Chapter 5
Ratchet was never one to see the dark side of situations, but right now the condition Optimus was in right now was showing anything but darkness. Bumblebee helped Arcee into the medical chamber so Ratchet could repair the minor wounds Smokescreen had inflicted on her. But Optimus' injuries were far worse; the most major wound was the hole in his abdomen. Energon was leaking at a fast rate, making it impossible for Ratchet to go in and repair the small circuits and fuses. "Bumblebee I need you to go in the back and get a laser scalpel" said Ratchet. The scout beeped a response and turned to leave. Bulkhead was monitoring the main terminal in an attempt to locate Smokescreen's signal. "So far nothing has popped up on the locater; if he's out there the kid must be hiding" reported Bulkhead. Ratchet had just finished inducing stasis on Optimus; the human children were gathered around the operation table. "What's going to happen if Optimus doesn't survive through this" asked Raf. Ratchet didn't reply Raf with an answer, he just simply grunted in exhaustion.
Bumblebee had returned with the laser scalpel and tank full of energon. "Ah yes, I forgot about the emergency energon" said Ratchet. The scout put his hand on the medic's shoulder in order to calm him down. "Listen Ratchet, I know the scrap hit the fan when Smokescreen went rogue but now everyone needs to get a grip and focus on Optimus' recovery" said Jack. The medic gave a slight nod of approval and went back to repair the Autobot leader.
Somewhere near a Decepticon energon mine...
Smokescreen sat down against a boulder inside of a large cave. He was in the cave because back at base they were trying to locate his signal. Smokescreen was about seven miles from one of the Cons' major energon mines in this area. Hopefully, Megatron would be there and then Smokescreen could take him up on his offer. Smokescreen knew that if he brought word of Optimus' demise Megatron would surely offer him a position in the Decepticon ranks. Tired of predicting his own outcome, Smokescreen transformed and drove in the direction of the Decepticon energon mine. A few hours later Smokescreen arrived at a side entrance; the sun was setting and it gave the mine's entrance an eerie feeling. There were muffled noises coming from deep within the mine giving a sign that there was activity. Smokescreen walked in a few steps and noticed that if he went any further he was going to have to activate his optic lights. As Smokescreen went deeper into the tunnel, he could hear loud machinery drilling into rock and gruff voices yelling out commands. "If you walking junk piles drop one more energon crystal, Knock Out will have our heads" said a Decepticon commander. The troopers picked the pace of working as a shiny red Decepticon walked into middle of the group of troopers. "And if you don't bring that energon back to the warship, lord Megatron will rip out all of our sparks" said Knock Out. Deciding to risk it all, Smokescreen stepped out from where he was hiding and went over to Knock Out. The troopers saw the Autobot, drew their blasters and took aim at Smokescreen. "I'm not here to fight, all I want is to speak with Megatron" said Smokescreen, his hands in the air to show a sign of peace. Knock Out walked over to Smokescreen and ran a scanner over him to try and find any hidden weapons. "Everything checks out, so I guess you have earned an audience with lord Megatron" said Knock Out, "lord Megatron this is mine Delta 126, we have an Autobot here who says he needs to speak with you". A ground-bridge portal opened and out stepped Megatron with Soundwave and Starscream. "So you have finally accepted your fate as a Decepticon" said Megatron. "Yes I have lord Megatron and I have great news for you" said Smokescreen. Megatron's optics flared in sudden interest at Smokescreen's comment. "I have left the Autobot base in shambles and Optimus Prime hanging on the balance of life and death" described Smokescreen, "and I can provide the coordinates of my former teammates' base". Megatron simply guided Smokescreen to their ground-bridge with Starscream, Soundwave and Knock Out following them and leaving the troopers to go about their business.