So between work and moving, things finally settled down enough for me to finish this chapter. Based on T.M.I. (s1e21). (I posted this early Sunday morning where I live.)
It was a lazy afternoon. Liliy agreed to join Miko and Bulkhead to watch a monster truck rally on TV. Miko sat on the coffee table to get a better view of the television. Liliy sat behind her on the couch with Bulkhead at her back. One of the monster trucks on the screen ran over a pile of smaller vehicles and landed on another car, crushing it.
"Oooh!" cried Bulkhead. He covered his face with his servo and shook his helm, slightly disturbed.
"Huyah! Munched!" Miko shouted at the screen.
Bulkhead peeked through his digits and then removed his servo when Miko turned to look at him with an excited smile.
"Give it up for the baddest beast machines on the planet!" the announcer said.
"Would you mind lowering the volume?" Ratchet asked from the main console.
"Hey, Ratch. Check out the monster truck rally took me to last week," said Bulkhead.
"I compiled some highlights with my cellphone." Miko pulled out her phone.
Ratchet walked over to where he could see the TV. "Innocent vehicles battling for pleasure of human spectators." He shuddered. "Blood sport."
"Yeah!" All three in front of the TV cheered.
"You could be helping Optimus in the field right now," Ratchet said to Bulkhead.
"Ah. He doesn't need my help to search for some ancient educational thingamabob," replied Bulkhead.
Ratchet shook his helm. "The thingamabob to which you refer happens to a Cybertronian data cylinder." He pressed a button on the console and the cylinder data displayed on the TV.
"Hey!" cried Miko.
"Aww!" Bulkhead whined.
"Ratchet! We were watching that!" Even Liliy was annoyed.
"And there is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold," continued Ratchet, ignoring their protests. "During the golden age, dozens of these cylinders were created. Each containing the sum total of Cybertronian knowledge on any given subject. Stellar cartography. Medicine. Ancient mythology. When the war broke out, the cylinders were hidden throughout the galaxies to keep them as far as possible from Decepticon reach. Detecting one signal here, on Earth, is the opportunity of a-"
"Ah! T.M.I., dude," interrupted Miko.
"Switch it back! I wanna see the ho-down show-down!" said Bulkhead.
The commlink beeped. It was Optimus.
{Ratchet! Decepticon ambush! The cylinder is at risk! We require backup!}
"Backup is what I'm built for," stated Bulkhead, getting to his peds. He smashed his fist into his palm and headed for the ground bridge as Ratchet activated it.
"Go bend some fenders, Bulk," Miko encouraged, going halfway down the stairs.
"I have an important mission for you too, Miko," Ratchet said, moving over to the stairs.
"Really?" she asked excitedly.
Much to her disappointment, he handed her a mop. She took it with a sigh and he turned away with a satisfied smile. And then, the moment his back was turned, the mop was rolling down the stairs and Miko was heading for the still open portal.
Liliy had gotten up while Ratchet had been rambling and started fiddling with the TV. She was too focused to notice Bulkhead leaving. The channel finally changed back.
"Ah ha! Got it! Hey Mi-ko..." Miko was disappearing through the ground bridge when Liliy looked up. Liliy frowned and muttered, "Humans…"
With a sigh, she turned off the TV and went over to the main console.
"Ratchet."
He looked at her when she said his name.
"I know they're a whole lot smaller than you but don't you ever notice when they go missing?"
"What do you mean?"
The commlink beeped again.
{Ratchet. Come in.} Miko sounded out of breath.
"That's what I mean." Liliy gestured to the console.
"Miko?" asked Ratchet. "This is an emergency channel. Where are you?"
{Doi. I'm with the thingamabob,} she answered amid the sounds of battling robots.
"Thingam- The data cylinder?"
{Yes! Can you bridge it outta here?}
"I'll reactivate arrival coordinates." He moved over to the ground bridge controls and reopened the portal.
{Dude! Can you open it any closer?}
"Supply coordinates."
{Um… Fifty yards.}
"Precise coordinates!"
Liliy rolled her eyes. "I'll go look, Ratchet."
"What? Liliy, wait!"
But she was already gone. She made it to the cylinder in time to echo Ratchet's 'wait!' as Miko jump-kicked it to try and get it to move. Liliy just stood there with her hand covering her face as the cylinder activated while everyone else who noticed it kind of freaked out.
Bulkhead broke off fighting with Breakdown because he was worried about Miko. The Con knocked him down from behind and he fell right in front of the cylinder. An energy beam shot out of the cylinder and right into Bulkhead's helm. When it stopped, Bulkhead fainted.
"Bulk!" Miko cried, running over to him.
Liliy put herself between Miko and the cylinder as Knock Out approached them.
"You really took one for the team, Bulkhead," he said, picking up the cylinder. "My team!"
A ground bridge opened behind him and he turned and ran through it. Breakdown followed but the portal closed before the eradicons could make it so they had to transform and fly away.
Bulkhead stirred as the other Autobots gathered around him. He got to his peds.
"Bulkhead, are you-" Optimus started.
"Fine," Bulkhead cut him off. "It didn't even smart."
The other Bots sighed in relief. Bulkhead looked down at Miko.
"But, Miko, what are you doing here?"
"I was just trying help," she huffed.
"Don't look at me like that, Optimus." Liliy glared up at the Prime who regarded her with a little disappointment. "I came thru to help Miko after she requested a ground bridge from Ratchet. I knew what I was doing." Pulling out her phone, she muttered, "I'm harder to kill than you think." Into her phone, "Hey, Ratchet. We lost the cylinder. Can we come back now?"
Once everyone was back at base, Optimus ordered Ratchet to examine Bulkhead. Then he and the other Autobots went out scouting with the hope of relocating the cylinder. Miko, of course, stayed by her guardian's side. Liliy stayed in the medbay as well. She was curious about what happened to Bulkhead.
"I helped lose that thing," complained Bulkhead as he sat on the med berth with some wire attached to his helm. "I wanna help find it." He stood up from the berth. "I need to get back in the field with Optimus."
"Ahp, ahp." Ratchet laid a servo on Bulkhead's shoulder, gently pushing him back. "You're under my watch now. Optimus' orders."
Bulkhead reluctantly sat back on the berth.
"And running a full scan of your neural net would be a wiser use of your time." Ratchet turned back to his monitors.
Bulkhead reached up and pulled the wires from his helm. "Come on, doc. There's nothing up there to scan." He got off the berth again.
"He seems fine to me," added Miko.
"Uugh. Well, if you insist on making yourself useful." Ratchet reached down and retrieved something from the floor. "You can help Miko and Liliy tidy up." The something was the mop from earlier. He handed it Bulkhead and went back to the monitors.
"Uuhn. He's mad with power," whined Miko.
Bulkhead laughed. "That's Ratchet. Null vector squared alright."
"What?" Miko looked up at him confused.
"Hey, we got any paint around here?" Bulkhead asked, spinning the mop between his digits.
"Art project? Cool!" Miko said excitedly. She jumped down from the berth and ran out of the medbay with Bulkhead trailing after her.
Liliy watched them go and sighed. So much for finding out what happened. And she went in search of a broom.
Liliy never found a broom. Instead, she got distracted by all the dust in one of the back rooms. She was cleaning that up when her sensors picked up the ground bridge activating. Curious, Liliy hurried back out to the main room.
Everyone was gathered in the medbay with Bulkhead back on the berth, wires connected to his helm again.
"This hot spot you see here," Ratchet was saying as he gestured to the red spot on the scan of Bulkhead's neural net on the monitor, "it's information. Data. Living energy."
"Hold on," Miko interrupted. "It's alive. It's on fire. And it's in Bulkhead's brain?" She pointed at her own head with both hands.
"Chill, Miko," replied Bulkhead. "The data's only inhabiting a fraction of my brain." He tapped the side of his helm. "Infinitesimal by standard neural net densities. Wait. How do I know all that?" He looked up at Ratchet.
"Based on what we witnessed during our skirmish," Optimus said, "the living data must have been programmed to eject when it sensed unauthorized access."
"A security measure," realized Ratchet.
"It would've jettisoned heavenward," continued Optimus. "Lost to the stars."
"Except my fat engine block got in the way," Bulkhead said as he sat up on the berth.
"Every Con there made a grab for it, but the cylinder doesn't go off until Miko and Liliy touch it?" asked Arcee.
"It was all Miko," Liliy informed her. "I never touched it."
"Hm. The cylinders originated from Cybertron's Golden Age," said Ratchet, bringing up the information on the monitor, "predating the Autobot/Decepticon division."
"So it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat," added Optimus.
"Only alien life forms, such as humans."
"So then, are we staring at genius?" asked Arcee, gesturing to the symbols on the wall next to her. "Or gibberish?"
"I do not wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes," said Ratchet, "but these equations appear to be the formula for a synthetic energon."
Liliy turned from studying the glyphs to stare at Ratchet in shock. Optimus had a similar look of surprise. Bumblebee pumped his fist in the air, beeping and buzzing excitedly.
"We hit the motherload," Arcee agreed with him.
"Miko, do you understand what this means?" Bulkhead turned to the girl happily.
"Umm?" Miko wasn't sure.
"Energon provides our fuel, our ammo, our life force," he explained to her. "With the natural stuff in such short supply here on Earth, this could solve a whole lot of problems."
"Such as providing us with the edge we need to turn the tide of this war," suggested Prime.
"Or handing us the key to revitalizing Cybertron," Ratchet added.
"We got the goods and all Megatron got was an empty bucket," said Arcee.
"How often do I get to use my noggin to save the day?" joked Bulkhead.
Sometime later, while Bulkhead was painting bits of the formula on metal panels instead of the walls, Ratchet quietly asked Optimus to join him in the medbay. Curious, Arcee and Bumblebee followed, bringing a completed panel with them for Ratchet to log. Liliy was sitting on the second tier behind Ratchet's monitor so she could see what he was doing.
Ratchet brought up the previous scan of Bulkhead's helm. "This is Bulkhead's neural net as you saw it earlier," he explained. He switched it to a new scan that showed the red spreading. "This scan was recorded just minutes ago. It is as I feared. The data seems to be actively and aggressively rewriting Bulkhead's neural net. I had hoped he was purging the data, but he is merely transcribing it as it-"
"Consumes his mind," Optimus finished for him.
"From all indications," Ratchet continued. "By the time Bulkhead completes the formula, his own thoughts, his memories, could be wiped clean."
"But if we stop him," said Arcee. "Goodbye synthetic energon."
"You assume we possess a means of stopping him," replied Ratchet. "I don't exactly have instant access to the wisdom of the ancients."
"I will not allow another one of our own to be sacrificed. No matter the cost," said Optimus.
Liliy got up and moved to the rail to the side of the monitor so she could see Ratchet better. "I'm sure we can get it out of Bulkhead the same way it got in. We just need something to hold it. Like the original cylinder."
Ratchet looked thoughtful. "I suppose that could work."
"How are we supposed to get it back from the Decepticons?" asked Arcee.
"Megatron will bring it to us," stated the Prime.
"Great. Love the idea." Liliy was now perched on top of the rail. "But who is going to tell Miko?"
The Bots stared at her. Then Ratchet and Optimus shared a look.
"You're not going to tell her, are you?" Liliy asked, guessing their silent communications.
"It is best that she doesn't know at this time, Liliy. Not until after we get the cylinder."
"But she is going to figure out on her own eventually. She is smarter than you give her credit for sometimes," Liliy argued. "And besides, what if Megatron doesn't give you the cylinder? What then?"
"If that happens, we will seek out another option." Optimus turned to Ratchet. "Please rig a transponder with the data signal so that we can get the Decepticons' attention."
After Optimus left with Arcee and Bumblebee, Liliy sat quietly in her previous spot, recording the bits of formula as Ratchet logged them. She heard Miko moving around and trying to get Bulkhead's attention with her bass playing. She heard them conversing but she didn't bother to listen close enough to make it out. Miko ran up the stairs and to the railing above Ratchet's monitor.
"Ratch, I think Bulk's losing his mind," Miko said.
Ratchet looked up at her, startled.
"You already know," Miko realized.
Ratchet glanced down at Liliy who gave him the 'I told you so' look. He put a servo a top his monitor as he leaned slightly forward and spoke gently.
"Miko, we didn't want to frighten you. But, rest assured, Optimus has a plan."
"By no means foolproof either," muttered Liliy.
Ratchet ignored her.
"Optimus isn't Bulkhead's doctor," replied Miko, not hearing Liliy. "I just need to know. When Bulk's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular old Bulkhead, right?"
Ratchet closed his mouth and looked down without answering. But his reaction was answer enough for her. Miko turned away from the railing, shoulders drooping sadly. She went back down the stairs to talk to Bulkhead. She wanted to know how much of his memory he had lost. It took her a few minutes to come up with something to ask him.
"Bulkhead," she finally spoke, "do you remember the time Wheeljack launched his only grenade into the Decepticon heat exchanger?"
"Who?" Bulkhead asked without looking up from his work.
"Wheeljack!" Miko pulled out her phone and flipped it open. The picture on her home screen was the one she took of Bulkhead and Wheeljack before the Wrecker left. She held the phone out so Bulkhead could see. "Your best bud! Besides me, of course."
Bulkhead looked at the picture for a moment before going back to painting. There was no recognition in his optics.
"Oooh!" Miko hesitantly asked the question she feared the answer to. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course," Bulkhead replied, looking up at her again. "You're…." His optics narrowed in thought but he could not find the answer.
Miko's hopeful smile faded fast as Bulkhead went back to muttering the formula as he painted it on the panel. Ratchet took the finished panel.
"Keep them coming, Bulkhead." He carried the panel to the medbay to log it.
Liliy's head jerked up when she heard the ground bridge activate. Ratchet seemed too buried in his work to notice. Liliy quickly got up in time to see Bulkhead follow Miko into the portal.
"Slagit, Miko," she muttered in annoyance as she went after them.
They came out in the monster truck stadium. Liliy recognized it from the TV. Bulkhead immediately went to the nearest vertical surface and continued to transcribe the formula where he left off. With him outside the shielding of the base, it was far more likely that Optimus' plan would fail. Liliy pulled out her phone.
"Alfa, I need a favor."
At the negotiations for the cylinder, nobody expected a mech to suddenly drop out of the sky, much less to punch Megatron in the face. But that is how Alfa arrived.
Landed in the valley with a resounding thud, Alfa took some satisfaction in the fact that Megatron, the great Decepticon warlord that he once had to look up to, now had to look up at him when he straightened right in front of him. He grabbed hold of the cylinder and drew back his fist, punching Megatron in the face before he could react. Megatron let go of the cylinder as he crashed to the ground.
A ground bridge opened next to Alfa at his command and he disappeared through it before the eradicons gathered their wits enough to attack him. On the other side, back at the CRC base, he handed the cylinder off to Tango. Then he redirected the bridge to Liliy's coordinates for the orange mech.
Liliy stuck to the shadows when Knock Out and Breakdown showed up. Miko led Bulkhead off to hide outside the stadium.
"It's not like Bulkhead to run from a fight," commented Breakdown.
"I'm afraid our friend has had a little too much to think," replied Knock Out as they crossed the stadium to go after them.
Outside, they found the enclosed parking lot where all the monster trucks were kept.
"Ok then." Knock Out looked around the lot. "Fun and games."
The Cons split up, each taking a different lane to search for Bulkhead.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Knock Out sing-songed.
Smirking, Liliy zipped over to Knockout as he was taking a step. She grabbed the side of his planted ped and jerked as she moved forward. His peds swept out from under him and he cried out as he fell on his back.
"Knock Out, are you ok?" Breakdown asked, quickly coming over to him.
"Yeah. Just help me up." Knock Out held up a servo.
Before Breakdown could help him, Liliy tripped the blue mech causing him to fall on top of the sports car Con. She giggled at their tangle of arms and legs as they tried to get up before running off to find Miko.
"Miko!" she whisper shouted, catching the girl under one of the taller trucks.
"Liliy! What are you doing here?"
"I followed you from base obviously. What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to call for backup," she said, holding up her phone, "but they're jamming the signal."
"Let me try." Liliy pulled out her phone and dialed the base. The call went thru. "Ratchet, hey."
{Liliy? Where are you?}
"The monster truck stadium. I followed Miko and Bulkhead when they snuck out and now we're hiding from Doc Knock and his partner. We could really use some help."
{Hold on. I'll call the others right away.}
"Hurry." Liliy hung up the phone as she and Miko ran to hide behind another truck.
Knock Out and Breakdown managed to untangle themselves and get back to their peds.
"I think that's enough fun for tonight," the Con medic grumbled as he pulled a scanner out of his subspace. "Time to end this game." He followed the scanner's beeping to where Bulkhead was parked. "I think I'm warm."
Bulkhead transformed and spouted more of the formula before painting a symbol on the nearest flat surface: Knock Out's chassis.
Knock Out was livid. "You painted my paint job! Prepare for surgery!" he growled.
Bulkhead turned in time to get a face full of Breakdown's fist. The green mech went down, out cold. Knock Out and Breakdown stood over him triumphantly.
Liliy felt Tango's spark getting closer. She finally spotted him moving across the parking lot toward them as Knock Out was preparing to take off Bulkhead's helm.
"Miko," Liliy said to the girl who was watching the scene unfold with growing horror. She didn't seem to hear. Liliy grabbed her shoulder to get her attention. "Miko, you can stop this. You can save him."
"How?" Miko cried.
"Just run over there and hit Bulkhead on the helm. The data should leave him just like it did when you kicked the cylinder." She gave her a little push. "Go. I'll be right behind you."
Face full of determination, Miko ran forward and slammed both fists on the top of Bulkhead's helm. Bulkhead's optics shot open, glowing red with the data energy. A split second later, Tango was there, catching the escaping data with the cylinder. Knock Out and Breakdown backed off at the sudden release of energy.
When the data transfer was complete, Bulkhead's optics closed. Tango disappeared with the full cylinder faster than he had appeared. Knock Out got up and scanned Bulkhead.
"Dead battery," he said to Breakdown. "Megatron is going to peel our paint for losing that data."
"Did you see that mech?" asked Breakdown, only half listening. "He looked familiar."
A ground bridge opened and the other Autobots arrived.
"It doesn't matter because it's time to peel out of here," said Knock Out.
The Cons busted thru the nearest wall, transformed, and sped off into the night.
A few miles out, Knock Out and Breakdown were still racing down the road because they did not want to return to the Nemesis just yet to face Megatron's wrath. They drove side by side, just enjoying the night.
"The new paint looks good on you, by the way," a voice said on Knock Out's other side.
Startled, Knock Out slammed on his brakes and swerved away from the voice only to bump into Breakdown. The pair ended sideways in the middle of the road. An orange car rolled up to them with an amused engine rumble.
"You again?" snapped Knock Out, recognizing the newcomer.
"Up for another race?" Tango asked innocently. "Maybe your friend can referee this one so we can have a clean race. What do you say?"
"I'm not really in the mood." Knock Out started rolling away.
"It's just as well. You'd probably lose the race just like you lost the data tonight."
Knock Out braked hard. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me."
"Breakdown, drive exactly one mile down this road and stop. Flash your lights so we know when to start."
"You're going to regret challenging him," Breakdown rumbled to Tango before going off to follow Knock Out's orders.
"I doubt losing a clean race could be any worse than getting shot in the rear end," said Tango.
"I'll do it again if I have to," Knock Out commented.
"Do you even know the definition of a clean race?"
"Decepticon. I can claim it's not in my vocabulary."
"I could still beat with just my nose," Tango said, lining up next to Knock Out.
"So could I." Knock Out's engine revved in anticipation.
Breakdown's lights flashed in the distance. Squealing tires spun on the pavement and the roar of their engines filled the night. As quickly as it started, it was over; Knock Out winning by a nose.
After they stopped, Knock Out transformed. Breakdown rolled up to them and transformed as well. Knock Out put his servos on his hips.
"I won fair and square this time. You have to tell me your name."
Tango transformed. His mask sat crooked on top of his helm.
Breakdown gasped. "You were one of the mechs that saved me."
"Saved you?" Knock out asked, confused. He looked up at his partner. "Breakdown, what are you talking about?"
Tango lifted an optic ridge. "You didn't tell him?"
"No."
"Tell me what?" Knock Out looked back and forth between them.
"I didn't escape from the humans by myself," answered Breakdown. He gestured to Tango. "I was rescued by this guy and his buddies."
"There are more of you?" asked Knock Out.
"Many more," replied Tango. "But that's beside the point."
"Right. What's your name?"
"It's Tango."
"Tango," repeated Knock Out thoughtfully. "Interesting name."
"Thank you. The Madam gave it to me."
"So are there any other speedsters in your group?"
"One other. He was there that night." Tango looked up at Breakdown. "The dark red mech."
"Yes. I remember," Breakdown said. "What about the black mech? The one who still looks somewhat like a vehicon?"
"The commander? No. They could care less about speed."
"Tango, I have another question."
Breakdown had Tango's undivided attention. "Yes?"
"I spoke to an eradicon on the Nemesis. He was stationed on Earth before we arrived. He said to stay away from you Neutrals because you were dangerous."
"And he is absolutely right. Especially if you get on our bad side. Anyway, it was nice to you both again, but I have to be going now." He turned and fell into his alt mode.
Knock Out looked up at Breakdown for a moment.
Breakdown noticed and smiled down at him. "What?"
Instead of answering, the red mech turned and ran after the orange car. "Tango, wait a minute."
Tango stopped and let him catch up. Knock Out knelt next to him.
"I want to say thank you," he said in a low voice, his optics shifted to the side, "for saving Breakdown. He means a lot to me."
Tango was too surprised to respond right away. "You're welcome," he replied softly.
Knock Out smiled and stood up.
"Also that extra paint still looks good on you," Tango added playfully.
Knock Out looked down at himself and growled. "Oh, get out of here, you bucket of bolts." He aimed a kick at Tango's rear end.
Laughing, Tango pulled away just in time.
"What was that all about?" asked Breakdown, coming up behind him.
"Oh, nothing." Knock Out smiled up at him. "Let's get back to the Nemesis."
So yeah. Um. Hope you liked it. Next chapter Liliy gets to go home again and there are more CRCs. See you then.