Chapter 111
-0-Senior Autobot Staff Meeting, Ops Center, Diego Garcia, T Minus 2 days
The agenda was short, the preparations for the garrison to move to Mars for the bonding ceremony, the separation procedure and naming ceremony for the sparkling main topics.
Ratchet listened with exhaustion infusing his chassis as he leaned against Ironhide's shoulder as the big mech rubbed his back.
Prime looked at Ratchet. "The preparations are all in order?"
Ratchet nodded. "They are. Wheeljack and Perceptor have the protoform made and packed. They're going to send it ahead of schedule so there aren't any mistakes. 'Jack himself is carrying it over when he goes to check the labs tomorrow."
"And First Aid?" Prime asked.
"He's been going over the procedure and we've talked about it. If there are any problems, he has options."
"There won't be any problems," Ironhide said, his voice low and rumbling.
Ratchet looked at him. "I'm sure there won't be but there is always a need to prepare for any eventuality."
"There won't," Ironhide insisted. "If anything goes wrong, Ratchet, you're first. You have the priority."
It was silent a moment as Ratchet looked at Ironhide. "You don't need to worry, Ironhide. It'll turn out just fine."
"I know that but I also want it fraggin' clear that if anything happens and there's a choice between you and the sparkling, you're the one who gets saved." He swallowing hard. "You know what I feel about this, about this sparkling. But you come first, Ratchet. I mean it."
Ratchet looked at him, then leaned in again. "Don't worry."
"I'm making it clear here and now," Ironhide said. "In front of everyone and including you, Prime. Ratchet is first if there's a problem. I want that understood. If there's a problem I become the decision maker about what to do because you won't be able to, Ratchet and that's what will happen."
No one said anything a moment, then finally Prime sat forward. He glanced at Ratchet who looked at him. "This will be all right. Our people have done it for eons and ages. There are femmes at Autobot City who can come and watch. They've already done it."
"Not this way, the femmes," Ratchet said. "They had it the traditional femme way. I'm sparked but that's a good idea, Optimus. I'll make sure it happens."
Prime then asked for the good of the order.
The meeting broke up with the silence of the moment so Ironhide walked out with Ratchet's servo in his own. He walked to the Med Bay, towing Ratchet behind him. Entering the office, he closed the door and turned to Ratchet looking down at him with serious optics.
"Ironhide-" Ratchet began, then Ironhide cut him off.
"Listen to me, Ratchet," he said quietly. "You know what this sparkling means to me. You know how much I love him. I would suffer anything, do anything or be anything I had to be for him. That's what he is to me. But it pales compared to you. If something goes wrong you come first. I can't live in this world without you and even if I had our sparkling to be with me, I know it wouldn't be enough." He looked to the side a moment gathering himself with Ratchet's arms encircling him. Then he looked at Ratchet. "Remember after Denver?"
Ratchet nodded, looking at Ironhide with sad optics as he stepped closer as he listened.
"You said you couldn't continue without me. Well … I can't without you. Even with a youngling that I love so much, I couldn't stay. You and me … we were meant to be, Ratchet. That's how it is."
Ratchet stepped closer resting his helm on Ironhide's broad chassis.
Ironhide encircled him holding him tightly in arms that could crush almost anything into nothingness but were gentle as they held him.
"I love you, Ratchet. It was a slaggin' miracle that we found each other and I don't want that to ever be lost," Ironhide said softly.
"I love you, Ironhide. I hope you know," Ratchet said tiredly.
"I do," Ironhide said. "We get a sparkling in about two orns. It's hard to believe."
"I know," Ratchet said. "It will be alright."
"It fraggin' better be," Ironhide said as the fear shadowed his voice.
Ratchet heard it and felt sick, squeezing Ironhide tightly as they stood together.
-0-On the tarmac a day later
They began to leave a few at a time. Twos and threes left, going to the jets and shuttles to board. Lennox, Epps and Graham who stood nearby watching from the shade of the awning in front of their building were used to the idea that they went off by themselves from time to time. They would never tell why when they did. This time, however, Prime gave them a clue.
"We are going to Mars for a religious festival that comes around only once in a long while. We will be taking everyone including the younglings to Mars for it. We will keep in communication with you and we are only forty-five minutes from Earth."
"A religious festival?" Epps asked curiously. "You're celebrating Primus?"
Prime feeling only a small amount of shame at his deception agreed. Of course, bondings and sparkling separations were Primus sent so he wasn't totally lying.
Mostly.
They discussed communications and the protocols for troops coming back if something went awry. Then he told them that they were locking the embassy and no one would be coming or going for the four days they would be on Mars. Then he told General Morshower. That one only took a little bit more finesse but when it was done he was free, clear and all was go.
Gathering up Spirit and holding Rambler, too, he walked with Prowl who was carrying T-Bar to board Cosmos, taking off into the fading light of day toward the 'festivities' that were going to happen at Autobot City on Mars.
-0-Autobot City, Mars
They arrived, moved to the facility, deposited their gear and weapons in the armory and walked up topside to mix and talk, relaxing for the days off that they'd carved out for their celebrations. Lodgings were tight but the single mech soldiers bunked together, squeezing each other in, setting up conference rooms and other areas for visiting Autobots who had bonds and younglings.
Ratchet walked to Med Bay with Ironhide following and when they arrived, Wheeljack, Perceptor and First Aid greeted them. They moved to a back room and in a box on a counter was the protoform of their sparkling. They looked at it, smiling at its tiny cuteness. Ratchet leaned against him, fatigue filling him as he considered that the following morning he and Ironhide would welcome the universe's most beloved sparkling.
-0-That night
Bluestreak stood at the gate staring out at the plain that expanded into the inky blackness of night time in all directions. It was dark beyond, the area looking empty and slightly sinister. Then he looked up to see the stars, the vastness of the universe and felt peace. This was now their sky, their plain and their home.
Behind him, light streaming out of windows and open doors, the community inside gathered to talk, laugh, energize and play. In two days he would be joined in a trine bond with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and that would be it for him. The end of the road had a pot of gold, he thought. The end of the road that he had no business being on but for Prowl. He looked at the stars feeling happy, fulfilled and peaceful for the first time in a long time.
He felt at home.
-0-Late that night
"You can't recharge?"
"Not really. Go ahead, Ironhide. I'll hold you."
Ratchet lay alongside Ironhide, his body half on, half off the big mech. He lay quietly, his arm around Ratchet whose servo gently stroked his chassis. "Are you ill, Ratchet?"
"No, Ironhide. Just tired and a little anxious to hold our little mech."
"You and me both," Ironhide said quietly.
It was silent a moment.
"Ratchet?"
"Hm?"
"Thank you so much."
"You're welcome, Ironhide. Thank you for being a sport."
He chuckled. "I am aren't I?"
"The best sport ... the best mech … and pretty soon, the best father," Ratchet said.
"He'll be awesome. I always thought he'd be at the far end of the awesome scale."
Ratchet chuckled. "He will be. How could he not? He looks just like you."
Ironhide snickered. "I had no hand in that."
"No. But at least he doesn't have big yellow circles on his optics."
"No," Ironhide said chuckling. "He doesn't."
There was a peaceful silence a moment.
"Ratchet?"
"Hm?"
"It would have helped him with night vision."
-0-Half a joor before separation commences
They sat together on the couch in First Aid's office, Ratchet leaned on Ironhide who had his arm around the medic's shoulders.
Prime and Prowl, Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Bumblebee were in the main Med Bay talking quietly together. In the hallway and corridors outside, half the base was there awaiting this most singular moment, the first sparkling born in Autobot City and their new home.
First Aid and Wheeljack were in the surgery getting things ready. Perceptor had the protoform and placed it on a table nearby, a soft blanket underneath to wrap it in when things were accomplished.
It was quiet and peaceful, then it wasn't.
Ratchet sitting up clutching his chassis groaned in pain.
Ironhide startled, sat forward, too, staring at Ratchet in terror. "First Aid! GET IN HERE!"
"Ironhide, its supposed to -"
Ratchet leaned over again, his groan louder this time. A tear fell from his optic sliding down his cheek and he gasped as he bit his lip.
Ironhide leaned back as First Aid stepped inside taking Ratchet's hand. He gently pressed Ratchet back and unclasped his chest plates, the layers of metallic protection folding back to reveal the glory within. A beautiful blue spark was being circled rather quickly by a smaller one. Tendrils of energy snapped and sparkled as the little life form hurried and raced going this way and that as it began the first step of separation. "It looks normal, Ratchet. How much does it hurt?"
"Slaggin' hard, First Aid." Ratchet gasped, his optics off lined in pain.
First Aid closed the clasp and Ratchet's plating slid seamlessly back into place.
Ironhide looked at Ratchet, then First Aid as tears appeared in his optics, too, as he held Ratchet's servo. "What's happening? Ratchet's in pain, First Aid. What do we do?"
"We wait, Ironhide. I want you to hold his servo and when you feel a pain, Ratchet, squeeze Ironhide's servo. Ironhide, count the time between the pains. As the sparkling gets ready to separate the times will be closer. Right now, I don't think we're very close."
"It hurts him," Ironhide said. "What about his pain?"
"He needs it. It will tell us when he's ready." First Aid looked at Ratchet. "Did you hear me, Ratchet? You have to squeeze his servo to let us know."
Ratchet, his optics off line nodded. He leaned into Ironhide resting against his shoulder.
They sat quietly as time slowly ticked forward as out in the hallway the tension was slowly building.
Ratchet leaned against Ironhide, his optics off line and his body as relaxed as he could make it. At nearly a breem, a pain spasmed and he cried out gasping as he squeezed Ironhide's servo tightly.
Ironhide swallowing hard as his held on, his arm tightening around Ratchet.
Ratchet pushed against Ironhide's chassis groaning as the pain continued. He gasped and gasped, then it began to subside.
First Aid standing in the door with a stricken look on his face at Ratchet's suffering marked the time as they waited.
Prime perched half on a counter top watched solemnly, his spark pounding in his chassis as he listened.
Prowl stood beside him leaning against Prime with a solemn expression.
Prime slipped his arm around Prowl and tugged him closer.
The others, all of them were solemn as well for the first time of an event so rare and momentous as this it was new territory. Some of them were nervous, some looked scared and all of them wanted it over.
No one more than Ironhide.
-0-Med Bay, four joors later
Ratchet stood up and walked to the med berth to lay back on its soft cushions. It had been four long painful joors and he was nearing the time of separation. The sparkling was moving more urgently, the pains under a minute apart.
Wheeljack and Perceptor had put the tray with the protoform on the cabinet next to Ratchet, the distance between the medic and the sparkling's body no more than a few steps.
The mood was extremely quiet and tense as everyone in the Med Bay watched, transfixed by the sight before them.
Ironhide gripping Ratchet's servo, gently petting Ratchet's cheek with his digits stood beside him, his optics locked on the medic. For four joors the rhythm was silence, exhaustion, sharp cries and groans. They would build, occur and then ebb.
No one wanted to leave. Everyone wanted to be there when the future joined the present, when the possibility of their species continuing in a real way became a firm reality. This sparkling would be the fourth in their company, the first born here and the eleventh youngster possible in the current population including the sparked mech who sat on a med berth nearby, his arm around his bond as the two watched silently with three femmes and their sparklings.
"Ratchet?" First Aid asked as he leaned down.
"Yes?" Ratchet asked weakly.
"It's time to separate."
Ratchet glanced at him and rolled from his side to his back groaning as he did.
Ironhide assisting him looked anxiously at First Aid. "First Aid, if anything goes wrong Ratchet is first. Ratchet is the one who's saved."
First Aid looked at Ironhide with some distress. "Nothing is going to go wrong, Ironhide."
Ironhide gripped First Aide's arm, holding him. "Ratchet is first."
First Aid nodded so Ironhide let him go. He checked his instruments, then began to don a pair of glove-shaped wires that would lure the infant to leave the chamber. He slipped them on both his servos checking to see that they fit his digits exactly. They would be the transfer device for the sparkling, providing an electrical net for him to rest in between Ratchet's spark and his protoform. He looked at Ratchet. "You're ready, Ratchet. Your pains are so close together that we need to move now."
Ratchet nodded with his face contorted with pain and his optics off line. He gasped as he struggled through a piercing pain. He groaned then gripped Ironhide's servo tightly. "All right," he whispered.
First Aid glancing at Ironhide began. "What we're going to do is take the sparkling out and put it into the protoform. All you have to do is hold Ratchet's hand and don't interfere, Ironhide. Do you understand?"
Frightened optics met First Aid as Ironhide agreed. He felt his throat constrict with fright as he swallowed. He seemed unable to speak around his fear. First Aid turned back to Ratchet disturbed by Ironhide's fear, then he leaned down close to him. "Here we go, Ratchet. Okay?"