23. Dominant

Forward time skip - Autobot Lunar Base Taltos-1

Sideswipe wasn't sure Bulkhead was going to make it. He'd been impaled when the shuttle crashed; a piece of debris had gone straight through his torso, nicking his spark chamber. The chamber itself had not been compromised but several energon lines had been severed and the young recruit was steadily leaking out.

He estimated that it would take another three joors to reach the outpost on the far side of the tiny moon, though that didn't mean much by that point. He'd tried hailing them eight times since the crash and so far, no one had responded. Considering it had been Decepticons who'd shot them out of orbit moments after they emerged from the wormhole, Sideswipe could only assume the worst. He wasn't about to share his misgivings with Bulkhead, however. The young 'bot was barely keeping up as it was. Sideswipe could see the thin trail of energon dribbled out behind him.

Bulkhead's engine coughed and sputtered. He started to slow for a moment before giving a lurch and pressing on. Sideswipe had slowed by that point and waited for the larger mech to catch up.

"You doing okay?" he said.

Bulkhead didn't respond for a moment and when he did, his vocalizer crackled. "Just fine, sir."

Sideswipe almost told him to drop the "sir"—he was a grunt, not an officer. But it seemed to give him some motivation and so he kept quiet.

"Just don't stop," he said. "I don't think I can lug your over-sized aft all the way to base."

Bulkhead grunted and sped up.

It was strange being in charge. Bulkhead was barely out of his protoform, leaving Sideswipe—the only other survivor—as the best candidate to lead them to the outpost. It felt almost… frightening to be responsible for someone else.

Bulkhead must have hit something because he sputtered again and this time he didn't recover. He just started to tip over in slow motion, crashing to the ground and laying there, silent. Sideswipe whipped around and transformed, landing on two half-formed legs. He was kneeling next to Bulkhead by the time the last piece of his armor slid into place.

The bigger vehicle had landed on his side and even before Sideswipe could turn him over he could see that the 'bot had reached his limits.

Ah, slag.

Bulkhead's undercarriage was slicked with energon and hydraulic fluid. He must have bled out half his systems. Metal screeched and sections twitched as Bulkhead tried to transform himself.

"Stop," Sideswipe said. There was no way he could pull that off. The strain would overtax the mech and he'd blow his circuitry, slipping into stasis-lock as the rest of his fluids drained away and left a lifeless husk.

"Don't move," Sideswipe said and activated his comm. system. [[Autobot Sideswipe to Taltos Base-1, come in.]]

Silence.

[[Repeat: this is Autobot Sideswipe requesting immediate medical evacuation.]]

Buzzing static. A faint whine and Bulkhead's vocalizer hissed, "Go, sir."

"Quiet," Sideswipe said. [[Is anyone there? We have an emergency! Can anyone hear me?]]

Nothing. Dead air.

Slag this to the Pit and back!

Sideswipe wanted to punch the ground. Next to him, Bulkhead gave another painful whine and said, "Just go, sir. You'll have to… znnnt… you'll have to leave me here."

"Don't be so dramatic," Sideswipe said, glancing around. The moon's surface was barren, just rock and dust. He saw nothing he could use to drag Bulkhead with.

"'Sss alright. I'll understand, sir."

"If you keep spouting that slag I don't care how damaged you are, I'll beat the bolts out of you."

A buzzing hum as Bulkhead tried to laugh. "They… they said you… skshhh… said you were like that."

[[Taltos-1, come in you stupid fraggers!]]

Bzzzzkt… nnnnnnn.

"It's, it's been an honor, sir."

Sideswipe rumbled and stood. He cast one, last glance around and then looked towards the unresponsive base.

This is gonna suck slag, he thought.

"I… I'll, I'll never forget—"

"You really don't take orders too well, do you? Now shut up before you run your tanks dry."

Bulkhead fell silent, but Sideswipe could almost see the question hanging in the air above the leaking 'bot. He reached down, grabbed Bulkhead's narrower front, dug his feet into the dust, and heaved. His joints creaked and he felt struts compress and still, he lifted, even as Bulkhead let out a strangled whimper and one of Sideswipe's knees almost buckled under the weight. Finally, when he had Bulkhead's front end up as far as he could get it, Sideswipe spun around and let the large 'bot fall onto his back. He stood for a few nano-kliks as his entire frame groaned from the strain.

This is really gonna suck.

"Sir?"

"Can it, Bulkhead."

He took one step, waited a moment to make sure his legs weren't going to give out, and took another, dragging Bulkhead's aft across the ground.

"Sir."

"Not now."

Fragging pit, that mech was heavy! What were his designers thinking when they came up with that frame? It wasn't even practical building a mech that large! It must have cost a fortune just to fill his tanks.

"Sir, I really—"

"Keep distracting me and I leave you to rust."

Sideswipe heard a hum. Bulkhead almost started up again and Sideswipe swore that if he did, he'd make good on his threat and drop the mech right then and there. But Bulkhead didn't say anything else and Sideswipe resigned himself to walking.

He'd gotten maybe a few metras further when the distinctive whine of Seeker engines caught his audios and he stopped and turned his head.

There, just above the horizon, was the tell-tale glow of a ship burning through the thin atmosphere. Two of them, probably come to pick off any survivors. Sideswipe calculated that they'd reach him in a breem, maybe two. He eased Bulkhead off his back—as much as anyone could ease a deca-tonne mech—and set him down. He flexed, listened as cables twanged and popped back into place.

"Sir?"

Sideswipe reached over and patted Bulkhead.

"Look's like our ride just got here," he said.

He'd been looking for an opportunity to work on his Jet Judo.

Note: deca-tonne is a real measurement that I might have messed up. It's like, 20,000 lbs. Bulkhead is a big dude.

Since I'm typing this and that means that I have to do it, within a week or so (hopefully) I should have the first chapter of a companion story up to clear up parts that I, dumb-ass that I am, forgot to explain. So... look for that, I guess.

Thanks to the reviewers and the watchers and everyone else who makes me look forward to posting!

Next chapter: Exploring