Bee rolled into a stories-tall cavern deep within the mountain. The walls were natural clay red, the floor concrete. Bright white lights dangled from the ceiling high above, shining down on soldiers that marched back and forth, unpacking vehicles and crates from the abandoned bases. Some ran down corridors branching from the main cavity to rooms unseen.
One young man was drilling signs into the rock face by one: "Barracks". A few other signs were already hung on a different tunnel: "Armory" and "Medical Bay". Focusing on a glint above it, Danielle could just make out the silver Autobot sigil hanging proudly.
Before letting Danielle out of his cab, Bee spoke to her. "So I just got an interesting COM from Ironhide. He's pissed. Says you owe him big. Care to explain?" he chuckled.
"I may or may not have been the one to suggest he take Archer for the transfer ride instead of letting Sandstorm." She shrugged and laughed along with Bee. "I'm sure he'll see it as funny, just give it time. Archer really grows on you."
A knocking on the window drew her attention. A smirking Heather looked down on her. Muffled by the window, the pilot half shouted "Enjoying the view, Foreman? Or would you like to help? Pop the trunk, you've got some of my stuff in there."
Danielle exited the car and patted the roof. "Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that. Bee has total bodily autonomy, so you'll have to ask him, not me."
"Well I'm not in an asking mood." she said with a coy smile. She pulled her hand up, miming a gun and pointed at Danielle's head. "Open the trunk or your lady gets it!" she ordered Bumblebee, doing a bad impression of a mobster.
The grinding of his transformation echoed off the walls. He stood, quite amused at the two women, arms crossed over his chest and head cocked to the side. "You know mine are bigger, right?"
"I mean it, Bumblebutt, I'll do it!" Heather said, wrapping her friend tightly around the waist against her in a one armed bear hug in front of herself, still aiming her fake weapon.
Through the bond Bee felt something new, a fluttering of elation mixed with a happy nervousness, and just a drop of puzzlement. He studied Danielle's face and saw it reflected her genuine joy in the interaction they were having. He smiled to himself before throwing his hands in the air.
"We don't negotiate with terrorists. But because I have some tasks to attend to, I will comply. My way." he said. He popped open a compartment in his back, spilling its contents into his cupped hands, then unceremoniously dumped it all into a heap on the floor.
Heather rushed forward, releasing Danielle, crying "Wait, no! Couldn't you at least put it closer to the barracks?! Ugh!" She started stacking items into boxes from the pile, cursing under her breath.
Bee exchanged one last look with Danielle, sneaking her a wink. "Have fun you two." he said as he turned and strode towards one of the unlabeled corridors, throwing a wave back over his shoulder.
Danielle fetched a flat cart to help Heather move her belongings, though she was still only able to use her left arm. Eventually the pair made their way to the living quarters. She had expected bunks stacked side by side, but the pilot's barracks were instead private rooms.
"They had a lot of area to work with here, so we each got an upgrade. Something about morale boost." Heather explained to Danielle, unloading items from the cart.
"Hey, are you supposed to be using your hand so much? You look hurt." Danielle asked, eyeing a heavy box Heather was moving to her desk. White bandages wrapped from her knuckles to above her wrist on her left hand.
"It's mostly superficial. When the smoke grenade in the hangar threw me, I got sliced up on some shrapnel pretty bad. It's gonna leave a cool scar at least." Rifling through the next box on the cart, she returned to cursing under her breath as she pulled out a wall clock. "Is it really already time? We have to go, pilot's meeting in five."
"But I'm not a pilot. I don-" Danielle protested.
"Don't argue, you're as much a pilot as the rest of us. Let's go."
They jogged from the barracks to the main cavern and headed down another tunnel to a high-ceilinged hangar. The mech stood on the far wall, dark and dirty, as Hoist worked on it, sparks flying from under his fingertips.
In the middle of the room stood Tommy, Archer, and Sadiyah who all faced General Reims. Heather and Danielle joined the other pilots, throwing salutes before being set at ease.
The General looked down her nose at Danielle's cargo shorts, tank top, and very old sneakers, next to the others with their standard issued ACUs; tan t-shirts, sandy camo pants and boots. The young woman withered in her stare but held her eye contact nonetheless.
"Sergeant Freed informed me of your contribution to the team. This wasn't your first time in combat, was it?" she asked, her voice steady and authoritative.
"No, ma'am." she replied, nerves clipping her words.
"It shows. Get a proper uniform before the next training, Archer will be mentoring you. Moving on. You pilots have gone through a battle you weren't ready for, but you held out well enough. However, due to significant injuries, your mech trainings are canceled for the next thirty days while we get it, and you lot, fixed up. Simulations will continue as scheduled. Lastly, until we can get a hold of Specialist Blaese, Freed, you'll need to appoint a new second in command for your team."
He cleared his throat and responded confidently "Master Sergeant Montgomery, ma'am. Without a doubt."
"Very well. Dismissed."
The five pilots walked together to the mess hall. A proper kitchen and eating area were set up there, divided by long polished serving ques, the large open area filled with plastic white tables and sparsely padded metal chairs.
Having taken their fill, they sat at their table quietly talking amongst themselves. They shared their thoughts from the fight with Arcee before quickly moving on to the real fight with the Decepticon drones. They discussed their shared dread from the encounter with Soundwave, having never experienced an actual unempathetic killing machine like that before.
"I really thought I was going to die in there…" whispered Sadiyah.
Archer rubbed her back, attempting to comfort her. "Same. Those enemies were no joke. I'm glad we all made it through okay."
They sparingly compared injuries and recovery prospects. Tommy had lost a significant amount of his range of motion from being shot several times, and would have to trade at least a month of physical training for physical therapy.
Archer had lost his left arm from the middle of his humerus due to the irreparable damage caused by Ravage. Coupled with extensive blood loss, he would be out of any form of rigorous physical strain for months. Once he could get a prosthetic, it would be another few months more.
From what they could all piece together, Cole had withdrawn after the battle. He hadn't spoken much on the flight to the new base with Tommy and Sandstorm, only expressing that he couldn't stand their limitations to fight when people had died. Heather had only seen him boxing by himself in the gym after that, refusing to talk to her.
After more time passed with no one filling the space with any more conversation, the group split up and each went their separate ways. Just before he walked away, Tommy was stopped by Heather.
"Hey, I wanted to say thanks for moving me up. I know it's only temporary but I won't let you down as your second. I just hope we can bring Cole back into the fold." she said.
Nodding, Tommy responded "You've got the rank and the experience to be my second, Sergeant. Cole only had it for so long because he stood out sooner in the early days of training. Now though, you know our team members better than we know ourselves sometimes; that's invaluable in leadership. You also handled the fight better than anyone else, and the aftermath. For that, I'd prefer if this arrangement was not temporary. We still need him back on the team for his combat skills, but not to lead."
A rarity, she was speechless, taken aback by his forward praise. With a hefty clap to her shoulder, he finished "You did good, Montgomery. You earned this."
In the main chamber of the mountain base, Optimus and his Autobot allies had all gathered. The majority of humans had been tucked away in their quarters for hours, leaving the rocky caverns peacefully quiet.
He had debriefed his soldiers about the attack, learning what they could improve and noting what had been done well. The mass transit for the practice fights, unshielded, was likely their downfall in hiding the old bases locations. Concentrating unarmed targets was also a mistake they could not afford to make again. Optimus did take time to applaud Hoist for his quick thinking to protect a group of stranded crowd goers, also Ironhide for helping defend the mech despite his personal opinion on the craft.
After the meeting was adjourned, the Bots broke off into their own conversations. Hoist had immediately cornered Ironhide. The cracky Topkick protested as the medic bot began prodding him, slipping a drill under the black arm plating.
"No, Ironhide, I told you before that we are on strict maintenance schedules. If you won't submit when it's convenient for you, then it becomes my prerogative to override your schedule. Now sit still or this might hurt much more than it should."
Bee watched with wide optics, backing away from the mad mechs. A slim servo grabbed his elbow, spinning him around to meet optic to optic with Arcee.
"Hey kid, how you holding up?" she asked, releasing him.
Minorly caught off guard by her interest in his functionality, he stuttered a moment before responding "I'm doing well enough for the circumstances. I seem to be functioning normally."
She gave a quiet scoff. "Normal, huh? Not what I would have guessed."
"What do you mean?" he asked, concern brooding.
She leaned in slightly, locking him in place with a knowing stare before linking to him in a private COM. "After the battle, when I was in the Med Bay, you had your spark exposed to the little human girl. Was that what I think it was? Were you really trying to… establish a bond with her?" she accused.
Bumblebee crossed his hands behind his back and puffed up his chest. "Not establish, no, because we were already connected. What you saw was just the completion of the bond."
Her optics went wide before she frowned deeply. "What's wrong with you?!" she hissed, forgetting the COM in her disbelief.
Maintaining the nonpublic link, he responded "She's not my sparkmate, if that's where you're going with this. It's different. I don't know how, beyond the fact that it simply can't be since she doesn't have a spark, but it feels like a bond regardless."
"Have you fried your processor?! What happens if she dies? Sorry, when she dies before your natural lifespan should end?" she replied, back in the COM.
Bee laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to level out her anger. "I don't know that either, but it's a risk I fully accepted well before we moved forward."
She knocked his arm aside with exasperation. "Primus, Ratchet would have had a meltdown with you!" She sighed, venting loudly before she scoffed. "Then he would have beat your aft with a wretch, and honestly, he'd be right to. This is serious, Bee... Does Prime even know?"
"Haven't quite found a moment yet, no, but I plan to tell him soon. Please don't report me, Arcee." he begged gravely. "I'm not taking this situation lightly, scout's honor."
Her steely glare raked over his sensors, driving home her disapproval before she finally responded "Fine. But if you die from her, I'll hunt down your spark in the Well and drag you back here to finish what we started." She turned and walked away, her expression softening as she thought to herself They grow up so fast…
In the far corner of the group, Optimus stood with Sandstorm and Mirage discussing tactics and any possible counter intelligence they may have.
"I regret that I've been unable to slip into any enemy lines lately. Megatron and his minions had been unusually quiet before this last attack." said Mirage. "I'm afraid I don't have anything of use yet."
"I could go scouting, seeing as I'm the only one with wings around here." suggested Sandstorm excitedly. "Eye in the sky, fast ground coverage, might even get a few bombs in, who knows? Really, anything you need that gets me out from under this rock and I'm all over it, Prime."
Optimus sat in silence for a moment, running variables through his processor. "We cannot spare two soldiers out at the same time right now. Mirage is better at avoiding detection, so he will follow the suspected lead. Depart when ready."
Stars winked through the haze of the thin upper atmosphere surrounding Earth. Gliding silently through the near vacuum, the Nemesis prowled slowly forward, a single docking port opened to greet a starship approaching from the void.
In the bridge of the Nemesis, Megatron continued his debriefing with Soundwave, the silent bot flicking through data, charts, and schematics to make his points known to his leader. They had not expected the artificial mech the humans had built, and Megatron was gravely disappointed to not have gathered direct interaction with it.
Minor information had come back to them from the six drones and Ravage, details about composition, height, weapon's profile, and some weaknesses. However, Soundwave had further determined that the method of control seemed to be six humans remotely operating it, an odd sensation considering the mech felt like a dead Cybertronian puppet.
Ravage had proved useful before his destruction, managing to capture the faces and uniform patches of all the surviving humans when he had entered the hangar. The information would be compared against hacked files obtained from the military to properly ID and locate them, given the right instigation.
Soundwave's spark quickened at the thought of the loss of his companion. He had expressed his desire for revenge to his Lord but had been dismissed. "The weak shall fall, and if it failed to win the fight against such a lumbering blasphemy, then so be it. Your other pets may prove more useful." Megatron hissed, his frustration at having lost the battle on the Autobot base still stung. "Their numbers have grown unexpectedly. Even with the element of surprise and a larger army, they still beat us back."
A snarl curled over his lip plates, deepening into a vicious growl when the bridge doors slid open to allow a gaunt seeker to saunter in, interrupting the meeting. "Starscream" the dark Lord hissed.
The mech bowed low, gesturing backwards to the three drones flanking him, each carrying a glowing metal cube. "My Lord, my apologies for such a delayed return. The distant planet was indeed rich with energon, just as you so aptly predicted. There was little interference on our travels, but some… organic… interference on the planet. They are easy enough to neutralize, with a large enough presence, of course."
The cubes were set down in front of Megatron, the pulsing glow spilling along the metal floor. He peered down briefly at the bright liquid before returning his scathing gaze on the insidious jet. "How much did you bring back?"
"As much as our little ship could hold, my Lord, not enough for your grand plans I'm afraid." At Megatron's rising fury, Starscream quickly elaborated to save his spark. "B-But the planet truly is laden with energon, ripe for harvest! We… I-I mean, you could fuel your army for several years with just a few shipments. Establish a supply line, and you'd be unstoppable, my Lord. Just give me an army to command and I will gladly produce results!"
"You will do no such thing, insolent bug. Soundwave, I trust you can handle the logistics to start mining that planet dry as quickly as possible." Moments ticked by, Soundwave silently calculating before displaying the number of soldiers, drones, and ships required to reliably hold the distant planet.
Megatron clenched his fists. "That's more than half of our army. Is there no better way to acquire the source? Fine… We will leave the outposts on this planet, but all other resources shall be recalled. I will personally oversee the setup of this precious well of energon. Round up the troops, we leave at dawn."