The Energon Pub

Hallway Outside of the Med Bay

Rather than wait for Red Alert to go to the armory and make his way over to the Med Bay, Blurr had simply raced to the Med Bay to wait for Red Alert there. Of course, it wasn't long before he began to fidget. Sitting still and waiting weren't exactly his strengths. A cyber rat infestation didn't really seem like such a big deal anyway. Blurr started when he thought he heard someone come walking down the hall. The speedster looked...but Red Alert wasn't there.

Blurr let out an impatient huff from his intakes and waited some more until his patience stretched thin once again - which took the span of a few more astroseconds. He looked down the hall again and, seeing no one, decided to check the armory for Red Alert. It couldn't take that long to equip some gear.

Transforming, Blurr raced off to the Armory, tires screeching to a stop as he reached it. He transformed again and looked inside.

"Hey, Red, what's taking so...No one's here. He's not that slow. Nobody's that slow. He's not still on his way, is he?"

Without pause, Blurr raced back to the Bounce Chamber, checking all of the possible routes from there to the Armory. No sign of Red Alert. Blurr ran back to the Armory, and, still seeing no one, raced back to the hallway outside of the Med Bay. Still no Red Alert. The security director had seemed to vanish. Blurr rubbed the back of his cranium, puzzled by his disappearance.

"Strange. But then a lot of strange things have been happening around here lately anyway. Probably should've stuck closer to Red. Who knows where he is now? Wait! Maybe he's already dealing with the cyber rats? But he couldn't have beaten me here. And I waited a while too. Didn't see him at all."

Med Bay

Blurr eventually resigned himself to more waiting. He had nothing else to do. He did perk up when he heard the words "cyber rat" come from the Med Bay. Blurr walked over - if one could really call it a walk - and stepped inside.

"Did someone say cyber rat infestation? Did Red Alert already come this way? He was talking about one too. I came here ahead of him. We were going to take care of it, but...I lost him. He never showed. So, is there anything I can do?"

Blurr tried to keep his string of questions to a minimum speed of coherent. Hopefully, the meaning got across.

--------

Seeing that the situation had resolved itself, Steeljaw was content to leave the Med Bay at Hoist's request. He moved to do just that when Blurr stepped inside, speaking in a barely coherent string of questions. Since none of them had been directed at him, Steeljaw continued on his way out of the Med Bay, sniffing the air mildly for any interesting scents.

Medical Bay

“Of course you appreciate it! I mean, come on.” Sideswipe flashed the young gunner a suave smile as he simultaneously patted Bluestreak hard on the upper arm. His smile remained in place even as Hoist turned away from the two bots and proceeded to rummage through some compartments that were situated against the wall.

While the mechanic’s back was turned Sideswipe took the opportunity to question his close “friend”. The red warrior leaned in close and whispered into Bluestreak’s audial. He was going to find out what the story was with that decapitated Predacon. “Hey, uh, Blue…when was the last time you saw that turncoat Pred, whatshisname, Howl-something- or other? I mean, I haven’t seen him skulking around lately and well I know you like to keep tabs on him…”

Sideswipe quickly moved away from Blue’s audial receptor when Hoist returned with the gunner’s processor-ache med. It was then that the mechanic took a hold of Sideswipe’s arm. The red twin had to stay from pulling away both in pain and embarrassment. Instead he sent the green mech a nonchalant smile. “What? This? Oh it’s nothing…I was helping a friend find a pet. I wound up locating him first and spooked the lil’ guy…gave me this as a reward.”

Sideswipe let out a low chuckle as he gestured his injured arm. “I just need a quick patch job is all.”

Surgical Suite

After Hoist had left the room…something Ratchet had not even noticed…the surgery seemed to slow considerably. So much so that the CMO began angrily muttering to himself about finding out who had done this and promptly beating the ever-loving slag out of them before throwing them into the brig and then sending them to G9…permanently.

“Sick fragger! Unbelievable that we’ve got someone like this waltzing around within our ranks!”

Ratchet set to work at a much quicker pace once all the lines where finally organized. He then began reattaching severed wires and energon lines that would feed Howlstrike’s brain with a steady supply of necessary power. It was arduous but nothing he couldn’t handle.
Several breems passed with Ratchet pouring through innards and mechanics…hands flying fluidly through each and every step in order to save the life of this one mech.

Finally, after what seemed like vorns Ratchet began to reassemble the myriad workings of wires and hoses until one by one everything was reworked and reattached…each move brining him closer to getting Howlstrike stable enough to be placed in a CR chamber.

“Alright, Howl. Let’s just take a quick scan to make sure your brain is getting enough energon…” Ratchet raised his right arm and activated the scanner mounted within his forearm and ran it over the entire length of his patient’s body. The signs looked good.

“Okay. You’ve got good flow…your brain activity is rather sluggish but that’s to be expected considering. Spark is strong…another good sign.” He lowered his arm once his scans were complete and looked down at the prone mech laid out on his surgical slab. “You’re stable enough for me to place you into a CR chamber.”

A scowl formed on Ratchet’s faceplates as he proceeded to release the mounting clamps from the slab’s docking base. The slab’s anti-grav modules initiated making it easier for the CMO to maneuver Howlstrike to one of the CR chambers and place him inside.

“HOIST! Get in here!”

Medical Bay

As Bluestreak remained tucked under Sideswipe’s arm pit, Hoist began apologizing for his lack of understanding when it came to the gunner’s pain-filled head. The black and silver mech chuckled slightly and waved a hand at the green mechanic. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Hoist. I completely understand your reaction, and I never hold a grudge. Unless, of course, your were a ‘Con, then I’d not only hold a grudge but I’d probably shoot you. Heh!”

Bluestreak then watched as Hoist moved towards one of the cabinets to retrieve some pain meds while Sideswipe began to whisper something in his audio receptor about the former Predacon that the gunner had had the pleasure of working with back on Cybertron. Truth be told, Howlstrike was not all that bad of a mech, but ‘Streak would never admit that to anyone outwardly. Of course, there was still a level of mistrust towards anybody that had once wore the Decepticon badge. Blue and Howl would never be the best of buds, but the gunner found that he could at least tolerate the hunter in small doses.

Before Bluestreak could respond to Sideswipe’s inquiry, Hoist returned and handed him two yellow pills that would help ease the pain of the gunner’s cranial ache. “Thanks, Hoist. I really appreciate it. If there’s ever anything I can do to return the favor just let me know. I’m always willing and able to help out a fellow Autobot, especially one that has helped me out like you just did. You pat my back and I’ll pat yours, you know? Heh.” The chatterbot managed to shut up long enough to place the two painkillers in his mouth and swallow them. Hopefully, he would feel some relief sooner rather than later.

The black and silver mech then listened as Sideswipe tried to explain his wounded forearm, mentioning a certain little pet that they both knew was Razr. While the confrontation with Smokescreen was thankfully not brought up, Bluestreak couldn’t help but remember what the rallybot had said about keeping the turbofox’s involvement a secret. “Hey, I thought you were bitten by a cyber-rat,” Blue said casually as he gave Sideswipe a knowing glance. “Probably the same critter I spotted in one of the medical supply rooms a short time ago. I tried to catch it but it got away into one of the air ducts. I let Red Alert know about it, but I’m not sure where he is right now. We didn’t exactly part on good terms the last time I talked with him. I think his paranoia is getting the better of him again. But, what else is new, right?”

It was then that Blurr arrived on scene, asking about Red Alert and cyber-rats. “Yeah, Blurr, I was just talking about that. There’s no rats in here that I know of, but they could be anywhere. I only saw one before, but where there’s one there’s usually more or at least the potential to be more if they start multiplying. Of course, you’d need a girl rat for that to happen, I guess. Maybe I’m wrong and that’s only true with the organic variety. heh.”

Bluestreak then remembered Sideswipe's previous question regarding the former Predacon and turned to look back at the overly friendly red twin. “As for your question about the last time I saw Howlstrike, it was back over on the Ark-22 when we first arrived here in the Sol System. He went looking for Rodimus once the self-proclaimed Prime had wandered off. I haven’t really seen the ex-Pred since. I supposed he’s staying out of trouble, but who really knows with an animal like him. I know Kup vouches for him, but can you really trust a guy that was once a member of the Predacons, one of the most vile ‘Con units in the universe? I mean, how exactly does a mech go from that extreme to the other side so easily? I just can’t fathom it, but what do I know? I’m not in charge, am I?”

Medical Bay

Sunstreaker honestly was interested at all in whoever Ratchet was working on. It wasn’t him and the only other being he could muster much interest in checking to see if he was injured was Sideswipe and he was standing next to him. Whatever poor fool Ratchet was working on, and from the sounds of it was working on quite hard, was no concern of his. He’d been in enough battles to see plenty of nasty injuries and he wasn’t eager to risk getting someone’s fluids bled or splattered on him. His finish had already suffered enough today, no need to risk it further. He was happy to let his twin enjoy the simple entertainment though, as it kept him busy and out of trouble for a least a couple of minutes.

The warrior watched as Sideswipe came scurrying back to him after hearing Ratchet yelling. His twin couldn’t even watch something without getting into trouble. He just seemed to have a natural instinct for it. He listened as Sideswipe informed him of what he had seen. Apparently Howlstrike had gotten injured pretty badly, which only made him a little curious about who could have done it. When his twin suggested Bluestreak he couldn’t help but snicker. “I don’t think he has it in him to do something like that,” he replied, not bothering to whisper.

The yellow Autobot glared as the red one as he gave him a pat on the cheek and ran off to torment Bluestreak. He was definitely going to have to knock some sense into him once they were out of the medbay. He was pushing his limits with him just a bit too hard, best to knock him down a couple of notches so he would remember who he was dealing with here. A smile spread over his face as Hoist investigated his ‘wound.’

“Don’t be modest Sideswipe, Bluestreak is right! He got that would in a mighty battle with some rodent. I thought he had him on the ropes there but what can I say, he was outsmarted by the little creature.” Sunstreaker let out a loud chuckle.

Camera Depot

Jazz turned to face Red Alert as he entered the room, asking what he had found. And to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure either. Jazz knew what he saw, but he didn't want to believe it.

"Well, Red, I 'aint so sure myself." Jazz said as he rewound the tapes back to the beginning.

He then began to show everything on the tapes. Most was self explanatory, but he provided narration for some parts, especially the incident in the Med Bay.

"Did you see that?" Jazz magnified and enhanced the image of Rodimus leaning over the other transformer, "Rodimus whispers something in his ear and, boom, he heals instantaneously!"

Jazz continued the tape.

"Think that's odd? Got one better. That mech suddenly becomes a devotee to Rodimus, even though he was offlined and could not know that Rodimus had healed him!" Jazz explained, striking a dark and puzzled tone.

Fast forwarding to the Howlstrike incident, Jazz paused the tape as the former Pred was leaving.

"Ever wonder what happened to the ex-Con? Now we know." The Special Ops Director played the tape, until it was almost time for the sword trick that Hardhead pulled, "Keep your eye on the Pred's sword."

He then went frame by frame until the sword vanished from the ex-Con's side, and appeared in the hands of Hardhead. And in an instant, Howlstrike was beheaded by his own sword.

Jazz looked at Red Alert direly and said, "This is Hardhead we are talking about! He just doesn't do these things!"

And with that, the Special Ops Director waited for the paranoid mech's response.

Medical bay
Silverbolt shook himself awake from his energy conservation mode his blue optics took in the scene that now assault his senses. He was aware of Sideswipe in conversation with Bluestreak, Silverbolt had known the warrior for long enough to know he was up to something. Off to his left he caught sight of Ratchet vanishing with a headless form “Not something I want to try any time soon” the Aerialbot commander muttered as twitched his wings turned and walked towards Sideswipe and Bluestreak. Catching the tail end of their conversation about a partially organic mechanoid the tall autobot thought back to the headless form that Ratchet had on life support. As Hoist handed some pills to Bluestreak and prepped for beginning repairs on Sideswipe.

Silverbolt continued past the trio as he was due to be on earth providing air support along with the rest of the Aerialbots for Prowl’s scouting party. He wasn’t sure if he was still required by the autobot strategist airing on the side of caution he opened a comm link to Prowl

>>Silverbolt here reporting for duty are the Aerialbots required for your mission or are we to remain on standby?<<

Silverbolt hoped it was the first he wanted to stretch his wings and give his engines a comprehensive shakedown. He was prepared to sit and idle his engines but he wanted to feel the rush of air against his fuselage the ground rushing below him it was then it hit him mentioning below his fear hit him he placed his hand against the door frame and took a couple of cycles to calm himself down. He then continued out of the Medical Bay.

Medical Bay

Hoist listened with interest to Sideswipe's explanation about the bites on his arm as he scanned the wound, just to be safe.

"A friend's pet, you say?", Hoist replied as he tried to remember if any of the mechs on board had brought any animals, "Hmmm...... who could possibly have a pet on the Guardian."

Once Hoist was confident there were no metallic viruses or bacteria on the wound he let go of Sideswipe's arm, "Excuse for one moment.", he politely said just before he stepped aside to another storage compartment. This time instead of pharmacueticals, the green mech was searching through sheets of armor plating of varying sizes, shapes and colors.

"Ah, there we are.", Hoist said to himself as he grabbed a small sheet of red plating.

The green mech turned around, grabbed a small medical station and wheeled it to his patient. Again he carefully took hold of Sideswipe's arm, and placed it down on the work station.

"Now hold still, please.", the green mech politely instructed the red warrior as he retracted the clamp on his left arm and replaced it with an arc welder, "This may hurt a little."

With precision and care Hoist welded the new armor plating over the bite marks on Sideswipe's arm. It was a simple procedure that he had performed more times than he could count, though he still remained completely focused on the task at hand. Even if it wasn't anything life threatening he had too much pride in his work, and care too much for his fellow Autobots to give anything less. Once he was finished he looked over his work, as Bluestreak began to explain how it had been a cyber-rat that had bit Sideswipe's arm, which then led to mention of an increase in security director Red Alert's paranoia.

"There you are, good as new Sideswipe.", Hoist informed his patient as he let go of the red warrior's arm, "So, was your friend's pet a cyber-rat? Because if I recall correctly there's a femme stationed on the ship who mentioned taking care of a few cyber-rats back on Cybertron. I think her name is Sa-"

Before the green mech finished, Blurr entered the room and inquired about Red Alert. Apparently the courier was going to help the security director with the potential cyber-rat problem, but he lost him. Hoist started to worry.

Oh no, I should have seen this coming. Red probably didn't believe Prowl's explanation about the Ark-19, and now his mind must be filled with conspiracy theories. Maybe I should find Red, try to explain things to him.

"No, Blurr, I'm afraid Red Alert hasn't been here. Perhaps we should-"

Before the green mech could finish, he heard a call from Ratchet. Worried that Howlstrike may have taken a turn for the worse, Hoist didn't waste time with any pleasantries or apologies to the mechs gathered in the medical bay, and ran straight for the surgical suite.

"I'm here, Ratchet", Hoist replied as he saw the CMO trying to move the former Predacon to one of the CR chambers. Though relieved that Howlstrike appeared to be stable, Hoist said nothing and went to the other side of the side of the surgical slab to help.

Medical Bay

“Yeah that’s right. A pet.” Sideswipe let Hoist examine the bite marks that had been left behind by Razr before the little turbofox took off. He definitely did not want to give away Tracer for having the little fella run around unsupervised so fudging the truth was in order…not a problem for the sneaky red twin. “Yeah, my buddy already apologized for his pet’s behavior. Of course it was really all my fault since I was messin’ with the little guy. Besides, I left his quarters right away to come here.” Sideswipe flashed Hoist a broad sincere smile. “Suppose when I’m in his quarters I should follow his rules. Heh.”

Once he was done trying to explain himself the crimson warrior shot Bluestreak a warning glare. Sideswipe then turned his attention back to Hoist just as the latter excused himself and headed to one of the storage compartments. “Zip it motor-mouth. I don’t want our rotund friend here catchin’ on to my friend’s scent.”

Sideswipe flashed the mechanic a wide grin just as Hoist returned with the sheet of spare red plating. The red twin showed no sign of being uncomfortable while the metal covering was welded in place. It was, of course, Sunstreaker who decided to chime in at that particular moment...Sideswipe simply cast his twin a pointed glare. >>"Stifle it, Sunny! Or I'll slather you in half digested energon while you recharge!"<< Once the work had been completed Sideswipe gave Hoist a lopsided smirk and shook his head. “Yeah, a cyber-rat. Cute lil guy but doesn’t like to be pestered…so I’ve found out. Heh.” That smile faded when Blurr had arrived. The courier’s appearance turned out to be a godsend as he distracted Hoist long enough for Sideswipe to return his full attention to Bluestreak.

“You know, Blue, I was wondering…how…um…how could I put this? Were you close to Howlstrike? I mean, word around here was that you two had a few…well, you had a falling out.” Sideswipe closed the very short distance between he and the gunner and, once again, placed his arm securely around Bluestreak’s shoulder. “Now, I don’t wanna alarm ya but your little sparring buddy is in that surgical suite right now. It seems that our little Predacon turncoat has…how shall I put this…well, he’s lost his head. Literally.” The red frontline warrior pulled Bluestreak in closer. “So, are you sure you were out cold in your quarters for the past few hours?”

Surgical Suite

Within moments of his bellowing Hoist had burst into the surgical suite and quickly moved to the opposite side of the former Predacon and began to help move Howlstrike into the prepared CR Chamber. Once his patient was safely inside Ratchet entered the parameters and guidelines and let the pod’s lid close shut. The cycle began soon after and Ratchet took a few moments to watch the readings. He remained silent while he tried desperately to gather his thoughts.

“Hoist. I want to know who did this. I want to know why they did this. I want to get my hands on them and tear their SPARK OUT!” His last words were shouted out and followed up by the CMO throwing the datapad he had in his hand at the far wall as hard as he could. The device collided with the immovable object with such force that is smashed into thousands of tiny pieces littering the floor with shards of the device.

“I want this sick slagger caught!”

Bounce Chamber

In a brilliant flash of blinding light the forms of First Aid, the body of Warpath, Saferoute, Blades and the body of Ricochet materialized. From the rear of the chamber a mass of medical drones set into motion. Several took to looking after Blades and Saferoute while the rest moved Ricochet and Warpath onto separate medical hover slabs and quickly moved the wounded out and on toward the medical bay.

First Aid remained between both slabs taking reading of both mechs while the whole group quickly wove through the corridors to their intended destination.

Medical Bay

It was the sound of the doors sliding open had caught the attention of Ratchet. His brow furrowed as he pushed past Hoist and exited the surgical suite. The sight that greeted him caused him to curse under his breath. The group of drones escorting the two walking injured spilled through the open doors and was quickly followed by the two slabs and First Aid.

“First Aid?! What the slag…”

“Ratchet! We need two surgical slabs prepared! Warpath was decapitated and Ricochet was nearly beaten to death!” Ratchet closed his mouth and raced to the side of Warpath’s slab. Both critical mechs were quickly transferred into the surgical suite where they could be evaluated. “What happened, Aid?” The Protectobot didn’t answer right away. Instead he set to work on Ricochet while Ratchet began his assessment of Warpath’s condition. “It was bad, Ratchet. It was really bad. Rodimus…well, we thought he was Rodimus, but he wasn’t, and the others…they weren’t…”

Ratchet shook his head while he plunged his hands deep into the neck column of the tank-former. “Alright Aid, it can wait. Just keep that mech from fading. Hoist! Grab a cerebral scanner and a powerflow modulator and get over here!” While he had his hands nearly wrist deep in his patient’s neck Ratchet opened up a comm link with his other wayward medic. >>”Axle! I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing, but I need your aft in here now!”<<

Transmission from Prowl to Silverbolt:

>>”Good to hear from you, Silverbolt. I assume you are operating at full capacity again. If that is the case, then you are ordered to rendezvous with us down here on the surface to provide air support. However, we only require your services for the time being and NOT the rest of your team. Having five jets flying around the Peruvian Valley would draw far too much attention from the locals. You alone will suffice. Once you have bounced down to my position, I will provide further instructions. I’m sending my coordinates to you now.”<<

Medical Bay

Bluestreak’s non-stop banter was cut short when Sideswipe gave him a warning glare followed closely by a whispered one to shut the frag up before he gave anything away. The chatterbot nodded, letting a slight smile escape from his faceplate before a frown took over. While the black and silver mech understood that many, if not most, of his comrades found his constant talking to be a bit annoying, Blue still didn’t understand the reasoning behind it. Surely there were others that had the ability to go on and on about things, like Kup, for instance. The old timer could tell a story for cycles and no one would complain. Of course, the aging war horse was well respected within the ranks, so even if someone was bothered by his tales of heroism, no one would say so aloud or make a formal protest. The gunner was just a typical rank and file kind of ‘Bot whose stories were admittedly not as interesting as Kup’s always were.

In an attempt to keep his processor from wandering into the dark past that he was constantly trying to avoid, Bluestreak focused on the conversations around him. In particular, Sunstreaker had interjected his own comments at his brother’s expense, backing up the gunner’s assertion that it was a cyber-rat that bit the red twin. Siders did not appear to appreciate Sunny’s barb and while nothing was said aloud, Blue was certain that the crimson warrior had sent the golden ‘Bot a reply via his private comm.

Bluestreak then watched as Hoist repaired Sideswipe’s damaged forearm, the chatterbot keeping his thoughts on the here and now. The past was the past and it needed to remain there. Once the bite from Razr had finally been patched, the red twin returned his complete attention to the gunner and began asking him how close he was to Howlstrike. It was an odd question to be sure as anyone who knew the black and silver mech was well aware of his detest for Decepticons, current or former. “We’re not really close at all. I mean, I worked with Howl a little bit back on Cybertron, and I learned to tolerate him thanks to Kup scolding and giving me a lecture about second chances. But, I wouldn’t categorize our relationship as being buddy buddy or anything. I suppose the Pred’s okay considering that Kup vouches for him, but I’ll never really trust him completely, regardless of what the old timer says.”

Bluestreak paused for a moment as Siders then informed him that the damaged mech in the surgical suite was none other than Howlstrike, himself, and that he had been decapitated by someone! “Really?! I can’t believe it! Who would do such a thing?!” Bluestreak replied with a shocked expression plastered across his faceplate. “Although, I suppose there are plenty of Autobots around here who don’t really like him. I mean his only friend is Kup. Other than the old timer, no one else really talks to him and he doesn’t talk to anyone else, either. Heh, in many ways he’s the exact opposite of me. I don’t know, maybe he was caught trying to sabotage the ship or whatever and someone found him and went a little overboard. Still, it seems very extreme to cut his head off. Are you sure that’s what really happened? I can’t image an Autobot doing that. Maybe Whirl would, but he’s not assigned here so it can’t be him.”

Almost instinctively, a curious Bluestreak tried to move closer to the surgical suite in an attempt to get a look at Howlstrike and see if the damage was as severe as the crimson warrior had claimed. The gunner didn’t make it very far as Siders pulled him closer and asked if he really had been unconscious in his quarters the entire time. “Of course I was, Sideswipe,” the chatterbot replied, once again perplexed by the red twin’s question. “I have no idea what happened to Howl. Like I said before, the last time I saw him he went off looking for Rodimus. I haven’t seen him since. Wait...” Bluestreak stopped his babbling again and turned his entire body to face the red twin, pulling away slightly. “...are you suggesting that I could’ve done this? I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it. I may hate ‘Cons, even former ones, but I’d never go this far. Besides, I don’t have the capacity to decapitate someone! Even if Howl had attacked me, for instance, I would have shot him in order to defend myself, not cut his head off. I’m a gunner for frag’s sake, not a swordsman or the like! And I certainly wouldn’t keep it a secret. I’d report the incident right away!”

Bluestreak felt a little insulted by the crimson warrior’s insinuation that he was capable of such extreme violence. Howlstrike may be a former Predacon, a group that has committed untold atrocities during the great war, but he was still officially an Autobot now, as much as the gunner hated to admit it. Committing a crime such as this would only serve to get the black and silver mech into a lot of trouble with Prowl and likely even sentenced to life without parole in the Garrus-9 penitentiary. It was a risk Blue was never willing to take. The former Pred was simply not worth it.

“Come to think of it, Sideswipe,” Bluestreak continued as he rubbed his chin guard for a moment, a smile creeping onto his faceplate. “Howl had mentioned something to me once when we were back on Cybertron. He said he’d had a run-in with you and Sunny here before being reassigned. He said it had gotten a tad violent between you three. Apparently, some threats were thrown around. Perhaps I should be asking where you guys were before I found you in the hallway earlier.”

A grinning Bluestreak received no immediate response as they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of medical drones and a variety of wounded mechs, some capable of walking with assistance while two others were clearly locked in stasis, lying on hover slabs. The gunner's attention was drawn to the group as the critical patients were rushed by him and into the surgical suite. He only caught a little of what First Aid was saying to Ratchet, indicating that Warpath was decapitated while Ricochet had been almost beaten to death. The rest of the tense conversation between Aid and the CMO was lost once they were in the surgical suite. Blue then returned his shocked visage to that of Sideswipe. "Well, it seems that loosing one's head is becoming a habit around here. Heh."

Autobot Frigate Guardian Hallways

The large Aerialbot Commander was stood looking out of the portal at the stars his mind was set ready for aerial manoeuvres . He was wondering how his smaller brethren Slingshot and Air Raid were getting on down on earth making a mental note to check up on them. Skydive and Fireflight where left one board as far as he knew but before he could go find them he got a message from earth.

>>”Good to hear from you, Silverbolt. I assume you are operating at full capacity again. If that is the case, then you are ordered to rendezvous with us down here on the surface to provide air support. However, we only require your services for the time being and NOT the rest of your team. Having five jets flying around the Peruvian Valley would draw far too much attention from the locals. You alone will suffice. Once you have bounced down to my position, I will provide further instructions. I’m sending my coordinates to you now.”<<

Silverbolt was sorry that his remaining Aerialbots would not be needed on earth he turned around and strode towards the bounce chamber. As he walked he checked his electro-static rifle probably wouldn’t need it but it never hurt to check the charge. Silverbolt’s retrofitted alternate form needed a shakedown he was most looking forward too. His rifle was showing it was nearly fully charge he sent orders to Fireflight and Skydive to find something to do without him as he entered the bounce chamber upon entering the co-ordinates Silverbolt was engulfed in a blinding white light. The light faded wisps of smoke floated from the chambers floor. The Aerialbot commander was heading to earth meet up with Prowl then spread his wings and fly.

Supply Room C-3

After unsuccessfully searching the room and mucking around in Howlstrike's stagnant energon, Eject concluded that if there were any clues to find, he would have found them by now. The tiny Autobot tried to wipe off as much of the energon off of him as he could. He wasn't about to go back to Ratchet empty-handed. He had to come up with something. If only there were instant replays of the happenings on the Guardian...

"Wait, that's it!"

Corridors

Eject ran out of the supply room and sprinted for the Camera Depot. If he was lucky, he could find footage of whoever decapitated Howlstrike. The tiny cassettobot wondered why he hadn't thought of it sooner. It would've saved him a lot of strife for sure. Eject slowed his pace a little as he approached the door to the camera depot. He tried the door. It didn't open. Frowning, Eject tried again to no avail. It asked him for a security code. This was...weird.

"Hey! Is there anyone in there?!" Eject shouted as he pounded the door with his tiny fist.

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Medical Bay

The courier let out a sigh from his intakes when he heard that Red Alert had not passed by here. As Hoist was about to suggest something, he got called away into the surgical suite by Ratchet. Blurr frowned at that. Bluestreak’s jabbering – not that Blurr had much room to talk – brought Blurr’s attention over to Sideswipe and Bluestreak, who, from what he could gather, were talking about Howlstrike being injured.

“I probably shouldn’t have left Red alone, now he’sprobablygoing around thecorridorswith blastersonfullandwiththatrocketlauncherhecoulddosomeseriousdamage! But…he could be ok. Aw, who am I kidding, it’sRedAlertwe’retalkingabout! And Howlstrike, maybe Red is right. Maybe something weird isgoing on!”

As Blurr was vocalizing his internal thoughts, the injured Autobots came in on stretchers accompanied by First Aid. When Blurr saw who it was on those stretchers, he was, for a very rare moment, at a loss for words. They returned to him an astrosecond later.

“Warpath!” Blurr cried as what was left of his friend passed by the courier. The courier moved to follow First Aid and Ratchet when they disappeared inside of a surgical suite and common sense – or rather the instinctual fear of the CMO’s wrath – stopped him from continuing any further.

“Warpath and Ricochet? They went downto Earth withRodimus! Whathappeneddownthere! I should’vegone, Ishould’vebeentheretohelpthem! Icould’ve-Icould’ve…I could’ve…I could have done something…”

Blurr looked over to the surgical suite with a helpless expression on his face. They were in good hands – the best hands – but how the courier wished he could do something for the medics. As it was, Blurr could only stand idly by, fidgeting incessantly.

Medical Bay

Once Howlstrike was in the CR chamber and on his way to a full medical revovery, Hoist simply stood and watched as Ratchet let out his frustrations, the green mech taking a step back as the CMO smashed a datapad in anger. Hoist knew there was no point trying to stop or reason with Ratchet's emotional outburst. For several mega-cycles the CMO had been working to fix up so many Autobots without rest or a recharge cycle. If any mech deserved a release, it was him. Besides that, he knew Ratchet was experienced enough and professional enough not to let it interfere with whatever work lie ahead of them.

"I won't argue with you on that, Ratchet.", the mechanic said as he looked at the shattered pieces of the datapad on the floor and shook his head, "No one who could do such a horrible act should be allowed to call themselves an Autobot. Howlstrike didn't deserve this at all, even if he used to be a Decepticon. I can't imagine how-"

Before the green mech could finish, both he and Ratchet heard the medical bay doors slide open. Without warning the CMO pushed right past Hoist and into the main area of the medical bay.

"Oh no, what now?", Hoist asked rhetorically as he followed right behind, "Oh dear Primus!"

Hoist's optics widened as he caught sight of Ricochet and Warpath behind pushed in by First Aid. As the Protectobot doctor tried to explain whatever had happened to them, Hoist realized just how crowded the medical bay was getting. He took a quick moment to address the Autobots that who had gathered in earlier.

"ALL RIGHT!", the green mech shouted to Bluestreak, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Blurr, though one could still here his usual polite tone, "Unless you still need medical attention, you have to leave now to make room for our incoming wounded!"

Just as Hoist stopped speaking he heard an order from Ratchet. Quickly retracting the welder on his left wrist and replacing it with a mechanical grip, he went into the surgical suite and grabbed the requested items from one of the equipment tables. Without delay the green mechanic rushed over to Ratchet, close enough to help him however possible but managing to avoid getting in the CMO's way.

"Cerebral scanner, powerflow modulator.", Hoist recited to Ratchet, ready to hand them to him at a moment's notice.

----------------------------

Saferoute hadn't had time to feel the disorienting effect of the bounce as she was quickly overwhelmed by medical drones, scanning every part of her, particularly her back armor that had been burned and damaged, and the various bullet holes she was riddled with, one of which caused energon to trickle from her torso. She'd be lying if she said it didn't feel intrusive, but the femme was too physically and emotionally exhausted to give any resistance.

Once in the medical bay the drones took her to the side to get out of the way of the wounded who couldn't walk under their own power. As Warpath and Ricochet were pushed into the surgical suite and out of her sight, she noticed some of the other mechs already there. Ashamed of herself for the whole mess she'd been involved with, her first reaction was to look away and hope they would leave her alone.

Then she heard Blurr cry out for Warpath. She remembered that the blue speedster being with the group at the very beginning, but for whatever reason he didn't stay with them.

"You were smart not to join us.", she bitterly said to Blurr, though her bitterness was directed toward herself as she looked away from him, "Everything 'Rodimus' said was just a giant pile of slag."

Camera Depot

Red Alert kept a straight face as Jazz showed him the footage he had found, paying little attention to the special ops director's commentary. He wasn't looking for Jazz's side of the whole thing, he wanted cold, hard, visual evidence as to what was going on. Unfortunately, what the security director was watching didn't offer him any idea as to what was going on with Prowl's conspiracy, but to feats that would seem to be paranormal in nature. As the video played, Red Alert focused his optics on the monitors as closely as he could, trying to discern whether any of it was legitimate.

"That isn't possible!", Red Alert exclaimed with alarm at was he was seeing, then looked at Jazz, "None of that is possible!"

Now Red Alert saw what was really going on. He took a few cautious steps back from the monitors and unholstered his rifle, looking at Jazz with hardened optics.

"Because it's all a bunch of slag, isn't it?", he aimed his rifle at Jazz, "I'm guessing that footage has all been altered hasn't it? Prowl knew I was on to him, so he sent you to 'reassure me' that there was another, greater threat involved, didn't he?"

Red Alert shook a little. Though he wasn't aware of it, a couple of small sparks of electricity came from his cranial chamber as his processors worked overtime to determine what his next move would be.

"You almost had me fooled, Jazz.", the securtiy director nodded as he shook a little, "It made sense trying to make Hot Rod appear to be some evil, supernatural being, what with his unexplained transformation. But trying making it look like Hardhead and Hex are involved, and that Hardhead is a cold-blooded killer? You stretched things too far, and I'm not falling for it. Now tell me, what-"

The unhinged security director jumped, startled by the light knocking coming from Eject on the other side of the door. Regaining his composure, he kept his rifle aimed squarely at Jazz as he stared at the door.

"DON'T MOVE, I MEAN IT!", Red Alert ordered, "Is that your backup, to take me out in case THIS happens? STAY QUIET OR I REALLY WILL SHOOT!"

Still aiming at Jazz, Red Alert carefully backed up to a comm unit next to the door. He pressed the button to address the bot on the other side.

"This room is currently restricted!", Red Alert spoke to Eject, trying desperately to sound like nothing was wrong, "For official security reasons, no unauthorized personel are allowed! Go back to wherever you're supposed to be, or I will report you to Prowl!"

Quarters

Fireflight lay idly in one of the many berths afforded to officers and other Autobots who found themselves serving aboard the Guardian. If anyone else was around, he hadn't noticed. The Aerialbot's attention was focused on a datapad, with a small stack of them piled haphazardly just to one side of his bunk. He casually flipped through various images on the screen as he more or less allowed his mind to wander aimlessly. Silverbolt's incoming orders provided for only a momentary distraction from his otherwise pleasant daydreaming.

Fortunately for Fireflight, the orders were pretty non-specific. Their commander was apparently heading down to the planet's surface for one reason or another. His orders, such as they were, consisted of finding something to do.

Hm. Will do, the Aerialbot thought to himself, before resuming his previous examining of various Earthen imagery.

Med Bay

When Hoist called for the uninjured to leave, Blurr was less than willing to go, but he knew there was nothing he could do here and that he would just get in the way if he remained. He turned to do just that when he saw Saferoute injured as well. She wasn't in as bad of shape as Ricochet or Warpath, but the sight of any injured comrade distressed the amiable courier.

"I don't think smart had anything todowith it. It'snotyour fault, Saferoute," Blurr said giving the femme's shoulder a friendly, reassuring shake, "He could've talked anyone into joining him - lookatPath and Hardhead - so it's not your fault. I didn't come along because, well, I get distracted easily. I'llbe in the mess hall if you wannatalklater, but I should probably get outof the way of Ratchet andtheothers so they can do their work. Don't be too hard on yourself," The courier added with a warm smile.

Blurr walked - or rather his version of it - toward the door, glancing at the Sunny, Sides, and Blue who were still in the Medical Bay. He zipped over to the group.

"Comeoncomeoncomeon! You heard the bot! Let's all clear out of the medics' way and let 'em do their job!"

With that, Blurr zipped out of the Medical Bay himself heading toward the Mess Hall. The courier figured he could use a nice canister of synthetic energon.

Mess Hall

As Blurr entered the Mess Hall, he stopped for a moment and frowned. This had been where he had last seen Rodimus and his group before he had left them. He remembered. He had been talking to 'Path about getting a chance to have some real energon to refuel with. Slower than usual, Blurr walked over to the dispenser and filled a container with some synthetic energon. Could they really even call it energon? The speedster made his way over to a table and sat down, staring into space distantly.

"I guess everything that's happened has gotten to me...What with Optimus'sdea-disappearanceand now...WarpathandSaferouteandRicochet! Not a good cycle for the Autobots. Not good at all..."
_____

Corridors

For a moment, Eject thought maybe that his knock had been too quiet for anyone inside to hear. The tiny Autobot had been about to knock again when Red Alert's voice came over the comm unit next to the door. He sounded...odd, but then this was Red Alert. And with all of the strange happenings on the ship at the moment, Eject figured the security director had the right to sound stressed. Restricted? It made Eject even more curious as to what was happening on the other side of the door, but unlike his friend, Rewind, Eject was not so curious as to try and pursue the matter further.

"Red Alert? Hey, if it's about Howlstrike, Ratchet wants to know who attacked him. And...he's not very happy about it. Let him know if you know something. I'm off."

With that, the tiny Autobot headed back toward the Medical Bay. He wasn't sure what he was going to tell Ratchet, and he dreaded going back with nothing to tell the CMO. Eject had almost reached the Medical Bay when he saw Steeljaw sitting against the wall in the corridor, out of the way.

"I wouldn't go in there," the lion cassettobot said gesturing to the Medical Bay with a flick of his head, "There's a lot of critically injured patients in there. It reeks of energon. I can hardly smell anything else."

Eject shrugged and sat down next to Steeljaw to wait. Odds were that this would take a while. Maybe Red Alert would be done with the Camera Depot by then. Or better yet, he'd know something about Howlstrike's attacker and would radio Ratchet the identity.

"So what are you doing sitting here anyway?" Eject asked of his comrade and friend.

"Waiting to hear news of Howlstrike and the others."

"Oh that's...fun?"

"You reek of Howlstrike's energon, Eject."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I was looking for clues. Ratchet wanted to know who attacked Howl."

"I remember."

"Uh-huh..." Eject lifted his optics up to the ceiling as silence filled the space between the two cassettobots once again.

"Did you find anything?" Steeljaw asked, a low rumbling growl accenting his words.

"Nothing. I thought to check the Camera Depot, but Red was in there saying something about it being restricted."

"Slaggit all!" Steeljaw snarled angrily.

Eject flinched away at Steeljaw's angry outburst. He guessed that the lion had a lot of respect for Howlstrike as a fellow tracker. Eject didn't particularly like or dislike the former predacon. For that matter, he was fairly neutral about most Autobots. Most larger Autobots tended to put Eject on the bench. He was just the surveillance guy. He wasn't like Rewind, who practically had the entire history of the Great War filed away on the Archives, or Steeljaw, who was one of the best trackers in the Autobots. Blaster and a few others were the exception. Blaster treated him - and all of the cassettobots - as dear close friends and Eject appreciated that.

Realizing that the silence between the two cassettobots had stretched on for quite a long period of time yet again, Eject turned to face Steeljaw. "So...you wanna play some cards to pass the time?"

Medical Bay

There was that smug smirk again. Sideswipe had taken it on when he was watching the expression on the young gunner’s face change to that of utter shock…of course it could have been utter relief but with this kind of entertainment who cared. “Well, yeah, plenty of mechs wouldn’t mind it if he was out of our lives, but only someone who hated…and I mean HATED…him could have large enough ball bearings to actually cut the guy’s head off.”

Sideswipe took a quick glance back at his twin and gave Sunstreaker a wide grin. >>”He’s so busted.”<< The red twin’s inflated ego, and smirk, faded when he heard Bluestreak finally offer one last opinion on just what might have happened to Howlstrike and just who the possible suspect could be, and Sideswipe was none too happy with the insinuation. Of course it was only fair since he all but verbally accused the gunner of the same such atrocity.

Instead of flying off, however, Sideswipe simply shook his head in the negative and let out a low chuckle. His hand then snaked around the back of Bluestreak’s neck and pulled the younger bot in closer. “Oh please, Blue. If I wanted the guy dead he’d be dead. I wouldn’t resort to “hoping” I’d have killed him. I would have made sure the guy was pushing up lugnuts.” Sideswipe rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he pressed further. “No, whoever did this was in a hurry, didn’t even care if the body was eventually found. Nah, what we’re dealin’ with here is a ‘Con hater…and a sloppy one at that.” The red warrior gave a hard slap to the silver and black mech’s back and flashed him a smile, “And that’s why I thought of you first!”

“Maybe you got so mad…so peeved with the guy…that you actually saw red…you know I heard that happens sometimes. And besides, you were “supposedly” passed out. No one saw you on your bunk the whole time. The truth is…none of us knows what you’re like when you’re overloaded off your aft…probably not even you.” Sideswipe gently pushed Bluestreak away from him so he could look into the other mech’s optics. “You do know I’m here for you, Blue…me and Sunny. So why don’t you unburden yourself. Just let it all out.”

It was Hoist’s overloud bellow that drew out a low growl from the front line warrior’s vocalizer before he got out any reaction from Blue. “Yeah, yeah, Hoist. We’re goin’. Come on, Blue. We got some stuff to discuss.”

Surgical Suite

It really was never ending. It seemed that every time he turned around Ratchet found his med bay filled with friends who were nearly killed or just too hurt to even talk. It was getting worse by the day and there really wasn’t anything he could about it but accept it as part of job. Ratchet let out a deep growl while checking the severed ends of wires and fuel lines that fed Warpath’s brain module.

While observing the work done by his young subordinate Ratchet cast a quick glance in First Aid’s direction. The Protectobot was an accomplished doctor. “You did a good job sealing off ‘Path’s lines here Aid.” The young doctor’s head lifted slightly, his optics bright with thanks. “Thanks to your teachings.” Ratchet paid little attention to the smaller mech’s admiration…he’d heard it all before from not only First Aid but many other young medics he took under his tutelage. But above all the others, save Pharma, First Aid was the one who stood out the most.

Medical Bay Proper

Behind the two slabs that Ricochet and Warpath were transported on Blades slowly shuffled in behind. He kept quiet as he knew the two ‘Bots ahead of him were in need of immediate attention…his wounds could wait. Resided to that fact Blades found an available med berth and carefully slid onto its surface. The flier let out a low sigh as he began to settle in. Recharge would be nice. His processor began to drift when the door to the bay suddenly opened revealing the last of the medical staff.

“I thought you were inside with Ratch and Aid.” Axle looked to Blades and shook his head in the negative while also making his way over to the mech’s berth side. “No. I was taking it easy. I wasn’t feeling so hot after my surgery.” Gently Axle probed at Blade’s rotor array which only caused the Protectobot to flinch and hiss slightly. “Ow. Careful, doc.” A slight smile made it to Axle’s face as he moved around to take a better look at the injury. “I’m not a doctor anymore. Just a medic. Now hold still.”

“Wait. I think Ratch and Aid could use your help more than me. They got two guys worse off than me.” Axle stepped back around the berth and gave Blades a quizzical look. “What happened?” The question had just slipped from the field medic’s lips when he heard the frantic shouting coming from the surgical suite. “You better go.” The black and green mech gave a light pat to Blades’ back and jogged off past the small assemblage of mechs still loitering around the bay.

Surgical Suite

“It’s about slaggin’ time! Get over there and give First Aid a hand!” When the door slid open Axle had stopped in his tracks to take in the scene that was set before him. Upon two separate surgical slabs lay Ricochet who, form the looks of it, had been beaten to within an inch of his life and Warpath who was missing his cranial unit. It was the shout from Ratchet that brought him out of his stupor. “Y…yeah. Right.” He set into motion and dove in to work along with First Aid who was having difficulties with some ruptured lines.

“What the hell happened? I never heard anything about a battle.” The doctor shook his head sullenly as he grabbed for one of the clamps that had been laid out near the slab. “It was bad, Axle. Rodimus…he recruited a bunch of ‘Bots…they found the location of the Decepticons on the surface and he led them down there.” With a sickening crunch the plate Axle had been maneuvering was pulled free. At the same time First Aid had removed his energon stained hands and plunged right back in in one of the other breached locations.

“Who was with him?” First Aid paused in his work but never looked to his associate; instead he went straight back to work. Letting Axle know anything about Hex and what he might have become was out of the question. They needed the entire medical staff focusing on nothing but the wounded. “I only saw the aftermath…Ricochet was beaten and Warpath was beheaded. There were two other mechs that were attacked, but…” First Aid knew that the other medic could fill in the rest. “Both of you shut up and get that mech stable!” Axle was jolted out of his thoughts by Ratchet’s sudden orders. He quickly got back to work but continued his questioning the smaller ‘Bot in a hushed tone so as not to attract the frustrated CMO’s ire. “Who were the other two mechs? And how were they killed?”

A sidelong glance from the doctor sent a chill directly down Axle’s spinal structure. “They were two of Magnus’ men. Bidder was eviscerated and Tonton was torn apart...by hand.” The confession very quickly silenced Axle who simply resumed his assisting.

Medical Bay

Bluestreak stayed quiet long enough to hear Sideswipe’s response to the insinuation that the red twin and his brother could’ve been the ones responsible for Howlstrike’s beheading. It likely wasn’t true, of course, but it was one way to deflect attention away from the gunner, himself, even though he had nothing to do with it. Innocent mechs had been wrongly accused in the past for things that were actually done by another individual and their reputations never fully recovered even after the truth was revealed. Of course, in some cases, the truth was never revealed, leaving said innocent ‘Bots trapped in the Garrus-9 penitentiary with vicious Decepticon war criminals. And while the black and silver mech was unmoved one way or the other by the hunter's current state, that didn’t mean he agreed with what had happened nor did he want to deal with the ramifications of being falsely accused.

However, before Bluestreak could once again defend himself, Hoist had interrupted the proceedings and demanded that everyone leave the medical facility at once if they no longer required repair work. Thankfully, the medicine that the green mechanic had given the gunner a short while ago was already working. Otherwise, the shouting would’ve exasperated the cranial ache beyond what it had been when Blue first woke up from his stasis nap. “No problem, Hoist. I was just leaving.”

Corridor outside Medical Bay

Unfortunately, Bluestreak wasn’t leaving the med bay alone as Sideswipe insisted on accompanying him so that they could discuss all things regarding the headless Howlstrike. Stepping into the corridor, the gunner glanced over at the increasingly annoying red twin. If the crimson warrior wanted him to let it all out then that’s exactly what he was going to do. Sunstreaker, while not really showing much interest in the discussion thus far, would be mere collateral damage in the babbling that would soon commence.

“As I’ve said before, Sideswipe, I had nothing to do with Howlstrike’s beheading. I don’t slice things, I blast them,” Bluestreak said, preparing his vocals for the barrage ahead. “Now, if he’d had a hole blown through his aft, then me being the culprit would make more sense, but since that’s not the case it’s clearly not me. I also don’t think you and your brother did it. I was just joking, giving you a taste of your own medicine. Like you said, Howl would be dead for good right now and not still functioning. I agree that someone did this who didn’t care about the body being found, intentional or not, but I can assure you it was not me. Granted, I’ve never been as drunk as I was just recently, but for it to be me I’d have to somehow make it from my bunk over on the Ark-22 and get over here to the Guardian where the crime took place. Then, I’d have to make it all the way back to my quarters again. I would've passed out in a corridor at some point. There’s no way in the Pit I could've gotten back and forth with how overfilled my tanks were. Besides, I’m no where near strong enough to successfully attack Howlstrike, even if I got the drop on him. He’s much bigger and more powerful than me. I could never beat him, especially not in a drunken state. Come to think of it, I can’t really imagine anyone doing that to him without Howl putting up some kind of a fight. This must’ve been the work of someone very strong or multiple mechs with that kind of strength, which counts me out entirely.”

Bluestreak paused for a brief moment to let everything he had just said to sink in. He could tell that Sideswipe was already becoming agitated by his ramblings, but it’s what the red twin wanted so now he’d have to live with it. “And another thing, Siders, it’s not very smart to accuse someone of such an act of violence without proper evidence. I know you’re probably only joking around with me, but someone like Red Alert could overhear you and take what you said seriously. I could be tried and convicted of something I didn’t even do and sent off to Garrus-9 to spend the rest of my life locked up in a tiny little cell with the very scum that I despise, all the while the real culprit is still here. Did it ever occur to you that the same mech that decapitated Warpath, another big and powerful warrior, was likely responsible for Howlstrike’s situation, as well? Think about it before falsely accusing me again please. I’m the one that’ll end up paying the price unjustly, not you.”

Corridor outside Medical Bay

To say Sideswipe was just a wee bit ticked off about being ejected from the med bay was an understatement. Weren’t they all on the same side? Shouldn’t they all be privy to just what had happened and what was happening to their team mates? At least that’s what the crimson twin had thought. With a grunt and a heavy sigh Sideswipe followed through with his promise and left the med bay with Bluestreak and his annoyed golden brother.

And as soon as the door closed behind them Sideswipe turned to face the silver and black gunner. His mouth had just slipped open to address Bluestreak when the young mech beat him to the punch. His face fell slack as he listened, or partially listened, to what Blue had to say. How he could motor on for so long without a break was just uncanny.

Only a few astroseconds into his banter and Sideswipe was already bored…it was never a good idea to engage a mech with such a short attention span when it would not turn out in his favor. The red warrior grit his teeth and ground out just as Bluestreak finished up. “Okay, fine whatever. Look, you keep your nose clean and I’ll do the same thing, now just please, shut the frag up!”

Sideswipe ran a hand down the full length of his face and let out a long strangled sigh. There was no sense in prolonging this kind of torture. But after a few moments the red twin’s dour demeanor perked back up…a tell-tale sign that a devious idea was brewing in his demented little processor. In a flash he patted Bluestreak on the shoulder and offered a broad smile. “You know what, you’re right. I won’t mention it again. Now, if you’ll excuse us…Sunny and me have something to take care of.” That said Sideswipe snapped around and grabbed Sunstreaker by the wrist and started dragging his brother down the corridor. His pace was quick and contained a distinct skip. >>”Oh boy, Sunny! Have I got the perfect idea! Once we’re out of earshot I’ll clue ya in. Just bear with me! You’re gonna love this! It includes fun and abject humiliation rolled into one!”<<

Surgical Suite

And there it was. That all too familiar and all too unwanted awkward silence had settled in…silence save for the constant low cursing and mumbling that was coming from the CMO. Ratchet had never expected this kind of work so soon after their loss of not only their Prime but the loss of their own home-stronghold. It was enough to drive the hardened medical officer over the edge.

“Can NOT believe this kind of scrap would happen so soon…how in Primus’ name could this…grrrr!” The white and red mech’s mumblings steadily grew into louder, gruff spoken words. Although his musings and inquiries were directed at no one in particular they did draw the attention of both of his subordinates.

Axle had lifted his head in order to regard Ratchet but just as quickly turned his attention to First Aid who caught his own optics. Without a word both medics dove back into their work sealing off all of the damage that had been dealt to Ricochet. The marksman would survive. His physical injuries would heal quite well, but as far as any lingering psychological affects…only time would tell. “Aid?” The questioning tone was low so that only the Protectobot could hear it. “You didn’t answer my question…who were the other ‘Bots with Rodimus?” And there it was again. He had to stall, but how? To First Aid’s relief the door to the surgical suite opened allowing the two medical drones and both mobile med-slabs enter the large room. Axle looked up from the wound he was dressing to look at the mangled Autobots that adorned the smooth energon soaked surfaces. Bidder and Tonton. “Holy Primus. You said…but I…I didn’t think it was that bad.” First Aid shook his head slowly before he looked up at Axle. “Trust me, it was bad.”

“You have GOT to be slaggin’ kidding me! What am I supposed to do with those?!” Ratchet had turned around from the CR Chamber’s terminal when he heard the door open and the drones enter. When the slabs were locked into place and the anti-grav plates were deactivated the CMO stomped over to have a look at the two deceased ‘Bots. “What a fragging mess. Aid! Who were they and what happened?”

The Protectobot gestured to the last tear that he was working on to Axle who took over while he made his way toward Ratchet. “This one was Bidder…” he pointed to the slab on the right and then gestured to the one on the left. “…he was Tonton.” He took a quick look over his shoulder noticing that the black and green medic was paying more attention to Ricochet then he was to the explanation he had already received. “Bidder was eviscerated and Tonton was ripped apart…” Ratchet let out a low angry growl… “Slaggin’ sick ‘Cons…” First Aid shook his head catching his superior’s attention; a quizzical look etched on Ratchet’s face. “It wasn’t just a ‘Con, Ratch. One of them was ours.”

Ratchet simply stared at First Aid for nearly an entire breem before he finally shook himself out of his stupor. “Rodimus did this?” “No, sir. He had two other Autobots with him and two ‘Cons. He called them his “Heralds”. From behind the small doctor Axle looked up as Ratchet pressed for more information. “Two other Autobots? Who?” First Aid fidgeted slightly before a stern warning glare from the CMO hastened his answer. “Hardhead and Hex.”

The sound of metal crashing upon metal caused both First Aid and Ratchet to turn their attention to Ricochet’s prone form. Behind the slab backed up pressed firmly against the wall stood Axle, a shocked unbelieving expression spread on his faceplate. “No.”

Medical Bay

Blurr's words did little to comfort Saferoute as she still tried to grasp just what had gone on, but she appreciated it none the less.

"Thanks. Maybe I'll take you up on that offer later.", she replied with a half-hearted smile.

Once all the uninjured mechs had left and the medics had all gone to the surgical suite to tend to the critical patients, that left only her and Blades- at least until Axle walked in afterward.

Oh no, she thought to herself, looking away from the medic as she went to one of the medical stations. Judging by his demeanor, it seemed unlikely that Axle had heard the news about his young protege. She overheard the medic check up and talk to Blades, who insisted that Ratchet and the others would need his help with the other mechs in the surgical suite. In a way she was relieved that he left so quickly, as it saved her from telling him what had happened to Hex on the planet.

"Argh!", she grunted as her burned aft touched the cold bench as she tried to sit down, reminding her of the missile she'd taken from Hardhead. A painful reminder of what a fool she had been. She then grit her teeth as one of the medical drones started pulling out some of the buck shot she had taken from Swindle, yet another reminder. Trying to distract herself from the pain, she looked over to Blades, also tending to his own wounds.

"So tell me something.", she asked the Protectobot, "Were you guys sent down there to help us, rescue us, or take us into custody?"


Surgical Suite

Hoist kept himself plenty busy as the medics did all they could to save the two bots, handing parts and tools as needed, checking vital signs and cleaning up the occasional spill or mess that would have got in the way. As professional as ever he kept quiet, not letting the CMO's seeming never-ending cursing get to him.

You can't blame a mech whose been under so much pressure for letting off a little steam.

As the two slabs holding what was left of Tonton and Bidder were brought in, Hoist stopped dead in his tracks. It didn't take any kind of medical training to see that the two were far beyond saving, even with two of the Autobots very best medical personel in Ratchet and First Aid.

Ever after all these vorns of war, I don't know if I've ever seen such damage dealt to any mech like that. It's more like they'd been ripped apart by some savage animal!

Hoist's optics widened as First Aid explained that this had not been a typical casualty from the Decepticons, but that at least one of them had been terminated by one of their own!

If Hoist had heard this a cycle ago, he would have scoffed and brushed it off as wild accusations that had been started by Red Alert. But after seeing what had happened to Howlstrike, there was little denying that such a thing could happen.

After some more back and forth between the two doctors, First Aid finally revealed who the traitors were, Rodimus, Hardhead, and Hex. Before Hoist could say anything or even react, he heard the crash from Axle, backed up against the wall. To say the medic looked shocked would have been an understatement.

Hoist dropped what he was doing and walked over to Axle. Hoist knew that the medic had taken the young Hex under his wing, but he also knew just how much of a hothead the scout could be at times. He couldn't imagine just how hard it was for Axle to try to keep his protege on the straight and narrow, and then find out that he had become a traitor?

"Axle, try to relax.", Hoist said calmly but sternly, as he stood in front of the medic, gently placing his hands on his shoulders,, "I can't begin to imagine what must be going through your mind right now, but going into a panic isn't going to help anyone! You have a patient right in front of you who needs your care right now, so you need to pull yourself together!"

Hoist took a step back and motioned his hand toward the mech in stasis behind him, "You can find out just what happened to Hex and do whatever you feel you need to do later, but right now Ricochet needs your complete attention!"

Bridge

Blaster busily toiled away monitoring the Autobot and human frequencies. He also scanned for any trace of Decepticon chatter on the extremely odd chance that Soundwave was distracted with other things enough to let his guard slip, but that was as likely as Cybertron being magically restored to life. Blaster detested Soundwave, and he was quite sure that the feeling was mutual. Letting a terse sigh from his intakes, Blaster checked again if there were any new arrivals coming in from the bounce chamber.

To his surprise, the list had updated since the last time he had checked. The arrivals...Yes! It was the team that had gone down to Earth to recover Hot Rod! Blaster frowned when the list of arrivals stopped. This was far from everyone. He noted First Aid's designation on the list and realized that the wounded were just beginning to return. The others shouldn't be far behind then.

In normal times, Blaster would've been content with that assumption, but these were far from normal times. He wanted some confirmation. Blaster opened a transmission to Steeljaw and Eject.

>>"Eject, Steeljaw, if you two are by the Med Bay, can you look in and see if there are any injured there? Other than Howlstrike.<<"

While he waited for a response, Blaster pulled up a holomap of Earth and honed in on the location that the Kup and the others had bounced to, scanning for unique energon signatures. Blaster frowned at the scene before him. Ultra Magnus had joined the team in the field, but that wasn't what disturbed the communications officer. It was the fact that Autobot and Decepticon energy signatures were in such close proximity with one another and - for the most part - were stationary. It could only mean a ceasefire - as unlikely as that was. Which left a chilling question in Blaster's processor.

What could've happened down there that was so dire to make both Autobots and Decepticons call for a ceasefire?

Blaster intended to find out. Just as he was about to send a private transmission to Kup, Steeljaw responded to his earlier question.

>>"A whole lot of injured just came in. Ricochet and Warpath were in really bad condition when I saw them last. 'Path was decapitated too. I bet it was the same fraggin' slagger that put Howl in critical condition too. If I ever get my fangs into them..."<<

>>"Yeah..."<< Eject interjected, >>"So anyway, we can definitely confirm that we have a whole lot of injured, and that Ratchet is...Not. Happy."<<

Blaster send back a brief acknowledgement to the two cassettobots before closing the comm link.

>>"Thanks."<<

Blaster opened a private transmission to Kup.

>>"Kup, it's Blaster. What's the situation down there? We just got a rush of injured Autobots. Do you need reinforcements?"<<

Transmission from Kup to Blaster

>>"Situation stable Blaster. Negative on reinforcements. I believe we will be returning to the Guardian shortly and Magnus can brief everyone on our current situation. Kup out."<<

Surgical Suite

If it were at all possible Axle would have pushed harder into the wall until he finally became fused to it. It would probably have been less painful than hearing that his ward was responsible for the brutal murder of one of the two soldiers laying on the slabs. The medic had known Hex was spiraling, but to resort to something as cruel as this was just something Axle could not grasp. “It couldn’t have been. Not Hex. He’s angry, sure, but he’s not one to do something like this. It’s just…just not possible.” Most of what was slipping past his lips was meant to sooth his own psyche, but it came off more as pathetic rationalizing.

Axle’s optics raked over the remains while trying desperately to piece together any kind of reason such an act of brutality was done. The black and green field medic then heard someone begin to speak to him in a calm yet stern tone. He lifted his optics from the slabs and cast a distraught expression in Hoist’s general direction. He barely registered the mechanic placing his hands on his shoulders and speaking, but when the green mech had taken a step back and pointed toward Ricochet’s unconscious body Axle finally started to refocus.

“Ricochet. Right. Ricochet…he needs…uh…” Axle raised a hand to his face plate and ran it across his forehead as he tried to recall exactly what it was he needed to do next. “No! No, no, no!” Ratchet and First Aid had finished sealing off one of the final lines in Warpath’s neck column when the CMO stepped away from the surgical slab and stomped over to Hoist. “I don’t want him in here. He’s no use to me or any of the patients if he can’t pull himself together!” Axle’s head shot up and set his optics on the white and red doctor. “I can finish this!” he yelled back to the CMO. Ratchet let out a grunt as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t even remember what you were supposed to do next!” He raised his hand and pointed to the door… “Get out! Hoist you go with him. I’m sure there’re patients out there who’re in less critical condition. You take care of them, and then when you think you’ve got a handle on yourself you come back in here.”

Axle narrowed his optics and balled his hands into tight shaking fists. For a long moment he held his ground optics glued to Ratchet’s. Neither mech gave an inch until Axle turned on his heel and stormed out of the suite. The CMO let out a heavy sigh and placed a hand on Hoist’s shoulder. “Do me a favor and keep an optic on him. He’s just as hardheaded as that little slagger he watches. It may not seem like it but he’s prone to plenty of stupidity.” That said Ratchet moved back to First Aid’s side. “You don’t think you were too hard on him do you?” Ratchet shook his head as he took his welder back to Warpath’s neck column. “Axle’s a good medic, hell he was good doctor, but he lets his emotions run everything in his life. Which in turn makes him do idiotic things. Insubordination being one of them. Why do you think he was demoted?”

Corridor outside Medical Bay

Sunstreaker was only mildly annoyed at being pushed out of the med bay. Unlike his twin he wasn’t particularly interested in the various wounds and injuries the other Autobots were coming in with. He also wasn’t particularly interested in watching Sideswipe continue to pick on Bluestreak. The talkative Autobot was an annoyance at the most, not really worth the torment Sideswipe was trying to put him through. Then Bluestreak fought back with some long, pointless drivel and even Sideswipe called it all off.

The warrior just snickered as Sideswipe absorbed the defeat. He wasn’t exactly having a good day, defeated by a chatterbox and a rodent. He was going to have to give him some slag about that later on.

Before the yellow Autobot could say anything though Sideswipe’s miniscule attention span was caught by something else bright and shiny. He grabbed his wrist and began dragging him down the corridor, radioing him about some fantastic idea he had. Sunstreaker had heard this all before too many times to get very interested or excited. He did, however, shake off his twin’s grip on his wrist.

“You know better then to grab me like that. And stop skipping like a moron, you’re embarrassing yourself and, by association, me. Now what stupid idea do you have in store for me this time?”

Corridor outside Med Bay

Bluestreak’s ongoing ramblings had no sooner come to a brief end, it was always brief for him, when an irritated Sideswipe had finally had enough and told the gunner to shut the frag up already. The black and silver mech was used to such treatment from most of his comrades, especially after he had drone on and on for so long. It didn’t bother him and at least in this situation it seemed to have lead to the red twin accepting the fact that the chatterbot was in no way responsible for Howlstrike’s current and unfortunate situation.

“Okay, no problem, Sideswipe,” Bluestreak replied as the crimson warrior excused himself and pulled his golden brother with him down the corridor. “Glad you finally realize that I'm innocent. No hard feel....” The gunner stopped talking again as the Autobot twins disappeared around a bend. Once again Blue was left alone with only himself as company. It wouldn’t be very long until his thoughts drifted to places he didn’t want to revisit, so he needed to find something else to occupy himself and soon.

Bluestreak turned and looked back towards the med bay door as he considered hanging around for a little while until Howlstrike had awakened from his CR nap. The gunner’s curiosity was at an all-time high in regards to what had happened to the former Predacon. Decapitation was pretty severe and ‘Streak figured for a moment that he would go straight to Howl, himself, once he was up and about in order to find out exactly who did that to him and why. It would also give the black and silver mech a reason to keep an optic on the Autobot hunter once again and make sure that he didn’t go off half-cocked seeking vengeance against the one responsible for severing his head.

But I can’t go back in there, Bluestreak thought inwardly as he took a seat on a bench just outside of the med bay door. Hoist already yelled at me to get out and I’d just be in everyone’s way. I guess I’ll just wait here and hope that Howl wakes up soon. The gunner’s thoughts trailed off as he looked up to the ceiling and then back down at his actuators. A breem went by when he realized that his processor had already begun to inadvertently access some of those dark memories that he tried so desperately to avoid. This isn’t working. I need something to do or someone to talk to. Preferably the latter.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Bluestreak stood up and considered his options. After a few astroseconds of careful contemplation, a small maintenance drone appeared from around a corner and was about to roll by the med bay when the chatterbot looked down and took a single step in front of it. “Hey there, little fella! How’s it going?” The drone was abruptly stopped by the larger Autobot, it’s single optic staring straight up at the sight of the black and silver mech that had greeted him like a regular ‘Bot. “Are you able to talk?” Blue asked as the drone replied with a series of beeping sounds and nothing more. “Oh, I guess not. That’s okay. I’ll do all the talking.”

Bluestreak smiled and gave the maintenance drone a friendly pat on the cranium. He then guided it over to the bench near the med bay door where the gunner sat back down and began speaking to the mechanism like it was his best friend, going on and on about anything he could think of. While the drone could not reply back to him, it mattered little. The chatterbot very rarely gave anyone the chance to respond to his babbling anyway, so it worked out perfectly for him at this juncture. Just as long as talking to this mere drone kept the bad memories at bay, Blue would be just fine. Of course, any of his fellow Autobots that walked by him at this point would think he was crazy for having a “conversation” with a drone, but what else was new? Most thought he was a tad nuts regardless.

OoC: Actions agreed upon by WnR and I.

Camera Depot

There weren't many things Jazz disliked in this universe. Negligence, for one, is pretty much at the top of the list. Also on there was having someone point a gun in his face. One time is forgivable, but twice in the same hour? Downright infuriating.

It was when Eject knocked on the door and Red Alert's attention was drawn that gave Jazz the opportunity that he desired.

Jazz waited until he heard the words "I'm off" from Eject and for the footsteps to begin to fade when he reached out beneath Red Alert's hand. In an instant, Jazz flashed his light show into the highly tuned optics of the paranoid security officer, giving Jazz the opportunity to bring his hand up from beneath the hilt of Red Alert's weapon, causing it to soar from it's owner's hand.

Catching the weapon midair, Jazz slammed the barrel of the gun upon the table, dismantling it immediately. Simultaneously, the director grabbed and twisted the missile on it's launcher, causing it to jam in place. Whilst his hand was there, Jazz grabbed the neck of the security officer and pushed it to the table, grabbing Red Alert's arm along the way and holding it in a painful position to Red Alert's back.

With his free hand, Jazz made like he had just pulled his own gun from his hilt, but instead he pressed his first finger to the temple of Red Alert's as if a gun.

"Bang." Jazz said.

Leaning in closer, Jazz continued, "If I was working with Prowl, which I am not, and he wanted you out of the way, I would have already killed you. Oh, and by the way, if you point another weapon at me again, we are going to have a problem. Do you want us to have a problem?"

Pressing his finger to the side of Red Alert's head harder, Jazz followed up with a phrase he learned from an Earthen movie, "Well, do ya, punk?"

Camera Depot

"AAGH!", Red Alert shouted in pain, the sudden burst of light and sound too much for his sensitive optical and audio sensors to take. Blinded and overwhelmed by the sudden sensory overload, the security director could do nothing as Jazz disarmed both of his weapons and restrained him.

As Red Alert's sensors re-oriented themselves, he found himself face down on the table, his arm held up behind his back by the special ops director. He struggled to free himself, but there was no escaping Jazz's grip. He winced as Jazz "shot" him, but it only seemed to infuriate the security director even more.

"I KNEW IT!!!!", he shouted incredulously, "I KNEW YOU WERE PART OF THIS!!! I-"

Before Red Alert could continue his ramblings, Jazz explained things calmly, though his grip never let up. It made some sense to Red Alert, though he was given little choice as it was quite clear that the special ops director wasn't about to let him out easy. As the security director felt the digit press against his head, he shut his optics down and tried to think.

All right, so that proves that Jazz could have taken me out easily if he had wanted to, but that still doesn't say what's going on..... Ugh, I've been going about this whole ordeal foolishly, running like a turbofox in the middle of a hunt. And what about the turbofox? It must have something with everything, at the very least with Wheeljack and the stolen shuttle. But then there's also the Dinobots taking the Ark-19 at approximately the same time, that can't just be a coincidence, can it? And Prowl lied to me about that, so he could be involved. And what about Hot Rod's strange transformation, and all those bots following him off the planet, possibly killing Howlstrike? Wait, wait, I'm overthinking this all, aren't I? Slaggit, I wish Rung was here, he always managed to help me sort out my thoughts. Right, right, remember Rung, remember our sessions. What did he always tell me whenever it seemed like there were greater forces conspiring.....

After a breem of deep thouht, Red Alert's optics came back online as he finally reached a breakthrough.

"Oh dear Primus, I've been such an idiot!", he said to himself, his face still down on the table, "I- I'm sorry Jazz, there's no problem between us.", he said calmly, "I promise, I won't threaten you, ever again. Now please, let me up. There's a lot more going on than you know, and we need to work fast! We need to tell Ratchet who attacked Howlstrike, then we need to tell Prowl everything that's happened here over the past few cycles."


Medical Bay- Surgical Suite

Hoist had hoped that he could talk Axle through whatever grief he was going through and get him trudge forward, but it was clearly not enough as the medic seemed to be stuck in a fog, trying to remember exactly what he was supposed to do. Before Hoist could say or do anything further to help, Ratchet stormed over and made it clear to the green mech that he didn't want the distracted medic in there.

It was then that Axle insisted that he was capable of finishing his work, which led to a shouting, followed by what seemed like a staring contest between the two medical bots. Hoist could only stand and watch before the CMO ordered both him and Axle to leave and tend to the wounded in the medical bay proper. Axle stormed out, and just as the green mechanic was about to follow him, Ratchet stopped him, making sure that Hoist would keep an optic on the medic and make sure he didn't make any stupid mistakes.

"I understand, Ratchet. I'll keep him from doing anything foolish."


Medical Bay- Proper

After a breem of being poked and prodded by medical drones, Saferoute finally had to stand up, if only to relieve the pain that sitting gave her damaged back section. Just as she did, she saw Axle storm out of the surgical suite.

Oh no...., she thought.

Not long after, Hoist walked out and went up to the visibly upset medic.

"Axle,", the green mechanic said in a calming tone, keeping a little distance to give the medic his space, "Please, try to calm yourself. I'm sorry that I tried to push you back into work, but Ratchet is right, you're not in the right frame of mind to be handling such delicate procedures. Look, there are a couple of 'bots out here you can tend to. Or, if you really feel you need it, you can go to your quarters for a cycle and try to sort out your thoughts and I can tend to them. Just please, don't do anything rash just to prove Ratchet wrong."

Saferoute sighed, shaking her head.

"You found out what happened down there, huh Axle?", she called out.