asked.

"Not just any sword. That looks like the Star Saber: a legendary weapon forged by Solus Prime, that's lore would have it. It's rumored to wield the power of the matrix. I'm gonna make Optimus proud."

"That's not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because Megatron is here." Sky revealed pointing at him.

"The dark lord himself. He won't know what hit him." Smokey swore preparing his fists.

"Smokescreen, wait. Something isn't right. Why doesn't Megatron just take the Star Saber?"

"Germophobe?"

"Seriously, we need to report to Ratchet and wait for backup."

"You heard Ratchet: backup is not available right now."

"Smokescreen, listen to me. You cannot face all those Decepticons by your own, not talking about Megatron. That would be a foolish idea."

"And we cannot stay here and do anything. By any moment we wait, Megatron will be closer to get what he wants. Unless we do something about it." The young Autobot said before jumping over the rocks, leaving Sky behind.

"Smokescreen, no! I'm supposed to be in charge! Come back here!"

Too late. The Decepticons continued mining, until…

"Enough!" Megatron shouted. "Commence transport!"

A hook cable descended from the Nemesis and grabbed ahold the rock. The ship started to struggle to reel it in. While that happened, Megatron heard gun shots and saw some of his soldiers firing at a new Autobot who shot them down, tackled, punched, eliminating all Con that was in his way with a battle cry.

"Who in the pits of Kaon is that?" Megatron asked.

Smokescreen reached the saber, but when he tried to pull it out, he had the same result as Megatron.

"Scrap. It's really in there tight." Smokescreen said before a Decepticon engineer stunned him with a blast and collapsed to the ground.

Smokescreen recovered fast, but he was already surrounded by the Decepticons, thing that Sky saw.

"No. No, this can't be happening." Sky said before pulling out his com-device and call through it. "Ratchet, you gotta get Optimus and the rest here now. Smokescreen went for the relic; it's called the Star…" But he stopped when he suddenly felt something behind him before hearing a hiss from an Insecticon bruiser that saw him.

As he ignited his lightsaber, Sky had no choice but to run.

"Where in the name of Cybertron are you?" Ratchet called through the com-device, but he only heard the Insecticon's roars. "And did you say Star Sab…"

"Star Saber! Hurry Ratchet, tell Arcee that I need her!"

"Oh my. Hang in there, Sky. Help is on the way." Ratchet said before he tried to contact the team again. "Optimus, please respond." He called again, and again received only static. "I can see that you're alive, Optimus. Why won't you answer me?"

Back with the team, they continued the useless search.

Arcee groaned in frustration. "Every time we get close to the beacon the signal moves."

"All this leg-work is giving me itchy fists!" Bulkhead shouted smashing his fists together.

"It seems we've been led astray by a Decepticon trick." Optimus finally realized.

Then a ground appeared next to them and Ratchet came from it. "We have a situation. Sky requires help immediately."

"Sky? What happens?" Arcee asked worried.

Back to the forest, Sky continued running and dodging the Insecticon's attacks, and striking back with his lightsaber when he had the chance. He managed to cut one of its legs, but only made it more furious. And to make things worse, the Nemesis was starting to transport the rock.

"Bring him to me." Megatron demanded, referring to Smokescreen, who was dragged.

As for Sky, he decided to hid inside a bunk of rocks so the Insecticon could not reach him. But it was a trap: once the Insecticon was close enough, Sky used the force to bring all the rock down the bug, burying it. Meanwhile, Smokescreen was brought in front of Megatron.

"What is your name, Autobot?"

"Why? Who want to know?" Smokescreen answered, making Megatron growl in annoyance.

Before Megatron could smack Smokescreen, he heard more blaster fire behind him. He turned and saw the rest of the Autobots coming from a cloud of smoke, making their way at him.

"Where is Optimus?" Megatron asked.

Then, he saw Optimus jumping over the rocks, jumping up until he was on stable ground and changed to vehicle form to approach the hanging rock faster. Next, he returned back to robot form to continued jumping up.

"Keep Prime from the relic!" Megatron commanded before he transformed and went after his rival alongside other flying Cons.

Smokescreen was about to fire at him, but another Con next to him aimed him with his weapon, until a shot eliminated him.

"I got your back." Bulkhead said arriving, revealing to be the one who saved him.

While the rest of the team continued fighting the Cons, Arcee saw the big Insecticon getting free from the rubble, and with someone on it making it injures and confusing it with Force lightning. The Insecticon tried to charge against another boulder, but Sky jumped on a tree in time, seeing how the bug crashed against the rock. The impact left the bug stunned, and allowed Sky to jump above his head and strike with his lightsaber. At first, the Insecticon didn't move, except when its head fell off its body, revealing that Sky cut its head off.

"That's my boy." Arcee said arriving to him.

"Arcee." He said before hugging her. "I'm so glad that you're here. I tried to stop Smokescreen…"

"We'll talk about it later. Now, we have a relic to reclaim."

Back with Optimus, he changed again to vehicle form to accelerate on his climbing while Megatron and the other Cons fired at him. He dodged all the shots as he approached the nearest edge of the hanging rock with the saber. As the team saw it from the floor, Optimus jumped right at the rock, but one of Megatron's shots hit him, making him changed back to robot form. Besides that, he continued approaching and managed to grab the relic, forcing Megatron and his flyers to retreat, except one that crashed against the rock. Suddenly, the Star Saber started to glow in a blue aura and emanate energy, allowing Optimus to remove it from the rock, and making him fall. Megatron and the remaining flyer Cons changed to robot form back on the Nemesis's deck and entered the ship, while Optimus landed on the ground. But he did not suffer any damage, he simply stood up with the saber at hand.

"I loosened it for him." Smokescreen muttered.

Megatron saw that too and groaned. "Drop the mountain on him."

The Nemesis released the hauled rock, so it crashed on a hillside and started to roll down directly toward Optimus.

"I won't be able to hold that in time. It's too much big and comes too fast." Sky told the Autobots.

"Optimus, retreat!" Cliff called.

"Now!" Bulkhead added.

Optimus turned around to see the mountain, but he didn't look alarmed. Instead, he made one slice with the saber, and the mountain was sliced in two.

"Did he just…?" Cliff started.

"(Yes, he did.)"

"No way." Sky added impressed.

Optimus looked at the Nemesis, where Megatron was distraught, showing real fear on his eyes. Maybe knowing that his rival was seeing him, Optimus ran and spun around before swinging the Star Saber. That move launched a wave of pure energy which impacted on the Nemesis's engines, causing lot of damage. That was felt in the inside too.

"It can do that?" Smokescreen asked in disbelief.

The Nemesis descended a little before it managed to set course again.

"We Decepticons…now face our darkest hour." Megatron announced worried.

After that, the team returned back to base.

"How epic was that? I saw with my own optics, but I still don't believe it." Smokescreen said imitating the moves Optimus did.

"You know what I don't believe? That after everything you've been told, you still put a native at risk. You left a child behind and at the mercy of an Insecticon! How do you explain that?" Arcee demanded furious.

"Oh, I…I didn't know that. I though he was safe, I mean, hidden."

"I told you our mission was recognizing and report, just like Ratchet instructed us. I also warned you to not face Megatron and his forces on your own, but you didn't listen to me, and I was supposed to be in charge!" Sky added also very mad.

"Whoa. Was Sky really in charge of an Autobot?" Cliffjumper asked surprised.

"It sounds crazy, but I gave him authority over Smokescreen." Ratchet nodded.

"And why you did that, Ratchet? I'm bigger and stronger, and more prepared for combat." Smokescreen defended.

"But he has more experience than you on this. A certain captain said that experience is above anything else, so that's what gave him the command. And you failed to follow the rules, especially when he needed your help." Arcee continued.

"Alright, but he did beat the Insecticon, all by his own. And by what I heard, it's not the first time he does that, even with you around."

"Yes, but unlike you, Sky and I always protect ourselves together and we take care of each other. That's what means to be partners, and you had failed to perform as one." Arcee finished. After sighing to calm herself down, she turned at Sky. "Sorry Sky, but I'm not in the mood to accompany you home today. You'll have to go back by ground bridge, I'll see you tomorrow. Ratchet."

Ratchet nodded as he activated the ground bridge. Sky walked to the portal, but he gave Smokescreen a final look, still with a serious face.

"Green for go." Smokey simply said.

The Autobot could see at his face that the kid calmed down before entering the portal.

"We've been in need of another Autobot in our ranks, not another trouble maker."

"Look Arcee, I was wrong. And I'm sorry, again. And if you need to kick me off Team Prime…"

"Disregard of human safety or anyone safety will not be tolerated. Especially the members of this team. Do you understand?" Optimus said strict.

"Fully, sir."

"We must never lose sight of the fact that upon this galaxy we are titans. And such power must be used wisely."

Once Optimus finished talking, the Star Saber started to glow again. Optimus held the sword with his hands and began to look at it in a strange way.

"Whoa." Bulkhead said.

"Optimus, speak to me." Ratchet asked, but Optimus stood motionless. "Optimus."

"I am receiving a message." Optimus finally said.

"From who?"

"Alpha Trion."