//------------------------------// // Prisoners // Story: We Need A Medic // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Prisoners The Cons had been driven into a retreat. The Autobots had also driven them back without a single casualty. That put the army of the Autobot’s into a good mood. So as they watched the tail pipes of their enemies vanish into the distance, they cheered and mocked the retreating Cons. That was until their base exploded and their cheers were turned into cries of confusion and worry. Optimus, who had been through more than his fair share of bases blowing up, was the only bot fast enough to both see what was going on and react to it. He was in his vehicle form and driving towards the base before the explosions had come to an end. The last explosion had just finished when he reached the colossal pit of rubble that had previously been the center of Autobot operations on Earth. His optics scanned the rubble for any sign of human or Autobot life. Then his optics told him there was a source of energon deep beneath the rubble, far from sight. It took even a bot as strong as Optimus and the rest of the Autobots a few hours to unearth the source of the energon and to his relief he found that the energon was caused by a dome shield that was surrounding both Ratchet and Red Alert, who were both injured but alive within the dome. His optics then glanced over at where the medical bay was and he spied the Curbcheck and been protected by a dome of energon as well. Optimus tapped on the dome and Ratchet lowered it, but when Prime helped pull the two Autobot’s out of the wreckage he saw panic in the eyes of Ratchet. “Ratchet, what happened to the Autobot base? And what has become of the girls? My optics cannot sense them anywhere,” Optimus asked Ratchet, before motioning for other Autobots to go get Curbcheck. “They’re gone, Optimus. Ultracon…Ultracon was Redheart this entire time,” Ratchet revealed to Optimus, getting him and the Autobot’s that had caught up with them to gasp in disbelief. “He transformed into Redheart before we had ever left Cybertron as has been spying on us ever since, waiting for us to gather the girls for him so that he could take them all in one, felled swoop. And that is exactly what he did.” “Ratchet, I need you to calm down and tell me exactly what happened in there,” Optimus instructed in a comforting tone, but Ratchet gazed down at his clenched fists with anger burning a hole in him. “He took Fluttershy. He took her and there was nothing I could do,” Ratchet seethed helplessly as he clenched his fists tighter and tighter. “Nothing at-“ “Ratchet.” Ratchet turned to look at Optimus, as if registering he was there for the first time. “Ratchet, what did Ultracon say and what happened in there?” “He…he said that he freed Soundwave and Soundwave was the one that told him about the girl’s magic. They both got the idea that they could use the girls magic to fuel the Deceptacon armies, but didn’t know it was possible until Fluttershy and I achieved our combination,” Ratchet stammered out, trying to not let his emotions override him. “He freed to other Cons as well, the ones that we had as prisoners. The one that I had saved…Fluttershy had saved, was the one that captured her. And with her captured I didn’t dare try to do anything…Ultracon is going to continue his experiments on them. He’s going to give them over to Soundwave and he’s going to…I don’t know what, but we saw what he did to Sunset and Rainbow Dash! We can’t let that happen to Fluttershy!” “Calm yourself, Ratchet. We will not let them hurt the girls. Not while I still draw power,” Optimus promised Ratchet before he turned back to the rest of the Autobot army. “You all have five minutes to reload, gear up with whatever you can find and then prepare to roll out. We are going to the true Deceptacon base, the place where Ultracon and Soundwave have been keeping secret from us. And then we are going to bring an end to this war…once and for all.” “But Optimus, how are we going to find the base?” Red Alert asked weakly, enegon leaking from his chest. “The Cons destroyed the ground bridge and the terminal where their location would be located. We have no idea where they are.” “Perhaps we do not have their exact location, but I know where Pinkie is,” Optimus informed the Autobots, who looked at him like he was insane. “While she and I may not have been able to achieve the same level of closeness that Ratchet and Fluttershy share, on our days together I took a precaution, just in case the two of us were ever separated. There is a tiny audio tracker on her, one that only she and I know about, one that the Cons cannot track. I am currently monitoring it as we speak.” “Then where are we going?” Ratchet asked Optimus, standing beside him with a look of rage and murder on his face. “And how soon till we get there?” “From what I can tell, the Cons true base is to the far north of the girl’s town. And it will take us the better part of a day to get there,” Optimus informed the Autobots.” “But Optimus, to get there on time we’d need to drive straight through the town. And chances are that at least one person would become suspicious of us before we’ve gone through,” one of the Autobots pointed out. “We do not have time to play it carefully any longer. Those girls are our top priority and they must be rescued, even at the risk of exposing ourselves. If you are recorded, ignore it. If you are held up, find a way past. And if others block your way…then remove them from your path. Autobots…” “ROLL OUT!” [=O=] With a pounding in her head Fluttershy felt her consciousness return to her. She remembered being grabbed by a Con, thrown into a cage and the destruction of the Autobot base. Then she remembered blacking out. But when she opened her eyes to see what had happened since then, she wished that she had stayed blacked out. She found herself in a purple and silver room, one that had a single table in it with dozens of sharp and painful looking tools upon it. She herself was hanging in nothingness, with her arms and legs secured with energon binds. Above her were numerous shelves, with all sorts of trinkets and devices on them. On one the of the shelves she believed she saw what remained of Laserbeak, Soundwave’s bird that Ratchet had cut in half. And then, at the very end of the room, was a massive, lifeless body that made her skin crawl. The body was silver in color, with bits of purple highlights. It was sharp in most areas and was about the size of Optimus in height. On one arm was a pitch-black cannon and the other arm held a sword that glowed with a sickly purple coloring. But even though she recognized the body, a glance at the face told her this wasn’t who she was thinking of. For the face was blank and lifeless, similar to the face plate of Soundwave. ‘Ratchet said that Megatron is still alive. This isn’t him, this is a replica,’ Fluttershy told herself in an effort to stay calm. It didn’t work all that well. But then a closer look at the empty suit revealed an empty compartment in its chest. A compartment that looked like it would fit her body shape exceptionally well. “I see that you’ve spotted our final weapon against the Autobot’s. Beautiful, isn’t it?” Fluttershy turned her head towards the source of the voice to see Ultracon and Soundwave entering the room. “While Megatron himself cannot be here to see the end of the Autobot tyranny, we have built a perfect replica completely in his likeness, while also recovering the dark star saber for a little extra flair. Of course, the power of that sword is nothing compared to the energy source that will be powering him.” “Me and my friends,” Fluttershy whispered with a snarl, but her ferocity only got a laugh out of Ultracon. “Correct, Fluttershy. You and your five other friends will be the power source for the destruction of the Autobot’s,” Ultracon agreed before he turned to Soundwave. “The Autobots will be here before the day is done. You have until their arrival to find a way to get her to power that machine. Get it done.” “Of course,” Soundwave replied. Ultracon nodded before turning to leave, yet before he could exit the room Fluttershy spoke. “We won’t give in,” she promised Ultracon, who turned to look back at her. “My friends and I will never willing power your machine. And that’s what the key to the combination is. A willingness to work together. And that is something we will never do with the likes of you.” “I am fully aware of that. Just as I am also aware that your friends are already willing to power that suit of armor,” Ultracon revealed to Fluttershy, whose eyes widened in shock. “Fluttershy, you’ve been out for about two hours, so you missed what happened. Thanks to you and Ratchet, we learned that indeed the only way we can access the magic that your friends have is if they willingly give it to us. And they have.” “No, they would never…” “Of course not. They’d never give it to us. But you see, they don’t know it’s us,” Ultracon said with a wicked smile. “See, when they all woke up they found themselves in a hologram simulation, where they were back at the Autobot base being told by Optimus how they managed to save them from the Deceptacons and that he needs their help to put an end to the war. He gave them a truly beautiful speech if I do say so myself and motivated them to use their magic to power the Defender, a suit of armor designed for a Prime to pilot but needed them to be the energy source.” “It worked to perfection. Your five other magical friends agreed to it, believing that they are finally going to be able to help the Autobots who have helped them so much. Only Pinkie thought to ask where you were, but Optimus told her you were with Ratchet, helping to wounded. And they all believed it, right before they were placed in the suit to power it. See for yourself.” Ultracon then pressed a button and the suits chest opened up completely, getting Fluttershy to gasp in horror when she saw all six of her friends plugged into the suits, with their magic flowing into the spark in the center of its chest. She also saw that all of them were wearing some metallic device on their heads and that their eyes were glassy. “We even found a spot for Twilight, even though she has no magic,” Ultracon said when Fluttershy spotted Twilight in there as well. “Interestingly enough, it is not a perfect combination like yours and Ratchet’s was. Our combination is missing something, but we have no idea what. But it fits our purpose and it’s all but ready. It’s, just missing its last member. You.” “I don’t care how powerful a suit you make, it will never defeat the Autobot’s,” Fluttershy told Ultracon, but to her surprise he nodded in agreement. “I completely agree. If Megatron himself couldn’t destroy the Autobots, then this suit certainly wouldn’t be able to either. It might kill their entire army, but Prime has an annoying habit of coming out on top. But here’s the kicker. He won’t be able to destroy the suit. He can’t. Because if he does destroy it…” “Then he destroys my friends as well,” Fluttershy finished with fear. “You catch on quick. Optimus wouldn’t dare raise his weapons against one of you, let alone all seven. And once you’re inside, the suit will be too powerful for any Autobot besides Prime to even stand a chance. And he won’t even fight it.” “Why are you bothering to tell me all of this?” Fluttershy asked at last. “Why not just trap me in the illusion and have me in there with my friends? Why bother keeping me awake if you plan to do the same thing?” “You truly are far cleverer than you let on. Two reasons. The first is that Soundwave wants some payback for what you and Ratchet did to him when you first combined,” Ultracon said, getting Soundwave to activate a device that caused electricity to crackle along it. “The second is that we tried…and the hologram didn’t work on you.” “What?” “See, the hologram technology that we used on your friend’s messes with the electricity and blood flow in their brains, getting them to see and hear things that aren’t there. But that didn’t work on you and we don’t know why. Why can you merge with a Transformer when none of your friends can? Why can you resist our devices when none of your friends could? What makes you so special? That is what Soundwave wants to find out.” Ultracon then turned and left the room, leaving Fluttershy alone with Soundwave. The Con looked over his tools that he was prepared to use on the girl, before he positioned himself so that he was eye to eye with her. “Anything to say before we begin?” he asked her coldly. “Yeah. How’ve you been doing since Laserbeak split?” Soundwave had not expected the procedure to being with Fluttershy drawing first blood. But as his eyes glowed with rage and she smirked back at him, he made a promise that he would wound her back just as painfully, if not more.