Ratchet's Log
CMO
Triple Encryption
I don't think I've ever seen my repair bay so empty after a battle. Not that I'm complaining. The three who were injured were three too many. I suppose I can't really complain, even if they are all Primus damned idiots. It's thanks to them that almost all of the Decepticon force has been incapacitated in some manner. They took heavy damage for it though. Well, one of them did; the other two are simply out of it because their mate is so badly injured, and their having a hard time coping with it. It will be a long time before I can bring any of them back online, but they will live, much to Mirage's relief. He's out there with them right now. I suppose I should explain what happened.
There was nothing unusual about the raid at first. Starscream was carrying some new Weapon of Doom™ (I have no idea how Jazz managed to get that trademarked). But then Megatron bypassed Optimus, and went straight for Mirage. Thankfully, he had the wits to activate his electro-disrupter. Instead of turning to face Optimus once Mirage vanished, Megatron bellowed that he wanted the racer found immediately. Some of the Decepticons actually abandoned their battles to look for Mirage. Motormaster found him. He didn't have him for long. Skywarp teleported in front of the semi, and shot him point blank in the head. Needless to say, Menasor is no longer a concern. I doubt whether his brothers will survive the destruction of the gestalt bond with their sanity (what little they have) intact. The purple seeker then grabbed Mirage, teleported him to the back of the Autobot lines, and then rejoined his trine.
Thundercracker used that distraction to release a sonic pulse, which shattered the stability gyros of anyone unlucky enough to be below him. Megatron was not amused as he watched a quarter of his troops go down. He was even less amused when Starscream touched down in the middle of the shocked Decepticons and activated the weapon. Apparently, the Air Commander had tampered with it, as I doubt that is was meant to lock onto every Decepticon present and fire a bolt of energy into their chassis'. It didn't kill most of them, but it is unlikely that they will be going anywhere. The Cons that had stayed behind were unaffected, and Soundwave somehow summoned them to come and collect their comrades.
The strangest part of this whole thing however, was Starscream himself. He fired the weapon, watched his comrades fall and then turned to face us. He didn't smirk, or gloat, or proclaim himself to be the new leader of the Decepticons. Instead he smiled, a real, beautiful smile, before collapsing. Megaton had managed to summon enough energy to shoot him in the back.
The screams that tore from Starscream's trine mates were haunting, and something that I will never forget. Nor will I forget the way they swooped down on the silver tyrant and viciously tore into his plating. They would have killed him, I'm sure, if it hadn't been for Mirage. Somehow he had managed to reach Starscream's side before I did, and his presence focused the attention of the two volatile seekers back on their mate. They abandoned their victim and moved to flank Mirage, energon dripping from their claws and staining their plating. They didn't touch their fallen mate; they were in mourning. It took me far too long to reach them.
I admit that by the time I had made it over, I was sure that Starscream was dead. His back was nothing more than a gaping hole. The plating had melted down into the wires, and his left wing was blown completely off. I could see his laser core through the mess of metal and wires. That normally signifies a kill shot. But I could see a faint, glowing pulse inside his broken chassis. Starscream was alive.
Starscream's a fighter, I'll give him that. He survived long enough to make it back to the base. It took joors to stabilize him, and we had to harvest spark energy from Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Mirage to keep him alive. The process knocked all three of them out. I'm keeping the seekers under, because their systems cannot handle the strain the harvest on top of nearly losing their third. I fear what damage could be done to them if they remain conscious.
Mirage is watching over his creators, partly to be close to them, and partly to keep Red Alert and Ironhide from dragging them to the brig once they wake. This has upset many of the Autobots, but watching the fury crackle in Mirage's icy blue optics when they tried to do just was enough to convince most mechs to back down. However, I think it was his adamant "You will not put my creators in the brig," while watching him toy with an energon dagger might have had a bigger effect. Jazz's support convinced the rest. I hope it did, for their sake. Because if it hasn't then they will find out first hand exactly how painful a wrench to the cranial unit can be. No one is going to disturb my patients. Speaking of my patients, I need to go and check on them. Ratchet out.
End log.