"Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear the path."
- ?
Hmm… nice and peaceful. It's a little unnerving. I wonder what the others are doing?
"BUMBLEBEE!"
Already halfway out of his seat, and in a hunched position, Bumblebee stumbled forward and fell off of the platform, onto the floor below.
"Ah… sorry, Bee. You alright?"
"Define alright, Knockout," Bumblebee grumbled. A pair of servos wrapped around his arm and assisted in getting him back on his pedes.
"I mean, do I have to buff you or something?" Knockout quipped, getting to work looking over the other mech for any damage.
"No, I don't think so. Just a little shaken is all. By the way, why did you yell just now?"
"Huh?"
It took a minute for Knockout to process what Bumblebee asked.
"Oh! Right! Well… you see… our Energon stores are… kind of… sort of… out?"
Bumblebee froze.
"What do you mean we're out of Energon?" Bumblebee asked, eerily calm, making Knockout fidget even more.
"Well…" Knockout trailed whilst tapping his digits against each other.
"Someone's been hogging all the Energon cubes for themselves!"
Knockout jumped, and Bumblebee turned to the open doorway, from which Starscream had passed through on his way in.
Scrap. Please don't tell me...
"Excuse me? I did not!" Knockout countered. "If anyone's to blame for us being out, it's you, Starscream!"
"What? Me? How is this my fault?"
"You keep getting yourself injured! Every planet we've visited so far, you're the one who comes out looking like a beaten pile of scrap metal! I practically used all of our Energon stores to get you back on your pedes every single time!"
"Still, how is any of that my fault?"
They're fighting again. Perfect.
Bumblebee closed his optics and massaged the sides of his helm, attempting to soothe the already pulsing ache. He took a deep vent, about ready to break-up the arguing mechs before things get out of control.
"HEY! What is going on in here?"
Bumblebee's optics flashed open and landed upon Moonracer. The femme was standing in the open doorway, data pad in one servo, and the other settled on her hip. She did not look happy.
"By the Allspark, it sounds like a warzone in here. I could hear you all the way down the hall. Seriously, don't you guys know how to be quiet? Or at least how to have a civilized conversation?"
"Sorry, Moonracer," the squabbling mechs immediately apologized. Bumblebee smirked.
Well, at least I can count on Moonracer to keep those two under control.
Bumblebee adjusted his optics to look behind Moonracer, beyond the door, and into the hallway.
Where's Steeljaw been during all this? He couldn't have possibly not heard Knockout and Starscream's shouting. His sense of hearing is better than all of ours combined! Is he just ignoring us? Or did he finally make his room sound-proof? I told him to let me know if he made any adjustments to… no. Even if he did, it's not like he would tell any of us, let alone me. Or maybe he would, just to spite me. You know how he loves to get under your plating. However, he hasn't been causing any trouble. Nothing that would put us all in jeopardy or anything, but still.
PING! PING! PING!
Everyone present turned to the pop-up screen: a visual of a planet, plus a pair of blinking dots, and a set of coordinates.
It was an Energon alert.
"Well, then," Starscream coughed as the alarm continued.
"I guess that solves our Energon problem," Knockout added.
"Maybe," Bumblebee said.
"Shouldn't one of us go tell Steeljaw, just in case he didn't get the message?" Moonracer asked.
"I'll take care of it. One of you, please fly the ship to those coordinates, and try not to crash."
Bumblebee was standing outside Steeljaw's door. It was a double-door, as it led into one of the largest rooms on the ship: the laboratory. Now, the space not only served as a lab, but as Steeljaw's personal quarters, too. He had plenty of room and privacy to work on anything he wanted, which includes either fixing old or creating new weapons and tools for the crew.
Bumblebee had to admit that Steeljaw, while untrustworthy, has been of significant help to the mission. However, he still can't shake the feeling that Steeljaw will betray them. He shares similar sentiments regarding Starscream, but nowhere near to such a degree as the 'Con who's always at the top of his list.
"Lieutenant."
Bumblebee felt like his spark shot out of his chassis, then zapped right back in. He looked-up and came face-to-face with yellow optics.
"Steeljaw!" Bumblebee exclaimed, struggling to regain his composure. "Uh… I was just… you know… coming to see what you were doing."
"Sure you were," Steeljaw replied, sounding unconvinced as he leaned against the doorframe. He didn't continue speaking. Bumblebee figured he was waiting for an explanation, so he gave it to him.
"Well, we're here. Welcome to Polaris, guys."
The crew gazed at the sight in front of them. True to its name, the planet Polaris looked like the Earth's poles: a frozen, seemingly lifeless wasteland. The wind whipped, sending flurries of snow scattering across the sparkling blue/gray and white terrain.
"Great, another cold-aft death trap," Starscream snarled, wrapping his arms around his body out of reflex. "The Earth ones were bad enough. No way on Cybertron am I going on a planet-sized version of one of those things!"
"Energon, Starscream! Energon!" Knockout argued.
"I am not freezing to death, Knockout! Besides, I can handle being without Energon longer than the rest of you."
"But…"
"Enough!" Bumblebee snapped, stepping between the two bickering mechs. "Alright, Starscream, you can stay."
"What?" Knockout shouted.
"Thank you," Starscream said at the same time.
"Knockout," Bumblebee warned before turning his attention back to Starscream. "Remember, Starscream, Moonracer is going to be here, too. Don't cause any trouble for her, got it?"
"I wouldn't dream of it!"
Bumblebee rolled his optics, but deep down he knew Starscream wouldn't bother Moonracer. Sure, he may talk her helm off, try to distract her and get her to pay attention to him, but as everyone's come to realize – or in Knockout's case, reminded – that Moonracer is not to be trifled with. She can hold her own; there's no doubt in anyone's processors about that.
"Alright, so that leaves me, Knockout, and Steeljaw to scout for the Energon."
As he thought back on it, Bumblebee realized that leaving Starscream behind was a good call on his part. A very good call.
Primus forbid if he was out here with us, Bumblebee thought as he and Knockout raced away from the incoming blizzard as fast as their alt modes would allow them to on the slippery surface of the ice and snow-covered ground. He wouldn't stand a chance if his wings froze over!
"Bee, I still can't contact the ship!" Knockout yelled.
"Scrap!" Bumblebee cursed. "What about Steeljaw?"
"Tried! Nothing!"
"Scrud."
"What about you? Any luck?"
"Would I bother asking you if I did?"
"There's no need to yell at me! I'm panicked enough as is!"
"And you don't think… wait, over there!"
Refusing to waste their remaining time by explaining things, Bumblebee snapped his blinker on and made a hard left, Knockout following suit with an annoyed flickering of his headlights. Bee's tires skidded across the ice for a few seconds before regaining traction and leading him to the entrance of a cave. The second he was inside the shelter, he transformed. Knockout transformed as soon as he arrived, too.
"Well, that was a close one," Knockout commented.
"Yeah, but we're safe," Bumblebee vented.
"By close one, I meant when I almost hit you after you cut in front of me."
"What? Oh, right, sorry about that! I didn't think I had time to warn you, so I just went."
". . . At least you put your blinker on."
Bumblebee's frown turned into a smirk, then quickly reverted back to a frown.
I hope the others are safe.
Scrap, it's starting to get cold out here! Steeljaw thought as his frost-covered frame began to shiver for the first time in a long time. I'd keep moving… or comm. the others… but neither option… seems to be… working right now.
Steeljaw shifted a little to look down at his claws. They were still damaged from trying to climb the ravine's ice wall earlier. He forced them to move, but could only manage a slight twitch, assuming it wasn't a trick of the optics.
"Still immobile," Steeljaw hissed. He pressed his servos against his chassis and curled in around them. "If I can't thaw you out, no way I'll be able to get out of here."
I bet… everyone else is somewhere… nice and warm. The Lieutenant… would make sure of that. At least… with everyone… except for me.
Steeljaw laughed.
"Maybe."
"Moonracer, no! It's too dangerous!"
"There's no way you can survive out there! You said you wouldn't go out there, anyway! So that means I have to go find them!"
"If you go and die out there, what happens to me?"
"Is that all you can really think about right now?"
"Well, of course! Why wouldn't I?"
Moonracer was about to counter-attack, but forced herself to back-off. She knew they couldn't waste any more time. Bumblebee, Knockout, and Steeljaw hadn't returned, and the blizzard was only getting worse. They couldn't get in contact with any of them, and as much as Moonracer hated to admit it, Starscream was right.
As both the medic and captain in-charge whenever Knockout or Bumblebee weren't around, Moonracer couldn't afford to be lost. While searching from the air would usually be extremely helpful, the weather would undoubtedly kill Starscream if he were exposed for too long. Neither were built or in a position to perform search + rescue procedures in extreme weather conditions.
Suddenly, Starscream bolted for one of the consoles and frantically started scrolling through files.
"Starscream, what are you doing?" Moonracer asked.
"Looking for Bumblebee's emergency contact list," Starscream answered, his optics never leaving the screen. "I overheard him talking to Knockout not that long ago…"
"In other words, you eavesdropped."
"Yes, yes, whatever. Same difference. Anyway, they were discussing something, and Bumblebee told Knockout that if something happened, he had a list of bots to get in contact with. He organized them by usefulness in a specific situation and everything! I just need to find the file."
"Wait a nano-klik, are you saying that the file is hidden?"
"I don't know why, but yes, it does seem to be that way."
Starscream continued to furiously type away. He stopped when he felt a presence next to him.
"Two sets of servos are better than one," Moonracer said, noticing Starscream's flash of uncertainty.
The Seeker smirked at the medic, and both quickly got to work. They didn't stop until they found what they were looking for.
The storm raged on, with no end in sight. The outside was a blur of gray and white, a swirling mass of snow and hail. Little bits of the storm would blow inside the cave, courtesy of the occasional change in wind direction. This time, a large pellet of hail came flying in and struck metal.
"Primus, again? I'm glad I'm too cold to feel anything right now or else I'd really be pissed!"
"Knockout, acting all fired-up like that isn't going to make you any warmer."
"I know, which fragging sucks."
"Knockout."
"What? It's not like anyone is around to hear me or anything!"
Bumblebee vented, the clattering of his shivering, metallic body causing sound to reverberate throughout the cave. Knockout sat across from him, hugging his legs close to his chassis.
"I wish we had something to keep us warm," Knockout said. "I'm freezing over here!"
"I'm surprised you're not complaining about what the weather is doing to your paint job," Bumblebee admitted, getting a small laugh out of himself. Knockout, however, was not amused.
"I would, if I didn't think we were going to offline at any given moment."
"That's not going to happen, Knockout."
"If you say so."
"Don't worry, Knockout. We're going to be fine. Trust me."
silence
"Bee?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you send Steeljaw off on his own?"
Bumblebee's frame stiffened. He was about to fall into light recharge when Knockout sprung the question upon him.
"I… uh… thought it would be better if we didn't have any distractions," Bumblebee answered, not at all convincingly.
"You mean you thought it would be better if you two weren't constantly distracting each other," Knockout clarified. Bumblebee shifted in place and rubbed the back of his helm.
"I guess it makes a little more sense when you put it like that."
"Bee, I'm well aware of the history you two have with each other, and I understand that it isn't easy working with someone who… well… as the humans say, rubs you the wrong way."
"Starscream."
"Yes, Starscream, but we're not talking about my problems with him. We are talking about your problems with Steeljaw."
"The only problem I have with Steeljaw is the amount of times he's tried to kill me and my team, then take over Earth. He's caused me nothing but problems!"
"Of course only you would focus on those parts of our story, Lieutenant."
Bumblebee and Knockout jumped to their pedes, scared out of their plating by the unexpected voice. Standing near the back of the tunnel was Steeljaw, who appeared none too happy about what he just heard.
"Steeljaw," Bumblebee vented.
"You're alive!" Knockout cheered, having a completely different reaction than Bumblebee. "Wait, how did you get in here?"
"I used the back way," Steeljaw answered, his glare never leaving Bumblebee.
"You what?"
"I had one of my new friends dig it out."
"Friends?" Bumblebee questioned.
As if on cue, the cave began to shake, with a mobile behemoth of silky white fluff poking its snout, then its head, and finally its entire body out of the now existent hole in the wall. At least three more heads, resembling that of the first beast, were peering over the lead to get a good look at things. While they did look cute and fluffy, and possibly harmless, they were huge; the mechs were only half the length of the creature's stubby, thick-furred forelegs.
"Steeljaw… what are those?" Bumblebee asked, dumb-struck by the creatures.
I had no idea something lived on this planet. Primus, was I wrong!
"I have absolutely no idea, but they saved me from freezing to death, so I don't really care," Steeljaw admitted. The lead beast lowered its head and allowed Steeljaw to scratch it behind the ears. "They are quite friendly. Non-aggressive, as far as I can tell."
Bumblebee and Knockout exchanged expressions of fear and caution.
"You can come over and defrost, if you want. They don't bite."
Knockout vented before shuffling over to Steeljaw and the beasts. Bumblebee stood where he was, servo resting on his pistol, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble.
"So, how did they save you? From freezing, I mean?" Knockout asked.
Steeljaw smirked and walked around to the beast's other side. He ran his claws gingerly through its fur, stopping just before the hindlegs and reached for the underbelly. Suddenly, the creature collapsed on its side and spread its legs out.
"What the?" Bumblebee and Knockout gasped simultaneously.
The underbelly was bare of fur. Instead, it looked like a hot, swirling pool of lava. Reds, oranges, and yellows; glowing patterns of warm colors that moved in a slow, peaceful rhythm. The whole thing was intriguing, but even more than that, it was relaxing, as if staring at a fire on a cold, winter's day.
"You see, these creatures appear to have their own, shall we say, biologically-embedded heating stone," Steeljaw explained. "I was just going into stasis when they arrived. I have no idea why, but they brought me with them. Next thing I knew, I woke up not being able to see anything, except for the glow of their underside. On top of that and their fur… Primus, it was so warm. My systems were fully functional and everything!"
"Really?" Knockout asked, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
By this point, Bumblebee had made his way over and was now standing next to both mechs. Steeljaw didn't say anything. He gestured to the creature's glowing underbelly, then turned to face the other beasts, all of whom were smaller than the lead. As soon as they noticed Steeljaw approaching them, they went into a light-hearted frenzy, trying to be the next one to get special attention. The sight reminded Bumblebee of his team, causing him to laugh.
"Knockout, are you seeing this? Knockout?"
Bumblebee looked over at the red medic and realized why he wasn't answering. He was curled up against the lead's belly, having immediately fallen into recharge against something so toasty warm. He showed no signs of being scared or cold. The sight made Bumblebee happy, but he frowned when he reminded himself of his other comrade.
"Steeljaw?" Bumblebee said.
"Yes?" Steeljaw replied.
Neither mech looked at each other. Bumblebee's gaze was focused on Knockout, while Steeljaw was busy giving head scratches to the youngsters.
"I… um… was wondering if you found any Energon?"
Bumblebee mentally slapped himself. That's not what he wanted to say. He figured Steeljaw wouldn't buy that, either. When the Lieutenant looked up, the Lupicon was staring right back.
silence
"Yes, I did."
Bumblebee perked-up at this.
"Or rather, I should say that these guys found it."
Steeljaw gestured to the extremely friendly creatures surrounding them.
"Doesn't matter who found the Energon, so long as we have it," Bumblebee admitted. Steeljaw's expression didn't change at all. "What?"
Steeljaw didn't answer immediately. It appeared to Bumblebee that he was choosing his next words carefully. This lack of a timely response from Steeljaw of all Cybertronians unnerved Bumblebee.
Maybe he went too far.
"Listen, Steeljaw, I didn't think that, of all Cybertronians, you would care about what others think of you, especially me," Bumblebee explained. "It's just that, after all we went through, the trouble we caused for each other, I just don't feel comfortable being around you, and even more so with you around the others. I don't want this to blow-up in our faces. I don't want you to betray us."
"And you seriously believe that I will?" Steeljaw half laughed, half… cried? "This may be the last chance I have at getting what I want, and if it means sucking-up to ungrateful Autobots in order for that to happen, then Primus my spark be damned, so be it."
Bumblebee was taken aback. He's never seen nor heard this side of Steeljaw before. It shocked him to his very spark.
"What do you mean by ungrateful?"
"The Decepticon infiltration of the High Council? Cybertronian invasion of Earth? Mind-controlled Autobots? Any of this ringing any bells, Lieutenant?"
"Yes."
"Good. So, mind telling me who saved your team's aft from getting blown to bits in Cybertron's airspace?"
"You did."
"And who deactivated the High Council's defense systems for you?"
"You did."
"Who broke the mind control and set the populace free?"
"You did."
"So, in short, who helped you save both Cybertron and Earth?"
"You did."
"Right. Now, remind me, after all I did that day, to help those who neither cared about me nor I them, why am I still on the run and in hiding?"
"While I will always be grateful to you for your assistance that day, Steeljaw, you're still a criminal. Even if you helped save both worlds, it doesn't erase what you did in the past. You still have to make up for it by serving your time."
Steeljaw's gaze hardened. Bumblebee didn't think he could get any colder; his Energon quickly slowed to a standstill.
"If that's really, truly the case, Lieutenant, then pray tell, why is he here?" Steeljaw demanded, pointing to Knockout, who was still in recharge. "I heard of him doing no such feat, and yet, he was so easily allowed to join you without a second thought. I, however, go out of my way and risk my life to help you take down the Council – a council overrun by fellow 'Cons, mind you, who were responsible for my release from prison – and save both planets. I did more than what was expected of me. So, I ask again..."
Fortunately, the rest of the trip only went uphill from there.
Moonracer and Starscream were able to get in contact with the Rescue Bots, and after jumping through some hoops, got them rolling to the rescue. They trudged through the blizzard for hours until they caught the missing mechs' life signatures and followed their scanners to the source. With help from the Rescue Bots, and the creatures that Blades and Boulder have now co-dubbed Polar Bear-Moles, Bumblebee, Knockout, and Steeljaw had a safe and surefire way to get home, along with all the Energon Steeljaw and the Polar Bear-Moles collected.
Once they reached the ship, the Rescue Bots loaded the Energon on-board while Moonracer and Starscream took care of Bumblebee and Knockout. Steeljaw stayed behind a little while longer, saying goodbye to the Polar Bear-Moles that he has grown quite fond of, and promised to visit them again soon.
They left the planet of Polaris as quickly as possible.
Everyone was once again warm and safe, and in some cases, healing, but one thing was still bothering Bumblebee. Something that Steeljaw asked him before.
Why?