He sighed deeply, before closing his optics. He turned towards the other bots, optics opening. "If we are to have any hope of recovering the Iaacon relics before the decepticons do, we must divide our resources."
"But Optimus," Ratchet pleaded again. "When it comes to numbers we are already at a grave disadvantage."
"Given the present threat, beating the cons to the relics is our best hope," I pointed out to him.
"This is one race we absolutely cannot afford to lose," Optimus rumbled in his deep baritone, the one that made my knees weak.
"So, Ratch," I smirked at him. "You ready to disembark?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," he mumbled, turning towards the ground bridge.
Raf activated it, it opening to the final set of coordinates. "Tell 'Jackie I said 'Hey!'" I called to the doc as he sulked through the bridge.
"That was mean," Raf laughed at me as it closed behind him.
"Oh, you'll learn one day, Raf," I laughed to him. "Cara to Wheeljack, do you read me?"
"Is that you, y'old Wrecker?"
"How's it going, 'Jackie?" I smiled. Raf turned his screen towards me, where I saw two life signals. Wheeljack and Ratchet. "You two good?"
"Fine, fine." Came Ratchet's reply. "Are you monitoring the others?"
"Ratchet, don't worry," I laughed. "I'm going to check in with the others as soon as I stop yapping with you,"
"Ratchet, status report?"
"So, all of team Prime's busy chasing down these four Iaacon relics?" Wheeljack asked, completely ignoring my request. Their signals were airborne, so I figured he had the Jackhammer and was taking advantage of it.
"The four that are uncovered," I confirmed.
"There's more?"
"Megatron maintains possession of the entire Iaacon database." Ratchet explained. "We have yet to learn how many more relics -"
"Or decepticon WMDs," I cut in.
"- it contains," Ratchet growled. I stifled a giggle, shooting Raf an amused look.
"No worried, Doc. I got your back,"
Ratchet groaned in anger, and I could faintly hear his pistons rattling. "My name is not Doc and I do not require anyone watching my back!" He shouted angrily, before calming it to a more gentle tone. "I proved my metal during the war for Cybertron."
"Then I'm lucky you're along for the ride, champ..." Wheeljack responded, my spark swelling with pride concerning the loose cannon.
"Cara, there's a decepticon signal approaching their location," Raf called, spinning the screen to show me.
"...Because we've got a bogey on our tail."
"Guys, do you have a visual?" I called to them, straightening up in my chair.
"Soundwave," Ratchet growled.
"Megatron's communications chief?" Wheeljack asked, the sound of doubt carrying through.
"Do not underestimate him, 'Jack," I warned him. "I have yet to see the con take a strike from anyone."
"Cara's right, he's proven his colors before,"
Blaster fire flew through the comm, Wheeljack grumbling. "You might want to grab onto something," he reported before their ship took a sharp incline straight into the air.
"Are you trying to send us to the scrapyard?" Ratchet complained as the ship flipped behind the con's signal.
"Ratchet, this is a master plan, and you know it," I scolded him. Raf and I watched as the three signals pursued in an aerial chase, blaster fire streaming through. A piece of the signal fell off, flying straight back behind the Jackhammer. "What's that?"
"Lazerbeak."
"Wheeljack, maintain pursuit!" I ordered, mustering my best Optimus voice. "Soundwave is merely using the drone."
"To distract you!" Raf pitched in.
"I welcome a good distraction,"
"Wheeljack, no!" I watched as the four signals separated, one headed towards the set of coordinates, the other three disembarking on another chase. "Raf, can you widen the space so we can track the both of them?"
Raf turned the screen back towards him, fumbling around on the keypad. "Yes," he swiveled it back towards me, the screen split down the middle. One side was tracking the chase, the other was tracking Soundwave.
"Wheeljack I swear to Primus…"
"The hunter becomes the hunted," I heard him smirk.
"You're going to be the hunted if you don't get back on track!" I demanded.
"Squishy, you know I don't like people of authority," he reminded me as the Jackhammer closed in on a cliff.
"Good thing I'm a squishy then, huh?" I smarted back over the sounds of Ratchet's terrified shrieks. "And, that was cruel,"
"Don't tell me you've gone soft on the bot?"
The two signals were charging at each other, full speed. "This is no time to be playing chicken," I mumbled.
"Wheeljack!" Ratchet shouted as Lazerbeak's signal raced over theirs, dangerously close to connecting.
"Choke on that, con!" he exclaimed as the signal fell from the air.
"You did it," Ratchet cheered in astonishment.
"I don't fucking believe it," I laughed.
"Cara, their trajectory," Raf stated. They were crashing.
Wheeljack scoffed. "Right thruster's fried."
"If you had pursued Soundwave as I instructed -"
"His little birdy would still be pecking at our tailpipes!"
"Guys," I instructed, nodding to Raf. "Lazerbeak's signal isn't far from yours, and Soundwave is almost to the coordinates."
"Which one are we pursuing?" Ratchet asked me as Wheeljack closed in on Lazerbeak's downed signal. "Wheeljack, keep your distance. Lazerbeak is the eyes and ears of Soundwave."
"Not anymore, it isn't," he cheered triumphantly.
"Operating system appears functional, but offline," Ratchet reported. "However, the crash clearly damaged it's optic and audio receptors."
"Guess someone's going to need a new snitch,"
"Okay, you guys good?" I asked, looking back at the other comm links. "We need to check on the others.
"We'll be fine." Ratchet responded.
"Rafael," Ratchet called. "We have a situation,"
I patched the comm over to Raf, concentrating on the task at hand with the others. Once I finished it, I turned my attention back to the comm.
"I can do it," Raf was saying. "But if we want to keep the virus hidden from the cons, we'll need a decoy. Y'know, like a second virus,"
"Or…. something less complicated," Ratchet sneered.
"What's going on?" I asked, scooting closer.
"A decoy - as in 'we want them to find it, but it doesn't blow?'" Wheeljack pondered.
"Exactly," Raf cheered, typing away on his computer. "Cara, I'm switching the signal control over to you for a few minutes, are you okay with that?"
"Sure, but what's up?"
"Seems like a waste of a perfectly good grenade,"
"Wait a minute," Raf called. "A grenade inside of Lazerbeak, inside of Soundwave? Like a Turducken!"
"...I'm sorry?" If I could, I would've doubled over in laughter over Ratchet's response.
"It's a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a - well .. nevermind," Raf concluded.
"And where are you off to?" Ratchet asked.
"To buy you some time, and who knows? Maybe pick up a relic." Wheeljack smirked before his signal drove off towards the direction of Soundwave's.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" I pleaded.
"We're planting a virus inside of Lazerbeak that'll transmit the entire Iaacon database to us," Raf smirked, busily typing away at the computer.
"Oh,"
"Rafael, I've jacked into Lazerbeak's uplink transmitter. When you're ready, I will bring it's operating system back online in order to receive the transfer." Ratchet reported.
Wheeljack's pained tone echoed through the comm link the next minute, groaning and screeching heard as well.
"Wheeljack!" I called as his signal weakened to 50%. "He's offline," I called to Ratchet.
"The virus is coded," Raf concluded. "Commencing upload,"
Turning back to Wheeljack, he was online. "'Jackie, you need an assist?"
"Wreckers don't call for back up," he groaned, as Soundwave's signal disembarked.
"Rafael, what is our progress?"
"50% and climbing,"
"Doc?" Wheeljack called weakly.
"Wheeljack, I told you not to call me that!"
"I'm sorry…"
I could hear Ratchet's processors working. "What is it, what's wrong? Where are you?"
Wheeljack groaned weakly, his signal dropping another 5%. "I figure, you've got, maybe, two minutes."
"Wheeljack, what is your condition?" Ratchet called, straining against Lazerbeak's signal. Soundwave's was approaching, and fast.
"It's not good Ratch," I reported. "His signals below 50, and slowly declining.
"Rafael?"
"We're almost there." After a few minutes, his face brightened. "Done."
Lazerbeak's signal left Ratchet's, before Soundwave landed right beside him. I froze, watching as the two decepticon signals merged, twisting back into one before taking off into the air again.
"Soundwave has taken the bait," Ratchet said.
"Wheeljack," I reminded him.
"Send me the coordinates," he ordered, already taking off in the direction Wheeljack left.
"You're right on top of him," I called worriedly.
"Wheeljack!"
"Just.. resting my optics. .. and, my audio receptors,"
I sighed in relief, relaxing back into my chair.
"Carabelle…"