Hey guys! I hope you all found this new and improved Medical Journals.
Just a little heads up,
ooOOoo is a time jump,
xxXXxx is changing character's point of view.
Nano-klick -second
klick- minute
Joor- hour
Orn- day
Cycle- week
Groon- month
metacycle- year.
Any questions, PM me.
He had done it. Eight metacycles spent studying and working and it was finally paying off. The ceremony, not even a few joors ago, was still vivid in his memory files, as was the pain of the red branding stylus that had carved its way through his shoulder guard to mark the outline of the medical-apprentice insignia. When his mentor, whom he still needed to choose, thought he was ready, the outline would be filled in and he would get his full degree as a qualified medic. His digits once again reached up to finger the deep grooves.
Eight metacycles. It seemed like just the other orn that he had walked through the massive double doors of the Iacon Medical Academy to start his training. Now, as his gold optics swept the enormous main hall and its outlying buildings, he knew every nook and cranny of the complex as well as he knew the back of his own servo.
"Hey, Ratchet! You coming or not? Nova and Quicklight are waiting for us!"
His grin still in place, the bright-yellow mech turned to face the mech that had yelled at him. A sleek, pale-green form was standing at the side of the road, waving his servos over his helm with a huge grin on his faceplates, white-tinged-with-blue optics flashing in pure joy. He finally dropped his servos when he saw Ratchet staring at him and the red insignia emblazoned on his own green chassis.
"I'm coming, Focus!" Ratchet yelled before glancing one more time at the towering building before running over to join his best friend.
"I can't believe we finally made it," Focus said with a laugh, lunging forward to drop into a sleek SUV-like alt mode and diving onto the road. Ratchet was quick to follow and they both tumbled into the middle of Iacon rush-joor traffic. With Focus in the lead, they wove through the lanes with an ease that only mechs who had grown up in the crazy traffic could. Soon they were joined by two more fresh graduates.
"I'll bet you that Jackknife was never happier to see any 'bot graduate!" a silver car with blue pinstripes said over their shared comm links as he pulled level with Focus.
"You think?!" another silver car asked. Her flanks were marked with a thick pink stripe which flashed in the other Cybertronians' headlights as she pulled up alongside Ratchet. "That mech was going to blow a gasket if he didn't get rid of you and Focus!"
"Ah, he'll miss us," Focus laughed, swerving to nearly sideswipe the silver and blue mech. The mech hit the brakes and both the femme and Ratchet had to swerve to avoid a collision.
"I still don't see why you had to torture the poor mech so much," Ratchet said with a hidden grin.
"Us?! Remind me again, Quicklight, who it was that went and switched all his labels around? I don't remember," Focus drawled. "I just remember some crazy yellow mech saying it would be fun."
"Yeah, I think I remember that as well. What do you think, Nova? I distinctly remember there being someone yellow with us," the silver and blue mech said, swerving in his lane a little.
"So I may or may not have annoyed him a little," Ratchet objected good naturedly.
"A little?! I'm surprised you passed his class at all, let alone with flying colors!" the femme, Nova, interrupted. "You were just as bad as those two!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ratchet grumbled, sinking lower on his axles.
"Lighten up, mech. At least you never got caught half as many times as we did!" Quicklight put in, suddenly swerving in front of Ratchet. Ratchet hit the brakes to avoid rear-ending his friend as they took the off-ramp up into the spark of Iacon. Focus easily led the other three to a small flashy club and pulled over.
"Goldstar's? You're crazy," Nova said, transforming to her bipedal form and resting her servos on her hipbolts.
"Course I am," said Focus. A massive grin crossed his faceplates as he threw his servos wide. "We're here to celebrate!"
"Besides, he has the best energon anywhere," Ratchet added as he also stood up in his bipedal form.
"Come on! Drinks are on me," Focus said, dropping a servo around Nova's shoulder guard and dragging her into the club. Quicklight gave Ratchet a helpless shrug before following after their fellow apprentices.
The club was alive with color. Like Ratchet and his friends, most had the thin sleek armor of the Elite and Middle Classes. Green and white optics stood out amongst the more dominant blue and only a single other femme had the same rare, vivid gold optics as Ratchet's. She flashed him a coy smile winking at him before taking off around the dance floor with her blue-opticed partner. Femmes with elaborately-painted frames twined around mechs with equally-bright chassis. The femmes' thin armor covered only the most sensitive of circuitry, leaving silver protoform exposed to the elements and the sight of any eager mech.
For the most part, Ratchet ignored the femmes twirling around their dance partners as a heavy bass thrumming filled the room and the crowd cheered at each new song. While the volume was the little much, he had to admit it had a good beat.
"Ratch! Ya coming?" Focus called as Nova finally shoved the slightly taller mech off of her. They had already grabbed bar stools at the counter and Ratchet slid onto a stool beside Quicklight. Nova was beside him while Focus sat beside Nova.
"Well, well, well. I didn't expect to see you four around here for a while," the barkeep, a vivid orange mech with a gold eight-point star on his chest plate, said with a winning smile. He walked toward the group and leaned on the counter casually.
"Are you kidding me, Goldie? We just graduated!" Nova said with a laugh.
"Graduated? You four? Never," Goldstar said, turing away from the counter. "I got a bet going that you would drive those profs up the walls."
"Yeah. I thought so as well," Nova said. She shoved Focus's shoulder guard. The pale-green mech stuttered in surprise, placing a servo to his chassis in mock horror. "Me? Get in trouble? You jest," he scoffed before snickering behind his servo. "Yeah, we all graduated. Ratchet got top of class. We all knew he would. He spent enough time in those datapads of his."
"So I studied a lot! So what?" Ratchet objected as his friends laughed.
Goldstar turned back around, balancing four cubes of rich, dark blue liquid. "Best high grade we got. First round's on me," he said as he slid the cubes skillfully down the counter.
Ratchet easily snagged his cube and took a sip of the strong drink. The rich energon burned as it went down his throat. He raised the cube with a grin.
"Here's to the best medics Iacon will ever see!" he said as his friends laughed ad raised their own cubes in a toast.
"Here's to the best!" they echoed loudly as they all drank.
ooOOoo
The next orn found Focus passed out in his room as he slept off the rather large hangover Ratchet knew he would have. While high grade was banned in the Academy, someone always managed to smuggle the stuff in for parties and Ratchet had had enough of the illegal contraband himself to know how miserable Focus would be for the rest of the day. The amount of high grade the mech had downed would have put someone even twice his size out of commission.
As for Ratchet, he had always regretted his choices the next orn when he had to be on time for classes, so he was always a little more cautious in his drinking habits. Getting overcharged just wasn't worth it to him.
Another groan emanated from Focus's room. Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle as a loud bang and a curse followed soon after.
"I really do hope you just fell off the berth," Ratchet called, swirling his cube of midgrade from his place on the couch as he caught up on the latest new feed streaming across the datapad he held.
A nano-klick later, his friend's door slid open and Focus stumbled out, looking even more green than usual. He staggered to the small wash rack and the door hissed shut. The sound of the taps did nothing to mask Focus purging his tanks into the sink. Again, Ratchet smirked at Focus's misfortune. He had told the mech hundreds of times to watch how much he drank but the stubborn glitch never listened to him. Ratchet finished his cube and tossed it in the trash a few klicks later, walking to stand in front of the still-locked door of the wash racks.
"Hey, Focus," he called as he knocked on the door. A harsh curse from inside was Focus's way of answering as another crash indicated that he had dropped something. "I'm heading out," continued Ratchet. "If I'm not back in a few joors, I've been pulverized." He left a cube of low-grade energon on the counter for his friend and walked outside the small apartment.
It was a short ride down the lift to the ground level three stories below their apartment. Ratchet transformed at the side of the road before skillfully merging into traffic and making his way toward the outer rings of Iacon.
He traveled toward the outskirts of the city before he turned down a worn track that led up into the mountains along Iacon's east side. The highway had long ago been broken down into a rough set of tracks and, even though his alt mode was higher up than most of his class, it was still very rough going for a mech used to paved roads all his lifecycle.
Eventually, after taking two wrong turns, he found himself in front of an old, white building. Hesitantly, he pulled up to the double doors in the middle of the building which faced even higher up into the mountains. The lights were on but he didn't see anyone through the glass sliding doors. With a deep exvent to steady his nerves, he transformed to biped mode, the soft dirt under his pedes an alien feeling after the polished metal of the inner rings.
He glanced around, suddenly realizing just how bad of an idea this was. He didn't belong here. His bright paint and sleek armor screamed Elite even if he didn't classify himself as the rank any more. Out here, this was miner territory and nothing would stop the big, dangerous mechs from turning him into scrap metal if he accidentally fragged them off. There would be no Enforcer to keep them back.
But this was what he wanted. This was why he had become a medic. With another exvent, he finally walked up to the building. The motion sensor caught him and the doors slid open smoothly. Ratchet was instantly hit with the clean, sterile smell of a med bay and he was mildly surprised at the well-maintained condition the place was in. It was far nicer than he had expected.
Directly in front of him was a small office with a window to see the main doors. To the left was a single doorway and he could hear banging going on inside. To the right was the main med bay. A row of counters and cabinets lined the back wall while three berths lined the wall the main doors were on. A massive berth was up against the wall opposite the others and a huge overhead door took up the far end of the med bay. An average-sized steel examination table sat in the middle of the 'bay while another table, this one as big as the over-sized berth, was against the wall with the counters.
"Piper! I swear if you're back again, I will beat you over the head with whatever limb you got torn off this time!" a furious voice bellowed from the back room, making Ratchet jump.
"No, sir," stammered Ratchet. "I'm, ah…I'm looking for-for the medic designated 'Chrome.'"
"Who's asking?" the voice demanded.
"My designation's Ratchet. I, uh…I'm a medical graduate. I'm looking for Chrome," Ratchet replied.
There was a loud crash followed by a sharp curse, then another crash. A tall mech with wide shoulder guards and a deep scowl on his faceplates walked out of the side room. Instantly, Ratchet knew it was Chrome. The terrible rust-colored scars marring his silver frame made him impossible to mistake for anybot else.
The mech stalked up to Ratchet, vivid green optics pinning the young mech to the floor. He was only three feet taller than Ratchet's seventeen-foot frame, but he was easily twice the younger mech's size in bulk.
"So you're looking for a mech to mentor you in your medical degree," Chrome growled, his piercing gaze snapping to the fresh crest on Ratchet's shoulder guard before flicking back to his optics.
"Yessir," Ratchet said, trying to hold the mech's glare. He finally had to drop his optics to a point on the big mech's chassis. The once-silver mech crossed his arms, still glaring at Ratchet.
"And I'm guessing that since you're here that you want to become my apprentice," the mech continued.
"If you are willing to take me on. I'm not afraid of hard work. Sir," Ratchet said, bringing his optics back up.
"Why should I even think about taking you on? You're not the first mech to want me to mentor them. You're an Elite. You shouldn't even be this far out of your precious inner rings," Chrome growled, his armor flaring aggressively.
On instinct, Ratchet felt his own armor flatten in submission. He didn't know how to answer that. He was an Elite. He had never been exposed to any kind of hard, physical labor like what he wanted to do.
"That's what I thought," Chrome said with a scowl. He turned his back on Ratchet and headed for the back room and whatever he had been doing earlier.
Ratchet slowly released a vent he hadn't realized he had been holding. That had gone far better than he thought it would. Chrome had a reputation as having the miners for back-up. He was actually impressed that no one had come to 'escort' him back to Iacon. Just as he was about to turn around and head back to Iacon, a tan mech roughly the same size as Chrome burst through the doors, nearly taking them off their tracks and running over Ratchet.
"Chrome! Fraggit! There's been a collapse! Some of the gang are trapped!" the mech yelled. There was another sharp curse and Chrome stormed back out of the room.
"What happened?" he demanded, stalking into the med bay.
"I don't know," the mech snarled. "I think that dumb-aft rookie, Piper, messed up again. I swear if that mech is still online, I will terminate him myself. This is the third time he's caused an accident and Scrapper nearly offlined last time."
Ratchet was about to leave before things got chaotic and he ended up as scrap metal anyway because he didn't get out of the way fast enough when Chrome yelled at him, "You still here, Royal?"
"I was just leaving," Ratchet replied, turning to face the mech as there was no doubt in his processors about who Chrome was addressing.
"You any good?" Chrome asked, peering at him appraisingly.
"I graduated top of my class," said Ratchet, careful to keep his tone neutral.
"Got tools?"
"Some, yes."
"Stock up. You'll need a lot of templating. Most of the damage is usually burns and broken plating," Chrome barked, gesturing toward the cabinets. Ratchet immediately moved toward the supplies, taking what he thought he would need and subspacing it.
"You kidding me? He's a Royal," growled the tan mech darkly. Ratchet fought the urge to shudder at the mech's tone. "What the frag do you think you're doing?"
"He's an apprentice medic. If he's here, might as well put him to use," Chrome replied as he turned back to Ratchet. "Keep up. Don't get in anyone's way and the miners should leave you alone." He marched past Ratchet and out the doors before he glanced back over his shoulder and added, "Oh, don't get between Carbon and Sterling."
The tan mech snarled lowly as Ratchet started to walk past him and Ratchet instantly froze, letting the miner precede him.
Chrome was already idling in a heavy pickup-like alt outside the front doors. The tan miner shot Ratchet one more glare before also folding into a massive 4x4. The miner took off as Ratchet dropped into his alt and Chrome raced off behind him as Ratchet struggled to keep up at the rear. To his surprise, a comm link from Chrome popped up in his HUD and he accepted the invitation.
"How bad was it?" Chrome was asking as he pulled ahead to take the lead on a rough road that led up the mountain. Far up ahead, midway up the mountain, Ratchet could see dark smoke billowing from a hole in the rocks.
"I don't know. I was loading Carbon up when Axil said something had exploded, collapsing part of the tunnel. I lost the comm signal after that," the miner said.
"And Carbon?"
"Where do you think? Sterling was still inside with Dusty, Axil, Ironlock, Piper, and Scrapper."
"Frag. Is Longhaul out at least? I need someone to start hauling wounded back to the 'bay."
"I think he was just inside the entrance. He was leaving with a load of scrap. I don't think he got caught," the mech replied.
"Fraggit all. I'm gonna terminate Carbon, that pit-spawned glitch," Chrome hissed viciously as the road suddenly leveled out onto a small plateau. Both mechs skidded to a stop in the loose ground and Ratchet hammered on the brakes to keep from rear-ending Chrome. He transformed to biped, staring at the scene in shock.
Smoke was still streaming out of the gaping black hole in the side of a sheer cliff. As he watched, a massive grey mech stumbled out of the mine entrance, the arm of a smaller dark-grey mech slung over his shoulder.
"Battleship! The frag happened?!" Chrome demanded, running to begin stabilizing the grey miner as his crutch gently lowered him to the ground. "Hey, Royal!" he yelled and Ratchet sprinted over.
He nearly purged at the sight of what was left of the miner's leg. It had been torn off at the knee joint and bright blue Energon was pouring out of the wound, unnaturally severed wires swaying with each movement.
"What—" Ratchet squeaked. Sure, he knew what to do, at least in theory, but this was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
"Dusty's hurt bad," the injured mech hissed as Chrome helped him the rest of the way to the ground.
Ratchet nearly gasped in shock as Chrome plunged his servos into what was left of the miner's leg. He hadn't even given the mech any painkillers!
"I don't know what happened," the dark-grey mech hissed, arching in pain as Chrome worked. "Something blew up. I saw Dusty get thrown. Sterling was pinned when the shaft collapsed and a slab crushed my leg. Longhaul got me loose and was helping me out when part of the shaft caved in. It cut us off from the others."
"So there's two collapses?!"
"Yeah. The one that pinned Sterling, then the one that's keeping us from getting back inside."
"What about the others?" Chrome asked.
"Piper was with us. The others were farther in."
"Can you handle him?" Chrome demanded, turning to Ratchet suddenly.
"What?! Yes, I think—"
"Yes or no?" Chrome barked.
"Yes," Ratchet said firmly, dropping down beside Chrome. The medic was already up to his bracers in the miner's energon, coolant, and lubricant. The gory mess was already sliding to meet his knee guards as the miner continued to leak valuable fluids.
"They can handle a lot," Chrome said, his gaze back on the mech he was working one. "It's far more important that you get these lines sealed off before he leaks out. Get over here."
Ratchet moved a little closer and Chrome suddenly grabbed his wrist with an energon slick servo.
"Hold this line now," Chrome barked, shoving Ratchet's servo deep into the mech's leg. The miner gasped in pain but held still as Ratchet easily found one of the many torn lines.
"Got it," Ratchet said, adjusting his grip as a clamp slid out from under his bracer. He quickly clamped the line off before the mech lost any more energon and turned back to Chrome in surprise as the medic puled his servos free, still dripping energon and coolant.
"Good. Don't let him offline," Chrome ordered in a dangerous voice before he abruptly stood and sprinted off.
"Oh, frag," Ratchet muttered before putting all his attention, training, and knowledge into keeping the badly-damaged mech from leaking out. He released the clamp from his bracer and set to work on another line that was still leaking energon.
"You're a Royal." the mech demanded, propping himself up on his elbow joints now that Chrome was gone.
"I keep hearing that. What does that mean?" Ratchet asked, sealing another line.
"You're not one of us. Your frame is a dead giveaway," the mech said. "Not to mention your optics. Those alone will get ya skewered."
"Oh. That. Yeah," Ratchet stammered, focusing on the miner's leg. He quickly finished sealing the worst of the energon lines before welding a patch of templating over the gaping wound to keep impurities out of the miner's systems. He had just finished when there was another deep rumble from the mine. Ratchet instinctively leaned over the miner as a cloud of dark smoke shot out of the mine.
"Fraggin' spawn of a glitch!" Chrome's unmistakable yell rang out and Ratchet spun on his kneebolts toward the mech in time to see him stumble out of the mine, the tan-colored mech right behind him. Both were coughing hard as their vents tried to filter the smoke from the air.
"We have to get that out of the way or Dusty and the others are scrap," the miner was saying, servos braced on his knee guards as he coughed again.
"Ya think I don't know that, Sandy?!" Chrome spat. "Longhaul can't get that beam moved and we don't even know if Carbon can help from his end." He stormed over to Ratchet. The apprentice moved over as Chrome dropped down beside him and the miner.
"How ya doing, Battleship?" Chrome asked, inspecting Ratchet's work.
"Fine. Now what the frag is a Royal doing up here?" Battleship growled as Chrome shoved him back down onto his back.
"Tell you later," Chrome replied before his gaze snapped back up to the mine. "Frag. There it goes again."
Just as Chrome spoke there was a loud groan and more dust billowed out of the entrance.
"What's wrong?" Ratchet asked.
"Shaft collapsed," Chrome said, sparing the yellow mech a glance. "It's too unstable to drill our way through and it's too heavy for Longhaul to move by himself."
"Where's Carbon?" Battleship asked.
"Take a wild guess. Sandstorm said he went back in after Sterling. I'm gonna terminate that glitch," Chrome growled before glancing at Ratchet. "That sound was another support shaft giving way. We don't know how many have already collapsed."
"How far down are they?" Ratchet asked before he had time to think about what he was saying and change his mind.
Chrome turned to stare at him in surprise. "What?"
"How far down are they?" Ratchet repeated. "I'm smaller than anyone here. I might be able to get to them if they need medical attention." He subspaced a rag to try to clean his servos off with. Without thinking, he handed the rag to Chrome who roughly scrubbed the worst of the stains of his own servos before handing it back to Ratchet.
"The mine goes back in about a mile but there's a bunch of side tunnels before you hit the main cavern," Chrome said slowly, watching Ratchet closely.
"Chrome, you can't be serious!" demanded the tan mech, Sandstorm. "Copper would blow a gasket if he found out you let some Royal go underground!"
"There's seven other miners down there," Chrome snapped. "I can guarantee you that if he tries anything stupid, Sterling, at least, will personally ensure he does not come back out in one piece. You know that mech doesn't know how to terminate."
Ratchet's armor flared at the not-so-subtle threat. That was the second time he had been 'warned' about this Sterling mech.
"You're insane," Sandstorm growled to Chrome, but his vivid red gaze was pinned on Ratchet. It was filled with such hate that Ratchet actually took a step back. "You don't belong here, Royal, so why don't you go back to your Towers and stay out of our way."
"Sandstorm, I told you to back off," Chrome barked, shoving a servo against the miner's chassis and forcing him back a step. "He came to me because he claims he wants to be my apprentice."
"He what?!" Sandy demanded.
"If the mech wants me to mentor him that is none of your concern. You just do your job and I'll do mine. Now, back off," he snarled, then turned to jab a digit at Ratchet. "You. Come with me."
Ratchet jumped up to follow the medic back to the mine. When he passed the tan mech, he was given another growl and Ratchet's armor flattened instinctually against his frame.
"Ignore Sandstorm. He won't try anything when I'm around," Chrome grumbled, stalking toward the mine. He paused in the entrance to give Ratchet a glance. "Why are you here? And don't give me this slag about wanting to help our kind. I've heard it before from other younglings and they don't even last a joor."
"I saw a miner get beat up when he went to a medic for help. He said his friend was hurt but no one did anything but kick him out. My guess is the friend probably offlined," Ratchet explained, holding Chrome's dark, green gaze. "I want to do this," Ratchet insisted, "and I'll do whatever it takes to earn your respect. I may be a Royal, but I'm willing to work."
Chrome watched him for a nano-klick more without saying anything before starting forward again, bracing a servo against a half-collapsed beam as he ducked under it. Ratchet glanced at the metal warily, noting the way it appeared warped.
"It's stressed," Chrome explained, glancing back at Ratchet. "they weren't designed for this kind of weight." He faced the tunnel again. "Longhaul! How you holding up?"
"It's going to take a while," the massive grey mech that had delivered Battleship said with a grunt, his back braced against another beam as he easily levered it out of the way. It fell to the ground with a crash and Ratchet couldn't help but jump. "What's he doing here?" Longhaul demanded, glaring at Ratchet.
Again, Ratchet couldn't help but shrink back from the miner's vivid red glare.
"He might be the only one that's going to be able to confirm what shape the others are in. He volunteered to do it," Chrome growled, armor flaring aggressively. Longhaul shot the apprentice one more simmering glare before he stepped aside with a shrug.
"I'm not dealing with Copper if he finds out," the mech growled.
"I'll deal with the fragger myself," Chrome replied, then glanced at Ratchet. "I don't know what's going to be on the other side."
"No one does," Ratchet said with a shrug. "You said there were seven unaccounted for?"
"Our gang leader, Dusty, and his second, Sterling, Carbon for sure, Axil, Ironlock, and Scrapper," Longhaul answered, "and that glitch Piper."
"And Sterling is the one I need to be worried about," Ratchet said, scowling. Chrome smirked at him before turning deadly serious again.
"The other thing is hissing. If you hear it, get out. The mine is a straight shaft into the side of the cliff. It won't drop away on you. At least," Chrome shrugged, "it shouldn't. We've scanned the area for driller tunnels and it's clear." He turned to Longhaul again. "How far down were they?"
"I don't know. Battleship was loading me up when the place exploded," Longhaul said with a shrug. Ratchet noticed the movement caused little rivulets of blue energon to start streaming down parts of the miner's armor.
"Frag. In that case, if they're in the main cavern, it's a straight run down the shaft. If not…" Chrome trailed off. "Then you're royally screwed. Sterling and Dusty were the only two with maps. The rest of us have memorized the mine already."
"Then I'd better get going," Ratchet said as a wave of panic suddenly flooded his systems. Primus, he was more insane than the medic!
"Just because you do this doesn't mean I will take you on," Chrome rumbled lowly.
"I know," Ratchet said, just as seriously, before turning to the massive slab that was blocking the tunnel. The slab was at an angle and there was just enough of a gap that Ratchet figured he could crawl through.
"Wish me luck," he muttered as he dropped to the ground.
"I don't believe in luck," Chrome muttered darkly as Ratchet squeezed through the barrier into the unknown. "If you're smart, you won't either. But I won't deny that we sure could use a miracle."
Hope you guys liked it. I'll probably update with in the next two, three days. Yell at me if I don't.
Read and Review please! I love you guys, thanks for sticking with me though all this. Yeesh...
Beta'd by GreyHowler 12/30/18