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The Guardian served as the mobile base for the Protectobots. As such it has state of the art repair bays and equipment. Typically called in as a last ditch reinforcement or rescue team, it also boasts an impressive armament.

Bounce Chamber

Ironhide was caught off guard by the sudden feeling of being bounced from the planet to the ship. He stumbled off of the pad and towards the controls where First Aid stood.

“Get the wounded to the repair bays stat!” The doctor yelled at the collected Autobots before turning back to the control panel. A frown formed over his face as he looked at the readings. “Ironhide, I need you to see this.”

The old security mech walked over to First Aid. “What is it First Aid? I’m just ready to call this day over with and spend the next week rechargin’.”

First Aid tapped the console in front of him. “Just as everyone got out we picked up a massive explosion from the Decepticon base. It looks like a self destruct, but magnified by massive secondary explosions and seismic activity. The ship couldn’t pull Prime out in time…”

Ironhide frowned as realization dawned on him. “You mean Prime’s….” He couldn’t finish the sentence by the Protectobot knew what was left unsaid. “Yes.” The old Autobot slumped down in a chair and put his head in his hands. He had failed to protect Prime and now things were worse then ever.

OoC: I am posting on the assumption that the Autobots, including Jazz, have been bounced into the Guardian except Prime. (Hence your post.) Please tell me if I have done wrong by posting, and then changes will be made. Thank you.

Guardian, Autobot Frigate

Being suddenly bounced to an orbiting frigate, Jazz decided, was an acquired taste; for he was disoriented after transit.

Jazz looked up to see the Autobots standing around the room, but there was one towering figure that wasn't there, Optimus Prime.

He then walked over to Ironhide and First-Aid and listened in to their conversation; he was struck as hard, or harder with the sudden news than Ironhide.

"No, no," Jazz said partly to First-Aid and to himself for reassurance, "There must be s-something blocking the scanners, or f-fooling them!"

Jazz answered his own question by blowing past First-Aid, and lunging at the control panel to run his own scan; he found nothing, nothing but a huge explosion, and a smoke cloud billowing from a single location, and the previous location of the Decepticon Base.

"This...! Impossible...!" Jazz went to one knee, and watched the energon drain from his wound, and splash on the ground in front of him.

He got up, holding tightly to the wound that Ramplate gave him, and turned to First-Aid and bluntly asked, "Where is the Medical Bay? And please, don't have Hex repair me."

Bounce Chamber

Sideswipe never made it to the base after getting away from Space Case; instead he was bounced up to the Guardian along with the rest of the Bots. As he appeared on the bounce platform the red warrior stumbled forward. He kept his balance as he straightened his posture. Sideswipe scanned the room and spotted Sunstreaker still being helped by Blaster.

Sideswipe flashed his brother a dippy smile as he made his way to Sunstreaker’s side.

“Hey bro, did you get your aft handed to ya by some little Con, or did you do that to yourself?”

Sideswipe let out a hearty laugh as he slapped his twin on the back hard.

****

Perceptor materialized still in his crouched position, but his head way turned upward where the sky once was. Before the sudden bounce he had heard the telltale sound of incoming missiles, no doubt fired from the local Seekers. The sniper was about to jump for cover when he was engulfed in the light of the bounce beam. Perceptor got up on his feet and carefully placed his rifle on his back making sure the magnetic catches clicked.

Just as silently as he appeared in the chamber, Perceptor quickly took his leave. He had left in such a hurry he wanted to make sure that nothing had occurred while he and the Protectobots were off ship.

****

Hex appeared next to Ironhide , and like the old warhorse, he was also caught off guard by the disorientation of the sudden bounce to the Guardian. He recovered quickly and became curious when First Aid quickly called the elder mech over to the control console. The silver mech slunk to the Autobots’ location and listened in on their, obviously, private conversation.

The young mech’s optics grew bright with disbelief at what he bore witness to. Quickly Hex looked over the gathered mechs in the chamber and found that Prime was not present. No, no no! This can’t be! Not like this! Hex’s processor was a whirl of thoughts, none of which made any sense to the young mech. Without intending it he lunged forward knocking both First Aid and Jazz out of the way so he could get to the control console. His fingers ran over the surface as he ran every scan he could possibly think of; the entire time mumbling to himself.

After not getting the intended results Hex looked at the three mechs gathered, flabbergasted look on his face. It only lasted an astrosecond before the look melted and another took its place. Hex’s brow furrowed, optics dimmed to a deep cerulean and an enraged expression etched on his faceplate. Through clenched teeth Hex spat out to those gathered, but his ire was centered on Ironhide, Optimus Prime’s oldest friend.

“This was not supposed to happen! Not like this!”

The young mech paced back and forth in front of the red Bot trying to come to terms with what he had overheard. After a moment of silence, Hex moved to stand in front of the seated mech.
“It wasn’t supposed to go this way. It never was.” His gaze grew more intense when he didn’t receive any response. “Look at me, damnit!” Still no response, and finally Hex shoved Ironhide hard in the shoulder to get some kind of acknowledgment.

“You were his bodyguard! You were the closest to him! What did he tell you about me? That bastard never gave me the answers he promised me and now he’s gone. I want what’s owed me!”

Bounce Chamber

One moment Hardhead was trudging down a mountain side and then the next he was inside a ship’s bounce chamber high up in Earth’s orbit. He felt a little disorientation as he managed to stop himself before walking into a wall. The big green mech still had a stasis locked Prowl slung over one shoulder, so when First Aid shouted at him and the others to get the wounded down to the repair bay immediately, Hardhead saw no reason to argue. After all, he had his own damaged turret to attend to, as well.

However, before the war veteran left the chamber, he looked over at Ironhide and First Aid, who were conversing privately about something. The looks on their face plates said it all. Something bad had happened and when Hardhead took a quick glance around the room and noticed that Optimus was not there with the rest of them, he knew their leader had not made it. The green soldier hung his head as anger and sadness welled up inside him. However, it was only the anger that showed as he clenched his one free fist and punched a nearby wall, leaving a deep dent behind.

Without wanting to add to the uproar that had already begun as Hex learned of Prime’s fate, Hardhead turned and left the chamber, heading for the ship’s repair bay.

******

Smokescreen materialized on the bounce pad with everyone else and like the others he felt a bit disoriented by the sudden bounce. His low energon levels didn’t help matters as he stumbled forward only to catch himself on the front of the control console where First Aid and Ironhide were standing. It was then that the diversion expert caught the tail end of their conversation.

“No, it can’t be,” Smokescreen muttered as he let go of the controls and slumped down to the floor. He covered his face plate with both hands as a deep rush of sadness and despair consumed his circuits. Their leader was gone. Having served with Optimus for countless vorns, Smokey and the others considered him to be more than just a commander. He was a mentor and as good a friend as any mech could find.

There must be some mistake. Prime must still be alive down there. We have to go back and.... Smokescreen’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden outburst by Hex, whose anger was directed at Ironhide. Smokey listened as the young punk demanded answers that were supposedly promised to him. It was incredible that Hex only cared about what was owed him. Prime’s apparent death was just an inconvenience to a lunatic such as himself.

Of course, the old warhorse was fully capable of dealing with Hex and would surely not put up with his tirade. If Smokescreen wasn’t so low on power, he’d tell the silver mech exactly what he thought of his attitude not to mention his recent actions. Instead, the diversion expert simply picked his battle-damaged self up off the floor and staggered across the room towards the door.

Before leaving, Smokescreen turned towards Jazz, who wanted to know where the med bay was located. “Come on, Jazz. Just follow me and Hardhead. We know the basic layout of this type of ship.” The red and blue racer then turned and exited the chamber, making his way through the corridors towards the repair bay.

Medical Facility

Hardhead arrived in the med bay first and quickly placed Prowl into a CR chamber at the far side of the room. He set the controls before moving over to another chamber nearby. The green mech’s thoughts returned to Prime. It was assumed that the Autobot leader was dead, but what if he was merely deactivated or in stasis? Perhaps he could be recovered and revived. With the combined efforts of Ratchet, Axle and First Aid that would surely be possible.

As Hardhead opened his own CR chamber, he heard someone enter the room. He turned to see Smokescreen stumble through the doorway and then immediately collapse onto the floor. “Smokey!” The green soldier hurried over to his comrade’s side and did a quick scan of his systems. The diversion specialist’s fuel cells were at 0.01%. Stasis lock was imminent.

“You’re as empty as a battlecharger’s cranial unit,” Hardhead said as he lifted Smokescreen up and carried his limp body over to the CR chamber that was originally meant for himself. The green mech placed Smokey into the device and then closed the door. Once the repair cycle was initiated, the war veteran walked over and entered into a third CR chamber. He then sat back and relaxed as the automated systems went to work on his damaged turret.

Bounce Chamber

Jazz heard a familiar voice from Smokescreen, so he turned over to look at his friend is the optics and nodded at his statement at following him.

He then turned to First-Aid and simply patted him on the shoulder and walked after the blue and red mech.

Jazz began to stumble on the way, the depth of the events that had just taken place was setting in, and he wasn't faring well.

He limped into the medical bay along side Hardhead and Smokescreen and watched his friend fall into the arms of Hardhead, Jazz felt even worse while watching him fall.

The full brunt of the news had now set in fully, and Jazz stumbled over to a bed and sat in sadness, and dropped his head into his hand out of disappointment of himself and the fact his long time standing friend, Optimus Prime, was dead.

"Can we get a medic for me, Hardhead and Smokescreen, please?" He called to any medic in the area.

Bounce Chamber

Sunstreaker sneered at Sideswipe’s comments. “Trust me, next time we spar I’ll make sure you come out looking a lot worse then I do now. Like you have anything to talk about, staying outside and screwing around with the stupid fliers. You let that jetpack go straight to your head thinking you can dogfight with them.”

The yellow warrior swung his leg up to kick his brother in the aft. “Now come on and help get me to the slagging repair bay. Its going to take forever to get my finish to what it was before, let alone the repairs I’ll need.”

*

Ironhide wasn’t hearing much. His thoughts were lost on what had happened on the planet below, the last signal from Prime, how he had failed to rescue him. It was going to haunt him until his dying day, his greatest failure in the one thing he had always been best at.

He was knocked out of his trance by Hex shoving him on the shoulder. He looked up to hear the other Autobot ranting and raving about something. Apparently he felt Prime owed him something and was demanding it from him now. The old Autobot didn’t know what he was babbling about and didn’t care. What he did know was that he was in no mood to hear some Autobot whining about his problems right now.

The security mech shot up out of his seat and grabbed Hex on the shoulders, lifting him up into the air. “Listen hear you lil’ punk! I don’t know who you are and I don’t know no secrets about you. Prime is dead, learn to live with disappointment. We got bigger things to worry about now then yer problems. Its time fer you to grow up and stop your whining and complainin’” He flung the smaller Autobot out of the way, hard enough to send him stumbling into a wall.

Ironhide turned to the other gathered Autobots. “Get repaired and recharged. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” With that Ironhide stomped out of the room, heading toward the bridge.

First Aid had been shocked into silence but now quickly recovered. “If you will follow me Autobots I’ll lead you to the repair bay and we can get to work on fixing all of you up.”

Bounce Chamber

Sideswipe’s face twisted into something that resembled mock hurt, but it quickly faded to reveal his trademark smirk.

“Hey, at least I took out two fliers ya glitch.”

The red warrior nearly fell face first on the floor from his brother’s kick, but he was able to steady himself before taking a tumble. Sideswipe turned around and shot Sunstreaker a dirty look, but that to quickly faded when the golden twin ordered to have help getting to the repair bay. Sideswipe moved to place Sunstreaker’s arm over his shoulder and hefted his brother’s weight.

“You know, if you’re not nice to me I’ll sing the song. I’m sure everyone here would love it!”

He flashed his twin an evil smirk before he started to sing lowly so only Sunstreaker could hear.

“You are my sunshine my only sunshine….Should I continue ‘Sunshine?’”

****

Hex wasn’t surprised when he was man handled by the Security Officer, but what he wasn’t ready for was the strength Ironhide had used to grab him by the shoulders and lift him up off his feet. The young mech struggled against the old warhorse’s grip, but Ironhide held fast. Hex sneered at every word the large red Bot was spewing at him, and then without so much as a warning he was flung toward the wall where he struggled to stay on his feet. Hex slammed into the facade, back first, and slid down to the floor.

The silver mech stood back up, optics boring daggers into the body of Prime’s self-proclaimed body guard. He was ready to spit back an acidic retort but decided against it when he felt a fresh stream of Energon dripping from the wound he had patched up. He placed his hand over the gash and winced slightly before he pushed himself off the wall and began to make his way out of the Bounce Chamber.

Medical Facility

Axle had arrived some time before the rest of the team and had already begun some of the repairs on Hot Spot. He focused on the Protectobot leader’s cranium when he heard the door slide open revealing the large, lumbering form of Hardhead. The warrior was carrying an unconscious Prowl slung over his shoulder. Knowing that the tactician was in capable hands leaving him free to continue his work, Axle turned his attention back to Hot Spot.

Without taking his optics off of the intricate circuitry within Hot Spot’s cranial unit, Axle overheard the arrival of Smokescreen. Thankfully Hardhead had also taken care of the diversion specialist by placing him into a CR chamber.

Axle placed a pair of magnifying spectacles over his optics and took hold of his soldering iron. The medic made quick work of the damaged wiring by re-attaching them to their respective locations. He looked up when he heard Jazz call for help.

“Everyone’s in a CR chamber Jazz. I suggest you get into one as well.”

Axle went back to work and a few minutes later Hex stormed in.

“Axle! I need you to get this damned torn Energon line fixed.”

The field medic let out a heavy sigh, but continued his work as he responded to his young ward.

“I’m a little busy right now. Here…” He tossed Hex a medi kit. “You know enough to clamp it off until I’m finished here.”

Hex caught the kit and grumbled back at his guardian. He went right to work just so he wouldn’t have to hear Axle complain about the mess he was leaving behind on the floor.

Transmission from The Ark-19

>>”Ironhide. This is Bumblebee. I’ve been trying to contact Prime, but I haven’t had any luck. The Ark-19 was bombarded and we’re taking on a lot of water. Ratchet and I have tried to seal the breaches, but there are too many for just the two us to handle. We’ve engaged the blast doors, but there are breaches in areas of the ship that don’t have blast doors. We’re going to need to get bounced out of here so a repair crew can go in and get things handled. Ironhide? Do you know why Prime hadn’t responded to my comms? Is he okay?”<<

//Hey, sorry it took me so long to post! Life has been really busy.

Medical Bay

Jazz looked up from the palms of his hand to hear Axle say that he should get into a CR Chamber.

Jazz snorted out of irritation with himself for not doing the obvious, You'd think that I could do something right one of these days, right?

"Sorry for taxing your time, Axle." Jazz apologized to the Medic half-heartedly, his strength seemingly escaping him with the loss of his best friend.

Jazz sighed as he walked across the room, if this were any other time, Jazz would be skipping or blasting some music.

Looking at the chamber, Jazz pressed a button on the side which opened the front hatch with a pneumatic hiss.

Jazz climbed into the opening and rested his back against the wall in the chamber and closed his optics in show of rest as the regeneration was activated.

Bridge

Ironhide stalked on to the bridge of the ship which appeared to be running on automatic at the moment. He settled into the command chair and began punching in commands. He had to keep things together, keep moving forward. If he stopped for a moment he was afraid he would fall into despair, and that’s not what the Autobots needed right now. They needed a firm handle on things or it would all fall apart. Heck, him just slipping a little bit had led to him chucking some young Bot across the room.

The old warhorse perked up a bit when he heard from Bumblebee. It was good to know that the little Bot was back and functioning again. It didn’t exactly heal the wound of losing Prime, but they could all use some sort of good news today.

>>”Bumblebee, its good to hear from you little buddy. We are on board the Guardian now. Can you make it to your bounce chamber or do we need to pull you out of there directly? At the very least it’ll be easier if you’re all in one room. All that water can make it tricky to bounce you out.”<<

*

Medical Bay

First Aid walked into the room, leading whatever remaining wounded there were along with him. The Protectobot quickly moved to where Axle was treating Hot Spot. “How is he? Do you need any assistance?”

*

Sunstreaker was able to shove his weight against Sideswipe, shoving him into the door frame as they walked into the room. Hopefully it would have the added benefit of shutting his idiot twin up. “If you spent half the energy you waste on being and idiot on training to fight you might someday get close to my level of skill.”

The yellow warrior glanced around the room. “Now who here is going to fix me up? I think I need a new hand and then a specially programmed CR Chamber to get me looking as perfectly as I did before getting sucked into that stupid rescue mission. I’m starting to think some Bots should just learn how to rescue themselves in the future.

Bounce Chamber

Annex stumbled out of the bounce chamber, the jarring experience of having been evacuated from the base as well as the disorientation from the bounce having frazzled his processor. Once his systems reoriented themselves he stood up straight and looked around. Many of the others had bounced up with them, those with injuries were being tended to and those without any harm were doing what they could to help. Resting his carbine against the nearest bulkhead Annex looked around.

"Anything I can do to help?"