Optimus Prime's unusual Charge

Captive Courage

As the children were pulled out of the vent, their hearts raced with a mixture of relief and apprehension. They recognized the familiar form of Ratchet, the Autobot medic, towering over them with a stern expression on his face.

{"Ratchet! You scared us!"} Miko exclaimed, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and relief.

{"Yeah, what's going on?!"} Jack added, his eyes wide with concern.

Ratchet's expression softened slightly as he knelt down to their level, his optics scanning them for any signs of injury. {"You three shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous,"} he said firmly, his voice tinged with worry.

{"But we had to find Zucky!"} Raf protested, his voice filled with determination. {"We couldn't just leave her behind."}

Ratchet's optics softened as he realized the children's intentions. {"I understand, but you should have stayed at the base where it's safe. The Autobots can handle this."}

{"But what about Zucky? We have to help her!"} Miko insisted, her voice filled with urgency.

{"Don't you think I know that? But I can't do that if I have to keep worrying about if you're getting trampled underfoot or not. We're going back to the base, and that's final."}

Ratchet sighed heavily, knowing that the children were right. Zucky was their friend, and they couldn't abandon her to the mercy of the Decepticons. But he also knew he couldn't be up here and neither could the kids. Someone needs to man the Groundbridge, and the children should stay out of harms way. {"I'm transporting us back right n--AARGH!"} He started punching in the code on his remote groundbridge controls to get them back to base, but with a hard clang, Ratchet was attacked from behind. He fell into stasis mode and collapsed to the floor.

The kids gasp when they see this. "Ratchet?!" When they look up to see who it was, Soundwave was back up on his feet.

As Ratchet fell to the ground, the children's hearts sank with fear and uncertainty. They watched in horror as Soundwave stood over the fallen Autobot medic, his expression unreadable behind his faceplate.

{"Ratchet!"} Miko cried out, her voice filled with desperation as she rushed to his side. She knelt down beside him, her hands trembling as she checked for any signs of life.

{"Is he...?"} Jack began, his voice filled with fear as he stared at Ratchet's motionless form.

Before he could finish his sentence, Soundwave stepped foreward his demeanor cold and emotionless as he reached for Miko. Jack quickly grabbed the girl by an arm and dragged her away from Ratchet to avoid her getting captured.

{"You... You attacked him!"} Raf accused, his voice trembling with anger as he glared at Soundwave.

Soundwave simply stared, still devoid of emotion. The Autobot was attempting to remove the children from harm's way, he cannot allow that to happen. The humans are to be captured and brought before Lord Megatron, and he intends to do exactly that. He took another step forward, and another and another.

The children exchanged worried glances, backing away into the corner, realizing the gravity of their situation. Trapped aboard the Decepticon ship with no means of escape, and their friend in stasis lock at their feet.

As Soundwave advanced towards them, his servos reaching out menacingly, the children braced themselves for whatever fate awaited them. 

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Megatron waited impatiently for any feedback from Soundwave. He paced back and forth in the control room. When the door finally opened, he rased up his gaze to see his most trusted warrior carrying a cage with three humans inside. Megatron was grinning from audial to audial. "Excellent~"