Author's Notes: This was originally supposed to be a much longer chapter, but I've had a lot of issues going on around my house. So, to make sure you guys didn't have to wait too long, I made this chapter two parts and am posting this one now. Thanks for sticking around. I know this story is ridiculously long at this point, so if you've come this far I really appreciate it :)

Chapter 47

Code Blue

Part 1

Ratchet and Bluestreak tried to recharge in their alt modes, carefully hidden in a junkyard amidst rusting cars and discarded piles of scrap metal. Ratchet was silent, lost in thought. Bluestreak was likewise lost in thought, but unfortunately wasn't so silent…

"…yet I still can't help but feel like it doesn't make sense," Bluestreak droned on, "I mean Soundwave can download data, like an iPhone! Have you ever met another Cybertronian that can do that? It isn't even useful for fighting, so why did he bother? He's not a scientist, he's not a doctor, and he's not even that interested in learning. Did you know his favorite movie is The Emoji Movie? I caught him watching it twice! Twice! If he can download data then why does he have to watch it again?"

"Bluestreak," Ratchet sighed wearily, "Can we please talk about something besides Soundwave?"

"I'm sorry, Sire," Bluestreak said quietly, "I know you've lost a lot the past couple days. Earth is a beautiful place, but I know it will never be Cybertron. I still don't think we should stay here and sulk too much longer though. We need energon if we're going to survive, and we need to find the others if we're going to stand up to Megatron."

"There is no standing up to Megatron," Ratchet said defeatedly, "Don't you understand, Bluestreak? He's won. It's over. We lost. All that's left for us to do is…rust in peace."

"You mean…we're giving up?" Bluestreak asked, his voice small and disillusioned, "But there are still Autobots on this planet who need us, and we're the only medics they have left."

"So we should go back, patch up their wounds, and prolong their suffering?" Ratchet asked bitingly, "I've just been putting off the inevitable all these vorns! The Decepticons have the warship, the technology, the arms, the troops, and the energon! All we had to rely on was Optimus, and without him…without him, we have no one left to lead us. Nothing left to hang our hopes on."

"He could still be alive," Bluestreak pointed out.

"It would take a miracle," Ratchet said cynically, "You don't know Optimus like I do. He wasn't going through that ground bridge. He stayed behind to destroy it. That's just the kind of mech he is. Even when he was Orion Pax he was always sticking his neck out for those that needed help, even though back then the most he could do was help them look through old historical records and archaic bylaws. I kept you and Prowl away from that world in the hopes that we could make peaceful change, but when the council chose Orion over Megatronus…well, I suppose we all go to the Matrix someday. Maybe then I can ask those politicians and bureaucrats what they were thinking."

"You kept me away because I was young," Bluestreak surmised, "Well Sire, I'm not young anymore. I've probably killed more Autobots than you've patched together, and I certainly know the Decepticons better than you do. We can't let them win, Sire. We just can't. Megatron won't stop until the humans are stains on the pavement, the Autobots are nothing but a historical footnote, and every mech he deems inferior becomes a mindless slave. I have to do something, even if I have to do it alone. Please…don't make me do this alone."

"You can't fight against Megatron!" Ratchet protested, "You're not a soldier, you're a-"

"Not a soldier?" Bluestreak asked incredulously, "I can hit a target from 600 paces away! I'm not just a soldier, I'm a sniper! They need me out there, and I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to 'rust in peace'. I'll heal with my hand, shoot with my gun, and keep watch with the red visor that should have been my blue optics! They took too much away from me, but I'll be fragged if I let them take anything else! I don't need a leader, I need energon to power this blaster!"

Bluestreak then transformed into robot mode, and Ratchet transformed after and shoved him against the scrap pile they were hiding behind.

"Bluestreak, be careful!" Ratchet hissed, "We were nearly spotted by humans a few hours ago. We can't risk being discovered again."

"I don't care," Bluestreak spat, "Sire, you know I want nothing more than to support you and be a good son to you, but this is bigger than us. You said when I got my mind back that I could be anything I wanted to be. Well, I want to be an Autobot, and I want to save my Vehicon brothers and sisters. If you don't want that anymore, then I understand. I won't stand in the way of your retirement. I just hope you'll reconsider. I know Optimus made a mistake, but that doesn't make Megatron right. He still needs to be stopped, and if I'm all that stands between him and the humans, then he'll have to claw his way through my standard-issue purple corpse."

Ratchet let go of his son then, but he didn't say anything. Ratchet looked sorrowful, but Bluestreak could tell that he wasn't going to change his mind. The Autobots needed a leader, that much was true, but Bluestreak wasn't going to allow sentimentality to stop him. He knew Cybertron was never coming back, but that didn't mean earth had to die too.

As Bluestreak prepared to transform into alt mode, a vehicle could be heard coming closer to them.

"Scrap! It's more humans," Ratchet groused, "Transform before they see us."

With that the robots were replaced with an ambulance and a sporty purple concept car. They shut off their engines to try to avoid detection, but it was for naught. The car drove toward them, and it turned out to be Bumblebee, with Elita riding atop him in her robot mode.

"Bumblebee!" Bluestreak cheered, "You guys are okay! I'm so glad Megatron didn't kill you guys!"

"We found you two thanks to some conspiracy website," Elita informed them, "Don't worry. Bumblebee was able to scrub it. Don't ask me how it works though. Humans have a very chaotic internet system."

"Do you know where Optimus is?" Ratchet asked.

"Funny. I was going to ask you that very question," Elita replied wryly, "So, I guess you guys haven't found anyone else."

"Not yet," Bluestreak told her, "I was just about to look for some others, so I'm glad you guys found us first."

"This is a real scrappy hideout," Elita remarked, "Bumblebee and I have been looking for a hideout ourselves, but haven't had any luck yet."

/Starscream had a hideout when he went rogue, but we don't know where it was,/ Bumblebee added.

"He was probably on board the derelict Harbinger," Ratchet theorized, "Of course there are two halves to that ship, and we only found the useless cargo half before. In order to find the working computer we'd have to scan for residual energy, but that could be dangerous given how the Decepticons are actively searching for Autobot life signs."

"Hm…this seems like an easy fix," Elita concluded.

"Easy?" Ratchet asked incredulously, "We can't hide ourselves from the Decepticons and search for the Harbinger!"

"You mean you can't," Elita corrected him, "Bluestreak and I are Vehicons. They won't suspect a thing."

"Good thinking!" Bluestreak exclaimed, "We'll find it in no time! You hear that, Sire? The Autobots are rebuilding!"

"For what? The privilege of being killed by Megatron instead of starvation?" Ratchet scoffed, "One only sounds marginally better than the other."

/What crawled up your tailpipe?/ Bumblebee asked sourly.

"Sire doesn't want to rejoin the fighting," Bluestreak explained, "He just wants to give up. I don't think it's a good idea to push him. Don't worry though, I'm still with you guys all the way."

"Don't presume to speak for me, Bluestreak!" Ratchet snapped, "I just don't think it's worth it to fight a losing war. We've lost the Omega Lock, we've lost our base, and we've lost our leader! What do we have left?"

"You think you have nothing left?" Elita asked heatedly, "What a load of scrap! You with your custom frame, loving son, and friends who care about you! How dare you! You have no idea what it feels like to really have nothing…to be nothing! Believe it or not, I do understand how you feel, Doc. When I became aware of my true identity, I went into denial. I knew this body made me a Decepticon; a dirty, paint-by-numbers, worthless Decepticon drone. I didn't think my sparkmate could love me, and I didn't think my son could love me, but they do. They accept me as I am, and don't mourn who I was. I will not dishonor Optimus's memory by surrendering to Megatron, and if you were ever his friend then you won't either. Now get off your fat tires and move!"

Ratchet instantly transformed into robot mode, jolted by her harsh yet inspiring words. Bluestreak patted his sire on the back and gently led him into formation behind Elita and Bumblebee.

"Hey, Sire?" Bluestreak whispered in Ratchet's audial, "I think we do still have a leader, after all."

Ratchet didn't verbally reply, but just shook his helm in bemusement. Elita wasn't the sort of calm stoic presence that Optimus Prime was, but Ratchet had to admit that she was still good at leading an army…even if it was by lighting a fire under their heel struts.

On board the Nemesis, at a modest dining table, Megatron sat with his most trusted companions; Soundwave, Frenzy, and Laserbeak. The room was dark and sparse, with only an empty mount on the wall where Megatron had housed the Dark Star Saber. Megatron, for all his power, didn't really believe in showing off material wealth. That was how Autobot elites lorded their power over others. Megatron's reputation alone was how he solidified his place in the universe.

Soundwave swirled a small cube of energon around to watch the sparks crackle to life above the liquid, and then his face mask lifted for a brief moment to drink some of the life-giving fluid. Only Megatron and Soundwave's symbiotes knew what the spymaster looked like under the mask, and Soundwave had every intention of keeping it that way.

"We've never been this close to defeating the Autobots before," Megatron said with undisguised glee, "This is a victory I will relish. I hope Optimus Prime lives, so that I may extinguish his spark myself. If that is not possible however, I shall accept it. The conquering of these two worlds is what really matters, after all."

Soundwave merely nodded and set his cube back on the table. Laserbeak took this moment to tap on the cube, and Soundwave took the hint and poured some energon into his symbiote's awaiting receptor.

"I do look forward to the end of this war," Megatron confided, "Many believe I want to fight forever, but that's all I've been doing practically since coming online. Of course, what I look forward to most is hearing your voice again. Soundwave, I understand why you took your vow of silence. Your faith in our cause has been most gratifying. I did not expect our victory to take so long, but soon it will all be over. Our enemies will be nothing but dust and drones, and Decepticons everywhere will have a future filled with prosperity and conquest."

"Megatron?" Frenzy spoke up from the other side of the table, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Of course, Frenzy," Megatron encouraged, "This is the most secure room on the ship."

"Why didn't you change me back?" Frenzy asked, "Is it because I failed? Do you even want me back now? I mean…I keep failing…"

Soundwave placed a reassuring servo on Frenzy's back to comfort him. He couldn't stand to hear his symbiote sound so lost and hurt.

"I was unaware of the true circumstances of your demise," Megatron told him, "Had I known you were a Vehicon, then of course I would have had you revived. We need every loyal soldier we can get, and few have proven themselves more loyal than you."

Frenzy nodded and went back to his cube. His mind digested what Megatron said, and he wondered if there was a hidden message under the surface. Megatron said they needed loyal soldiers, but Frenzy was melted down while trying to save the life of an Autobot. Did Megatron know that detail? Was that why he never rescued Frenzy? Or was Frenzy merely being paranoid, and Megatron truly didn't know about this? He couldn't tell, and part of him feared the answer.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, a typical meal time for Megatron and his followers. Soundwave and his symbiotes rarely spoke, and Megatron didn't always feel the need to speak either. Their peaceful moment together was soon interrupted when Soundwave started playing a comm transmission out loud for the others to hear.

/Come in…Nemesis…-out…fallen…can't…up…/

"Who is transmitting that, Soundwave?" Megatron inquired.

Soundwave displayed a photo on his mask of Knockout looking at himself admiringly in a mirror.

"Of course…" Megatron sighed, "Try to isolate the signal so we can understand what the frag he's saying."

/…help…can't…/ Soundwave played with the signals a little more until the transmission repeated, /Come in, Darkmount or Nemesis. This is Knockout. I've fallen, and I can't get up. Send help. Can't maintain consciousness…much longer…/

"Soundwave, dispatch Vehicons to locate Knockout immediately," Megatron ordered, "We can't afford to have our medic compromised during the final stretch of the war."

Soundwave nodded, and motioned for his symbiotes to reattach themselves to his body. Megatron got up as well, disappointed but not surprised that once again dinner had been interrupted by life. If Knockout had done something stupid, then Megatron swore to himself that he would chain that pompous red headache to the wall and leave him there.

Knockout had tested the Vehicon's jet pack, which as it turned out was a phenomenally stupid idea. At first the experiment went well. Knockout flew away from Darkmount and past the desert altogether. He felt free and excited at the prospects of flight without ugly wings on his back. He didn't know he would like flying, but as it turned out he did. It was not meant to be, however.

He had fallen from over a hundred feet in the air, onto a tree, and then down the tree's branches to the ground. Now, there he lay, in the middle of fragging nowhere, hoping against all hope that his team could find him.

Every strut seemed to hurt, which was all Knockout could think about for a brief moment. He didn't know what had come over him that he would trust a mere Vehicon to build a jet pack. Except, on some level, he did know.

Everything in Knockout's life had been building up to this moment. He lost everyone he ever cared about, he lost his good standing with Megatron, and he even lost his lab to Starscream. If Starscream could demonstrate medical skills, then Knockout would be literally worthless to Megatron. For all of Starscream's flaws, he had at least made himself indispensable to the warlord. Knockout had tried to do that, but felt himself slowly being replaced and forgotten.

Knockout sent the distress signal again, wishing he could just pass out soon so the pain would go away. One thing he was only just now beginning to consider was whether or not anyone could even help him. Sure, Starscream was a scientist, but did he really know enough about a mech's body to put Knockout back together again? Did anyone? Knockout began to realize not only how stupid he had been, but how fragged he was now.

Was this how Breakdown felt? Torn to pieces, left to die? Was his death quick, or did Airachnid make him suffer? It must have been somewhat quick, since Dreadwing couldn't save him in time. Was this how his own brother felt? Torn to pieces by an Insecticon, no one there to help him? Alone…

Knockout sighed, and then moaned when he felt the pain in his intakes. He was never there to save those who truly needed him. He was a butcher to the lowly and a charlatan to the desperate. He didn't even have a real medical degree. Knockout sulked in his misery, feeling that on some level he deserved to die this way.

Knockout was just trying to shut himself off, just trying to make the pain go away, when he heard vehicles approaching his location. The tanks didn't have that thin sloshing sound he associated with earth cars, so they must be Cybertronian. The Vehicons had found him!

"Hey! Over…over here!" Knockout managed to croak out, "Hey! Need…medical kit!"

If the Vehicons could just find him through the trees, then he could go safely back to the Nemesis. It didn't matter at that moment if Starscream was qualified or not. Knockout's mind forced him to believe that Starscream would make it all better, and he would be safe soon.

The cars stopped, four if Knockout's audials could be believed, and then transformed into robot mode. However, the next words spoken sent chills down Knockout's spinal struts.

"Is that a Decepticon?"