Temerity
Part 2-Questions
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. They belong to Hasbro and Takara. I am merely taking them for a short spin.
"Sometimes solutions aren't so simple,
Sometimes good bye's the only way."
--Shadow of the Day, Linkin Park
Temerity-Unreasonable contempt of danger; extreme venturesomeness; rashness.
Capt. Will Lennox strode down the corridor to ops, or what they called ops. The walk was a long one, and he could have asked Ironhide or Prowl for a ride, but he decided against it. He was expecting a call from Secretary of Defense Keller any moment. The Army Ranger sighed when his cell phone chirped. He flipped it open, thumbing the send button, then brought the phone to his ear.
"Lennox. . .yes sir, it was one of theirs. No, they haven't been able to get anything yet. . .7 a.m. your time or our time, sir? Nice, sir. . .no. . .I didn't mean any disrespect about the time difference, sir. . .OK. No, I haven't talked to Prime yet. He was with Ratchet all night, and I understand he's grabbing a couple of hours of rest. Yes. . .it's not good. . .they don't know if he'll make it. . .yes sir. . .I won't forget to let you know if a disposal team is needed. . .OK. . .yes sir."
Lennox thumbed the end button, frowning at the phone. Keller was blunt at the end, but if the situation headed south, he'd need to know about it immediately. Tom Banacek, the former head of Sector Seven, had been reassigned, acting as Keller's advisor on all things Cybertronian. He'd proven himself at Hoover Dam, letting Bumblebee go, and had earned Keller's trust, and that of the Autobots, but a certain former agent once in his employ was still making ripples, and if he knew about what was going on, he'd be asking for favors. . .
The captain snapped himself out of that line of thinking. He didn't even know the name of the new arrival yet, and they were already burying him. . .
--
Mid-morning, Optimus Prime found Ratchet still in the med bay, watching over his patients. Hot Rod still occupied the surgical berth, and Jazz was recharging in his own berth.
"How are they?" Prime asked.
"Jazz was awake for a bit earlier. He's getting stronger, and once he saw who was here, he said he had a thing or two to tell you when you're ready," Ratchet said. "And Hot Rod's condition is much the same, although there is something you need to know about. I asked Prowl for some help, and he uplinked with him, and confirmed my suspicions. There is what appears to be some superficial damage to his processor."
"If he survives, will it impair his function?" Prime said.
"At this point, unknown. And that's not all. Prowl is very sure his processor has been tampered with."
"What?" Prime said, not sure he was hearing the medic right.
"There are several very fine alterations. It was so well done we almost didn't detect them," Ratchet said.
"I can't believe someone would do this," Optimus said.
"We don't know anything yet," Ratchet said. "But yes, considering how much trouble he gave us last night, I know he would be very difficult to put down when functioning optimally."
"We can finish discussing his condition later. Right now, I'm more concerned with the other aspects. . .if he was indeed on the Vector, then he shouldn't be here," Prime said.
"I know," Ratchet said, glowering. "Maybe others survived. . ."
"Ratchet, you saw the intelligence reports as well as I did. The Vector was the only ship unaccounted for after Tyger Pax."
"Do you remember who was on that ship?" Ratchet asked.
"I know the name of every Autobot lost on every ship at that battle. The names are also in the logs on the Ark. And I also know the name of everyone serving on the Vector. . ."
"Could this have something to do with the other. . .incident?" Ratchet said.
Prime frowned. "I am fully aware of what happened, and how it ended, even though I had no part in it," he said. "What was your involvement?"
"I consulted on his case before the review board deemed him fit to return to duty. There were no problems. I do know Hot Rod was reassigned to special ops right after that," Ratchet said. "And I can tell you the case was handled very quickly and quietly."
"You're not laying blame for that on my shoulders are you?" Prime asked, optics narrowing. "Because I can tell you the responsibility for that outcome lay with another."
Ratchet placed a hand on Prime's shoulder. "I know you were not to blame. But there is something else--right before the day the Council of Ancients was slaughtered and Alpha Trion. . ."
"Go on."
"Before the day Alpha Trion was murdered, there was some shuffling at High Command, but I was never able to find out why. And not long after, the archives were sealed," Ratchet said.
"What are you trying to say?" Prime said.
"Kup managed to crack the codes and uploaded all the information to the Ark before we left," Ratchet said. "We have all of it."
"Why didn't you mention this before now?"
Ratchet shrugged. "It wasn't important until now."
"Is Jazz in any shape to help Prowl uplink with the ship and start going through the data?"
"If Prowl is the one who does the uplink, I won't have a problem with Jazz helping for a couple of hours, but it can wait until tomorrow," Ratchet said.
That seemed to placate Prime, who turned his attention back to Hot Rod.
"Do you think he'll make it?" Optimus said.
"If he lasts through the day and tonight, I think he should. Prowl managed to help me kickstart his auto repair system, but it's going to take time for it to start fixing the redundant systems. It's like he was burned all the way through, but I can't imagine how," Ratchet said.
--
Ironhide was in ops, occupying Prowl's place from the night before. The second in command was out on patrol, leaving Ironhide on monitor duty until he returned. The weapons expert turned when he heard human footsteps coming his way.
Lennox waved.
"Hey Ironhide, what was the Vector?" Lennox asked.
Ironhide sat very still for several seconds, a pause long enough for Lennox to notice.
"Everything OK, 'Hide?"
"Yes. Where did you hear about the Vector?"
"Walked by the med bay on the way here, overheard Prime and Ratchet talking about it," Lennox said. "Seemed to be important."
"The Vector was a ship," Ironhide said.
"Oh," Lennox said. "Guess I'll let you get back to it then. I gotta go meet Epps."
--
Optimus stood at the lookout, watching the sun go down, as he did every night, watching and waiting. This night he was alone, and glad of it for once. He had no desire for a confrontation, which he was sure would come when Ironhide found out. It was only a matter of time, but the Autobot leader had no idea how little time he actually had. He heard the sound of an engine, didn't need to turn around to see who it was.
Ironhide. Coming his way. The big, black mech stopped beside him.
"When were you going to tell me?" Ironhide said.
"As soon as I had something definitive, and not just speculation," Optimus said.
"So he was on the Vector then," Ironhide said.
"He said he was," Prime said.
"But you're not sure."
"He's badly damaged, Ironhide, and if he lives through the night, Ratchet said he should make it, and if he does, we will get answers then, and not until," Prime said.
"And that's your last word on it?"
"Once, my word was law," Optimus replied.
Ironhide made a sound very close to a human grunt.
"Never did work on me, you know. I've known you too long to take you that seriously," Ironhide said.
Optimus glanced at his friend, who had a glint of mirth in his optics.
"I can wait for answers," Ironhide said. "I've been waiting a very long time. What's a few more days?"
-----
Ratchet didn't see the fingers twitch, but he wasn't watching. Nor did he see the optics dormant for four Earth days suddenly come online. But he did hear the high-pitched scream Hot Rod emitted.
:Optimus, med bay, now. Bring Prowl.:
The medic tried comming the younger Autobot, but he didn't respond. Communicating in Cybertronian didn't work either. Ratchet advanced toward the berth, hoping to calm Hot Rod. The medic tried pushing him back down, but he only struggled, punching and kicking.
Ratchet didn't turn, hearing the others enter the med bay.
"Help me," Ratchet said.
"Hot Rod, stand down," Prime said in Cybertronian.
The young mech ignored the order, struggling harder. Prowl waded in, but was knocked away.
"Hold him!" Prime bellowed.
"I'm trying," Ratchet said. "You could help, you know."
The annoyed Autobot stepped forward to help the struggling medic, but stopped.
Ironhide strode into the room, bringing his canons online, followed by Lennox and Epps, who had their own weapons drawn.
"Ironhide, don't," Prime cautioned.
Hot Rod came off the table, right arm shooting out, hand retracting, replaced by a spinning saw blade. Like lightning, he struck. Sparks flew, and Ratchet jumped out of the way as the canon on Ironhide's right arm was severed from his body. The big black mech watched in surprise as it fell to the ground, rolling, coming to a stop at Ratchet's feet.
Before the younger mech could strike again, Optimus made a decision. He caught Ratchet's optic. They fired, backed up by the humans.
-----
:Optimus, you better come here:
Prime sighed, rolling out of his berth, headed toward ops. For Prowl to oust him from a Ratchet-ordered recharge it must be important, indeed. But then again, it wasn't like Ratchet was following his own orders, either. Two days had passed since Hot Rod's awakening in the med bay, and Ironhide was still off duty until Ratchet could finish repairing him, leaving only Prime, Prowl and Bumblebee to take care of things around the base and patrol. And they didn't have Bumblebee all the time because he was Sam Witwicky's full-time guardian.
Reaching ops, he saw Prowl had a rare smile gracing his features.
"I'm getting a message, audio only. And you're never going to guess who it's from. . ."
"Play it," Prime said.
". . .still four days out, and we'd get there sooner if we could. . .bringing a few friends along for the ride. . ."
"Kup. That old warhorse is still alive?" Prime said. "Is that it?"
"All I could record, but with with he's got Bluestreak and you're going to love this--the twins," Prowl said.
Prowl ducked his head, biting back yet another grin as he watched Prime's hand shoot to his face, covering his mouth. The last bit was good or bad news, depending on how one looked at it. And considering recent events, Prowl considered it good news.
"At least we'll have reinforcements now," Prowl said.
Prime shot his second in command a frown.
"You have a strange sense of humor, my friend," Optimus said. "No, we'll have chaos once those two show up. I hope you remember how to write a disciplinary report."
Prowl groaned at that, and it was Prime's turn to smile.
"Don't worry, Prowl. I'm sure Kup's managed to instill some discipline in them," Optimus said, heading back toward his quarters.