...I don't even have any excuses this time. Sorry. Deadline for the next chapter is September 29th.
Big thanks to GoldenEagle and the other beta-readers. :D
Bumblebee cruised down Crown City's main street, his sensors straining for any sign of Decepticons. So far, he hadn't detected so much as a blip. He supposed that was a good thing, but it was driving his paranoia through the roof. He activated his com-link in an attempt to satisfy his anxiety.
"Team, report: have you seen anything suspicious?"
"Not since you asked five minutes ago!" Knockout snapped, not attempting to hide his exasperation.
"Negative, sir. All I've detected is one bad attitude," Strongarm said pointedly. Bumblebee shut off the link before Knockout could respond to the jab; he really didn't want to listen to his teammates squabble.
"Nice to see those two are getting along," Denny commented from the driver's seat.
"Tell me about it," Bumblebee muttered. "I don't suppose you've seen anything suspicious so far?"
"Well, I think there was a guy hocking watches a few blocks back, but no, nothing Decepticon related." Deny leaned back in the seat, resting his feet on the dashboard. "Calm down, Bee; you're going to fry a circuit or something."
"I don't like inactivity," Bumblebee complained as he began another circuit of the block. "I was sparked during a war; there was no such thing as downtime. If the enemy was quiet, it was because they were plotting something. All this waiting makes me…antsy."
Denny patted Bee's door sympathetically. "Maybe while we're waiting, you could elaborate on this war you keep mentioning. I've gathered bits and pieces, but—"
Bumblebee understood the request. A lesson on Cybertronian history would be a good way to distract himself. "The war—what we call the Great War—was a fight between two factions: the Autobots and the Decepticons. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, wanted freedom to make their own choices. The Decepticons—led by a gladiator named Megatron—wanted control. Their motto was 'Peace through Tyranny.' And they would go to any lengths to achieve it."
Bumblebee shuddered inwardly. He remembered all too well the atrocities Megatron had committed in the name of his cause. "The war lasted for millennia… decimated our home planet. We finally managed to end it about 50 of your years ago, thanks to some help from the humans and a whole lot of luck."
"Wow," Denny breathed. He was silent as he digested the information. "And you and Knockout fought together?"
Bumblebee chuckled humorlessly. "Not quite. Knockout switched sides after the Autobots won. For most of the time I knew him, he was chief medic to the Decepticons."
Denny's eyebrows jumped up. "You're kidding me."
"Nope. That's why he has red optics instead of blue—that was one of the marks of a Decepticon during the war." Bee mused over the memory of Knockout's defection. "He's changed since then. The Knockout I knew would never lift a finger to help someone else, especially if it risked getting his paint job scratched. He's mellowed out now, it looks like."
"If this is him mellow, he must've been a real piece of work before." Denny said incredulously. "He's like an even sassier version of Sideswipe."
"Heh, there's a definite resemblance there—" Bumblebee froze suddenly as something clicked. He slammed on his brakes reflexively. Denny grunted as he jerked forward in the seat.
"Uh, Bee? Stopping in the middle of the street without warning isn't usually a good idea," Denny said. But Bumblebee wasn't listening. He'd just remembered something Knockout had said when he'd first arrived.
"Is that youngling you dragged here still functional?"
Bee hadn't paid much attention to it then, but in hindsight, it was odd that that would be the first thing Knockout asked about. If he'd come to help Bumblebee, why would he care about the other bots who'd come to earth? And there were two younglings here—Strongarm and Sideswipe—yet Knockout had said "youngling," singular, as if he was only concerned about one of them. Then there'd been Sideswipe's strange behavior since the medic's arrival…and Knockout's anger over the youngling getting damaged...
Denny thumped Bee's dashboard suddenly, drawing his attention to the chorus of honking from irritated drivers stuck behind him. He hastily started moving again, but his processor was only half on driving. Did Knockout know Sideswipe somehow? And if so, how were they connected? Sideswipe had hardly seemed happy to see him.
Acting on a hunch, Bee pulled up his arrest and citation logs from Cybertron. The simplest way to resolve this would've been to just ask Knockout about it, but that wouldn't help much if the medic was keeping secrets. Thankfully, there was another way to investigate. Scrolling through his records, Bee quickly found Sideswipe's citations—the youngling had had enough run-ins with the police to merit his own section. But the only information in it was the long list of minor offenses the youngling had committed. Bumblebee silently grumbled at himself. Officers were supposed to keep repeat offenders' full files on hand attached to their criminal records, but Sideswipe's crimes had been so petty, Bee had never bothered. There was a bitter irony in it.
The thought of protocol gave him an idea, though. Bumblebee opened up a private com-channel to Strongarm. "Cadet, when we arrested Sideswipe on Cybertron, did you happen to access his personal file before we went through the spacebridge?"
Strongarm took a moment to answer—the request was a surprising one. "I did. It's standard procedure, makes the processing go faster."
"Could you send it to me, please? I'd like to check something."
The response baffled Strongarm further, but she didn't question her lieutenant. "Of course, sir. Sending it now."
Denny gave Bee an odd look as the mech shut off the com line. "What was that about?"
"Just a hunch." Bee said distractedly. A ping sounded from his personal computer, signaling the arrival of the requested file. He pulled it up on his internal display. This file contained everything the Kaon City police force knew about Sideswipe. If he did have some connection to Knockout, it might be listed here.
Unfortunately, the universe decided that now was not the time for him to look into Sideswipe's background. Bee's com-unit crackled to life just then and Fix-it's shrill voice announced a new priority.
"Fix-it to away team, the Predacon is descending! I repeat, the Predacon is rescind—defend—"
"We get it, Fix-it." Bumblebee interrupted the minicon's stuttering. "What's his location?"
"Um, 20 miles east of the spot where you found his stasis pod, on the same mountain range."
"Really?" The 'Con hadn't traveled far, considering that he'd been airborne for several hours. If he was still in the mountains, it would take too long to get to him on foot. "All right, prepare the ground bridge, Fix-it. Knockout, Strongarm, let's regroup by the bridge into the city. We can find a sheltered area there where the humans won't notice a wormhole popping up. Once we're through, open another bridge for Grimlock to meet us."
"Aw, yeah!" The Dinobot's cheer could be heard over Fix-it's end of the line.
"I'll get the bridge ready now, sir!" the minicon added before ending the transmission.
"Bumblebee," Knockout piped up suddenly. "I've been thinking—"
"There's a surprise," Strongarm muttered over the link.
"—And I'm not sure brute force is the best way to take down this Predacon," Knockout continued, ignoring Strongarm. "I have something at the junkyard that might help. Permission to retrieve it?"
Bee waited for Knockout to elaborate on his idea, but the medic had clearly said all he was going to. The vagueness of his request made Bee suspicious—but he supposed anything that gave them an advantage over Iron Wing was worth trying. "Permission granted. But hurry." He paused before adding "And Knockout—nothing lethal."
"If you insist." The squeal of tires came through the com-link briefly as Knockout accelerated away.
"What should I do?" Denny asked.
"I'm afraid you'll have to get another ride back to the junkyard," Bumblebee said apologetically. "Maybe Sideswipe can pick you up—I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to have something to do."
As the bridge came into sight, Bumblebee pulled off into an alley and opened his door. Denny climbed out and gave the hood a reassuring thump. "Good luck, Bumblebee."
"Thanks." Bee shut his door and pulled back out onto the street. Good luck—such an odd phrase when you thought about it. It wasn't as if saying it would make the universe shift circumstances in your favor and yet, that seemed to be the implied purpose of saying. A prayer to the cosmos for help. Bumblebee wasn't a superstitious mech, but he hoped the universe had been listening to Denny's farewell comment. They could use all the luck they could get.
Bumblebee met Strongarm underneath the bridge into the city. The sound of steady traffic rumbled overhead, but beneath it they should be safe from prying eyes. Bee opened a com-channel to the Alchemor. "All right, Fix-it, we're in place. Open the ground bridge."
"Yes, sir!" The minicon chirped. "I'm going to set you down a little ways away from the signal so you can regroup with Grimlock before you confront Iron Wing."
"Roger that."
"Who's Roger?"
"No, it's a human expression—never mind. Just open the bridge." Bee sighed. Once they'd taken care of Iron Wing, he needed to remind Knockout to look at Fix-it's damaged circuitry.
The air in front of the robots wavered, and a ground bridge portal blossomed in a swirl of green light. Bumblebee noticed out of the corner of his optic that Strongarm was twitching her tires restlessly.
"You ready for this, cadet?"
"Yes, sir! Of course, sir!" She said without hesitation. Bumblebee could tell that she sounded more confident than she actually felt, but he didn't call her out on it. What mattered was that she was willing to try. Without further ado, Bumblebee gunned his engine and raced through the ground bridge.
They emerged from the other side of the portal into a forest of tall coniferous trees. Bumblebee transformed into robot mode, landing on his feet with a soft thump. Strongarm followed suit, though less gracefully. Bumblebee held a finger to his lips as a signal to stay quiet—this would be much easier if they could take Iron Wing by surprise. Strongarm nodded and they both drew their weapons. Bee pressed two fingers to his com-link.
"We're here, Fix-it." Bee whispered, "I'm going to keep the com channel open so you can guide us to the fugitive. Send Grimlock through."
"I will tell Roger that, sir." Fix-it replied soberly. Bumblebee didn't bother to correct him. A moment later, another ground bridge opened besides them.
"And Fix-it, tell Grimlock to be—" Bumblebee winced as the Dinobot charged through the portal, making the ground quake beneath him. "—quiet."
"Where is he? I'm gonna punch that loser so hard—" Grimlock's tirade cut off as Bumblebee clamped his muzzle shut. The yellow mech sighed inwardly; so much for surprise.
"Let's go—and hurry." He hissed. "Fix-it, where's the Predacon?"
"Due north about 500 yards, sir." The minicon replied. Bumblebee set off in the indicated direction and gestured for the others to follow.
The forest was eerily quiet around them. Bumblebee's instincts whispered that something wasn't right. Iron Wing had to have heard Grimlock's little outburst; why hadn't he attacked yet, or tried to fly away?
"Fix-it, are you sure this is the right location?"
"Positive, sir." The minicon seemed miffed at his superior's skepticism. "I've double-checked all the sensors. He hasn't moved since he landed."
Bumblebee's instincts whispered a little louder at that. He quickened his pace, fighting a growing sense of dread. They'd gone nearly 500 yards now and the woods ahead of them were noticeably Decepticon-free. These trees were big, but hardly big enough to hide a 30-foot Predacon.
"These woods don't look disturbed at all," Strongarm murmured, echoing Bumblebee's thought. "Wouldn't a massive Decepticon leave some kind of mark when he touched ground?"
"Fix-it, there's nobody here!" Bumblebee snapped into his comm-link.
"That—that can't be right…" Doubt crept into the minicon's voice. "According to the scanners, you should be right on top of him."
Grim-faced, Bumblebee spun to face his teammates. "Spread out. Stay within shouting distance, but look for any sign that Iron Wing was here."
His two allies nodded and split off. Bumblebee went in his own direction. Habits from his days as a scout kicked in. He scanned his surroundings footprints. Broken branches, anything to suggest that the 'Con had made an appearance. A metallic glint in the branches above him caught his attention.
Cautiously, Bumblebee walked closer to the tree. There was definitely something stuck in the pine's higher branches. Bee grasped the tree's trunk and shook it as hard as he could without uprooting it. The object shivered and tumbled down through the pine boughs until it hit the ground at the tree's base. Bumblebee crouched to examine it. His optics widened.
"Strongarm! Grimlock!"
Feet pounded and tree branches snapped as the two Autobots came racing to their leader.
"What is it, sir? What did you find?" Strongarm demanded. Bumblebee didn't answer. He snatched the piece of metal off the ground, a closer look confirming what it was: a chunk of Cybertronian armor the color of umber, with a silver Decepticon brand in the middle. The piece had obviously been ripped off of someone's plating, but whoever had done it had been careful to leave the brand untouched—and its locator chip functioning.
"Scrap," Bumblebee muttered. "This was a decoy! We've been tricked!"