Pokemon Prime

Triage

The Bewilder Forest, Sinnoh

Ultra Magnus leand against his ship, the Lightning Bolt. He tossed a grenade up and down. The Ground Bridge vortex appeared. Ratchet emerged.

Magnus reattached his grenade. "The Boss thought you needed backup, huh?"

"If you must know, Optimus feels strongly that you require supervision." Ratchet scold.

"I'll be sure to be on my best behavior, Doc."

"Please don't call me 'Doc'."

"Whatever you say, Sunshine."

Ratchet groan in frustration. They hopped aboard the Lightning Bolt and took off. While flying, Magnus made a conversation. "So, all of Team Prime is busy chasing after these four Iacon relics?"

"The four of which are currently in play." Ratchet replied.

"There's more?"

"Megatron maintains possession of the entire Iacon database. We have yet to learn how many more relics or Decepticon weapons of mass destruction it contains."

"No worries, Doc. I got your back."

"My name is not 'Doc'! And I do not require anyone watching my back! I proved my medal during the war for Cybertron."

"Then I'm lucky you're along for the ride, Champ." The radar detected a Decepticon following them. "Because we've got a bogey on our tail."

The Decepticon following them was Soundwave. In his spy plane mode.

Ratchet saw him on the rearview feed. "Soundwave!"

"Megatron's communications chief?" Magnus asked.

"He must be tracking the same coordinates."

Soundwave opened fire on the Lightning Bolt. Magnus performed some evasive maneuvers. "You might want to grab onto something." He performed a steep loop.

"Are you trying to send us to the scrap yard?"

Magnus managed to get the Lightning Bolt right behind Soundwave. Now he had the pleasure of returning fire. However, Soundwave deployed his top minion. "What's that?"

"Soundwave's surveillance drone, Laserbeak." Ratchet replied.

Laserbeak began firing at them. While Magnus steered the ship to evade, Ratchet noticed Soundwave's actions. Soundwave banked to left.

"Magnus, maintain pursuit of Sounwave. He's merely using Laserbeak to distract us."

"I welcome a good distraction." Magnus allowed Laserbeak to shoot at them until he circled around the drone. Magnus returned fire. "The hunter becomes the hunted."

"This is no time to be hot-dogging!" Ratchet shouted.

Magnus followed Laserbeak into a cloud, but when they got out the other end he wasn't in front of them.

"He's gone." Ratchet said. "No we can go find..."

Suddenly Laserbeak cut them off. The chase resumed. They followed him into another cloud. As they reached through the other end they were flying into a cliff. Ratchet screaming at his loudest. Magnus pulled up, narrowly missing the cliff.

After elevating, Magnus spotted Laserbeak coming at them. He accelerated and opened fire.

"What are you doing?" Ratchet asked. Laserbeak opened fire and got closer. "Magnus?" He didn't listen. "Ultra Magnus!"

They almost hit each other as they passed by. Magnus circled the ship around. This time he waited until he got a decent lock on Laserbeak. When he did he opened fire and got a lucky shot. "Choke on that, Decepticreep!"

"You did it." Ratchet said.

As Laserbeak was falling, he fired random shots. One successfully hit them. They were going down.

Xatu's Forest, Sinnoh

After crash landing, Ultra Magnus checked the damages. "Right thrusters fried."

"If had perused Soundwave as I instructed..."

"His little birdie would still be pecking our tailpipes."

"Well, we need to resume our search for the relic immediately. Soundwave may have already reached it."

"The Lightning Bolt is not going anywhere. If you want to catch that Decepticon, we need to roll." Magnus spotted somethign and walked towards it.

"Make up your processor! Are we walking or are we driving?"

Magnus got his hammer ready. He pulled down the handle and it enlarged. He was about to smash Laserbeak with it.

"Ultra Magnus, keep your distance. Laserbeak is the eyes and ears of Soundwave."

Magnus used the handle of the hammer to flip Laserbeak like a burger. "Not anymore he isn't."

Meanwhile, Soundwave transformed as he got to the coordinates. He scanned the rocky ground and eventually located the exact spot of where the relic is buried.

Ratchet scanned Laserbeak. "His operating systems are functional, but offline. However, the crash clearly damaged his optic and audio receptors."

"Guess someone needs a new snitch." Magnus said.

"A minor victory, but not the one we are here to achieve."

"Hang on there, Doc. The situation is rip for an old Wrecker trick."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Sooner or later, Soundwave's gonna come looking for his pet. We let 'em reunite, return to base packing a live grenade." He show the explosive to Ratchet. "The moment Soundwave reaches inside, he trips the pin... KA-BOOM!"

Ratchet thought of something better. "Why plant a mere explosive devise, when we could plant a more devastating bomb? A virus." He transform his hand into a blow torch. "Engineered to pass from Laserbeak to Soundwave." He cut Laserbeak's back open. "Then directly into the Decepticon warship's mainframe. Where it will transmit the contents of the entire Iacon database to us."

"Sound's complicated. If only Wheeljack was here to translate what you just said. Besides I thought we were in a hurry."

"Optimus would agree with this. Risking the loss of one relic to gain the rest is a worthwhile gamble."

"I know Wheeljack is can do such a programming, but not alone. Can you do it alone.?"

"Hm, Wheeljack is too busy backing Bulkhead up to go after the fourth relic. I need alternative help."

Autobot Base

Agent Jenny and Brock finally recovered from their encounter with the Decepticon warship. "I... need... coffee." Jenny said, weakly.

Ratchet, however, contacted Max. "Max, we have a situation."

Xatu's Forest

Soundwave used his two tentacles to drill into the ground. Digging out the relic.

Autobot Base

"If you can ride in a source code for the virus, my scanner will translate it to Cybertronian script as it uploads." Ratchet explained.

"I can do it, but if we want to keep the virus hidden from the Decepticons, we'll need a decoy. Like a second virus." Max said.

Xatu's Forest

"Or something less complicated." Ratchet looked at Magnus' grenade.

"A decoy as in 'we want 'em to find it, but it doesn't blow'?" Magnus asked.

"Correct."

"Seems like a waste of a perfectly good grenade." He tossed it to Ratchet.

He began to plant the grenade's power core into Laserbeak.

Autobot Base

"Wait a minute, a grenade inside of Laserbeak, inside of Soundwave? Like a turducken!"

"I'm sorry?" Ratchet asked.

"It's a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a... never mind."

Xatu's Forest

Ultra Magnus began to walk away.

"And where are you off to?" Ratchet asked.

"To buy you some time. And who knows? Maybe to pick up a relic." Magnus replied. He transformed into his HEMTT truck mode. He drove off to where the relic is located.

Soundwave finished drilling. He unearthed a small prod. Engine roar got his attention. On the cliff above him, Magnus drove in. He transformed and tried to smash Soundwave with his hammer. Soundwave jumped back.

"You dropped something." Magnus said.

Soundwave looked at his tentacle and noticed that he did drop the relic. He looked and saw it down on the forest floor way below. He returned his tentacles and readied for battle.

"This should be fun." Magnus lunged out for him. He made a few swings.

Soundwave simply dodged and blocked Magnus' attacks. Until the very edge of the hammer scratched his 'face' vizor. Magnus tried again. Soundwave used his tentacle to grab the hammer. Then the other one to smack Magnus. He almost fell off, but regained his balance.

Soundwave looked at the hammer he now possessed. Magnus charged at him. Soundwave threw Magnus' own hammer at him, but he caught it and readied himself to attack. However a tentacle got him by the chest. Soundwave lifted him and smacked him into the ground. Causing him to drop his hammer.

Soundwave readied his other tentacle to drill into Magnus' face. As it was getting closer, he caught it, but it was too close for comfort. He used the drilling tentacle to sabotage the one pinning him down. As Soundwave backed up, Magnus jumped up and head-butted Soundwave's 'face'. This time the srcatch turned into a big crack.

"There I go again shattering expectations. I must be in good functions for an ol' Autobot like myself." Magnus said.

Ratchet contacted Base. "Max, I've hacked into Laserbeak's uplink transmitter. When you're ready, I will bring his operating systems back online in order to receive the transfer."

Magnus unleashed a barrage of blaster fire on Soundwave. As he was close to the edge, Magnus kneed him off it. The both fell into the forest below. Xatus flying away from the aftershock.

Soundwave laid on the forest floor. He lifted his head up to see the relic laying on the same spot. He was startled at the sound of Magnus' cannon charging up.

"Any last words?" Magnus asked. Soundwave as usual remained quiet. "Right... silent type."

At that moment Soundwave used his tentacle to use the relic to sabotage Magnus' audio receptors. Delivering great damage to Magnus, that he collapsed.

Autobot Base

"Ratchet the virus is coded. Commencing upload." Max said.

Xatu's Forest

Ratchet started up Laserbeak, who attempted to flee. He had to pin him down.

Meanwhile, Soundwave attached the relic to his hand. He then readied it to execute Ultra Magnus. That was when Laserbeak's distress signal kicked in.

Ratchet struggles to hold Laserbeak down. "Max, what is our progress?"

Autobot Base

Max looked at his laptop. "50%."

Xatu's Forest

Ratchet got a call from Magnus. "Doc...,"

"Ultra Magnus, I told you not to call me that!" Ratchet scold.

"I'm sorry." He said, weakly.

"What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I figure you got two minutes."

At those words Ratchet instantly knew Soundwave was flying in for his pet. "Or less. Ultra Magnus, what is your condition? Ultra Magnus?" No response. "Max, the download?"

"We're almost their." Max replied.

Soundwave was almost there. So Ratchet had to hide behind a boulder. While holding Laserbeak down.

Autobot Base

Max watched the download on his laptop. "Done."

Xatu's Forest

Ratchet released Laserbeak. As he was released, he broke a piece of his wing. Preventing him to fly.

Soundwave transformed and landed near the damaged Lightning Bolt. He scanned the wreckage. He suddenly aimed the relic at the direction Ratchet was hiding.

"Scrap." Ratchet said, quietly.

But Ratchet wasn't the reason Soundwave turned. It was Laserbeak. He picked Laserbeak up and placed him on his chest. Where Laserbeak transformed into the chest piece he was missing. He turned around and walked away.

Ratchet groaned as he tried not to slip. Soundwave was alerted. He deployed his tentacles to Ratchet's hiding spot. Ratchet had to move his hand to avoid detection from one of the tentacles. The second one tentacle went over him. Turns out they were after the broken piece of Laserbeak's wing. The tentacle put the piece back. Then Soundwave transformed and flew off.

"Soundwave has taken the bait." Ratchet contacted Magnus. "Ultra Magnus?" No response. "Scrap!" He transformed into his ambulance mode and drove to where Magnus is at.

The Nemesis

Soundwave handed Megaton the relic. "Ah, the Resonance Blaster. Crafted by Decepticon scientists for maximum sonic devastation. Soundwave, you have performed admirably. Unlike Dreadwing, here, who somehow managed to loose the Apex Armor to Starscream! However, two more coordinates remain in play and I have every confidence Knock Out will..."

Knock Out, barely returning from the subway tunnels, shoved between Soundwave and Dreadwing. "Can you beleieve what the Autobots did to me?" He's referring to his massive paint job scratches from when he got hit by the sweeper train.

"Did you retrieve the relic?"

"No, Master."

"Then I suggest you convince me of your continued usefulness by examining Laserbeak, Doctor."

Xatu's Forest

Ratchet used his high beam headlights navigate through the trees. He kept on driving as fast as he could. He spotted Magnus resting against a tree. "Ultra Magnus!" He transformed and went up to him. He picked him up.

"Calm down. Just resting my optics. Ow. and my audio receptors." Magnus said.

The Nemesis

Knock Out scanned Laserbeak and detected something.

"Well?" Megatron asked.

"An obstruction of some sort." Knock Out said.

Soundwave picked Lasbeak up and opened his back. Revealing the grenade power core.

"Grenade!" Knock Out duck and covered.

"Ah, that is clever. Knock Out, prepare to properly dispose of the obstruction." Megatron ordered.

Knock Out ran out of the med-lab. Carefully trying not to drop the core before it is unstable.

Laserbeak went back as Soundwave's chest piece.

"Soundwave, if we are to maintain any advangate over the Autobots." Meagtrons said. KA_BOOM! Knock Out clearly disposed of the core. "Decotind the remainder of the Iacon database must remain your top priority."

Soundwave nodded in agreement.

Xatu's Forest

Ratchet and Magnus drove back down to the crash site. Ratchet contacted Base. "Max, send the Ground Bridge." They transformed back to their robotic form. He looked at Magnus. "I still advise that you return to Base. You require a thorough examination."

"The only thing I require right now is some hull seal-it. Trust me, the Lightning Bolt here is in more need of repair than me." Magnus replied.

"Listen, Ultra Magnus. I want to thank you for your backup."

"Yup." Magnus was too busy getting underway on his ship's repairs.

The Ground Bridge appeared. Ratchet started his way in.

"See you around, Ratchet."

The Nemesis

Soundwave began decrypting the database.

Autobot Base

Max, Brock, and Dawn, who was just put Gabby to sleep, waited for Ratchet's arrival. He emerged from the chamber.

"Ratchet, come here." Brock said.

He saw themain computer. "The Iacon database! It's downloading!"

"Shush! Not so loud. I just put Gabby to sleep." Dawn said.

"Sorry, Dawn. Well, Max you are a genius."

Max smiled at Ratchet's complement.

The Nemesis

"Believe me. Soundwave will provide the coordinates to the remaining relics." Megatron said.

"Yes. We are fortunate to have him on our side, Lord Megatron." Knock Out said.

"And see about repairing his cracked vizor. Will you?"

Knock Out frowned and growled at Soundwave.

Autobot Base

"Bulkhead and Wheeljack are coming through, guys." Max said.

"I can't wait to share the news about me and Ultra Magnus with them."

"I just can't wait to see Bulkhead." May said.

The chamber powered up. Both Bulkhead and Wheeljack came flying through the vortex. Their backs are smoking.

"BULKHEAD!" May shouted.

"WHEELJACK!" Brock shouted.

"No." Ratchet said, in a sad tone.

TBC

Plenty more Pokemon Prime coming soon.