"Mirage, can you believe him?" Hound marvelled, referring to Thundercracker.
They'd followed his directions, and sure enough, were coming upon light from a tunnel opening.
The Ligier was just as surprised as the scout.
"He must have read that data," he said slowly.
Prowl had completely lost awareness, but still shivered badly.
And he was still losing Energon.
They reached the opening and paused.
Hound transformed, and Mirage carefully set the tactician in the Jeep, his feet on the very edge of the green bonnet.
The spy activated his commlink.
"Skyfire, we're ready! Operation: Recovery Part One complete, now it's up to you,"
"I'll be right there guys. How is Prowl?"
The white jet asked anxiously.
"Not good," Mirage answered shortly.
He transformed and the two of them moved out into the desert at a level pace, hearing the big jet swoop low over the mountainous base.
The Jeep and Ligier saw and felt the big Valkyrie pass just a few metres over them.
He touched down smoothly, slowing slightly as he released the boarding ramp.
Hound increased speed, Mirage powering along beside.
They split to get around a stray boulder Skyfire had passed over, and the Ligier threw himself into a slide to avoid sudden, rapid weapons fire.
Astrotrain had spied the Valkyrie detach from the Aerialbot formation and decided Skyfire should become his personal target practice.
Hound hurtled on board, but the spy was now several metres behind them.
"Skyfire, go!" Mirage cried, "I'm right behind you,"
The Valkyrie closed the ramp as the Ligier fired at the triplechanger to distract him.
Astrotrain spotted three Aerialbots headed his way too.
He didn't feel at all confident about taking them on, solo, so he swooped back to the main battle, pinging cursory shots at the blue and white Autobot.
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had peeled around the base to provide Skyfire with ground backup, and they covered the Ligier as he tore off in a cloud of dust.
Mirage flew past the rear of the base, intending to get back to the Ark the same way he and Hound had come in.
X
X
X
X
"I've never been so glad to see this dusty desert," Tracks panted, as they shot out of the spacebridge.
"Bluestreak, are you all right?"
"I'm fine Tracks! That was some lightshow though!"
Tracks took to the sky, and Bluestreak hit top speed as they made for the Ark.
X
X
X
X
"Hound...?"
"Not good Skyfire," the Jeep answered grimly, as Prowl brought up a shocking amount of Energon.
"Oh Primus..."
"Hound? Hound! What now!" Skyfire demanded sharply of the startled scout.
"Skyfire, he's throwing up coagulated Energon as well,"
"Oh no, that means it's stopped cycling altogether. His systems will start shutting down,"
"Come on Prowl, hang in there," Hound said desperately as the Datsun moaned and shivered.
Skyfire picked up Tracks and Bluestreak on course for the Ark.
"Skyfire to-"
"We got it Skyfire!"
Bluestreak exclaimed.
"I hope Mirage gets back ok," Hound said, deeply concerned.
X
X
X
X
Bluestreak and Tracks didn't slow as they neared the Ark, just burst in and rocketed through the corridors until they reached the medbay.
"Ratchet we got it, we got it!"
Bluestreak exclaimed, as Tracks handed over a containment cylinder.
The medic almost snatched it in his haste to get it prepared.
"Tracks! Bluestreak! Where's Prowl?" Jazz spoke up desperately, "Is he-"
"Skyfire's on his way Jazz,"
Tracks told him, leaning against a wall.
Several small battle wounds had conspired and were beginning to hurt him.
"I'm all right," he added at Ratchet's concerned glance.
Bluestreak had managed to get away without a scratch.
"Ratchet, is this going to work?" the gunner asked quietly
"We hope so Bluestreak,"
Wheeljack answered him.
"You two better get out of here before Skyfire arrives," Ratchet added, working over the microcircuit, "I don't want anyone else exposed."
X
X
X
X
Skyfire banked suddenly and descended sharply, landing as close to the Ark's entrance as he could manage.
Ratchet and Wheeljack dashed to the jet.
"For slag's sake, where's Mirage!" the medic demanded as Hound disembarked, carrying the dangerously ill tactician.
"He's on his way," Skyfire filled in, quickly transforming.
Medic and engineer faltered for just a split astrotick at Prowl's condition and appearance, shocked.
Ratchet quickly relieved Hound of the tactician, cursing as he too felt his decrease in weight.
"Primus, he's as hot as fire," Wheeljack muttered as the four of them rushed to the medbay, a door-panel brushing his arm as he helped Ratchet support Prowl.
Skyfire's commlink chirped as they stormed through the empty corridors.
Ratchet had been instrumental in evacuating the Ark, to prevent any more exposure to the virus.
"Mirage to Skyfire! I can't shake Astrotrain!"
"Go," Ratchet snapped, "And for slag's sake make sure you don't expose that tri-faced changeling."
X
X
X
X
Thundercracker shot up out of the base like a rocket and levelled, firing off a few shots at nothing to make himself look good.
"Decepticons, retreat!" Megatron bellowed, "Starscream, Skywarp, now,"
The two jets strafed the scattered Autobots on their flyover and each sent two guided incendiary blasts into the base.
"Autobots, fall back!" Optimus Prime ordered, "Fall back and take cover!"
"Prime, did they make it out?"Bumblebee almost begged.
The commander paused, not entirely certain.
"Yes! They did!"
Sideswipe panted, throwing himself down beside the Volkswagen, "But I think Mirage might be in trouble. Astrotrain cut him off from Skyfire and he took off to the west,"
The base went up behind them in an almighty, ground-shaking mushroom cloud, showering rocks and debris for hundreds of metres.
The Autobots threw themselves over injured and smaller comrades as the Decepticons beat a hasty retreat, only too glad to get out of there.
A dust-camouflaged Inferno slowly rose to his knees as the debris began settling, listening carefully.
"Hey Inferno, I owe you one," a filthy Cliffjumper remarked, clambering to his feet.
The big mech had thrown himself over the red Minibot, inarguably keeping him from being tenderised by the flying boulders.
"Ssshhh," the fire vehicle hissed, cocking his head, "Listen - I think that's Skyfire,"
"He's gone to assist Mirage," Optimus Prime correctly guessed.
"All right Autobots, let's get back to the Ark."
X
X
X
X
Astrotrain, in locomotive form, had pursued the Ligier into a "cave" formed from a collapsed outcrop.
He was too large to follow, and was circling in shuttle mode, firing off random shots to keep the Autobot pinned.
Any other time, Mirage would simply fight back, before making a run with his superior speed.
But he knew if he were hit, the virus -if he was infected, which was likely- would latch onto the Decepticon and spread further.
Mirage lay low, listening to the triplechanger circle, and wondered if he could talk sense into him.
"Astrotrain!"
He addressed the big Decepticon, "Listen to me! I know you know about the virus-"
"I don't believe there's any virus, Autoclod!"
Astrotrain cut in, firing consecutive shots at the cave's already precarious overhang.
"Skyfire to Mirage! Are you all right?"
"Skyfire! I'm fine, I just can't move!"
Mirage replied in relief.
"I've got Astrotrain in visual range, I'll be there in an astrotick,"
The big jet angled in, taking the Decepticon by surprise.
Mirage took the opportunity and shot out of the cramped space.
Skyfire was careful to keep his distance, but fired a warning shot across Astrotrain's wing.
"Skyfire! Come back for more? You won't get away from me this time," the triplechanger declared.
"Astrotrain! Keep your distance!" Skyfire called in warning, "I've been in direct contact with Prowl!"
"This slag again! Can't you Autobots come up with a better story?"
He made a sudden swoop at the Valkyrie, who banked sharply and cursed.
"You metal moron! I've been exposed, and so has my friend down there! Do you want to risk it? Our second in command could be dying as we speak!"
"Well I'd hoped my once-over would keep him down. Maybe this will do it permanently,"
"You miserable slagging purple excuse for a trash heap! You deserve to suffer ten times more than Prowl is!" Mirage absolutely exploded, transforming and firing on the malevolent Decepticon.
"You Autobots all disgust me! One is as weak as the other!"
Skyfire kept his temper in check, and fired two well-placed shots that sent the triplechanger spiralling to the desert, trailing smoke from both wings.
"Slagging idiot," Skyfire muttered.
"Come on Mirage, let's get back to the Ark and into isolation."
X
X
X
X
Ratchet swore as the unconscious, shaking tactician threw up yet another lot of Energon.
"I can't believe he still has any Energon left in his system," Wheeljack said grimly.
The pink fluid had stopped bleeding from joints and junctions, but was being vomited at a shocking rate.
"We can't do anything until he stops bringing it up.
If we start forcing the transfer the donor Energon will just come straight back up the same way," the medic pointed out.
They worked around him, trying desperately to lower his temperature.
Jazz faced away from the central medbunk, leaning back on the wall, face in hands.
He could clearly see the state his friend was in, and it chilled him to the core.
Skyfire and Mirage dashed into the medbay then, sealing the doors behind them, and the Valkyrie immediately administered a second inoculation to each of them.
This was the one Ratchet had isolated from the Cybertronian duplicate, dosed with strong magnetic waves.
The hope was it would protect them from Prowl's reconfigured virus.
"Is there anything else we can do?"
Skyfire asked, referring to himself, Hound and Mirage.
"Yes...go and talk to Jazz," Ratchet said in a low tone, glancing at the upset saboteur.
The Porsche still leaned on the wall, inside his isolated space, staring at nothing.
The rescue team looked at each other, then the Ligier slowly wandered to the saboteur.
"Jazz...I think he's saved all our lives, twice," Mirage said softly, "Prowl knew the Constructicon superweapon was situated on the ocean bed. It looks like he infected himself so he could deactivate it,"
"Oh man..." Jazz barely whispered, slowly sliding to the floor.
Since they'd learned of the virus's activation, Jazz had assumed it had been accidental, or by the Decepticons somehow.
This revelation was much harder to deal with.
"Jazz...that's why he's second in command."
The spy said gently.
"Um, do you feel ok now Jazz?"
Jazz didn't feel ok.
He felt sick through and through, but not from the virus
Prowl coughed, and retched again, straining painfully, but there was very little left to bring up.
"Ok, this is it, finally," Ratchet said quickly, seeing the Datsun throw up barely a trickle of thin Energon.
They got the donor Energon into his depleted system as quickly as they could.
"Now comes the fun part," Ratchet said grimly, "We infect him with this duplicate virus, which will halt the main one's reconfiguration, because of the magnetic waves. Then we administer the original and new antiviral agents, and hope to Primus they don't conflict,"
The medic performed these tasks with infinite care, Wheeljack assisting.
There was complete silence in the medbay, apart from an occasional sound from a medical instrument being picked up or switched on.
After what seemed an eternity, medic and engineer finally laid down their instruments, Ratchet with a world-weary sigh.
"Oh man...is he going to be ok?" Jazz hardly dared to whisper.
The medic slowly turned.
"Jazz...all we can do is wait,"
He said softly.
"I'm not going to lie to you. It doesn't look good. There's so much damage to Prowl's system from the virus reconfiguring. If I'd been able to get to him sooner..."
Ratchet trailed off.
He looked at the bowed heads of the rescuers, the engineer, the saboteur.
"Keep your fingers crossed."
He looked at them again, realizing for the first time how Energon-stained they all were, including Wheeljack.
"Washrack, now. All of you," Ratchet ordered, pointing to the adjoining medbay facility.
He turned back to his patient as they slowly wandered out.
"Ratchet man, what about you?"
Jazz spoke up quietly.
"I'm not finished yet Jazz."
He treated the tactician's gaping midsection, then went to work on the ruined door-panels.
Ratchet cursed silently; each time he touched Prowl, great pieces of bodypaint were coming away.
The medic worked slowly and with great care, trying not to cause the Datsun any further suffering.