Tracking Trouble

By Sapphire

Part 2

Bumblebee had climbed up to the second floor exactly above the position where Jazz and the two Decepticons were located. As he had suspected before, the floor was somewhat unstable and there would be little effort required to break the material.

Bumblebee was scared. He would be lying to himself if he denied it. But he had come to the decision that he would do what he planned to do and there was no going back on this, even if the probability that he'd get out of it in one piece was extremely low. Besides, going back to the Academy knowing that he had left a fellow Autobot behind to die at the hands of the Decepticons was something he wouldn't be able to bear.

Knowing that waiting any longer wouldn't change anything he planted his feet firmly on the ground, his weapons pointing downwards. His sensors seemed to tingle, feeling sharper than ever before in his life. With a flick of his head, his battle mask fell into place.

"Sir, please fire NOW!" he sent, setting off his own weapons at the same moment.

Below, he heard the discharge of a plasma pulse canon. If Bumblebee's calculation was right, Jazz's fire would destroy at least one of the damaged columns that held up the fabrication hall's ceiling. The damaged arm had pointed directly at it and since Jazz wasn't able to take aim, he had to take what option he had.

The ground started to tremble and within a few astro seconds it collapsed into the room below taking Bumblebee with it. The Autobot, having expecting it, managed to stay on his own two feet, as stone, concrete and metal crashed down.

The tons of stone fell directly onto one of the two Decepticons, burying him underneath. Bumblebee's own weight only added to it and he noted with satisfaction that the other had taken some serious damage, maybe was even dead.

The smaller mechanoid didn't wait for the second Decepticon's reaction. He turned his weapons and started to fire on the 'con who was looking up from where he had pinned down Jazz. He seemed to have some problems to quickly analyze the situation.

Bumblebee was pressing on his momentary advantage and kept on firing in rapid session while he climbed off the pile of rubble he had landed on. The smaller Autobot noticed that even though every single shot hit its mark, the Decepticon didn't seem to take any damage. The shots deflected off the armor, leaving scratches and scorch marks behind, but were not able to penetrate it. He narrowed the target area, concentrating now on the region between head and shoulders hoping that he would be able to cause some damage there, but he knew there wouldn't be much more time.

Finally, the Decepticon had caught on what was happening. He lifted his arm to protect the area Bumblebee was firing at, while his other arm came around. With a high pitched noise he charged his canon. He lifted his foot off Jazz's chest, glowering at the small, yellow Autobot.

"What is this? Handsome here has a little friend? I will enjoy killing you too."

Bumblebee didn't wait for the discharge. He stopped his own barrage and leapt to the side, away from where the 'con was aiming for. The blast missed him by mere inches.

Moving as fast as he could, he dodged three more blasts.

"Stand still, you rat!"

Yeah, right, Bumblebee thought, so you can hit me better. I don't think so.

He ducked behind one of the columns, but the Decepticon, taking a leaf out of Bumblebee's book, shoot the column up, so that the ceiling above started to come down onto the small Autobot.

Bumblebee reacted quickly and got out of the way just in time, but his next move brought him into the path of another canon blast, which nicked his left shoulder. Pain surged down his sensor network, but he ignored it – had to ignore it.

Transforming in mid leap he landed on his wheels and gunned his engine. Even though he was more maneuverable in his bi-pedal form, he was way faster in vehicle mode. And now that the Decepticon had released Jazz, Bumblebee's best strategy was to draw the 'con away, giving him a chase hopefully long enough for somebody to notice that something was very wrong in this part of the city and would come to his help.

He flashed his lights and reared his engine, baiting the Decepticon on.

The Decepticon responded by switching his weapons from accelerated particle canon to a shoulder mounted rocket launcher. Unless he had heat seeking missiles in his arsenal, Bumblebee actually thought that he had a better chance now. Chemical propelled weapons were after all slower than light particles.

Of course, he wasn't so lucky.

A swarm of mini rockets left the launcher and accelerated after the smaller Autobot. Bumblebee skirted out of the way, but the rockets kept on following. They quickly gained ground, and Bumblebee realized that he was in serious trouble now.

As quickly as he dared, he zigzagged around the columns, cutting the corners sharply. Two of the missiles didn't make the cut and exploded against one of the columns he had just dodged, but the others kept on him like glue.

He took another sharp turn, sped up and headed to the left side of the Decepticon where a long stretch of free ground would hopefully allow for top speed. The larger robot, seeing Bumblebee heading for him, stepped sideways, obviously with the intention to cut off Bee's route. He had switched back to the particle canon in his right arm and fired in rapid session at the yellow vehicle coming closer by the astro second.

Bumblebee had reached full speed by now, which meant that he was just out-running the rockets still chasing him. The down side of this was that his maneuverability was now severely limited. Not being able to avoid them, he took two blasts straight in his front spoiler. Luckily for him, this was one of the better armored parts of his body and even though said armor got badly damaged and bent, and it hurt like hell, nothing got through to any vital part.

With a reckless move, which would have garnered a stern admonition from his instructors – and some admiration from his year mates – he pulled a ninety degree turn while transforming at the same time back to bi-pedal mode. Tweel, who had shown him quite a few tricks where transformation was concerned, would be so proud if he would see him right now.

Moving quickly he rolled past the Decepticon and managed to put him between himself and the approaching missiles before the 'con knew what was going on.

His ignorance didn't last long. The remaining three missiles exploded against the larger mechanoid's armor. Though built to withstand far more abuse than Bumblebee would ever be able to take, three of his own missiles were more than even he could just easily brush off. He was knocked off his feet and shoved several yards across the floor.

With an infuriated roar the Decepticon leapt back to his feet. Any thought of the mortally wounded Jazz on the ground nearby were obviously forgotten. All he now cared about was bringing destruction to one particular small, yellow Autobot.

Said small, yellow Autobot however saw it prudent not to hang around to see what the much larger Decepticon was planning to do next. Bumblebee had once again turned back into vehicle mode and was high-tailing out of the Decepticon's immediate vicinity.

Thumping foot falls followed him as Bumblebee drove through the door of the fabrication hall. The light outside greeted him brightly. Unless the alternate mode of the Decepticon was something much faster than himself, he would actually stand a chance to get away relatively unscathed. Not that he wanted that. Okay, maybe he wanted it, but he knew that he couldn't risk it. He had to prevent the Decepticon from going back into the hall and finishing off Jazz. If that meant that Bee would have to give him a merry chase, so be it.

He checked his rear sensors only to find that the Decepticon had suddenly disappeared. For a second Bee thought that the other robot had returned back into the hall, but then he heard the whupp-whupp-whupp of long blades cutting through the air above and he knew that the Decepticon had also turned into his alternate mode. And this mode was definitely faster than his.

Missiles exploded around Bumblebee and he swerved left and right trying to avoid them.

Eventually, there was a time when even Bumblebee's luck ran out. Zigging right when he should have zagged left, a missile exploded at his flank. He was blown off his wheels and thrown onto his side.

With a triumphant laugh the Decepticon transformed back into his normal mode, landing next to Bumblebee, ready to finish him off for good. Bumblebee transformed as well, knowing that his vehicle mode wouldn't do him any good now. He didn't stand much of a chance either way, but he was determined not to go down without a fight.

Before he however could get his weapons to bear, the larger robot grabbed for his arm and pulled him off the ground. Shaking him like an insignificant little toy, he tossed him against the side of a nearby building, where Bumblebee crumpled to the ground.

Multiple systems vied for Bumblebee's attentions with messages of severe damage to various parts of his anatomy. Pain flared up again, this time impossible to ignore. It almost overwhelmed Bumblebee, but some small part of him knew that if he didn't do something – anything – right now, he would be dead for sure. And Jazz would also be dead and it would be his fault. The logic of this chain of reasoning might be flawed, but it was very real for Bumblebee right at this moment and it gave him the strength to pull himself back up onto his feet.

The Decepticon watched with uncaring red optics as Bumblebee staggered forward, his step unsteady, barely able to remain standing.

"Not giving up, are you?" he said coldly.

Straightening his stance, Bumblebee looked up, feeling unexpectedly no fear. He knew he would be dead soon, and in face of that fact, all dread had left him.

"No, I'm not giving up." He shook his head, lifting his weapons arm once again. Even at this close a range, it wasn't very likely he would be able to cause much damage to the larger and much more heavily armed Decepticon. Still, he had to try.

The Decepticon narrowed his optics. "I will never understand you Autobots. You are fools."

"We may be fools, but at least we have honor," Bumblebee replied defiantly.

"Your so called honor will be your death and the death of your friend back there. There's no escape for you."

In reply, Bumblebee fired at point blank range. He got one shot off before the larger robot intervened by reaching down and grabbing his arm again just at the elbow joint making it impossible for Bumblebee to use his weapon.

"You are so dead," the Decepticon pronounced, charging his particle canon with an angry sound.

For a moment, Bumblebee thought he heard another noise in the distance, maybe somebody calling his name, but then the Decepticon fired his weapon and Bumblebee stopped hearing anything at all.

---

"Just let me have look, Ratchet, please. As soon as I know the kid is going to be okay, I'll be a good little patient."

"You don't know how to be a good little patient, and you're not going to move an inch before I've made sure that you can't tear anything else."

Bumblebee allowed the distant argument to wash over him as he slowly brought back one system after another – or at least tried to. More than half of his sensor arrays were either not there or blocked somehow, and most of his sub-systems didn't respond at all. Strangely enough this didn't disturb him particularly; there was just some kind of quiet acceptance, as if some internal sub-routine was telling him that there was no need to panic and that everything would be fine. There was no pain either, for which he was grateful.

He had no memory of getting here, though at least he had a good idea where he was. This had to be the Academy repair bay. He had never been here before, but the tools and machines arranged around his body were a pretty good indicator.

He was a little bit surprised that he was still alive. The Decepticon had him at point blank – there was no way he could have missed him. And from the damage he had taken he had in fact not missed. But obviously he had failed to destroy his spark and the only explanation for that was that the other Autobots, possible alerted by the noise of their battle, had arrived just in time to save him. He would need to thank them later.

The argument had gone on in the background and finally he was able to identify one of the two voices as Jazz's. This meant that somehow Optimus Prime's first lieutenant had made it out of the fabrication hall alive. Bumblebee smiled internally. If this was the case then everything he had done or tried to do had not been in vain. As he obviously was still alive as well, though apparently severely damaged, everything was all right.

"All right, I give up," came finally the conclusion of the argument, and Bumblebee could sense movement in the adjoining room. "You can see him, for a cycle, no more, though I don't know what you hope to achieve by this. He'll be offline for quite a while to come."

The doorway to his room darkened by two large shapes and Bumblebee turned his head to see Jazz enter supported by a larger Autobot, whom Bumblebee assumed to be Ratchet. Bumblebee had heard of the medical officer as Ratchet was part of the team around Optimus Prime – which was probably the reason that he was here now, to take care of Jazz.

Jazz looked good all things considered. He was missing his right arm and there was severe damage to his torso and other arm, but at least he was moving pretty much under his own power. He looked to be in high spirits and he smiled when he noticed Bumblebee looking at him.

"Heya, kid, how're you doing? Doc said you'd been offline, but looks like Ratchet here doesn't know everything after all."

Bumblebee wanted to answer that he was doing fine, but his voice processor didn't respond to his commands. Next he tried his other communication units but they also failed to work, even digital, and so all he could do was to shutter his optics once.

For an astro second Jazz's smile faltered, but then it returned in full force. Guided by Ratchet he knelt down next to Bumblebee berth.

"Don't worry, kid, Ratchet here will put you back together as good as new. He's the best there is. That is if you manage to stay on his good side."

The larger Autobot harrumphed, but didn't comment on the friendly jab.

"Listen, I just want to get that out before Ratchet starts taking you apart. When this is over and you're back on your own two legs, and you're done with the Academy, look me up. I could use a 'bot like you on my team. You might have a little problem with following orders – when I said to get out of there I did mean it – but I think for once I can allow to let this slip. You did well, kid."

Even if Bumblebee had been able to communicate right now, he had no idea what he should reply to that offer. So he shuttered his eyes again, trying to let the other Autobot know how proud it made him feel.

Jazz seemed to get the message anyway. He placed his remaining hand on Bumblebee's shoulder. "Thanks for saving my life," he said softly.

"Okay," Ratchet interjected, breaking the moment, "that's enough. You now go back to your own berth for recharge, and you, Bumblebee, you better also go offline. There's a lot to do, and it won't get done with you two jabbering away like this."

Reaching up, he did some adjustments to Bumblebee's berth controls. And after that, Bumblebee wasn't aware of anything for a very long time.

The end

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