Chapter 10

Sorry that this chapter took forever for me to upload. I have been busy lately, what with family problems, and such.

Basic definitions for the body parts I threw in there:

Cybernet cable- the thinnest neck cable located on the right side of a Cybertronian's neck; control's the organs, such as the energon tanks, interface panel, etc.

Kinetic energon cable- neck cable located on the left side of the spark pulse cable; controls the ability to move, communicate, etc.

Spark pulse cable- the thickest neck cable located in between the kinetic energon cable and the cybernet cable; connects the spark to the processors

SPK- spark pulses per klik; healthy SPK is 60-115 pulses per minute and unhealthy is anything more or less than that

-October 13, 2011-

Megatron smirked as he watched the battle raging on right outside the base. He would never admit it, but that was far too close. Of course, he had forces ready to attack at any moment, enough to subdue the two measly Autobots infiltrating the area. However, said Autobots now knew the location of their base and their chances of retrieving their leader skyrocketed. That is why he sent Switchblade to do his job. Putting the bug into a forced stasis was a message. The assassin could handle almost anything and would probably take on one of the bigger mechs in the opposite faction without batting an optic.

The Decepticon leader was fully aware of Prime's SIC and his capabilities, having witnessed them in battle numerous times. His battle computer was top of the line. No living Cybertronian had one near as good as his… except maybe Switchblade. He knew that Prowl had already formed a plan using that battle computer of his and with the scout down, he probably threw it off enough for him to redo everything. In addition to that, with one less mech to assault the base, their success rates probably decreased at least 15 percent.

A cruel grin spread across his face. He had yet another idea. The Fallen, with all his mysterious power, knew what it was. Optimus would be broken without his medic and would probably lose all reasons to fight in the war if he were to be offlined. But the two Decepticons were not fools. They knew that killing Ratchet would be extremely hard to do. They were not even sure if he was going to show up at the upcoming battle. But if he did, he would most likely be protected by the stronger mechs in his ranks, as Prime's beloved was to be protected at all costs.

If they could not kill him, they could at least fake it.

A broken Prime was a useless one. This would be too easy. Megatron commed his top scientist. Shockwave, upon receiving his message, immediately went to work. Creating something such as this was far from hard, probably the easiest job that he'd ever been given. The war was theirs.

Sam and Mikaela stared at Bee's body quietly. Ratchet knew that they had been in his medbay for at least two joor. He could not help but feel sorry for his two human friends. He knew of Sam's intimate relationship with Bumblebee. They had a good thing going ever since he and Mikaela broke up. The three of them had spent enough time together to develop a firm bond. He was Sam's lover and her older brother.

The medic sighed. He too felt the pang of losing their lovable scout. Of course, he was not dead, but he, Jazz, and the Lamborghini twins might as well have been. Ever since Prime's capture, which had been a month ago, the base lost its livelihood. Jazz and his music, the Twins and their pranks, and Bee and his radio, were all silent. It was agonizing. After spending all this time with these mechs, silence was one of the most painful things for them to go through. The silence meant that there was trouble, someone they cared about was dead—it was never a good sign at their base.

His sensitive audios picked up a strange sound in the otherwise quiet medbay. His gaze traveled back to the two humans in the room, and his spark nearly broke there. Sam, their dearest friend, the one who saved his mech twice without thinking about it, the one who saved his planet, the one who… He has been there for them ever since he met them. It's been two years, and in those two years, he has never, ever witnessed the boy cry. The sound he heard was a single teardrop falling from one of those saddened hazel eyes, landing on his yellow mech's arm. The boy curled up next to him and silently sobbed. Mikaela covered her beautiful face and began to do the same. It was sparktrending, seeing two of the strongest civilians that he had ever known, breaking because of a Decepticon.

Ratchet's thoughts went to Prowl. His bondmate was also in a forced stasis. He knew that he was taking this hard as well. Because of Jazz's condition, Prowl's spark probably felt as if its other half was dead. Frowning deeply, he went over to the body of the silver mech and examined his neck. Based on Jolt's report, the mechs were forced into stasis by Switchblade putting pressure somewhere on their neck cables.

And suddenly, the medic had an idea. Unlike humans, Cybertronians had more than one thing connected to their processors. In fact, there were three cables that connected to the processors. The cybernet cable, most easily located on the right side of the mech or femme's neck, controlled the 'organs' of the Cybertronian. All except the spark. The second set, the spark pulse cable, is located in the middle. That was the set that connected the processors to the spark. And the third and final set, the kinetic energon cable, was connected to everything else. On that third set, there was a single junction located right in the middle of the Cybertronian's neck cables. In reality, it was merely an extremely weak spot on the cable. It could be severed with the right amount of pressure and temporarily take the ability for them to move and communicate away. Basically, they were in a coma and paralyzed at the same time.

What Switchblade did was sever that line. It was the reason that they would not wake up. A surge of happiness shot through the medic's body. They had more of a chance to fight them off. He commed Prowl immediately, letting him know that he would have to adjust their plan again. The only way to fix the line was to go into surgery. For one mech alone, it would take at least four joor. Plus, they all needed recovery. Jazz and the Twins have not walked in almost a month. They would be sluggish as soon as they awoke. After contacting Prowl, First Aid and Jolt showed up at his door, knowing smiles on their faces. He was sure that Prowl had been the one to inform them of the situation.

Ratchet turned back to the two sobbing humans. "Samuel, Mikaela," he said, surprisingly gentle. They looked up, both pairs of eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Hey Ratchet," Sam said hoarsely. The medic smiled earnestly at the two and picked them up gently, setting them down on the floor. Mikaela protested, but after Ratchet explained the situation to them, she quieted. There was hope in her eyes, a hope that made Ratchet even more determined. He would never admit it out loud, but he had come to care for these two humans enough to make sure that he performed up to their expectations. If either of their Autobot lovers was to be injured critically, there was more pressure than what it was before he met the two of them. Ratchet doubted that they would forgive him if he was unable to bring them back into a working and healthy condition. He cared about their opinions even after proclaiming his mild distaste of the human race. That was how much he cared about them.

He nodded at his successors and they got to work. If Megatron thought he had an edge, he would be in for a surprise when they rained hell on his base.

Megatron stalked to his brother's cell slowly. He felt a little better, now. The resentment he felt for someone hurting Optimus subsided later in the week. The only anger that remained came from the fact that the Autobots found his base. He was certain, however, that they would still be unable to retrieve their leader, as four of their mechs were down. And he was visiting his captive to gloat about it.

"Hello, brother," he drawled. The Prime did not even bother to glare, as the energy to do so was nonexistent. It had been a while since they gave him energon and his strength was gone. "Your scout and one of his friends found the base." The Prime perked up at this. "But I made sure that they were taken care of. I doubt that you will be leaving anytime soon."

Optimus tensed and sat up; this time a glare was present. "What have you done to Bumblebee?" He had practically raised the small mech himself, along with the other older mechs in his ranks.

Megatron knelt down and smirked. "I'm afraid that he will be… relieved of duty for a while."

The Prime gasped. "What are you talking about?!"

He only laughed and left the cell.

Ratchet had First Aid by his side as he prepared for the surgeries that they were about to perform. Thanks to Jolt, they now had a method for bringing the mechs in stasis back to the real world. Of course, it would have to be a while before they went back into battle. It had been a month since Optimus was captured—a month since they had been in stasis.

Their joints have been unused for a long period of time. They could not just send them into battle in that condition. They would need some brief physical therapy (they were planning to speed up its progress by using Ironhide's 'methods') before fighting again. That alone would take about two to three days. Unfortunately, this meant that Prowl would have to change his plan again, however, this time, it was for good reason. They could incorporate four downed soldiers into the plan and their success rate would skyrocket. This did not mean, however, that Ratchet would sit out. His Optimus was captured and he was going to give Megatron a piece of his processors, not only for capturing him, but for putting four of his comrades into stasis and sending them a crude feed of the torture that the Prime was subjected to.

Ratchet had been especially strict with his rules this time. No one was allowed into the medbay while they were working on this procedure. In fact, the Autobots and humans on base all had to make sure that there was a ten foot radius between themselves and the medbay or Ratchet would have their afts and/or heads.

They began with Jazz, outlining the plating that would have to be removed to access the cables in the neck with a radioactive marker. Ratchet made a mental note to wash it off before any of the four came into contact with the humans.

First Aid passed over a bowl with a fluid to sterilize the area that would be removed, covering the silver plating with an orange hue. With that taken care of, Ratchet picked up the required medical instrument, a laser scalpel, and set to work. Jolt had already given them all sedative, despite their current states, as he did not want them to feel pain while they were in stasis, nor did he want them to wake up during the surgery after the cable was fixed.

Ratchet used a feature for his optics that allowed him to zoom in on whatever he was viewing. Carefully, he cut off the plating on Jazz's torso and neck. As he got closer to the neck area, the plating got thinner and he had to sit the scalpel down to finish cutting it with a superheated metal scalpel. It was far too dangerous to use the laser for such thin plating in an important place.

The chief medic tensed. If he screwed up the operation while the three cables in his neck were exposed, it could potentially paralyze Jazz, depending on which cord was permanently damaged. First Aid and Jolt were aware of this as well, as the former used a vacuum to get rid of the excess energon and the latter wiped at the areas gently. Jazz, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bumblebee would probably be a little sore once the operation was complete.

Once the three cords in Jazz's neck were exposed, Ratchet could immediately see where the problem lay. The kinetic energon cable was severed alright. Jazz's condition was just as bad as he thought it was. If the kinetic energon cable is severed, energon traveling through the cable is released and pools an area that they could not reach while Jazz was in this condition. Should the energon continue to spill in the area, there would be too much pressure on the cybernet and spark pulse cable, and they would cave in on themselves. The effect it had on the body would be the same as those cables being severed. And if either of those cables were to be severed, it would take an estimated three and a half minutes before that Cybertronian died. For enough energon to pool, it would take a little more than a month. Jazz only had a few days left before his second death. Prowl would kill him if he let that happen again.

First Aid handed Ratchet the torch. They would use it to reconnect the kinetic energon cable. The chief medic noticed something upon studying the severed cable. Jazz was a small mech in comparison and the size of all three cables depended on the size of the Cybertronian. So Jazz's cables were… relatively small. Ratchet knew that his fingers would not fit, so First Aid would have to do it.

Ratchet gave First Aid the torch and said, "My fingers are far too large to handle Jazz and most likely, Bumblebee as well. You will have to do the rest of the dirty work, First Aid." He swore he heard his successor gulp, but he took the torch regardless and Ratchet stepped to the side.

"Alright. Jolt, could you adjust the light?" he said. The mech silently complied and grabbed the bright light above them, tilting it at a better angle for the other medic. "Thank you."

With astounding dexterity, First Aid gently lifted one end of the severed cable. He saw the amount of energon pooling below the cables and opened his mouth to speak, but Ratchet was already ahead of him, swooping in with the vacuum to get rid of that energon.

"The Twins do not have a lot of time. We need to finish up with Jazz soon," he murmured. "Jolt, what are his vitals?"

The blue mech glanced at the computer monitor next to him and read what was on the screen. "The pressure has been released. SPK is dropping slowly. We will have to close him up soon."

Ratchet nearly growled at this. As Jazz's SPK dropped, it would steadily increase in speed. He prompted First Aid to move a little faster, but not too fast. These cables were far too important to damage due to haste. The other complied as Ratchet pulled the other end of the cable to the end that First Aid held. With his other hand, the latter took the torch in his other hand and used it to cauterize the cables and bind them back together. Jolt used the vacuum to suck up the energon that came out before the cable was reconnected.

"Jolt." The blue mech took another brief look at the silver mech's vitals. He was doing much better now.

"SPK is increasing. He's stable now. Once the sedative wears off, he should awaken in a few hours."

Ratchet suppressed a grin and First Aid sighed in relief. "Well, let's close him up." After cleaning and reattaching the armour, Ratchet and First Aid lifted Jazz off the table carefully and placed him on the berth. "Prep Sideswipe for surgery."

And that is pretty much it. I know, I know, I threw in a lot of made up body part names. And probably made up a bunch of made up body parts. But I would not feel comfortable with a general name for all of the parts, be they nonexistent in the Transformers universe or existent, because that makes me feel dumb. Well, at least they'll have four mechs back in working order, right? By the way, Winged Lady Colette, thank you for the review! :)

Denali Prime out!