First off, comments are very much appreciated. No matter how long ago I posted the chapter, I would love to know what you thought.
This chapter, Liliy is still at home because if she had been there when Ratchet used the Synth'N on himself, she would've kicked his aft to Cybertron and back. Another one of those chapters that I did not intend to write when I started this fic, but I got an idea for one of the CRC boys and well...
Based on 'Stronger, Faster' (s1e22).
{Ma'am, you might want to come take a look at this,} Lima's voice came across Liliy's comm.
"On my way, Lima," Liliy answered, setting aside the datapad she was working on. She hurried over to the Comm center and found Lima, Pepper, and Delta gathered around one of the monitors. The Laserblade climbed up to the console in front of them. "What's the problem?"
"One of the Autobot signals momentarily disappeared while it was in their base," explained Lima. "When it came back, I was getting strange reading from it. I called Pepper to make sure there was nothing wrong with our computer-"
"It's working perfectly," commented the neon yellow mech.
"-And then I called Delta to see if he knew what it was."
"I can't really make heads or tails of it," said Delta.
"Whose signal is it?" Liliy asked, looking at the monitor.
"Ratchet's," answered Lima.
Liliy's optics widened. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. Everyone else is accounted for." Lima zoomed out on the map to show that the rest of the Autobots were currently in another location.
"That idiot!" Liliy exclaimed with an angry wave of her servo.
"What is it, ma'am?" asked Pepper.
Liliy turned to them as she explained. "Ratchet has been working on the formula for synthetic energon because their stockpile is getting low. From what I have seen from his research, the formula he has is far from complete. If he got desperate and tested it on himself..." She looked at the monitor again.
"It would explain his signal distorting," Delta mused.
"Ma'am," interrupted Lima. "The other Autobots are chasing some Cons. It looks like there is going to be trouble."
"Who is out on surveillance?" Liliy wanted to know.
"Hirry, Yankee, and Zulu."
"Send them in. Their orders are not to engage unless absolutely necessary."
"Yes, ma'am." Lima relayed the orders to the surveillance team.
The team had to be ground-bridged to a spot near the Autobots' location. The Autobots were chasing Knock Out and Breakdown along the bottom of a canyon. Luckily, the surveillance team arrived just after a squad of eradicons entered the canyon, so they weren't spotted. Hirry and Zulu drove along the top of the canyon while Yankee flew overhead and sent a video feed back to base.
The eradicons fired missiles at the canyon walls to cause a rockslide to stop the Autobots, but Arcee managed to get through. She was separated from the others but continued to pursue the Con grounders despite the threat from the eradicons. The eradicons managed to stop her with a missile blast and she appeared to be hurt. The eradicons transformed and dropped to the ground to surround her. Both Hirry and Zulu were at the edge of the canyon, ready to snipe the eradicons before they could kill Arcee. However, a ground bridge opened in the air just below them and Ratchet arrived.
"That idiot! Did he suddenly get scrap for brains?" Liliy growled as she watched Ratchet plow through the eradicons around Arcee. "He really did test the stuff on himself."
"It seems to be working quite well," observed Delta.
"Is it really? Synthetic energon is supposed to be a substitute for natural energon, but this looks like an enhancement; like a drug. And what are the after effects going to be? His formula was incomplete. We already know the stuff has altered his spark signal. What is it doing to the rest of him?"
"If you're worried about him, are you going to go back?" asked Pepper.
"No way!" she snapped. "I told Prime I was going to be gone for a week so I am going to be gone for a week. We can monitor Ratchet's condition from here and send someone to intervene if necessary. I am not going to let that idiot ruin my vacation."
"That's the third time you have called him an idiot," Delta pointed out.
"Yeah, so?" Liliy took a moment to collect her thoughts and sighed. "Lima, keep an optic on him. If he leaves the base again, send someone to watch him. Delta, you and I are going to go have a look at that old data cylinder to see if we get the rest of that formula."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And Pepper…" The mech waited patiently for his orders while Liliy looked again at the carnage left in the Autobot medic's wake on the monitor. Her tone was quiet when she finally spoke again. "Find Fox and Oscar and go help the surveillance team with clean-up. Call for more help if you need too."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ratchet is on the move again," Lima said, watching the Autobots signals move across the monitor. "The Madam said to send someone to watch him."
"Who is still out?" asked Echo, joining her.
"Yankee is closest and can arrive without a bridge."
"Then send him."
Ratchet crouched over the prone miner, holding his welding torch to the mech's mask. The Con was screaming.
"Where is Megatron?" Ratchet demanded, momentarily pulling the torch away.
Before the miner could answer, something big, peach and green slammed into the medic, knocking him away from the Con. The miner shakily pushed himself into sitting position. Between him and the Autobot, who was slowly getting up, stood a helicopter mech painted peach and pistachio green. The new mech turned to him, the orange visor in his vehicon-like mask flashing.
"Get out of here!" he ordered.
The miner wasted no time scrambling to his peds and running away.
"Oh, no, you don't." Ratchet transformed and took after him.
The copterbot, who was somewhat larger than Ratchet, latched onto the back of his alt-mode and lifted the ambulance off the ground. He spun once and released. Ratchet transformed and hit the ground chest first. He slid to the edge of the plateau, sending a shower of rocks and dust down the slope, alerting the other Autobots to his position.
With a growl, Ratchet got to his peds and faced the strange mech. He brought out his knives and rushed the copterbot. The mech dodged his strikes with ease, occasionally blocking them with his tail-rotor-blades-turned-knives. After blocking a strike meant to take his spark, the stranger shoved hard, sending the medic stumbling back and putting some distance between them.
"What are you doing?" the mech demanded. "You're a medic! You are supposed to help people, not hurt them!"
"It was just a Decepticon," Ratchet spat.
"Just a….?" The mech was incredulous. "That was an unarmed miner! Decepticon or not, you had no right to melt his mask to his faceplates!"
The other Autobots, who had appeared while they were fighting, looked startled.
"Ratchet," asked Prime, "what did you do?"
"I was just trying to find out where Megatron is."
"By torturing the poor mech!" the copterbot declared.
"Ratchet, what were you thinking?" Optimus wanted to know.
"That I was going to get results."
"By breaking protocol? Ratchet, you know that Autobots do not inflict harm unless all other options have been exhausted." Prime's optics narrowed. "It is what separates us from the Decepticons."
Ratchet gave a short laugh. "Is this really the time for another lecture, Optimus? If it wasn't for this…" He gestured at the stranger who stood listening with his arms crossed over his chassis. "...interference, I would know where Megatron and his stockpile of energon is right now!"
"My name is Yankee," the mech supplied. "I'm a member of the CRC Surveillance Team."
Ratchet glowered at him. "Like I care who you are!"
Bulkhead put a servo on the medic's shoulder. "Come on, Ratchet. Calm it down."
"Calm is the last thing we need!" Ratchet snapped, swatting Bulk's servo away. "Calm is what lost us Cybertron!" He paced about, gesturing as he spoke. "The Cons have a warship! An army! All this energon scouting! You think Megatron isn't gearing up for something big! We're squandering our resources chasing after his crumbs when we really need to be hitting him hard and hitting him now! Precisely where it hurt!"
"A direct assault on the Decepticons would only provoke retaliation," Optimus countered. "And lead to incalculable losses. I will not endanger innocent human lives."
"Yet you seem to have no problem endangering ours!" retorted Ratchet. "Just ask Cliffjumper! Oh, I forgot! He couldn't be here today!"
"That's it!" exclaimed Arcee as she advanced on Ratchet but Bulkhead grabbed her arms and held her back.
"You know your problem, Optimus?" the medic continued, ignoring Arcee's murderous glare. "For such a big, strong bot, you're soft. You didn't pound Megatron into scrap when you had the chance! Many chances in fact!"
"I'm afraid the synthetic energon has impaired your judgement, old friend," replied Optimus slowly. "I am confining you to base until further notice."
Ratchet crossed his arms. "Hmh. It doesn't matter. I never did find out where Megatron is."
"Why do you want to know so badly, medic?" asked Yankee. "Do you think you can take on the warlord?"
"Oh, I know I can." Ratchet smashed his fist into his palm.
Yankee chuckled dryly. "You couldn't even land a hit on me. I'd wager that you might get one hit in on Megatron because your new 'strength' would catch him by surprise but after that… a seasoned gladiator like him? You wouldn't stand a chance."
"What do you care?" snapped Ratchet. "It's not like you know where he is either!"
"Actually, I do."
They stared at him in surprise.
"What? It's the CRC's job to know where all the other Cybertronians are. Who do you think cleans up all the messes after you and the Cons get into a fight?"
"Then tell me." Ratchet approached him and jabbed a digit against his chest plates. "Where. Is. Megatron?"
Yankee's visor flickered slightly and he tilted his helm as if he was listening to something. "The commander says maybe we should let you go after Megatron. A good pounding might knock some sense back into that impaired processor of yours."
"Absolutely not!" said Optimus.
"As you wish," Yankee replied with a casual shrug. Stepping back, he transformed and took to the air, throwing up dust around the Autobots.
Ratchet turned a glare on Optimus as the Prime requested a ground bridge from Bumblebee. A vortex opened near them. Ratchet sighed.
"Fine," he muttered, stalking toward it.
He had just entered the ground bridge when he received a data package on his private comm. He opened it and found it was the coordinates for Megatron's location. Ratchet abruptly turned and ran out of the bridge. He plowed into Bulkhead who had just started to follow. He threw the green mech at Optimus, who caught him. Transforming, the medic dropped to his tires and sped away before the others could recover enough to follow him.
Yankee dropped out of sight of the Autobots and circled back around on foot to help the clean-up crew. They had bridged in and started working as soon as the Bots had climbed up to the plateau. Using red energon, they worked fast to save any survivors. Now they were collecting the corpses and abandoned mining equipment.
"How many survivors?" he asked no one in particular.
"Five," answered Leecher in a grave tone. "Including the miner you saved."
"So few again?"
"The synthetic energon has made Ratchet quite ruthless."
"That's why you had me send him after Megatron."
"That idiot will learn his lesson."
"Or get himself killed."
"Don't be ridiculous. We didn't send him alone."
The Autobots returned to their base after searching for several hours for their medic. Arcee went immediately to the main console to try and locate Ratchet's signal.
"No good," she said after a moment. "I can't get a fix on Ratchet's coordinates."
"That bogus energon must be scrambling his signal," Bulkhead commented.
In a very rare show of fury, Optimus slammed his fist down on the comm. "Optimus Prime to Yankee! Come in!"
There was a short burst of static. Then...
{Apologies, sir. I was simply following my commander's orders,} a confident voice answered, but Optimus thought he detected a slight hint of sheepishness.
"Where did you send Ratchet?" he asked.
{Can't tell you. That would ruin the lesson if you show up too soon.}
"What lesson? What are you talking about?"
{As a medic, he should know better than to test an unstable experiment on himself. He is going to learn that lesson again. The hard way. But rest assured, we are not sending him alone. You will get him back alive.}
Optimus got the distinct impression that he was no longer talking to Yankee but to someone else who sounded like him or was using his voice to hide their own.
"Please. He is my friend. I want to help him. Where is he?"
His only answer was static.
Liliy lifted her servo from the commlink, severing the connection and leaving Optimus unanswered and very likely worried.
"Are Romeo and Foxtrot in position?" she asked.
"Yes," confirmed Echo. "Ratchet has entered the mine and is about to encounter Breakdown."
"Understood." Liliy activated the comm again and spoke into it. "You two know what you're supposed to be doing?"
{Have a little faith, Madam,} Romeo replied.
{Keep the medic alive at all costs. Even if I have to leave Romeo here,} said Foxtrot.
{Hey now. Maybe I should leave you behind. I am faster after all.}
"Boys! Enough! I would very much prefer it if both of you came back. Understood?"
{Yes, ma'am!} they both answered.
"Ratchet is approaching Megatron and Knock Out," said Echo.
{We have a visual.}
{Ooh. Yank' was right. The medic only got in one hit.}
Foxtrot and Romeo flinched when they heard the sickening crunch that Ratchet's armor made when Megatron's fist connected hard with it. They remained where they were, hidden down the passageway, their blasters trained on the warlord as the larger mech tossed the medic aside like a ragdoll. Then Megatron stalked off in the opposite direction, leaving the Autobot to the mercy of Knock Out.
The Con medic knelt beside Ratchet and retrieved a small canister from his subspace.
"Doctor to doctor," Knock Out said, carefully filling the canister with the glowing green energon that poured from Ratchet's wound, "I must say, your contribution to the Decepticon cause is very much appreciated."
Ratchet, only able to pull in shaky vents, suddenly looked startled by something behind the red medic.
"Doctor to doctor, Knock Out," mocked a voice, accompanied by the whine of charging blasters, "your bedside manners are lacking."
Knock Out twisted and came face-to-face with three charged blasters. He looked up and found they belong to two strange mechs with vehicon-type masks.
"You guys again?" he asked, focusing on the masks.
The boxier of the two, painted red and white, held out his unchanged servo. "The canister, if you please."
Knock Out laughed. "I don't think so."
The other mech, more shapely than his partner with lots of curves and dark red paint, touched the hot muzzle of his blaster to the Con's shoulder plating. Knock Out yelped and jerked away.
"My finish!" he exclaimed, examining the scorch mark that was left behind.
"We'll do more than ruin your precious finish if you don't do as you're told." The blaster moved closer to his face.
"Alright, alright!" Knock Out raised his servos over his helm.
The red and white mech grabbed the canister from his servo. The next instant, it was shattered against the tunnel wall.
"Now, get up and move away from the Autobot," Foxtrot demanded.
Knock Out obeyed. The red and white mech took his place beside Ratchet.
"How is he, Fox?" asked Romeo.
Foxtrot scanned Ratchet. "He's lost a lot of energon but he'll live. The wound is mostly superficial but there is some minor damage to his internal systems."
Knock Out snorted. "I could have told you that."
"Oh, shut up, will you?" Romeo leveled a blaster at the Con's spark chamber and fired.
Horror twisted Knock Out's faceplates as he fell back and lay on the floor, convulsing slightly as electricity surged through his systems.
"Is he dead?" Ratchet managed to gasp out, watching as the red Con finally stilled.
"Unfortunately, no. We are forbidden from extinguishing another's spark unless it is absolutely necessary," replied Foxtrot. Mumbling, he added, "That and Tango would be mad at us."
"Fox, the Autobots are in the mine."
"I know, Romeo. With the loss of the synthetic energon, they were finally able to track his signal."
"Optimus...?" Ratchet managed.
"Yes. He is coming," Fox assured him. "It is alright if you power down. We will make sure you are taken care of."
A tired sigh escaped from the medic as he fell into stasis. A moment later, three Autobots came around the corner and spotted them.
"Ratchet!" cried Bulkhead, aiming his blasters at them.
"Wait, Bulkhead," said Arcee, putting out her servo to stop the wrecker. Recognizing the dark red mech, she stepped forward and addressed him. "You're Romeo, aren't you? CRC surveillance?"
Romeo pushed up his mask and smirked. "Correct. Nice to know that you remember me. This is Foxtrot," he gestured to the mech next to Ratchet. "He's one of our medics."
"As I told Romeo a few moments ago," Foxtrot explained, "your friend here has lost a lot of energon. The wound Megatron inflicted on him is mostly superficial but there is some minor damage to his internal systems. He needs a transfusion as soon as possible. May I accompany you back to your base so that I can look after him?"
"Whoa, Fox, you sure the Madam will be ok with that?" asked Romeo.
"The Madam is the one who taught me not to abandon a patient." Foxtrot looked up at Optimus. "I am offering my services as a medic."
"Very well. I will leave him in your servos."
Ratchet slowly came back online. He found himself lying on a medical berth in his own medbay, hooked up to an energon transfusion machine. As he started to sit up a servo caught his shoulder and gently pushed him back down.
"Whoa there, hotshot," a voice said. "You've lost a lot of energon. You just need to rest for now."
Ratchet looked up at the strange mech and noticed the red cross on his upper arm.
"Are you a medic?" He managed to ask.
"Yes. I don't know if you remember but we met in the mine earlier. You were lying on the ground in a pool of your own energon. My name is Foxtrot, by the way. I'm one of the CRC's medics."
"Where is Optimus?"
"He should-" Foxtrot was interrupted by the ground bridge opening. "There he is now." He called to the big mech that was setting down the energon cubes he was carrying. "Optimus, he's awake and asking for you."
Optimus' faceplates were the picture of relief as he approached the med berth.
"Good to see you awake, old friend."
"Optimus. I-I'm sorry I made you worry. I didn't intend to hurt anyone, I just wanted so badly to-"
"-Help us. We know."
"Didn't intend to hurt anyone?" Foxtrot repeated, crossing his arms over his chassis. "Does that include the miner whose faceplates we had to replace?"
"I..." Ratchet looked away from him with a frown.
"Thought so," Foxtrot muttered. He looked up at Optimus. "Now that he's awake, he should be fine. Just make sure he rests for a couple more days and cycle the transfusions a few more times to make sure all the synthetic energon is out of his systems."
"Understood. Thank you, Foxtrot," replied Optimus.
The medic nodded and started to walk toward the exit tunnel. He stopped and turned when he remembered something. "By the way, next time you're running low on energon, instead of going on a wild goose chase and nearly getting yourself killed, please call us. We have plenty to spare, especially since we have the completed formula." He winked with that last part and then transformed into his alt-mode. Tires squealing on the concrete floor, the jeep took off, disappearing thru a ground bridge in the tunnel before he reached the exit.
"So, what did I miss?" Liliy asked after she returned to base when her week was up.
"Not much. Just Ratchet on Synth'N," said Raf.
"Synth'N?"
"Yeah. You know, the synthetic energon he was working on. He tested it on himself."
"Did he finish the formula?"
"No. But he wanted to test it. It made him faster and stronger-"
"And studlier," added Bulkhead, interrupting.
"-But there were bad side effects too," continued Raf. "He became irritable-"
"How is that different?" asked Bulkhead.
"More than usual. He went off on Optimus, remember?" said Arcee.
"-and irrational. He tried to take on Megatron all by himself. It didn't end well," Raf finished.
"Ha, wow. I'm glad I wasn't here for that," said Liliy.
"Yeah. It was pretty bad. How was your week, Liliy?" Raf wanted to know. "Is your family doing well?"
Liliy grinned. "It was fantastic. Everyone is doing well. We partied for a whole day after I arrived. But then I spent a few days in our clinic because I hurt my shoulder. Lee wasn't too happy with me but he got over it. Overall though, it was a good week."
Later, when Liliy was walking past Ratchet, she said "Idiot!" just loud enough for him to hear but when he turned around, she was gone.
Hope you liked it. Comments are welcome.
A few more members introduced...
Hirry: Hummer H2 [Surveillance Team]
Pepper: Dumptruck Snowplow [Computer Technician]
Yankee: News Helicopter of unknown make [Surveillance Team]
That leaves five more members to introduce.
And one last thing... I have a tumblr blog set aside for the CRC, if anyone is interested. There isn't much there yet but I put it on my profile.