Chapter 10

Windcharger awoke surrounded by sporadic blips and a constant, gentle hum of machinery; his optics looking up at the ceiling inside Ratchet's medical bay. The chief medical officer was surprisingly absent, but Windcharger was pleased to find Hoist keeping watch over him. "You've come back to us," Hoist cheered, casting an apologetic look on his recovering friend. "I am so very sorry for what happened."

Windcharger was in severe pain, his body weak and his head pounding with a remorseless rhythm. He cautiously turned his head left to right, searching for the other minibots who-in his memory-only moments earlier had fallen prey to Predaking. "Where are the others?" His words were forced and whispered.

"Most came back online about three weeks ago," Hoist answered, checking Windcharger's stats at the same time. "Hubcap remained in stasis lock a little longer, finally rejoining the living four days ago." Hoist could tell Windcharger had questions he wanted to ask, but lacked the ability to voice them properly. "Moments after the simulation started," he explained, assuming Windcharger would've asked what went wrong if he were able to, "The Ark experienced a ship-wide power surge, followed by a complete systems failure."

Through Hoist's briefing, Windcharger learned that it took two days to restore power to the Ark. When Hoist removed the minibots from the simulation equipment, he found them all to be off-line. Each had suffered severe internal damage, and their self-diagnostic systems had been contaminated. Ratchet had done all he could do, and luckily it proved to be enough. One by one they snapped out of their motionless state and returned to their old selves.

"They were all pretty reluctant in sharing their experiences," Hoist continued, pleased with Windcharger's slowly, yet consistently improving condition. "Probably didn't have much to say," he reasoned. "I'm sure with the systems shutdown, the simulation was likely a rather unbelievable exercise."

Windcharger noticed Hubcap and Powerglide looking at him from just outside the medical bay entrance. He managed to give them a feeble thumbs-up gesture, sending them on their way with a smile. "Sadly," he muttered, "It was actually quite authentic."

EPILOGUE

Wheeljack stood outside Optimus Prime's quarters, politely waiting for permission to enter. Upon receiving it, he walked over to where Prime as seated and placed a holographic display module in front of him. Turning the device on, he watched with great pride as Optimus took note of the images displayed in a sequenced manner. "What do you think?"

The Autobot commander marveled at the detailed drawings and schematics Wheeljack presented. "Perfect, old friend," he complimented. "Tremendous job."

"Well," Wheeljack admitted, "I had my doubts." He switched the device off and pulled up a chair of his own, sitting attentively on the other side of the desk. "When you had me join you on your little 'mission', I wasn't too thrilled to find out the rest of the Autobots had been left in the dark."

Optimus was quick to interject his reasoning. "I see no need to spread false hope or expectations. Not until I was sure we could find a suitable location." Prime sat straight and proud, looking every bit the powerful leader he was known to be. "The recent power failure of the Ark only proves that the mission was a necessity."

Wheeljack nodded. "Well, that's in the past now." It wasn't his place to question authority, but sometimes he couldn't help himself. He had known Optimus Prime long enough, he assumed, to object to random items from time to time. "When do you plan on making a formal announcement?"

"Soon," Optimus stated. "I apologize for putting you in such an awkward position, Wheeljack. I hope someday you'll understand why I did what I did, that you'll understand sometimes secrecy is merited."

Wheeljack grabbed the holographic display module and prepared to exit the room. "I am thankful you chose me to help seek out a location and trusted me enough to come up with the blueprints."

"I should be thanking you," Optimus responded. "Due to your skillful eye, this project will be brought to life." He bid Wheeljack a fond farewell and leaned back in his seat. "Autobot City," he smiled, "Is about to become a reality."

The end.