Under the Bulins' expert handling, the Autobots were being methodically modified.
The Maximals weren't all that interested—they just wanted to live peacefully here.
The Siren girls, on the other hand, were laser-focused on figuring out how to patch together the Decepticons.
Setsuna took the opportunity to explore the surrounding area with the shipgirls, comparing this Earth's version to others they'd visited.
The world of the 1990s wasn't much different from what they expected, though thanks to the Eagle Union's early research on the AllSpark and Megatron, quite a bit of tech had been developed ahead of schedule.
Spaceflight, communication satellites, microchips—all more advanced than Earth's usual tech level in this era.
A few days passed quickly.
By the time Setsuna finished exploring half of the Americas and returned to base, Specialized Bulin brought him great news: the modifications were complete~
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, and several other Autobots were lined up neatly, lying flat on energon slabs.
"Hey, wake up and check out your new bodies."
Setsuna called out, but the Autobots didn't budge.
"Transformers sleep too? Do they dream of electric sheep?"
Gudako asked curiously.
"They're in sleep mode, buli!"
"During deep modification, they kept squirming and talking, so we put them in forced sleep mode, purin~"
Purple Bulin hopped up and down as she explained.
"Forced sleep? You shut them down?"
Gudako and Setsuna were even more puzzled.
"Nope! We used this to put them to sleep!"
Purple Bulin raised a giant wrench.
"..."
The shipgirls exchanged wary glances.
"Let's hope you didn't scramble their processors..."
Setsuna had the Bulins perform a quick diagnostic, and the Autobots slowly began to stir.
"Ugh..."
Bumblebee was the first to sit up, holding his head.
"I remember, during the upgrade, I was warning one of the little ones not to mess with my internal parts, then clang and everything went dark... What happened?"
He shook his head and looked at the adorably innocent Bulins.
So strange—these little ones seemed to understand his internal structure even better than Cybertronian engineers.
No—they regularly broke all standard procedures!
Whereas Cybertronian repair crews worked through careful, methodical steps,
The Bulins' methods were a chaotic black box.
During the upgrade, Wheeljack, who was overseeing the process, couldn't stop ranting:
"No! No! You can't remove that part like that!"
"You have to open the cooling module first, then—"
"Your tools are all wrong!!! Who uses a hammer to service precision components?!"
"Listen! My weapons module needs—"
Then:
"You're too noisy, buli!!! Bulin needs to focus!!"
CLANG!!
Bulin gently sent him into a baby-like slumber.
"Ugh..."
The other Autobots slowly woke up one after another, groggy and disoriented.
"Let's hope they didn't mess things up too badly. Their methods were completely unorthodox..."
Wheeljack was muttering until he noticed something—his body had undergone a dramatic transformation compared to a few days ago.
His armor had been replaced with a material that was both lighter and stronger.
There was an incredible sense of agility in every movement.
"That's nano-armor. Same kind used by Gundams. It's tougher than your original structure and has self-repair functions."
Setsuna explained.
"And you all now have anti-gravity units and thrusters. Give them a try."
"Oh?!"
Bumblebee turned to look and saw a backpack-like thruster installed behind him.
Shhh—!
Blue energy flared from the propulsion unit, and the Autobots began to float skyward under the thrust.
"Yooohooo~~~"
"This engine's got some kick, huh?! Bro?!"
Bumblebee suddenly accelerated, streaking across the sky like a yellow lightning bolt.
He flew a full patrol loop around the surrounding mountain range, his compact frame giving him missile-like maneuverability.
This was something Autobots could have never imagined before.
The Decepticons used to mock them constantly for lacking flight capabilities.
But now? Bumblebee felt like he could fly back to Cybertron if he had enough fuel.
Optimus Prime also gently lifted into the air, stepping on flames.
As their leader, he couldn't afford to make a fuss and was doing his best to suppress his inner shock.
"Your weapons have also been upgraded, purin. Replaced with super-graviton cannons and Klein Fields, buli."
Bulin waved up at them from the ground.
"You mean that thing that blasted Megatron off his feet?"
Optimus was a bit surprised. He looked at his arm cannon, now a much larger-caliber model.
Zzzzz—BOOM!!
After charging, a red beam streaked across the sky, carving a deep trench into a distant mountain.
"Mhm. Also, your targeting systems and scanners have been completely upgraded."
"You should be able to solo a whole squad of Decepticons now."
Setsuna nodded.
Transformers battles were all about strength, firepower, and defense.
And now, thanks to the Bulins' extreme modifications—
The Autobots had basically been converted into autonomous Gundams.
They were armed with the latest super-graviton cannons, energy shields, and even small-scale erosion missiles as finishing moves.
Their agility and power had both jumped to a whole new level.
"Wow, this is awesome~~"
Bumblebee zipped through the sky using his new thrusters, then used his exhaust trail to draw the Autobot insignia in the air.
He switched back to car form to check himself out.
Even as a Chevy, he could use anti-gravity.
The two exhaust pipes in the rear had been upgraded into powerful thrusters.
Vroooom... BOOM!!
"Whoaaa~!"
With an excited yell, the flying car vanished into the horizon.
Optimus' vehicle mode looked a little stranger.
Out of respect for the original design and historical faithfulness, the Bulins had preserved his truck form exactly as it was.
A massive, boxy semi-truck floating in the air looked a bit odd and out of place.
Fortunately, Optimus himself didn't seem to care.
He inspected his body, feeling the power surging from the advanced new systems.
Clenching his fist, he turned to Setsuna.
"Human, thank you."
"If you ever need anything, you can call on me. You are a friend to the Autobots."
"No problem."
Setsuna bumped fists with him in midair.
Just then—
THUD—THUD—THUD!
The forest shook with heavy footfalls.
Another towering steel giant had risen from the energon slab.
"Commander! I've finished repairing Megatron!"
Observer and Purifier waved at them.
"???"
Setsuna and Optimus both turned their heads sharply.
The steel giant stood up with a ka-chunk, stretching its limbs.
"I am... Megatron!! Give me the AllSpark—"
Megatron roared with power, only to be promptly kicked off-balance by the Sirens.
Despite their small size, Observer and Purifier were incredibly strong.
The kick to Megatron's foot almost toppled him.
"What do you mean 'Mega' what and 'Tron' what?"
"We're the ones who brought you back. Who do you think you're flexing on?"
"???"
Megatron blinked in confusion.
"Who are you?!"
Last he remembered, he was fighting Optimus for the AllSpark and then got one-shotted by some weird Gundam.
Now he had suddenly woken up alive.
"..."
Megatron was dazed. He couldn't piece together what had happened.
He looked around.
Decepticon wreckage still littered the ground.
The Autobots were floating nearby with slightly unfamiliar designs.
A human stood by, but Megatron didn't recognize Setsuna, who had killed him using the Turn A Gundam.
So he instinctively ignored him.
"!"
Upon seeing his old nemesis Optimus, Megatron let out a roar.
He figured the AllSpark had to be tied to the Autobots somehow.
"Optimus Prime!!!"
He was just about to launch himself forward—
WHACK!
Another kick from Observer sent him stumbling.
"Why are Decepticons always so violent? Should've wiped your memory and installed a new personality..."
"?!"
Megatron glared at the two Sirens, wanting to obliterate them on the spot.
But strangely, the moment the thought crossed his mind, it was instantly suppressed.
It was as if his mind instinctively recognized them as his creators—and he simply could not harm them.
"What did you do to me?!"
Megatron fell into confusion.
"Go on, shake hands with Optimus."
Observer pointed at Prime.
"Be a good citizen—I mean, a good Cybertronian."
"???"
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