Jazz continued to drum his fingers against the console much to Prowl's annoyance.

"Something bothering you Jazz?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"You seem distracted."

"Nah, just bored. Sunny was supposed to check in a little while ago and I'm just waiting for the ping."

Prowl paused. "They missed their check in?"

"By just two minutes. If I don't hear from them in another two I'll give em a ring."

"Knowing Sideswipe, he probably got distracted."

"Usually, I'd say you're spot on but Sunny's managing the com helm today. I think he's still mad at me for makin' them wait this mornin'."

"Well if you weren't a chronic procrastinator perhaps you would have more of my sympathy," Prowl remarked flatly.

"Hey. I'll have ya know that according to some human studies, procrastination is healthy." Jazz crossed his arms, leaned back in the chair and pouted.

"Oh, really?"

"Yup. It just means I naturally thrive in an atmosphere of drama and urgency. And it's not like it's all the time. Think of it as extra recharge time."

"Doing things at the eleventh hour is not always smart, Jazz."

"Ah, whatever. We could talk about this all day but it won't make no difference." Jazz sighed and poked at the com again. "Really though, what are those two doin'?"

"It's possible that they finally met up with Mirage and are going over the data he collected."

"Ya really think they'd care enough to do that?" Jazz asked skeptically.

Prowl thought about it. "In hindsight I realize that was a foolish statement."

Jazz laughed. "More than likely Sunny fell asleep. I'd think they'd at least let me know if there was any sign of Mirage."

"Why? Did you need me for something?"

"Just to collect the plans detailing that mine before-" Jazz stopped midsentence and did a spit take.

Prowl whirled around so fast his door wings scraped the wall.

Standing bemused at the door was Mirage. The regal mech looked about as confused as the two officers felt.

"Mirage!" Jazz exclaimed in surprise. "What're ya doin' back here? I thought ya wanted to meet at the desert! Man, I've had Sunny and Sides out there for the last hour. They are not gonna be too happy 'bout this."

Mirage blinked an excruciatingly slow blink. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you have the data on that energon mine?" Prowl queried.

Mirage turned his attention to Prowl looking more puzzled by the second. "What?"

"The mine," Prowl elaborated.

Mirage stared at him uncomprehendingly.

'This does not bode well', was the thought that briefly crossed Prowl's mind.

Jazz too was starting to get worried. "Mirage, where've ya been?"

"I've been in California. I was picking up a delivery of rare Earth metals for Wheeljack since Slingshot couldn't be bothered to do it. How is it that I always get stuck with other mechs grunt work? Really, it is absolutely beyond me."

"Wait." Prowl pinched his brow between thumb and forefinger as he collected his thought. He dropped his hand and motioned at Mirage. "Wait. At approximately 0400 hours we received a message from you, requesting Jazz and I to collect intel you collected before you went back into the field."

"Nooo," Mirage started slowly. "At 0400 hours I sent you a message saying I was on route back to base and I would be a couple of hours. I wasn't doing recon."

The three mechs stood in the heavy silence.

"Prowl," Jazz finally managed, keeping a tenuous hold on the growing worry he was feeling. "That message we received must've been corrupted. I think we fell for a Decepticon plant."

Prowl's optics hardened. "Jazz. We let the twins walk into a trap."

Not a beat was spared.

Jazz nearly tripped over his own feet as he flew back to the main com. In a flurry of activity he began to hail the brothers.

"Autobot S774 one or Autobot S774 two, this is the ARK. Do you read me?" Jazz requested.

There was no response.

"Mirage. Get me Blaster, and Prime. We may have an emergency on our hands," Prowl ordered calmly.

"Yes, Sir." And with that Mirage took off in search of the aforementioned mechs.

"S774-001, this is the ARK. You've missed you're check in. Please respond," Jazz tried once more.

Still radio silence.

He kept his optics on the com as he addressed Prowl, "They're bein' blocked. I can't get a signal."

"Do we have their coordinates?"

Jazz checked the original message received from who they had thought was Mirage. However when he pulled the request up the file was corrupted and unreadable.

"Nope. No we definitely do not. However I know they were headed for the High Desert."

"That's a 30,000 square mile wide area. Can we narrow it down?"

"They were last an hour's drive from our current position. They should be in the North western area."

"Keep hailing them."

Suddenly Blaster was there and he was vaulting himself toward the Com-line. Optimus Prime was barreling into the room as well.

"Hey, Blaster. The radios are being blocked. Help me force a signal through. There's gotta be a frequency not being blocked," Jazz requested, voice a steely calm.

He did work well under pressure.

"Right-O. Soundwave the culprit today or is it just Casseticon interference?" Blaster asked as he jacked himself into the system.

"Not sure. Casseticons don't usually give me this much trouble so I'm thinkin' the big gun has a handle on this one."

"Prowl. What has happened?" Optimus asked with concern.

"The Decepticons left a false message for us and lead us to believe that Mirage was requesting a meet up for a data exchange," Prowl explained, the epitome of professionalism. "We have since then learned that was not the case, but we had already sent Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in the field. We have not been able to get a hold of them."

Optimus Prime's optics flashed grimly. He walked to Teletraan where Jazz and Blaster were frantically attempting to either jam whatever was jamming the twin's radio, or to force a signal of their own through. He pressed a button and activated the ark PA system.

"Autobot's, this Optimus Prime. We may have an emergency situation. I want Skyfire, Ratchet, Inferno and Skydive ready on standby for departure. Wait for coordinates and my signal. Act with haste."

He ended the hail. Other then the sounds of Blaster and Jazz typing furiously the room went quiet.

The next five minutes were excruciating as attempt after attempt failed to get through.

Ping

"Whoa, what was that?" Blaster paused. "I think I heard something. Go back to that last frequency."

The two Autobots worked in tandem before locking on the previous frequency.

"Magnifying the signal. Attempting to establish connection," Jazz noted before executing the coded command.

For a moment there was only white noise. But then there was a voice.

'Autobot Sunstreaker to the Ark. Autobot Sunstreaker to the Ark. Ark do you read me?'

Everyone almost sighed in relief. Prowl should've known that the twin brothers could handle anything thrown their way, but radio silence was never something to be taken likely.

"Hey, Sunny. This is Jazz. What's the prob? We've been kinda worried since we couldn't reach ya and you missed your last check in by-"

"Requesting back up."

Ok, Prowl thought. Maybe their situation was worse than previously thought.

"Coordinates are 42.5237° N, 118.4587° W. Send a unit with a medic now."

Optimus gently pushed past Jazz toward the main com on Teletraan.

"Sunstreaker," their leader started evenly, "this is Optimus Prime. What is your situation?"

There was a pause filled with the distant sound of an explosion and a pained grunt.

"Sunstreaker?" Optimus queried again with concern.

"Sorry. We're two to one but still at a severe tactical disadvantage."

What? That did not compute to Prowl. Save for Megatron and a select few others, there were no Decepticons that came to mind that could overpower both the twins in combat. Especially not without back up.

"Is the enemy a seeker? Are you fighting Megatron?" Optimus asked, his mind taking a similar train of thought.

"Negative, Sir," Sunstreaker reported. "The enemy is Six Shot."

Everyone's energon ran cold. Six Shot was large, powerful and one of Megatron's most destructive generals. Not even Sunstreaker and Sideswipe could stand up to such a force on their own.

"Sunstreaker, disengage," Optimus immediately ordered.

"Negative. Unable to disengage the enemy. Requesting backup."

"That was not a suggestion!" Prime's voice was taking a tone of urgency. "That was an order! You and Sideswipe need to disengage."

"I understand, Sir, but we are unable to disengage. Under heavy fire. Sideswipe is out of commission but alive."

The implication was left hanging in the air.

Another explosion sounded in the distance over the line. Everyone tensed.

"Prime," Sunstreaker's voice came back much to everyone's relief. It was short lived when they heard the slight crack in Sunstreaker's voice.

" I'm… I'm by myself."

"Sunstreaker. Get out of range. Get Sideswipe to safety," Optimus commanded with force.

"Unable. We need backup. I'll stall him."

"Sunstreaker…"

"Engaging one on one with the enemy."

"Do not engage! This is an order, DO NOT ENGAGE!" Optimus roared in frustration.

"Prime. I can't leave Sideswipe with that thing."

The line went dead.

Optimus Prime hit the PA button so hard he nearly dented the little mechanism into the wall.

"We have a level one emergency. I want all medics, in addition to Bluestreak, and Brawn ready to depart! Coordinates are 42.5237° N, 118.4587° W. Be prepared to leave immediately!" He bellowed. Afterwards, he turned to Prowl.

"Prowl, you're with me. Jazz, stay on the com. We'll need you and Blaster to maintain an open radio. Do not let the signals be jammed again. Understand me?"

"Yes, Prime," Jazz answered dourly.

And with that Optimus was moving with haste. Prowl almost had to run to keep up with his large commander.

"Optimus, I understand that the rumors of Six Shot are rather grim but do we really need so many for just one mech?" He asked quietly.

"If it truly is Six Shot then this is a confrontation that must be nipped in the bud," Optimus growled. "I have seen this mech. He was responsible for the destruction of Pax Amora and the deaths of several Autobots. If we have an opportunity to remove this threat with little interference from the Decepticons we need to take it now. We need to get Sunstreaker and Sideswipe aid as quickly as possible."

Prowl said nothing further and simply took longer strides to keep up with his commander.

0000000000000

The trip to the coordinates took Skyfire only about ten minutes but it felt like an eternity to Prowl. Every few minutes he would check back with Jazz to see if the Special Ops had made any more contact with the Lamborghini brothers. He hadn't.

Eventually they reached their intended location, the only heads up being an, "Oh Primus." From Skyfire as the shuttle touched down.

"What in the fracking hell?" Skydive's unnaturally horrified sounding voice flitted through the com line. He had flown along side of Skyfire and also probably was getting to survey the battle field first hand.

The Bots exited the Flyer and were promptly gob smacked by terrain.

It was a nightmare.

The ground was broken and scorched. There were deep pock marks and shrapnel from heavy shelling. There were craters and fires and just so much destruction. Smoke and dust was still curling on the desert wind.

Wheeljack was the first to comment, "I'm not sure what was used but the radiation levels in this area are off the charts, Prime."

"I'm not seeing the twins or Six Shot sir," Skyfire reported quietly. "I didn't see them from the sky either."

"Do you think they could've been taken prisoner?" Bluestreak asked quietly. The gunner looked seriously disturbed by the sight and Prowl could only imagine the bad memories the devastation must've been triggering in his mind.

Prime said nothing.

Instead from subspace he pulled out a massive silver, cybertanium axe.

"Autobots, spread out and look for Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Keep your guard up. If you run into Six Shot do not engage. He has ground, air, beast and heavy artillery forms. Send a distress signal and wait for aid. This is an order."

The bots nodded. Skyfire and Slingshot took back to the sky. Each was heading toward a smoldering crater. There were quite a few to choose from.

Prowl didn't even know where to begin. There were no signs of the twins' signals but then again none of the Autobot's signals were easily felt. Something was still jamming the area and the radiation was interfering with their systems on top of that.

The Autobots already began to spread out so he simply choose a direction no one else was heading toward and drove.

And so he drove for what felt like another eternity.

A shard of light reflecting off the desert sand caught his attention. He went to investigate and came upon a piece of crumpled red. He transformed and paused to closer examine the mangled metal.

It was the remains of Sideswipe arm guard.

He looked ahead. In the distance barely on the horizon in the direction of the highway he could see a plume of smoke rising into the sky.

He really hoped he wasn't on the right path, though logic was telling him he was.

"Ratchet," he hailed the com. "I think I may have found something. Head my way."

"Fine. You'd better be right," was the curt response. The medic had been on edge the entire trip and had seemed ready to snap. Prowl was sympathetic and didn't read much into the lack of respect shown.

The plume of smoke was getting closer. He could now see it must've at one point been a building. Probably a diner or truck spot at one point. It now looked to be a smoldering pile of rubble.

He could hear a jukebox still playing.

"Don't be like the one who made me so old
Don't be like the one who left behind his name
'Cause they're waiting for you like I waited for mine
And nobody ever came..."

He transformed and approached the broken structure with caution, and his gun raised. He needed to be thorough but could not afford to spare more time than necessary. Time was of the essence.

He carefully made his way through the rubble and devastation. The smoke was thick and it was hard to see. Despite his best efforts at stealth glass and scorched wood would snap and crackle under every step.

He about gave up on searching through the wreckage when suddenly he saw something.

He dropped his gun.

It was something that he had imagined on occasion however it was never something he thought he'd actually see. And it was vastly more horrific than anything he ever could have come up with.

He found the twins.

The damage was absolutely devastating.

There was a hole in Sunstreaker's back. The charred lip of the wound still glowed, and crackled with heat.

No, not a hole. A chasm. A black chasm that had hollowed out the warrior's torso. There was nothing. No spark, no delicate internals, no wires, nothing. It was empty space until the inside of his chest plate. Even that was burned but had remained intact. Sunstreaker's usually nigh indestructible dense polymer armor was still smoldering and red hot.

"Sweet, Primus," Prowl reeled back in horror as his own assessment sunk in.

No spark.

Sunstreaker was dead.

And there was Sideswipe. His leg was twisted grotesquely. His helmet was cracked nearly in half. His armor ashy, and broken. He was bleeding. Primus he was bleeding so much.

But then he noticed some things he hadn't. Tiny yet monumentally significant things.

He noticed the dim, flickering glow behind Sideswipe's dust covered optics. He noticed the fact that the energon pooling from the warrior's wounds was still charged and electric blue instead of dark and expended. He noticed that even though the warrior's armor was ashen and almost colorless the faintest hint of a sun bleached red hue remained.

"Oh, Primus. Sideswipe, you're alive," he was honestly in shock. "Primus, you're alive."

He was not prepared for this.

Prowl scrambled closer to them and dropped to his knees. He raised a (not shaking. It couldn't have been shaking) hand and reached to touch Sideswipe's shoulder. Gently he applied pressure. "Sideswipe. Sideswipe, Can you hear me?"

No response.

Prowl hailed the com.

"Ratchet. I've found them. Get here now. Sideswipe's badly hurt."

"What's wrong? Can you give me specifics?"

"The worst I can see is done to his leg, and cranium but the overall damage is extensive. He needs help now."

A brief pause. Then, "Keep him calm. I'm close to your position and I'll be there before you can blink."

The line went quiet.

Prowl stared at the young warrior.

Keep him calm? Was he even awake? Prowl certainly hoped not. The pain was probably unbearable. Sideswipe looked barely alive.

A better condition than his brother though.

"Sideswipe," Prowl whispered, cleared his throat and tried again. "Sideswipe," he said a bit firmer.

No response. He wasn't expecting one.

"It is going to be-" he stopped himself before he could say 'okay'. It didn't matter how dire the situation was. He wasn't a liar. "Ratchet is going to be here soon. If you hold on he can probably fix you. You're strong Sideswipe. You have it in you to hold on."

Prowl wanted to smack himself. He sounded god-awful. He was terrible at this comforting business. Primus, where was Ratchet?

"Please hold on. You are a good soldier. We still need you. Do not let the Decepticon's win. You can still come out on top. You can settle the score but you have to hold on for Ratchet. He's going to be here soon."

Where was Ratchet?

The sounds of tires screeching slowing encroached past the sounds of crackling glass and burning wood. He heard the medic transform and start to slog through the wreckage to reach their position with as much haste as he could manage.

"Prowl! Has his condition chan-"

Prowl turned just in time to see Ratchet look blindsided. His expression upon seeing Sideswipe was total shock but something else had caught the Doctor's optics that made him completely blank out reality.

And Prowl realized then he made a mistake. An uncharacteristically massive mistake.

He forgot to mention Sunstreaker.

"Sunstreaker," Ratchet wheezed. "He's- you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry. Sideswipe was-"

"Never mind," Ratchet grit out bitterly. "We'll have time to let this slam us upside the head later when we can drown ourselves in high grade. Priority is Sideswipe."

To most Ratchet at that moment probably sounded despicably callous. Prowl recognized it for what it really was though: strength and a type of professionalism that had saved countless lives.

Ratchet quickly picked over the ruble and made it to Prowl's side. Prowl was so zoned in on the mass of devastation that was the Lamborghini twins that he didn't realize Ratchet had been speaking to him again until the good doctor snatched both sides of his helmet.

"PROWL!" Ratchet roared as he reeled him in. They locked optics. "FOCUS! Focus on the living!"

The medic's voice was hoarse and his voice cracked ever so slightly when he spoke that last word.

Prowl nodded. He needed to get professional too. Ratchet was right. Emotions could come later. He shook off the temporary shock and began acting like the second command of the Autobot army.

Prowl let out a strangled grunt as he tried to pry Sunstreaker's body off of Sideswipe.

It eventually took their combined efforts to drag the lifeless shell off of his brother. Their armor scraped and crumbled as the two broke apart. Sunstreaker had taken the brunt of whatever had done this but his smoldering chest plate had still severely burned and tenuously fused to Sideswipe's.

Ratchet dropped straight to Sideswipe's side and he surveyed the damage with his brand of crude yet professional finesse.

"Crap. Crap, crap damn it to mother fricken hell crap! He has a cerebral bleed, lacerations of the arms torso, legs, and, oh Vector Sigma, his whole damn body is a wound."

"Can you fix him?" Prowl almost hesitated to ask.

"I don't know," Ratchet answered truthfully. "I don't know but I definitely can't do it here. We need to move him."

Ratchet's hand's ghosted over Sideswipe's broken helm before he accessed his own com. "Wheeljack, I need you and Perceptor on standby. Head our way as fast as you can. We have severely wounded."

'Gotcha! We'll get Skyfire to give us a lift.' Wheeljack answered back.

Ratchet turned back to Prowl. "Grab an arm."

The both grabbed limb.

"Ready. Heave!"

The two hefted the warrior up best they could, cringing as loose parts broke away from Sideswipe's body. They settled so each had one of Sideswipe's arms slung over their shoulders. It was awkward, and Sideswipe was much taller than them but they could manage.

They had to.

"We need to get away from this wreckage."

"Ratchet. He's bleeding a lot."

"I know, just keep going."

So the two dragged him as quickly as they could across the field. Everything felt eerily quiet. The smoldering building in the background was barely white noise. The sounds of their legs pistons working overtime, the scrape of Sideswipe's knees as they dragged across the ground and the horrendous trickling of fluids from Sideswipe's wounds blasted in their audios.

"This should not have happened," Prowl tried rationalizing. "It was not supposed to be them. It would've been Jazz and me. We never should have believed that plant."

"If it were you and Jazz I guarantee we wouldn't be picking survivors out of the dirt, Prowl. Sideswipe's too stupid to die."

"We believed bad information. We believed a plant. If he dies it'll be on me. Sunstreaker's already-"

"You didn't do this, Prowl!" Ratchet snarled at the tactician never letting up his pace. "If he dies it's not on you! It's on the Decepticons! We can't save Sunstreaker but I'll be damned if I let Sideswipe go without a fight! So, please just focus on the task at hand. I can't be doing this with you now!"

They continued the trek in silence.

Until there was a sickening rattle and Sideswipe's left leg all but disintegrated below the knee. His shin and foot broke away from the rest of his leg. New fluids splashed onto the ground as wires and tubes still attached spilled from his knee after the missing pieces.

The grisly limb dragged noisily behind them before both stopped in a panic.

"Ratchet?"

"Hold him up."

With one clean stroke of the laser scalpel Ratchet disconnected the remaining connecting wires effectively severing the pieces from what remained of Sideswipe's leg.

"Let's go."

They dragged him farther out. The sound of thrusters took the place of the silence and they could see Skyfire.

"Stop, stop, stop," Ratchet tripped to a stop, forcing Prowl to hold up as well. "Help me set him down here."

They lowered the mech to the ground and softly as they could. A new puddle of energon was slowly beginning to pool under Sideswipe. "I need to stabilize him."

Skyfire touched down. Perceptor and Wheeljack got off the shuttle and were dashing for Ratchet. But when they caught sight of the mangled warrior both recoiled in horror.

"Primus almighty!" Wheeljack screeched in horror.

"Quick gawking and start being useful! We need to stabilize him now!" Ratchet snarled.

They nodded and dropped next to the injured. With that the medics furiously started their work and Prowl could only stand back and watch helplessly.

Skyfire transformed and stared at the broken soldier. Absolute devastation was on his face. He made to reach toward Sideswipe but instead his fingers curled back into a fist and he dropped his arms.

They were friends weren't they? Prowl realized. Sideswipe did dig the shuttle out of the ice a few years back so it was logical in a way that the two would spend time together but he never expected to see Skyfire look so broken.

Sideswipe had a way with people. Better then Sun-

Prowl severed that thought.

Skyfire eventually looked away from Sideswipe and instead made for Prowl.

"Good work, Skyfire. Your haste in this situation may have been the thing that saves Sideswipe's life today," Prowl told the shuttle, though his focus was still on Sideswipe. His voice was cold, masking everything else he was feeling.

Slowly more vehicles approached in the distance. The rest of the Autobot team and Prime were slowly closing in on their position.

"Where's Sunstreaker?" Skyfire asked, voice shaking.

Prowl's optics snapped up toward the Shuttle. He didn't answer. He looked back toward the rubble in the distance.

Skyfire followed his gaze. His optics widened and he looked once more at Prowl as if for confirmation of something awful.

Prowl's silence was all the verification he needed. Skyfire was a smart mech. It didn't take much for him to figure out what was missing from the picture.

Skyfire turned back to the rubble in the distance. He took a few steps and then suddenly the massive mech look set to run for the wreckage but Prowl blocked his path.

"No, Skyfire," he said quietly, gently. "We will have to do that at a future time. Sideswipe is going to need transport the second Ratchet deems him fit for travel and you must be here."

Skyfire nodded numbly and simply dropped to the ground in a sit. He brought his knees to his chest, crossed his arms around his legs and watched the medical work being done on his friend.

Even sitting he was as tall as Prowl.

A loud curse from Ratchet snapped Prowl's attention from the momentary distraction back to the medical team.

"Stop the bleeding," Ratchet ordered. "He'll be exsanguinated before we can save him. We have to stop as much of the bleeding as we can."

"Ratchet, the major components in his legs are decimated. Oh what, am I saying? His leg is gone! Ratch', we can't fix this on the field! He's-"

"-Not stable yet! Shut up and stop that from sparking!" Ratchet spat with vehemence.

Perceptor winced as one the sparks caught his finger tips. Static crackled across Sideswipe's helm. "There is quite a lot of electrical discharge in his cranial area."

Ratchet looked to the region aforementioned and noticed something odd with Sideswipes optics. They were still milky and pale but were looking less lavender and were taking on a more redish tone.

Horror swept across the medic's face.

"Damn it. Cover his eyes!" Ratchet shrieked.

Wheeljack asked no questions and slapped his hands over Sideswipe's optics at first believing it was to keep the soldier from seeing his own wounds. A few seconds later he learned that wasn't the case.

Suddenly light was visible reflecting between Wheeljack's fingers and around the bottom of his hands. And as soon as it came it was gone. And it was dark.

And it was wet.

Rivulets of softly glowing pink liquid dripped from beneath Wheeljack's hands, trailing in spidery streams , dripping to Sideswipe's chin, pulling toward his nose, guided by the seams on his cheeks and the natural soft contours of his face.

It looked like he was crying but the Cybertronian race was incapable of crying. The jewel like streams meant something much more sinister.

"He has a cerebral bleed," was Perceptor's horrified assessment.

At this point the others had arrived and were now standing a respectful distance from the medics. They were all watching in horror at the mess that was Sideswipe and the frantic efforts to save him. Bluestreak was gaping, for once speechless. Brawn and Inferno were mystified almost not comprehending the state Sideswipe was in. Even Skydive looked grim.

How did this happen? Sideswipe was supposed to be so strong. How could one Decepticon do this?

Optimus was the last to arrive and when he transformed he stood stone still.

Most of his face was covered by his battle mask but Prowl could see the devastation in his optics.

Optimus cared for all of his soldiers. He shouldered the blame for every loss and every misfortune that befell or would befall his troops.

He would take personally responsibility if anything happened to Sideswipe, as he would with any of his men. But Prowl knew that expression was not just for Sideswipe. Not just for Sunstreaker. It was for all of them.

If this had happened to the twins, the rest of the Autobot forces were in for something terrible in the future. The balance of power had finally been tipped.

"No. No!" Ratchet all but screamed as he shoved Wheeljack away from the red mech. To the other's horror he began ripping at Sideswipe's chest plate, barely giving the latches and locks time to release before he tore the armor away.

"Ratch, What are you-"

"It's not just a cerebral bleed! It's the wrong color!"

A mechs spark was like a heart. It provided a charge to the energon that flowed through a mechs body and kept them energized. The color of this vital life liquid, when recently charged, was usually similar to the color of the spark. It should have been blue. Pink meant it wasn't getting a strong charge.

Sideswipe's spark box was revealed. After a second of fiddling the compartment, though strained, Ratchet managed to open revealing the most delicate and precious peace of any Cybertronian's being.

Sideswipe was a strapping, young mech. For all intents and purposes his spark should have been blue-white, and bright, and strong.

It shouldn't have been a sickly slow, expanding red ball growing ever dimmer, ever weaker.

The old blue fluids dripping from Sideswipe's wounds were no longer vibrant and glowing, having lost their charge. The sluggish new corrupted energon bleeding from his optics was growing dimmer by the second.

Wheeljack and Perceptor froze.

"His spark is red," Perceptor said sadly. "There's nothing we can do."

"Like hell there's not!"

"Ratchet. We can't fix that!"

"Then get the fuck out of my way!" Ratchet ferociously shoved Wheeljack away and brought out two pronged tools. He held each metal device, with their rounded plate like tips, on either side of Sideswipe's dying spark.

"Charging!" a raw electrical charge crackled at the tips of the device.

The electrical pulse discharged between the rods, passing through and around the spark giving it a shock of raw energy. The concentrated power coursed through Sideswipe's spark causing it to pulse and flash for a brief second. Excess sparks danced across Sideswipe frame.

Nothing changed. The spark still got redder. Still got dimmer.

"Again. Charging!"

The rods whined as the energy built up.

Jolt.

Nothing.

"Ratchet," Perceptor began consolingly. He made to reach for Ratchet's shoulder but the white mech violently shrugged him off.

"I will not let him die like Sunstreaker!" He snarled, ignoring the sounds of shock that came from the other Autobots.

But the second that last word left his lips, Sideswipe's spark pulsed. Slowly the sphere of light began to condense. Its color began to morph from deathly red to a sickly yellow.

The three were absolutely dumbfounded.

"Did his spark just," Wheeljack searched for the words, "did it just stabilize itself?"

"By the All Spark," Perceptor was equally perplexed. "That is impossible. How is this possible?"

Ratchet's mouth tightened to a grim line and he began reattaching what was left of Sideswipe mangled chest plate. "We have to get him to base or he'll die."

"What? But, Ratch, what just-?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Ready him for transport," he ordered, voice steadier then it had been just a few moments ago.

"He's not stable enough for the trip," Perceptor asserted and he was probably right.

"He has to be. Prime! I need you! Carry him, and keep him steady. Load him on to Skyfire!"

Skyfire, hearing his name, transformed immediately.

Prowl watched as Optimus Prime carefully knelt next to his fallen warrior. He watched as Optimus gently slid his arms under Sideswipe legs and shoulders before softly lifting the broken soldier. He handled him as if he were glass.

"Hang on, Sideswipe," Optimus said quietly, voice almost too low to hear. "You'll be ok."

Optimus wasn't a liar either, Prowl thought.

He certainly hoped that remained true.