CHAPTER 24, THE MEAN, GREEN 'TRUTH' SERUM
NORMAL P.O.V
"Hmmm…surprisingly stable."
The orange and white Autobot medic shrugged at his discovery, overlooking his newest project through his microscope. Alongside of him stood his underling in Starlight, curiously watching his movements. The green liquid sample he was inspecting was a result of their shared testing from the equations their fellow Autobot in Aquastrike had transcribed from the living Synthetic Energon energy
"Hey, Ratchet and Star." The pair glanced up to their youngest human companion watching them. "Is that Synthetic Energon?"
"Well…" Starlight looked at her mentor for confirmation. The talk of the formula being engineered had spread inside the Autobot base, neither yet willing to confirm how far they were progressing into their project. The lithe Autobot watched Ratchet turn to her, nodding positively, causing a smile to appear on her face at Raf, "Yes, it is."
The elder Cybertronian reached to his side to pick up a vial of the formula, "In fact, I'm preparing to test a sample." He slotted the vial into a syringe.
"It's a good thing you've come with your protective goggles today, Raf."
"I can watch?" The boy was too excited by what he was about to witness to correct Starlight over his eyewear.
Ratchet chuckled as he injected the syringe into his test subject, "We just add some to this test en-"
"Wha're y'all doin'?!" Aquastrike's spiked head peeked around the corner of the hallway, eyes sparkling. "T'at mah formula?!"
Starlight giggled at her partner's curiosity, who had grown fond of the work the former and Ratchet had put in over the equations. She motioned for her friend to come closer, "We're doing a test, Aqua!"
Aquastrike bounded over to the trio to watch the formula eject into the test engine, its' bio circuitry glowing green. As hers and Raf's eyes grew wide in astonishment, determination sat in the eyes of Ratchet's and Starlight's while they waited for the Energon to activate inside the test engine. Small puffs of smoke came from it, whirring to life successfully.
"It works!" The young human raced up to it excitedly, before spinning on his heel to his nearby guardian, "'Bee!"
"Uh, uh, uh, this iteration of the formula requires further trial before we can even think about using it for fuel, ammunition or first aid," Ratchet interrupted, "Which is rather unfortunate since our own Energon reserves are at an all-time low."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"The team has grown so much that we've quickly been burning through our stockpile, more so than usual recently. The Decepticons continue to run us ragged and drag us down. Natural Energon on your planet is in such short supply, and whatever we manage to find, Megatron always seems to be much further ahead than us."
…Well, that was one conversation I'd been trying to avoid hearing about for the last while. Of course, I walk in on Starlight talking about it after a productive, and rather stress-releasing training simulation with Sunburst and Arcee.
But, unfortunately, it was a cold truth everyone else at base didn't want to know about. Every Energon scout had ended in the Decepticons either scoring big or destroying it so no one won. We just couldn't take advantage of our larger team because, simply, if we did, the Energon rations would've run out a long time ago. And on top of the rations and what we needed for injury recovery, Ratchet used a lot of Energon for the Groundbridge.
It was more than guaranteed that if we didn't gain any Energon stocks any time soon, this war was going to fall into Megatron's servos quickly and easily. As if he didn't have enough of an advantage as it was…
"But if we can successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all the energy we'll ever need."
The work Ratchet and Starlight were doing with how much of the Synthetic Energon formula Aqua had transcribed when she had it in her processing unit was really our only hope at this point. Not only would it make our Energon rations last twice as long, but it also would enhance our capabilities and strengths. It would also turn the tide of the war back into our favour, easily.
Primus, did we ever need it to be in our favour too. I'd had enough of all this bad luck we'd been getting…
Sudden beeping erupted from the monitors, which began flashing green to light up the room. There was no doubt in my mind what it was.
"More Energon on the move." Arcee only confirmed it.
"Again?" Bulkhead was clearly still grumpy about the last Energon scout we'd been on. Both he and Sunburst had gotten sucker-punched hard right when they were about to claim a batch of raw Energon.
The centre monitor located a moving target heading north. It wasn't just moving, it was speeding fast.
"All'a y'all thinkin' Ol' Warbringer might leave a lil' for us sumtime?" I appreciated Aquastrike's attempt at humour sometimes, but this wasn't one of them…
"Their recent activity suggests a familiar pattern. The Decepticons are desperately scouting for new deposits to mine." …Yes, clearly the 'Cons were in a similar position in terms of Energon searches just like us. Yet, only one side was winning when it came to claiming the deposits when they were found… "Autobots-"
"Optimus." I turned to Ratchet when he interrupted our leader; he was stepping up to him, "If one of you comes back wounded this time… well…"
I could hear a familiar side stepping; Starlight did that when she was nervous sometimes, "Our Energon reserves are nearly depleted."
She had chosen to concentrate on being tutored by Ratchet in the medical and scientific departments recently, which meant she was basically sacrificing her field knowledge to remain at base and help save the little Energon we had left. It was selfless of her to do it, but I knew her well enough that I believed she was enjoying learning what she was being mentored on by Ratchet.
It was one of the measures being used to help the Energon reserves. Another way we'd been saving was slightly lessening the guardian roles for Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and I. The humans had some form of 'winter break' coming up, meaning they weren't going to be attending school for a little while. But before Jack, Carly and Miko did take their leave, they had some big subject exams they were all preparing for, and because they were all gathering in one spot to mostly study together, they weren't coming to base as much. Bumblebee was being used as the designated driver for the time being for the humans, since Rafael was too young for those big subject exams.
The only times we really enacted our guardian duties was at night to perform our normal routines. The only difference was Bumblebee manning the Esquivel house on his own so I was battle ready at base in case of a sudden Energon alert. Carly had told her creators her 'motorcycle' was needing an 'extensive repair' on a blown engine, and had turned me over to someone she could trust while I was being 'taken care of'.
On some days though, she wasn't exactly lying…
"Understood. Activate the GroundBridge." Optimus turned to Sunburst and gave him a nod. He simply nodded back, because he knew what that meant. "Autobots! Roll out!"
I transformed into my motorcycle form and sped into the Groundbridge portal. Oh Primus, I just couldn't wait to see just how much Energon was going to escape from us this time…
NORMAL P.O.V
Ratchet watched his team travel through the open portal thoughtfully, sighing, "Sometimes, I wish I could do more."
Starlight and Sunburst glanced at each other in confusion of the elder medic's words, the latter rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I'm not sure I understand?"
"You do more than enough for us, Ratchet."
The Autobot in question was too deep in thought to register his fellow teammate's words. His mind filled with wonders of how he could help the team to do more, which started with the continuation of his Synthetic Energon formula he had just tested. However, his widened eyes revealed another thought had entered his mind; if the formula testing had been successful on his test engine, perhaps it was ready to be used on a regular Cybertronian.
Starlight watched with curious confusion as Ratchet picked up another vial of the formula, his syringe in his other hand, "What are you doing?"
"Would either of you like to be the first living test subject?" His response was two eager shakes of disapproval, making him retaliate with a surprised look of his own. "Well then." The Autobot medic slotted the vial into the syringe, overlooking it briefly before injecting the vial into his arm. He grunted at the sudden pain of the needle, watching the liquid disappear into his system.
Sunburst stood agape at the medical officer, "Ratchet?"
The Cybertronian reacted to the injection with sudden twitches, eyes glowing green to match the formula now flowing in his systems. The syringe suddenly slipped from his grasp, crashing onto the floor. Shards of the vial scattered the ground as he attempted to maintain his footing.
Starlight rushed to her mentor's side as he lost his balance with Sunburst, neither of them unable to stop the orange and white Autobot from falling to the ground, unconscious.
"Ratchet!"
"His vitals are stable, yet for some reason, he won't come out of stasis."
"Ratchet!" Eyes groggily opened at his name. "Wake up!"
Ratchet groaned, lifting his head as Raf moved off his chest, "How is it that such small beings can be so loud?"
"Miko clearly has not taught you they, in fact, can be."
Starlight glared at Sunburst's dry quip, opting to help Ratchet up to his feet, "You took a sudden and hard fall."
"Are you hurt?" Raf immediately questioned.
"I'm fine. I'm…" Ratchet shrugged off Starlight's assisting arms, feeling a sudden and strong rush within himself. He stretched his arms, testing his strength. "...More than fine." He activated his personal scanner on his wrist, watching his energy efficiency rise. "Energy efficiency is up thirty per cent? Motor functions optimal?" He chuckled in disbelief that the formula had worked.
Starlight took a wary step away, "Ratchet, that was a very unprofessional risk you just took. You know better than to start advanced testing before confirming proper formula stability."
"One test wasn't confirmation for you?"
The small Autobot glowered at her old Iaconian friend, "It was only one test." She faced Ratchet, "You suggested further trials before testing on Cybertronians."
The Autobot medic waved off his angry protégée, deactivating his scanner, "Any word from the others?"
Starlight, Sunburst and Raf only shook their heads.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
It felt like deja vu, chasing Moonlight, Knock Out and Breakdown like any other ordinary recon mission. The only difference was that our location this time wasn't out in the open during the daytime like most of our Energon scouts had been. Instead, we were high-tailing it through a canyon in the darkness. And another difference? We weren't exactly chasing the 'Cons, rather the Energon strapped on Breakdown's back carry-on
"Knock Out! Can't we just bridge out of here? This cube's putting some serious drag on me!"
"Silly Breakdown. The more we give the 'Bots their daily workout, the more fuel they burn."
"And we win the Energon race."
…We knew we were falling into their trap, but it was worth the risk. If we could steal the Energon from them, even the smallest amount, it would be enough to consider this mission a success. And we knew that the Energon they had wouldn't last a long time; it would be enough to hold us over for a little while so we could take advantage of our strengths again.
"Besides, here comes air support."
There were sudden engine noises behind me, so I flicked my mirrors up to the sky. The light from the full moon showed the Decepticon drone jets heading our way, just like Knock Out had reported. They launched multiple missiles in our direction. The team were quick to move out of the way to avoid them, but the missiles immediately bee-lined to all sorts of directions against the canyon walls…
They weren't aiming at us. They were trying to cause enough damage to the canyon so the path would be blocked and the others could get away.
…No, not today. I was not gonna allow them to get away with any more Energon.
I kicked up the speed and moved forward. There was a sudden engine revving nearby me, so I moved my rearview to the sight of Arcee pulling a wheelie.
"Let's get that Energon."
"On it."
I decelerated slightly to allow my friend to take the lead; she was much better at finding a path in these kinds of conditions. She took off onto a couple of rocks that formed a ramp that I quickly followed. The ramp soon ended though, leaving us flying forward. Her transforming into her Cybertronian mode made me mirror her so we could jump onto the falling debris to get us more air and clear the blockage.
We landed together on a large piece of rock that formed into another ramp, and transformed so we could carry on. The rock soon gave way, leaving us to land back onto solid ground, right behind Knock Out, Moonlight and Breakdown. Three against two… it appeared the odds weren't really in our favour, but they don't know who they're about to mess with.
"Arcee! Windswept! Fall back! You're outnumbered!" Optimus and the rest of the team must've got caught by the blockage behind us.
"We're always outnumbered!"
"We need that Energon, Optimus!" I agreed with Arcee.
It didn't look good on our end, considering we shared the Second-IC role, but scoring the Energon from the 'Cons would be so worth the incoming reprimand.
"Ratchet, lock onto Arcee and Windswept's coordinates and prepare an emergency GroundBridge." …Oh, uncle Optimus sounded furious…
"I'm locked on. Arcee, Windswept, decelerate and prepare to return to base."
"Save it, Ratchet. We're too close."
"'Cee, 'Swept, listen to Op-!" I deactivated the open channel before Sunburst could finish his sentence…
I was likely going to hear about that one later too.
There was a familiar noise behind me; I shifted my mirrors once again to see… those Decepticon drones… again. They reactivated their missiles… and they were coming straight for us.
The purple missiles felt like spits of purple rain from the sky, like a dark storm had suddenly rolled in. The aura around me felt dark, evil. It was as if the storm was being catered for someone… wait, was that actual rain? Ow, why was it stinging so much, and why was it hot?!
I blinked in disbelief at the sight before me-
Wait what? Where did the storm go?
My form slammed the ground hard; Arcee must've been hit or something happened. I wasn't sure. She came up on me so fast, I had no time to react. I transformed to try and stop myself from skidding along the ground further, but I felt my body flipping along the ground instead…
NORMAL P.O.V
The monitor on the Groundbridge controls beeped rapidly to inform the Autobot trio of the situation.
"They're hurt!" Starlight gasped.
Ratchet pulled the lever to the Groundbridge controls down, walking up to Sunburst and Rafael, "You three man the GroundBridge." The Autobot medic raced away before he received a response, transforming into his ambulance form into the open portal.
Sunburst could only stand in disbelief at the disappearing Autobot, "What the fr-?"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
…I could barely lift my helm from the ground, but I forced myself too. Everything had happened so fast, it felt like a blurr. I pushed myself onto my kneeplates just as something blue and moving caught the corner of my optic, making them lock onto Arcee groaning and struggling to lift her helm up too. She looked like she was looking at something ahead, so I followed her optic-line…
The Decepticon drones were flying thick and fast, and transforming. One by one, they landed around us and formed a circle. It left Arcee and I stuck in the middle… injured and surrounded and outnumbered by a longshot.
The drones moving closer to us made me move to my pedes quickly… but my frame immediately protested in pain. I could barely stand; it felt like every strength I had inside of me had suddenly gone… This was the result of not taking Energon rations properly because of our short supply of it. Our forms couldn't handle being knocked around like this while we lacked our full Energon nutrients…
I felt something smack the side of my helm, a familiar whirring ringing in my audio receptor…
A sudden noise, like a Groundbridge activation, made me lift my helm up at the open portal high in the sky. Someone was coming through, and flying down towards us…
…Ratchet…?!
He landed onto the ground in front of us which caused a lot of dust to kick up. Through it though, I could see Ratchet lifting a drone up and chucking them at a nearby drone. He followed the flying drone and kicked the other onto the ground. He dodged some firepower from another one and sliced him down. He flipped backwards to a drone shooting at him, and activated his blade through him to swing him around and shove him to the ground.
…I couldn't believe Ratchet was just running by as if he'd just downed a few cubes of Energon. I knew he wasn't taking as much because he stayed at base more often than us… but scrap, if this was what he was like as a warrior at full health, then what in the All-Spark was he doing wasting away at base all the time?! I mean, I knew he could fight; I'd seen him before during the Dark Energon battle ages and ages ago… but… wow…
"Ratchet?" Arcee clearly sounded like she was in awe too.
He was easily dodging more of the blaster fire heading his way. He was leaping around and knocking down drones all in one move. The swings and near hits he was missing was simply incredible. I'd never seen a warrior take down a bunch of drones in one go like this; it was almost as if he'd well and truly been doing this all his life. He leapt up and grabbed a drone's helm on the way down to flip him hard on his back… then he jumped again to throw another punch at him for good measure!
This was just… a masterclass! …Don't tell him I said that…
NORMAL P.O.V
The Decepticon trio pulled up, amazed by the sudden Autobot arrival destroying their back-up with ease. The dark motorcycle form of Moonlight sat between the two Cybertronian four-wheelers, whistling at the hits their soldiers were taking.
"Looks like the Autobots brought in a ringer," Knock Out hummed.
"Well, then I'll ring his bell," Breakdown decided, revving closer to the battlefield.
A wave of blasterfire rained down upon the trio, causing them to take in the sight of the four Autobots scaling down the blocked path.
"The ego or the Energon, take your pick!" Moonlight reversed first, followed closely by her Decepticon acquaintances as the trio set off to disappear into the night.
They had won the Energon race for now.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I struggled to help Arcee up. She was clearly in a lot of discomfort and had taken a lot of damage from whatever had caused her to crash into me. She settled onto her kneeplates just as a drone went flying in front of us. Ratchet was quick to follow it and swing a kick at them for good measure. He forward flipped to another drone batch ahead of him trying to shoot him down.
…What in the All-Spark happened before? The missiles… it was like they had turned into rain, and those storm clouds… it all felt like it was happening in real time, but it didn't? Primus… I was confused… it just felt so real…
"Hey Windy!" I looked behind me at Aquastrike racing up with Optimus and Bulkhead. Beside me, Bumblebee was helping Arcee to her pedes. Something suddenly gripped my shoulder plating… sudden, as in typical Aquastrike fashion. "Are ya's alrigh-woah."
I looked away from her to Ratchet stomping onto a destroyed drone, like he was stamping an authority on his victory. There was a drone quietly sneaking up behind him; I was ready to call out to him when he suddenly lifted his arm to smash it into the drone. He fell to the ground immediately…
"HOOAHH!"
…What on Cybertron did we just witness? …And why was Ratchet's optics green?
"What happened?"
I was still asking Rafael's question myself as we returned to the base. I still couldn't believe what I'd just witnessed, all of it.
"I only saw the gory aftermath, but I hear the doc was a one bot wrecking machine!" Arcee and I had filled the others in on what we had seen prior to their arrival. Bulkhead sounded like he was truly stunned by our explanation. I don't know whether he believed us or not.
"Whoa!" I whipped my helm to Rafael at his sudden cry… but it was just him being scooped up… by Ratchet?
"Hey little fella!" He bounced the boy in his servo before gently setting up back where he had been standing before walking over to the medical bay.
Bumblebee led the way over there, since he was still helping Arcee walk. She'd taken quite a brutal hit, so Starlight was wasting no time guiding them onto a medical berth.
My optics locked back onto Ratchet's smug expression. I just had to shake my helm, "Okay, what did you do?"
"What's your secret?" It was never a good idea to allow Arcee and I to team up and play investigator. We could manage to pull secrets out of anybot if we wanted to, even if it were closely guarded ones. I think Jack and Carly once called us the 'good cop, bad cop' duo. Hmm, wonder which one of us was the good cop then?
"No secret," Ratchet shook his helm with a grin. He grabbed two vials of green liquid from their holder. He chucked one at Arcee and the other to Aquastrike; they both grabbed them with ease. "Just a little something I'd like to call Synthin'."
I placed a servo on my hip plating. Wasn't that-
"Mah formula!" For someone who'd had that living data literally eating away at her processing unit not that long ago, Aquastrike was rather fond of it like it was her own offspring. Strange, but that was Aqua for ya. "How'd'y'all get 'er done?"
Arcee passed her vial to 'Bee, "Wait, wasn't that formula in-"
"Incomplete?" I didn't really appreciate the cockiness in Ratchet's voice as he interrupted me. "Not anymore."
"It's only been three weeks!" Bumblebee was right. I'd heard from Star it was going to take a while to fully stabilise the formula, let alone give us the green light to use it.
Sunburst was chuckling as Bulkhead took the vial from Aquastrike, "Ratchet makes a better tough 'bot than Aqua does a smart one?"
The glare Aquastrike was giving Sunburst was rather… strong, "S'not like you'd ever be as smart, lemon."
"We would not be having this conversation if Ratchet hadn't injected himself with the formula carelessly." …No wonder Starlight had been glaring at Ratchet the whole time since we'd gotten back, and very rarely does she ever have that much of a frustrated look on her. "We have barely considered the formula 'stable' - one test does not mean confirmation it has been approved for Cybertronian testing. You taught me this."
"Y'all've done sumthin' real bad ta make Twinkle mad." Aquastrike couldn't have said it better myself.
Starlight was absolutely furious; a rare, rare sight.
"We tested it on one machine and it worked. Good enough, don'tcha think?"
I shifted my optics from the awkward sight of Starlight and Ratchet to Optimus, who had the green vial in his servo now. He was studying it rather carefully. "Ratchet? I question the wisdom of using yourself as a test subject."
I… couldn't help but agree. Yes, he had been brilliant out in the field when Arcee and I needed him. But if the formula wasn't ready like Starlight said, then in reality, he shouldn't have been so reckless. Optimus and the team were on their way to help us, and so what if Arcee and I had taken more injury from the drones? It'd be enough punishment for us disobeying orders in the first place…
I turned back to Ratchet, "I second Optimus."
"'Swept, you saw Ratchet out there." I was expecting Arcee to argue immediately; her point was rather valid. "He was in overdrive! We should all try this stuff!"
"Or give Ratchet more so we can take a vacation!"
…Bulkhead's idea wasn't exactly terrible, to be fair.
"If you look at his stats, his efficiency was up significantly despite the vial's size."
"Would'cha look at that? Ol' Sunshine's no longer a spoilsport!"
Of all of my teammates to disagree with me, Sunburst was the one I'd least expect…
"A mere observation." Not like him to be on the fence either…
Was this war reaching a point where we were no longer worrying about the risks, and just purely going for every opportunity in sight? Perhaps, but was it worth risking our own lives in the process? …Well, considering the stunt Arcee and I just pulled, along with Ratchet… maybe. Ugh, I could feel the confliction settling into my internal systems because now more than ever did we need an edge in this fight with the Decepticons.
I just wasn't sure if using an unstabilised Synthetic Energon formula was the way to go about it…
"I agree that the initial results seem… promising." Optimus walked up to Ratchet and returned his vial. "I recommend that further testing be confined to machines, not Autobots." Though Starlight was tending to Arcee, I could see her nodding in probable agreement. I wonder what went down here when Ratchet decided to just casually inject that Energon into his systems… "Outnumbered though we may be, old friend, we need warriors in the laboratory right now, more than we need another in the field."
The expressions on Ratchet's features told me everything; he wasn't happy.
NORMAL P.O.V
"And then, he came right at me!" The Autobot medic vaulted across the training room, spinning back to face the observing trio of Sunburst, Bulkhead and Aquastrike. He threw a punch and kicked into the air. "And I…" The medic stared at the trio. "Well…come on, one of you! Come at me!"
Sunburst stood momentarily to consider the option, before slowly pulling out his battle axes, "Okay, then." He charged towards his opponent with his weapons.
He swung a battle axe towards the medical officer, who immediately raised his arm to stop the swing making contact. He spun and kicked the sunburst-coloured Autobot in the chest, quickly grabbing the axe he was about to be hit with. His opponent skidded his feet across the room, flicking his head up to show the determination settling on his face. He gripped his lone axe with both servos, once more charging at Ratchet.
The medic swung his battle axe against the other's, the clang resounding across the room. The former was quick to lift the axe up once more to slam its' flat surface onto Sunburst's wrist, making the Autobot cry out at the sudden pain and release his weapon. Ratchet quickly moved in to knee his fellow Autobot in his chest, sending him flying across the room.
The elder Autobot dropped the weapon with a CLANG! "Hah!"
Aquastrike glanced between her fellow Iaconian partner struggling to stand and the overly confident medic, shock decorating her face, "Well, dang."
Ratchet spun to face his next opponent in Bulkhead, "You, come at me."
Bulkhead stepped back to share an uncertain glance with the aqua blue Autobot, "I don't wanna hurt you, Ratch."
The former Wrecker was given a response in the form of a slap to his face, "I said, come at me."
The aqua blue Autobot beside him shook her head, crossing her arms, "Ya hafta get 'im now."
Bulkhead growled in agreement, activating his wrecking ball to charge at his orange and white teammate. The latter jumped back with ease from the former Wrecker's swing. He quickly scooped the bulky Cybertronian up, throwing him into the closest wall…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"You sure you're okay, 'Swept? Looked like you zoned out during the chase?"
"I'm sure I'm fine, Arcee." It wasn't really a question I wanted to answer, but I couldn't even explain to myself what had happened back at the canyon. The storm and purple rain… it just didn't make sense. I paused in my footsteps to look at my partner. "Just got caught up in the chase, I guess."
"Don't forget you can talk to me." I secretly enjoyed seeing Arcee's vulnerable side sometimes, because it still showed that while she could be cold with a barbed glossa most of the time, there was still that part of her that cared. Only a few of us around base were so lucky to see it though. "Been rough rec-"
A sudden, large crashing noise coming from around the corner cut Arcee off. I wearily peaked around the corner of the hallway… to find Bulkhead upside down against the wall?
"HOOAAH!"
"What was that?" My tone held demand and concern.
"You okay Bulk?" I could hear Bumblebee's footsteps rushing up behind me and Arcee.
Bulkhead's small groan was enough to confirm he was okay at least…
"You have got competition, Bulk." I could see some fists punching the air through the… hole in the wall of the training room?! What in the All-Spark?! "I'm a lot stronger than I used to be." Ratchet stepped through the hole. "Also a bit faster!" He threw a fist towards Bumblebee suddenly; thankfully he had quick reflexes to move his helm back. Ratchet only chuckled at his reaction "Think you can take me, muscle car?"
"No way sir!"
I moved my helm to look behind Ratchet at Sunburst and Aquastrike. She looked like she was holding his battle axes, and he looked like he was clutching his wrist with slight agony… I couldn't help but glare at Ratchet.
He walked past 'Bee smugly, "Whimp." His green optics caught Arcee and I; he started winking and clicking… gross, "How's it hummin'?"
…What did he just… What?!
I looked at Arcee, and she was looking at me, "Did he just?"
"Stronger and faster." I whipped my helm to Sunburst being helped through the training room hole.
"And studlier," Bulkhead was rubbing his helm.
…This wasn't the effects of the Synthetic Energon formula… was it?
NORMAL P.O.V
The Autobot medic arrived at the storage compartment, doors to it barely open to reveal the glowing green light from the vial. He shoved the doors open, overlooking the syringe, "I need to be at the top of our game."
"Ratchet." The Cybertronian in question overlooked his shoulder at the pink and white Autobot watching him unhappily. "Optimus said no more."
The elder Cybertronian turned to face his subordinate, syringe in hand, "The survival of our race depends on it." He smugly injected the contents of the vial into his arm, knowing well enough he would've done anything had Starlight tried to stop him.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I was beginning to hate these alarms blaring throughout our base. Sure, it may have looked hopeful because the signal was exposed Energon… but considering the amount of losses we had suffered in a row when hunting said exposed Energon, it was just turning into a constant cycle of failures.
"They've hit another vein," Sunburst turned to us.
"Autobots, roll out!"
"Hey hey!" Bulkhead stopped our leader from heading to the Groundbridge tunnel. "Shouldn't we wait for our secret weapon?"
"This mission is unlikely to require medical expertise."
"But you never know when you require additional firepower." I turned to find Ratchet leaning up against the hallway wall smugly. He pushed himself off to come our way. "Bumblebee and Starlight can handle Groundbridge duty."
"Groundbridge duty? Since when?!"
The last thing I wanted was to be anywhere near Ratchet after what took place in the hallway a few joors ago… especially since Arcee and I had yet to inform Optimus of his behaviour. He didn't look like he was giving us much choice though, based on how he was immediately standing in front of the tunnel like he was demanding it to open already.
"Time to put some hurt on some Decepticons!"
I could hear quiet footsteps coming from the same hallway Ratchet had, so I twisted my helm to Starlight. I couldn't tell by her facial expressions, but considering how the conversation had gone earlier, she must've been annoyed, or maybe even concerned too.
…Why was I getting a really bad feeling about this…?
Arcee and I very rarely didn't take point on field missions. We used our strengths of being the most agile, the smallest, and fastest any chance we could, any time we were needed. So… for Ratchet to suddenly take charge and take point on this mission was… odd. But we could barely keep up with him. That Synthetic formula was just making him so quick…
I thought the formula was going to wear off soon… Why did it feel like it wasn't?
We managed to just catch up to him when we were moving downhill, but he was leaping off a branch to move further south when we did. Finally, he stopped at a pile of large boulders ahead, big enough for us to hide and work out our way to secure this mission. Ratchet was at the rock closest to all the noise of the miners, and taking up much of the room, so I took shelter behind the one closest to him with Aquastrike. Sunburst and Arcee took the one nearby and behind me, I could hear Bulkhead and Optimus pause at the rear one.
Bulkhead made an unhappy rumbling noise at something, "Signal's weak." He must've been checking the scanner. "They may have hit a vein, but they won't find much of an Energon pulse. Not here."
"It's somewhat comforting to know that Megatron's just as desperate to claim Energon like us," I noted, because it was in some twisted way.
"Some of t'eir mouths don' need feedin'. Takin' up too much breathin' room if ya askin' me."
"Same could be said for our side." I wanted to roll my eyes at Sunburst; why now?
"Ya better watch yers, Sunshine. Mine was needed a coupla weeks back, ya know." Oh, we haven't forgotten Aqua, mainly because you keep letting us know just every 'once in a while'...
"How many times are you gonna rub that in Sunburst's face?" Arcee sounded highly amused.
"'Til he says he'd miss me if ah was dead again."
"Do you always talk this much during these missions?" Ratchet suddenly got up and leapt over the rock.
"Ratchet!" This smartaft was about to get his own served to him, because way to blow our fragging advantage!
I sprinted down the cliff with the rest of the team and activated my blasters to begin firing at the drones. The rule was different when it came to Decepticon drone classes, or 'Vehicons' as they were better known. Decepticon drones like most of these ones were fine to take down, but the miner class were meant to be subdued only, not offlined… whether Ratchet knew about that rule or not in his present self was a… problem.
"Need a boost!" I bumped Aquastrike's arm with my blaster so she knew I was talking to her.
She nodded eagerly and reached a servo down to my feet. I stepped onto the palm of her servo and felt her push me up into the sky. I flipped over and over while firing rapidly at the drones. I had to try and keep Ratchet in sight, because in his state, he could easily go off the handle rather quickly.
I landed amongst the Decepticon drones. It felt like deja-vu with how they were circling me… and they were doing it enough that I couldn't see Ratchet!
Scrap!
NORMAL P.O.V
The Decepticon miner scaled up the cliff face in his attempt to escape the Autobots. He was able to climb over the edge, continuing to run. Behind him, the orange and white Autobot clambered over the edge of the cliff face quickly.
Onto his feet, the medic picked up a large rock single handedly, lightly throwing it up and down as he watched his prey flee. He threw the rock with ease towards his target, his aim good enough for the miner to be struck down by the flying weapon.
The miner groaned in pain, rolling onto his back in time to be pinned down by Ratchet's foot.
"Why the big rush?!"
"Just trying to get as far away as I can from the Autobot stink," The miner fired back.
"Does your boss know you have a potty mouth? Maybe I should pay him a visit and tell him."
"Get melted, wheel grinder!"
"Melted?" The Autobot medic gasped in thought. "Now, there's a concept." He activated his blowtorch. "I won't ask you a second time. Where. Is. Megatron?"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The Decepticon drones had been easy to strike down, common as of late. But there was usually an unexpected, expected party to enter at this point, and that would be when the mission would turn sideways. I guess Megatron was also aware of the weak Energon pulse, and probably thought it'd be a waste of time sending out a higher rank officer to assist.
There was a sudden scream, sounding like it came from high above us… I looked around me; Optimus, Arcee, Sunshine, Bulk, Aqua… Scrap.
I ran to the mountainside and quickly began climbing up it, and I wasn't the only one. Everyone else followed up with, because they knew exactly who was up here. There was no doubt the question was, though, what was happening?
We got up on top of the cliff… and I had to stop to take in the sight. It was Ratchet… tormenting the life out of the Decepticon miner… with his blowtorch.
"That's all I know! Really!"
"Now was that so difficult?" Ratchet deactivated the torch and replaced it with his blade.
I was too stunned to move, and it felt like everyone was the same. I couldn't believe that the Ratchet we knew was capable of actions like this… it just wasn't him at all!
It had to be the Synthetic Energon. Clearly, the formula wasn't as stable as Starlight had warned, and whatever was in it was having a major ramification on Ratchet.
Optimus stormed up to him and stopped him from taking a swing at the innocent miner, "Ratchet! What are you doing?"
He swung his arm out from our leader's grip at the same time the Decepticon miner took the opportunity to flee, "Getting results."
"And breaking protocol. That was a Decepticon miner. Servant class, not warrior class."
"Oh, and let me guess. I'm just the medic."
You're more than the medic, Ratchet. Truly, more than that.
"Autobots do not inflict harm unless all other options have been exhausted. It is what separates us from the Decepticons." The look in Optimus' optics and faceplates made it clear he was beyond both furious and disappointed with Ratchet, perhaps even more so than when he reprimanded us after what happened with the 'racing incident'...
Ratchet started making noises like he disbelieved our leader's words, "Hah! Is this really the time for another lecture, Optimus? You didn't just happen to discover Megatron's current location, did you? Well, I did!" I walked up to Optimus' side with the rest of the team. "And do you happen to know where there's a stockpile of raw Energon ripe for the taking? I do!"
"Come on, Ratchet," Bulkhead coaxed softly and grabbed his arm, "Calm it down."
Ratchet shoved away his arm, "Calm is the last thing we need. Calm is what lost us Cybertron!" …Oh, by Primus, please don't start… "The 'Cons have a warship, an army! All this Energon scouting! You think Megatron isn't gearing up for something big? We're squandering our resources chasing after his crumbs! When we really need to be hitting him hard! And hitting him now! Precisely where it hurts!"
…Why did all this feel like this was somehow still Ratchet? Like, why did he speak as if there was some truth to his words…? …Was Megatron really planning something huge? Were we really wasting time just chasing 'crumbs'...?
"A direct assault on the Decepticons would only provoke retaliation, and lead to incalculable losses." Optimus looked away. "I will not endanger innocent human lives."
"Yet you seem to have no problem endangering ours! Just ask Cliffjumper! Oh, I forgot! He couldn't be here today!"
"THAT'S IT!" Arcee would've gone full charge at Ratchet had Bulkhead not grabbed her arms to stop her.
I don't know what Ratchet was trying to say, but this had nothing to do with Cliffjumper. Absolutely none of it, so why did he need to bring him up?!
My Energon was boiling as I stepped forward, "Is this how you really feel? Do you really think we're wasting time? Because we're doing everything we can-" I don't know why my arm was shaking when I lifted it up to point at Ratchet. "-And you know this."
Ratchet spun to me with a furious expression, "Everything you can, huh? Tell me, Windswept, did you do everything you could to save Spitfire and Raindrop at Iacon?" …What? "Vorns of Decepticon tutelage wasn't enough for you to be able to save their lives?" My vision was turning blurry. "What about Whirlwind's?" Suddenly, it cleared. "Did you do everything YOU could to reunite with her? Well, if you tried hard enough, she'd be here with us! Not lost in space, probably damaged beyond repair!"
…No… oh Primus, hell no…
"You… you don't KNOW!" I leapt up in rage to attack Ratchet… and I would've successfully done so had someone not grabbed me. I looked down briefly at the yellow arms encircling my waist plating. I pushed against them holding me back, but I couldn't get free. "Sunburst let me AT HIM!"
"Let 'er go Sourshine so ah can 'ave whar's left of 'im!" In my rage-covered optics, I could see Aquastrike being kept behind Optimus.
He mentioned Raindrop, and nobody talks about her in front of Aqua in any way…
Ratchet looked to face our leader, "You know your problem, Optimus? For such a big, strong bot, you're soft. You didn't pound Megatron into scrap when you had the chance! Many chances, in fact!"
"Who are you to question anything our leader decides on?" Sunburst's grip on me was tightening, like he was using me to keep himself in check. "So what if you've known him millennia more than us?"
"Oh believe me, I have every right!" Ratchet turned to us. "He can tell you all about how, because of one of his missed chances, that El-"
"I'm afraid that the Synthetic Energon has impaired your judgment, old friend." Optimus' tone was as deep as I'd ever heard it, and as reprimanding as it could ever get. I don't think I've ever heard him sound like this. "I am confining you to base until further notice." His tone was asserting there was no room for argument. "Starlight, 'bridge us back."
…There was something in my uncle's optics that I'd never seen before. Whatever Ratchet was about to mention before he got cut off was something that was affecting my leader. It was like it was deep within him, a struggle of some kind… I wish I knew Optimus well enough to know what it was.
I felt the grip on me loosen significantly, and it allowed me to settle my pedes back on the ground. I looked over at Arcee; she looked much calmer than she was. No doubt, she was still frustrated; I certainly was. But I had definitely simmered down, especially after seeing Optimus.
The sounds of the Groundbridge portal opening came from behind us. Ratchet looked highly annoyed, and made it clearly obvious with a sigh. He threw his arms up and down, "Fine." He stomped into the open portal like a petulant youngling that had just received a scolding… which, well, it really wasn't that far off a comparison…
"Ol' Grouch's makin' a real name fer himself," Aquastrike muttered before following him into the portal.
Ratchet suddenly rushed out of the portal and tackled her hard. The hit sent her flying over to Optimus and Bulkhead which made them fall back slightly to help catch her. I locked my optics onto Ratchet rushing away from us in his vehicle form.
My body suddenly moved on its own to chase after Ratchet, as if it was instinct that I go after him… but a volcano appeared in front of me. It was pouring out purple liquid and it was spewing it into the sky… to make it rain purple. Storm clouds suddenly rolled in to move the area into complete darkness…
…Wait, this was like before! At the canyon! …But why?!
"'Swept?!" I blinked and suddenly everything was blue sky and rock. There was nothing but dust from where Ratchet had been driving away from us.
I felt Sunburst's comforting servo on the back of my shoulder platting. He was staring into the direction Ratchet had gone in.
…Primus, okay. First, we had to get him back somehow, and secondly… I had to figure out what was going on with me…!
There was a sinking feeling inside me returning to base. We had followed Ratchet's path as best we could, and had even split up to try and cover more ground, but regardless, we couldn't find him. We'd even 'bridged 'Bee out to help us while Star stayed at base to try and locate him… and we got absolutely nowhere.
I shook my helm; there was too much going on in there that I felt like I was tripping up on everything. Where was Ratchet? What was that volcano? Did Whirlwind and I make the right choice splitting up when we did? Primus, Ratchet was gonna get hurt! Whirlwind's fine, somewhere in the solar system… right?
Scrap, were the volcano and purple rain linked somehow?!
…I really needed a smack against the helm, or something to try and get me back on track. The first and foremost problem at hand was not being able to locate Ratchet. Focus on him, 'Swept! Focus!
"I have run every location scan possible in our system. I can't locate him!" Starlight was working herself into a state trying to help us. She curled her servos into fists against the controls, and lifted them up like she was going to slam down. I could see her optics snap shut like she was trying to control herself… I don't know if she advised herself to relax or not, but whatever it was, she managed to uncurl her fists and look at us, "It has to be the Synthetic formula."
"That bogus Energon must be scrambling his signal."
The properties in the test liquid must be disguising his signal somehow, like Bulkhead suggested. A weird positive had the formula been more stable, but in cases like right now when we needed to find Ratchet, it was a huge negative… among other things.
"Keep trying, Starlight. We've got to find Ratchet, before he finds Megatron."
Ratchet really wanted to put his Synthetic Energon-induced strength to good use? What better way to do that than go for one of the strongest Cybertronian warriors; one who was heavily rumoured to have fought in the Gladiatorial pits of Kaon…
We had to find him soon, but as long as that Energon was in his system, the odds weren't looking good…
NORMAL P.O.V
The blue crystal was sewn off the raw Energon stockpile, landing onto the ground heavily. Vehicon miners surrounded the raw deposits in the mine, effortlessly harvesting the blue crystals to prepare transporting them. A tube lifting stockpiles of Energon was centred in the mine, as layers upon layers of storied platforms were filled with Vehicon servants bustling around.
"Yeah, she's kinda domineering and the extra arms are weird. But… I find myself intrigued by her."
"Dare you speak any louder, and let the vain one hear you, Breakdown?"
"It sounds like someone's jealous I'm not talking about them?" The blue Decepticon chuckled.
Moonlight made a scoffing sound, shrugging a shoulder, "Hardly."
A sudden whistle, followed by a clicking noise interrupted the pair's conversation. Around the corner in the cavern was a smug Ratchet wandering through.
Moonlight mirrored the smirk on the medical officer's features, "Well, look who it is."
"I was wondering when you might show," Breakdown added.
The Autobot medic continued his smirk, narrowing his eyes at his new opponents…
"You call yourself a scientist?!" Slipstream observed her Master step towards Knock Out, the latter backing away in response. "You were supposed to have located a fresh Energon source by now."
"Apologies, Lord Megatron. We got a little distracted by the new Autobot who attacked us."
Slipstream pursed her lips thoughtfully, "A new Autobot?"
"It's about time I got acquainted with a new face." The human-like figure known as Rebecca Rose excitedly nodded.
Megatron's glare remained on Knock Out, "And what new Autobot would that be?"
Wobbly footsteps made the trio turn to see their fellow Decepticons in Breakdown and Moonlight approaching them, stumbling their way to them like they were unable to control their movements. The pair suddenly collapsed, revealing the orange and white Autobot he had forced to lead them to their leader.
"HOOAHH!"
Knock Out treaded backwards, "Well, uh…"
Slipstream blinked incredulously, "The 'new Autobot' is-?"
"That's the 'big bad new 'Bot?!" Rebecca laughed maniacally at the situation, "The Autobot leader's lapdog?!"
Megatron chuckled alongside her, "He's Optimus' Prime's medic."
"Ohhh no, Megatron," Ratchet shook his head threateningly, "I am your doctor of doom."
The Autobot medic charged towards the Decepticon Warlord, throwing his clenched fist to him. The punch landed hard onto the Warlord's face, its force sending him back into a nearby wall, much to the shock of the rest of the Decepticons.
"Wooahhh," Rebecca gasped, "Not so much a lapdog anymore, then."
Slipstream narrowed her eyes at the Autobot, intrigued with the green glow of his own staring smugly at them, "It would appear not."
Megatron climbed to his feet, gently bringing a hand to his face to remove the Energon spilled below his nose from the sudden hit, "Alright then."
Ratchet charged towards him once more, readying his fist, "For Cyber-!"
Megatron grabbed his closed fist before the hit could land, twisting the arm in ways that Cybertronian limbs shouldn't. The pain caused the Autobot medic to cry out, falling to his knees in his silent plea to be released.
"Ratchet is rather more spirited than I recollect," Megatron observed, his soldiers gathering around him.
"Chemical enhancement perhaps?"
Slipstream shook her head at Knock Out's theory, "I would propose that it would be more than likely." The Decepticon's second in command glanced up at her leader as the Autobot medic continued his struggling gasps. "May I?" At the nod of approval, Slipstream readied her sharp talons, pummeling them into the side of Ratchet's chest, a smirk curling at the corner of her lips at the pained cries the Autobot medic released.
As she removed her talons, Ratchet glanced down at his newly inflicted injury, armour stained with the green liquid of the formula he had created. The injury seeped down his body and at his strength, allowing the Warlord to throw him to the ground like a rag doll.
Slipstream lifted her talons to her face, curiously overlooking the green digits, "It would appear I am correct." She shook the loose liquid from her hand.
Rebecca stepped up with intrigue, shrugging, "That's one way to gain a sample."
Megatron stepped over the wounded Autobot with his Seeker second in command in tow, "If a chemical can do this for Optimus Prime's lapdog-" He overlooked his shoulder briefly with a sinister chuckle "-Imagine what it can do for our troops."
The colour in Ratchet's eyes returned to blue as his wound continued to bleed, the dangerous consequences of his actions becoming clear, "Optimus, I've been a fool."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"Optimus!" I snapped my helm to Starlight. She wouldn't yell like that for no reason. "Ratchet's signal!" She was pointing at the monitors; they were beeping with his locator beacon, just like she said. "It's back online."
…My Energon was running cold, because as we had discussed, the only way we would be picking up his signal would be if the Synthetic Energon was leaving his form… because he'd been hurt.
Scrap.
"Bumblebee and Starlight-"
"Got it!" Bumblebee was already at the Groundbridge controls.
Starlight came up to me, and gave me a worried look, "Please hurry." She was rushing away to the medical bay so fast, I don't think she would've heard anything if I had planned on saying something to her.
She knew what Ratchet's signal coming back online meant too.
"Autobots! Roll Out!" I transformed into my motorcycle form at Optimus' command, and followed Optimus and Aquastrike heading into the open portal. Arcee was alongside me, and Bulkhead was taking up the rear with Sunburst.
The portal took us to an Energon mine, and it was one the Decepticons had made a start on. I could see raw stockpiles of Energon around us, but I couldn't stop. We had to stop the 'Cons and find Ratchet, fast.
Optimus led Arcee and Aquastrike into one direction with their blasters, and I directed Sunburst and Bulkhead to the other side. I transformed back into my normal form and activated my blasters to fire at an oncoming drone.
…Okay, look, I know the rule; servant class was off limits when it came to battle. But, they were firing at us first! Them hitting first threw that rule right out the door!
…I could only hope they wouldn't hold us up for too long. We're coming, Ratchet…
NORMAL P.O.V
The Decepticon medical officer overlooked his newly acquired vial of Synthetic Energon happily, "Doctor to doctor, I must say, your contribution to the Decepticon cause is very much appreciated." He moved his eyesight to the wounded Ratchet lying in the pool of his obtained sample, clutching his chest with laboured breaths. I'll be sure to boast of your accomplishment when you're gone." He activated his chainsaw.
Beside the weak Autobot, Rebecca chuckled as the saw moved closer to him, "Which we'll begin proceedings of in three… two… one."
Sudden explosions forced Knock Out to retreat his weapon, as the Cybertronian pair looked down the hallway at the realisation the Autobots were on their way.
"Scrap!'
Ratchet glanced up at the distracted Decepticon, shoving the saw away from his body with difficulty. He kicked him away from his body, clutching his chest as Knock Out bounced onto the ground, the vial falling behind him. He got up in fury, charging up to Ratchet with his saw ready, slamming him against the cavern's wall. The latter used all the strength he had to keep the saw at bay.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
There were a bunch of drones blocking a pathway in front of us; I didn't know where it could lead us, if it led anywhere at all, but it was… abnormal to be crowding that one particular area… Ratchet?
I fired at the drones quickly and they fanned out in reaction. I could see Bulkhead go for one of them in the corner of my optic while I turned the corner. The others were easily taken down by my blaster shots.
There was a noise in the distance… kind of like a whirring machine?
…Wait, was that a saw?!
NORMAL P.O.V
Ratchet struggled against Knock Out's saw, the lack of strength from his injury making him grow weaker. Sparks flew as the bladed edges grazed the side of the Autobot's head, allowing him to push it to the side quickly so he could head-butt the Decepticon away from him.
Knock Out grabbed his face in an attempt to force himself out of the induced daze, immediately going to swing his activated weapon at his enemy again. Ratchet moved aside before his foe could land the hit, watching the saw bury itself deeply into the cavern's wall. The Decepticon realised his predicament, deactivating the spinning wheel to try pulling it out of the rock.
Ratchet stepped weakly up to the vial sitting in front of Rebecca, the latter watching him pick it up, "What are you going to do with that?
"Drink it?" Knock Out cackled.
Ratchet glanced at the gaping hole in his chest, green liquid staining his white and orange armour. He held his wound with his empty hand, shaking his head, "No. I'm going to destroy it." He turned around, using every ounce of strength he had in him to throw the vial against the cave wall.
The vial shattered against it beside Knock Out, who was able to free his weapon from its entrapment. "You idiot! Megatron will have my head!"
The lack of Energon inside the Autobot medic's body finally caught up to him, collapsing onto the ground nearby the enhanced human, the latter watching warily.
"Don't just stand there, Rose! Finish him!"
Rebecca nodded at Knock Out's command, jumping onto the Autobot's chassis in preparation to pierce the centre where his spark chamber lay. She raised her boomerang above her head like a sword, readying herself for the hit…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
There were still more of Megatron's stupid drones inside this tunnel. They were definitely down here for a reason, but they could try to hold us back all they wanted. Not only were we easily stronger than them even with our systems not running at full power, but we were determined. We were going to find Ratchet no matter what.
"What are you waiting for Rose?!" Knock Out?
…What was he yelling at Rebecca about?!
I body slammed the drone in front of him hard into the wall, and forced myself off him just as quickly. My path was clear… except for Ratchet lying on the ground in a pool of green Energon… with Rebecca on top of him and Knock Out standing nearby.
Oh scrap no you don't!
Rebecca looked like she was muttering something to Ratchet, but her voice was so quiet that I couldn't hear. She leapt off him and towards Knock Out's vehicle form. As soon as she jumped into him, he zoomed away as fast as he could.
I fell to my knees, and skidded up to Ratchet's side. He was in some form of stasis lock… my optics found a stab wound on his chassis. I could feel everything inside me run cold. There was so much Energon on the ground…
The Synthetic formula wasn't worth having if this was what it was going to turn us into… Primus, Ratchet, please be okay…
At any moment, I was going to collapse into a self systems-induced recharge. It had been a long night of helping Ratchet back to base, and cleaning up the formula mess… but that was only the downside of everything. In some twisted good news, Ratchet had led us to a rather large stockpile of Energon ripe for the taking, and by him getting hurt, he had led us there to overcome the 'Cons so we could take the Energon for ourselves.
It was a weird way to call this situation a win.
A sudden groan made me turn to the medical berth.
"Easy, old friend." Optimus grabbed Ratchet's shoulder-padding gently to stop him from sitting up; typical Ratchet. "You lost a lot of Energon. Good and bad."
Bad because that injury could've offlined him had we not gotten there in time… good because it also flushed out the mean, green formula from his systems… Hopefully for good this time.
"I-I didn't intend to hurt… anyone. I just wanted so badly to…"
"Help us?" I stepped out from behind Optimus so Ratchet could see who was talking to him. "We know, Ratchet." I took another step to him and smiled softly. "We know."
"But you nearly caused the loss of something… irreplaceable to us - our medic, and a most trusted friend."
Optimus was nowhere near wrong. We could've lost a very vital piece of our team today, and not just because he was the main medical officer at the base… though, I didn't think Starlight would like it if I came into the med-bay often to get patched up. Ratchet doesn't even like when I do it to him as it was, considering he thought it was my version of 'annoying' him… I was going off track here, wasn't I?
As much as I annoyed him and he sometimes annoyed me, I couldn't picture the base or the team without him. There was just no way…
"There was a strange upside to your injury, Ratchet." I glanced up at Starlight on the other side of the medical berth. I could tell she held a slight bitterness towards him, and that was fair all things considered. "You lead the team to one of the largest, nearly untapped Energon mines we've discovered."
I turned my body to Sunburst and Bulkhead carrying over large Energon cubes and stacking them near us. It was definitely a much needed supply of it, and it was going to allow us to ease up on the restrictions we'd set out to limit our use of the stuff. It was definitely going to last us a very, very long time.
"And for that, we should all be thankful." I know I was, extremely.
I couldn't wait to burn up some rubber the next time Carly and Jack were with Arcee and I.
Ratchet lifted his helm up slowly, "The Synthetic Energon formula clearly needs refining before it can be tested again." He turned to Starlight, and gently grabbed her lower arm like he was making sure she was listening to him. "On machines, not Autobots."
She slowly nodded at him and smiled, "Exactly like you taught me."
"Let us take comfort in the fact that you were able to dispose of the quantity that remained."
When Arcee, Aquastrike and Bumblebee began the clean-up process, they had found shards of what they thought was a vial that had likely contained the Synthetic formula. Knock Out and Rebecca must've siphoned it out of Ratchet before he had gotten the better of them and destroyed it… well, we assumed it had been him that had done it.
The others had come back a while ago after cleaning and scouting to ensure no one else was around. They were removing the green stuff as a precaution… I don't think I would like to see either of them having that stuff in their systems. I don't think anyone here wanted to see anyone else running on it either…
…I couldn't help wondering why Knock Out had been yelling at Rebecca when we had come up to them looking like they were going to execute Ratchet… I was aware of Miko having a rather… intriguing encounter with her weeks ago during that situation. If you added the 'shadowzone' situation from ages ago and her informing us about her bionic qualities… It was just feeling like things weren't adding up with her.
Whatever it was, I couldn't care. We finally caught a break with Energon, and Ratchet was going to be okay. All I wanted now was a bit of respite, because it had been a crazy few deca-cycles and we were in dire need of it. Was it too much to ask for? Possibly, but this was a war we were in. Any small pause to catch our intakes would be well received.
We were going to be right back into the thick of battle again soon…
NORMAL P.O.V
Shards of the broken vial that had contained the Synthetic Energon formula were scattered across the cavern's floor, left behind by the Autobot's following their clean up mission. On one piece of the glass, a small, green droplet was glued against its' edge, swinging like it was holding for dear life onto the glass.
The form of Rebecca Rose walked up the broken shard, seeing the droplet as large as her own head hanging from the glass. She reached her hand towards the green liquid, an urge within her to swipe it onto the ground. Her fingers stretched out towards the shard.
"Found anything, Rose?" Rebecca's form shook at the suddenness of Knock Out's voice, moving her arm quickly to her side. "I am not going back to Lord Megatron empty-handed. If he's anything like Starscream when it comes to punishment, my paintjob wo-" The bionic human faced the Decepticon medic when he grew silent, discovering him bending down to oversee the green droplet she had been prepared to fling away. "My paintjob lives."
Rebecca looked at the dangling droplet of formula with an uncertain expression, a mere contrast to the growing smirk appearing on her fellow Decepticon acquaintance…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Spits of purple fire rained down upon me. The volcano was spewing purple lava like it didn't want the stuff contained inside of it.
"Heed my command."
Darkness.
…Wait, that sword… I knew the design on it…
Megatron…?
OPTIMUS!
My body jolted awake… Wait, this wasn't base…? Where-?!
Oh, the Esquivel garage. I forgot I'd come here… I couldn't wait to tell Carly all about the good news regarding the Energon situation so as soon as I was filled with my Energon quota, 'Bee and I raced for the Esquivel house immediately…
Primus… What was that dream… or nightmare?
The spits of fire and the volcano were exactly the same sights I'd seen earlier… but why was I seeing them…? Did it have any connection to what I was dreaming about then? With Megatron and Optimus? …Was it even a dream?!
…All I wanted was a solid recharge in quiet and peace…
My processing unit was spinning with endless thoughts to explain everything I had seen… it was fighting the exhaustion inside of me.
Primus please, what are you trying to tell me?
I could feel my form overriding my processing unit; everything inside me was just too tired. I needed to rest.
Please Primus, let me rest…