So, lj user moya-koordinat drew this incredible picture (link in my profile) with a plot bunny on it. It bit HARD, so here it starts.
Title: Cataract
Series: River of Change
By: mmouse15
Pairings: None yet
Rating: PG-13 (it goes up in later chapters)
Warnings: cursing
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"Optimus, you're wanted."
"I am?"
"Yeah, on Teletraan."
"Thank you, Jazz, I'll be right there." With a heavy cycling of air, Optimus Prime unfolded from his meditative position to follow his first lieutenant back to the Quonset hut where their headquarters were temporarily housed. He spared a thought to thank Primus for Ratchet's skill in putting Jazz back together after Megatron had torn him into two pieces.
As they entered the building, Optimus was surprised to see Ratchet, Ironhide, Bumblebee and Sam around the console. He stepped forward and said, "Yes…Barricade?"
Barricade looked…scared, oddly enough. "Thank you for listening, Prime." Optimus was surprised. This deference was quite out of character for the shock trooper.
"Of course. How…excuse me. For you to call me, you must need something. What can we do to assist you?" Normally, this would open the doors for a rant about the weakness of Autobots, but this time, Barricade by-passed such exchanges and got to the point.
"Starscream has created a virus that destroys Cybertronian bodes. He had hoped to infect the Autobots with it, but he…had an accident."
Ratchet shouldered Optimus aside and began to rapping out questions. "How bad an accident? Who's been infected? How quickly does the virus work? Do you have any data on the virus? May I have a copy of the code?"
Barricade held up a clawed hand to stop the flow of questions. "The virus…is deadly and fast. It has extinguished the sparks of Starscream, Skorponok, Frenzy and Thundercracker. I've isolated myself, but I have access to Starscream's console on the Nemesis from here."
Ratchet lowered his head, then cycled a heavy breath of air through his vents. "Be specific, Barricade. Why did you call us?"
"This virus was released by accident and extinguished Starscream in two Earth days. Two days, Ratchet! This isn't warfare as I understand it, it's slaughter! I'm the only Decepticon left from the Nemesis. This weapon…it's too much. I need you to…" Here, Barricade seemed to choke. "I need you to warn everyone that this virus is deadly and warn away everyone from this planet. I will provide Starscream's notes, but I want…I want to live. I'll work with you. Whatever I can do to help, as long as you help me."
Ratchet looked at Optimus, who nodded. "And if we give you our word, will that be enough?"
"Yes. You and Prime…your honour was never in doubt."
"Then you have my word that if we come up with any cure or work-around for this virus, you will also benefit."
"Good enough. Here is the data you need." An open file of data started flowing into Teletraan. Ratchet quirked an optic ridge at the screen. "What, no encryption?"
"Waste of time and energy. This virus…" Barricade shuddered. Optimus and Ironhide exchanged looks of surprise. Barricade was well known for his ruthlessness. "In fact, I have a recording of Starscream. Would that be useful?"
"Yes, it could be." Barricade nodded and another larger file streamed to Teletraan.
Ratchet nodded. "Let me look at this. I'll get back to you tomorrow. Ratchet out."
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The next day…
"Optimus, it's bad. This virus eats away the systems from the inside and leaves the shell. It seems to prefer the spark chamber. Starscream's death was relatively quick but not painless."
"Options?"
"Starscream was one of our premier scientists and he's closed any loop-holes I can think of. The virus is tenacious. It specifically targets the spark energy. I need a way to by-pass that. I'm still working on it. When does Perceptor arrive?"
Optimus answered. "In two hours."
"I'll need his expertise. Are there any more arrivals due?"
"Yes, Wheeljack, Mirage, Prowl and the twins are too close to turn back."
"We need to update Barricade."
"I'll do that."
Optimus moved to another section and keyed in Barricade's call code.
"Prime. What news?"
"At this time, Ratchet is unable to come up with a by-pass or cure. He is continuing to work the problem."
"And your Autobot ship that is two planets away? Are you sending it back?"
"No. We can't. It's too badly damaged…Barricade, I…"
"No, Prime. I will not fire the weapons of the Nemesis at them. But you MUST quarantine this planet!"
Optimus sighed. "I know. I just…"
"…are unable to deny hope to anyone? One of your greatest strengths and yet a weakness at the same time."
"Perhaps."
Barricade nodded. "Frenzy came up with an idea before he extinguished. Do you want to hear it?"
"Anything at this time." Ratchet spoke up.
"Frenzy thought that if we could transfer ourselves into organic bodies, we could stop the virus."
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Months later…
"Status report, Ratchet."
"Prime, we have two bodies ready for transfer and two volunteers."
"Prowl."
"The Ark 19 is parked on the dark side of Earth's moon, sending out quarantine information. First alert beacons have been scattered throughout this planetary system, with a ring of secondary alert beacons in the…ah…asteroid belt."
"Ironhide."
"Stasis chambers have been constructed underground with my own security systems in place. The humans won't be able to get to our bodies without a lot of damage to them and their planet."
"Ironhide…"
"Be damned Prime. We may not harm humans, but they have no such compunctions. If they can get to our bodies and destroy them, they will. I'm simply making it so that if they play by the rules, so will we. But if they don't…"
"Prime, I must agree with Ironhide." Prowl added his support.
"I suppose Jazz helped, too?"
"Yup!" Cheerfully, Jazz agreed. "My special touches are there."
Optimus nodded. "All right. If all three of you are in agreement, let it be so. Barricade."
"The Nemesis has the bodies aboard, including the ones from the ocean and it is ready to head into the sun. The drones used to retrieve the bodies of the infected mechs were also infected and thus were left on board. This was costly in terms of resources, Prime."
"Yes, but this virus must be destroyed."
"Agreed. But if the bodies are on a ship, the ship is being sent into the sun, and there is no virus must we carry through with the body transfer?"
Ratchet spoke up. "We don't know that there is no virus."
"And are we testing that?"
Perceptor spoke up. "Yes, we are. A drone has been sent to Starscream's work area to clean up and transfer all experiments to the Nemesis. We're planning on doing a high-temperature burn in the area once it's down to bare walls just in case."
A beeping came from Teletraan. "Damn it!"
"Wheeljack?"
"That Primus forsaken virus is still active! The drone is reporting infection. It's almost to Nemesis; I'll need to keep it there. Another drone lost, damn it!" Wheeljack growled. He'd taken to Earth curse words better than anyone else.
A ripple of unease moved through the group. Optimus said "Well. That answers your concern, Barricade. We need to move forward with this attempt. Ratchet! When can we do this?"
"As soon as Barricade and Ironhide are ready, Prime."
Optimus looked at Ironhide. "You volunteered?"
"Yes. Let's just do this, Ratch."
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Two weeks later.
"Ratchet. Status report."
"Wheeljack first, sir." Ratchet nodded at a man.
"Optimus, sir. All drones have been infected but Starscream's work area is cleared. The burn appears to have succeeded, but…well, there's always the unknown factors. Nemesis will be completely destroyed in 1.5 hours."
"Thank you, Wheeljack. Ratchet?"
"Ironhide, Barricade, Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Mirage have been successfully transferred to engineered cybernetic bodies using only Earth materials. Ironhide and Barricade have successfully gone into Starscream's lab and have NOT been infected. Wheeljack, however, was infected in his Cybertronian form. We were able to freeze his body, thus stopping the virus, and transfer his…essence into a cybernetic construct. His body is in stasis and the virus appears dormant. It stopped attacking his body once his spark left to go into the cyborg. This is a confirmation of our hypothesis that spark energy is what the virus attacks. My recommendation is to transfer all known data to all open channels on Cybertron and transfer the remaining mechs to cybernetic bodies. This virus…we don't know where it is or how it's hiding, but it's still out there."
Optimus nodded. "Alright, Ratchet. Let's just do this. What order do you wish to transfer us?"
"Perceptor and I have the experience doing the transfers. He and I will be last. I'm going to do you, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Prowl, Perceptor and finally myself. Prowl will enable the security measures, I will finalize them. We'll need to make sure the stasis chambers are secure and set for a very long time, just in case."
"Alright. Let's do it."
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A/N The idea of having a 'human' body with the essence or spark in it while the mech body is somewhere else comes from coaxialcreature's Lesser of Two Evils universe. But Dex used humans and I was searching for a way to get them into cybernetic bodies. The idea of a virus is from sakon76's wonderful story Imprint.