Transformers Prime: Result of Impact

Ch. 37

Ratchet had almost forgotten how incredible energon was.

The moment he had the half-full cube in his servos, he was consuming it, relief flooding into his system and his engines humming in content. There were mumbles of amusement and surprise among the soldiers that were watching up; he had finished it in record time. However, the cube had only been filled halfway, much to his dismay. Once the cube was empty, Ratchet turned to Silas, optics narrowed. "Half a cube? That's it? I'm not going to be able to operate while you're starving me, right?" He questioned irritably.

Silas set his jaw at that. "After you've accomplished a portion of the building process."

"Right... How about you just kill me now? To save the trouble later on?" Ratchet snapped, servo tightening on the empty cube in agitation. It cracked a little, and the sound made Silas step back, and one of the soldiers rest a finger on the button, taking it as a threat. The reaction it got was satisfying to the medic... They may be smart, think they are above all, but they still feared what he could do. "I will work when I have properly refueled." He said firmly.

"I will not be spoken to in such a manner. You are a captive here, you make no commands, no requests." The irritating man barked. "Do you need me to remind you of your place?"

Oh, you little-

Ratchet scoffed. "Silas, do you want a groundbridge? If you starve me, I'll be too weak to operate, and will offline shortly after. If you torture, or give me 'reminders' while I'm in this state, I'll only perish faster. We are not indestructable machines. We are living beings that need things to survive, just like you. Is that really too difficult to understand?" He pushed, lowering his voice to defeat the chance of yelling. Screaming at the human wouldn't solve anything.

Silas stared into his optics, visibly furious. He sighed, slowly, making it clear how upset he was about this. Ratchet found the little act amusing. "Fetch a full cube." He muttered to one of his soldiers; the soldier scurried off. "While you're energon is being retrieved, begin the plans." Silas ordered.

Good enough.

Ratchet turned to the monitor that had been provided. It was small, and was slow and rickety, definitely not given a fair amount of effort and time. His servos went to the keyboard- lettered and numbered in English, which took him longer to work with- and he began plotting.

Providing them with a groundbridge was not an option.

So, what could he do...

His best idea, was to intentionally make the groundbridge highly unstable. An unstable bridge could be devastating to a Cybertronian... A merciful malfunction could lead to misdirection, an unintended location. But a highly unstable bridge could be fatal. The high levels could rip a Cybertronian to shreds, imagine what it could do to these pathetic humans.

Yes.

An unstable bridge... and while the humans that were sent through the bridge perished, the diversion would give Ratchet enough time to escape.

That had to work.

It was worth a shot.

The cube of energon was pulled in on a rolling machine, the cube being too heavy for the humans. Ratchet immediately picked it up and began drinking, watching the monitor with a satisfied look.

This could be his way out.

Hours passed, his work on the bridge was fast, at a reckless pace. First came the building of the frame of the bridge. Lifting the heavy beams was frustrating, the humans unable and unwilling to assist him much. Keeping them up as he welded and built was a challenge.

Primus, it was much harder the second time, without the use of proper Cybertronian tools.

The first groundbridge was much easier, having the others to help with the heavy lifting and basic construction.

He didn't have that now.

But he wasn't building a functional groundbridge... Instead, a weapon. It didn't require the same amount of care and effort.

He could afford to be sloppy and careless, now.

It was hours into the night, he was preparing a panel, kneeling with his welder with a squad of useless soldiers watching him. They rarely spoke, only watched expectantly.

Utterly useless.

There was no talk, at least, until there was a loud crash a few rooms away. Every being in the room stilled, all exchanging confused glances. Ratchet shifted, looking at the soldiers, curious for an explanation.

"Go see what that was." One of them ordered gruffly. Another strode out in a quick pace.

The moment he was out of the door, there was another, louder crash, the room right beside the current one. Ratchet rose to his peds. Gunshots added to the noise, and clashes of metal and crashes began getting louder and louder. A hopeful look came to the medic's eyes.

At last, a thick ped slammed through the wall, sending rubble flying. Ratchet recognized the red and blues of his leader, and gave a gasp of relief as Optimus crashed in through the wall, sending soldiers running as they avoided being crushed. The Prime's optics immediately found Ratchet, and he gave his own relieved sound.

"Ratchet," he breathed to himself. The medic stepped over rubble to stand before him.

"Let's get out of here." Ratchet gestured to the hole in the wall. Optimus smiled under his battle mask and dove back through the gaping hole, his medic close behind him. The other Autobots all paused in their destruction of the base to look at Ratchet, relieved looks all around.

"Autobots, retreat!" Optimus commanded, and watched his comrades charge back through the space where a wall had previously been, before he followed. A bridge opened fifty feet ahead.

Primus, was he finally free?

Perhaps not.

Out of the corner of his optic, Ratchet glimpsed Silas, standing on a massive rock that had been a part of the wall. A tense shiver ran through him.

They made eye contact as Silas pushed his finger against the button on his wrist.