Ratchet vs. Klank - Skirmish at Nellis

[l33tmedic]

((All parties converging from here and here.In a brilliant flash of light, Ratchet, Catilla, Moledive, Klank and Steiner all PINpoint into the bear mech's little corner of Nellis Air Force Base. When they arrive, Chainclaw is waiting for them, the Pretender looking worse for the wear, himself

Comments

[shellshockers]

"Boss...are you okay?" Nearby, Catilla is forcing himself to stand, his intakes wheezing harder than ever as he struggles to keep himself together. "What...what are we gong to do? Tracks and Moledive, they can't possibly..."

"Ungh..." Chainclaw is still prone on the floor, shoulder smoking, his shell nosing him with a whimper.

Catilla's shell soon joins the two, licking Chainclaw's shoulder briefly.

[l33tmedic]

"We can't give chase, not like this..." Ratchet's scanners rove over the two Pretenders, revealing worrying amounts of both external and internal damages. "Catilla, help your partner into his shell. I want both of you in your shells... You've got to start regenerating."

Crawling to the nearest work table, Ratchet struggles to drag himself onto the open surface. He pulls open a section of his chest and grabs up a line from the side table and generator, plugging himself in. "Got to...got to replace lost energy... Primus... I've failed."

[shellshockers]

Limping to Chainclaw's side, Catilla helps the other Pretender sit upright before coaching him through his transformation sequence. Once Chainclaw is safely inside his shell, Catilla follows suit, entering his own shell and collapsing to the floor with a groan. Tiger and bear lean on one another where they lay, only able to hope and pray that Tracks and Moledive come back alive...

[random_xtras]

Alarms have been silently shrilling all this time, and now figures appear at the shattered door. A set of blue optics and a red optic band peer inside.

"What's going on?" demands a gruff voice.

[l33tmedic]

There is no answer. Aside from the busted door a couple of damaged areas where live ammunition struck, the place doesn't seem to have seen much action.

The occupants are another story. All of them have gone into stasis lock where they lay, self repair sequences trying to compensate for massive amounts of external and internal damages.

[random_xtras]

Ratchet's calling for Endeavor and Mikaela in a sparkbeat even as he darts into one of the nearby storage areas for antigrave stretchers. "Soundwave, help me with this

[beau_in_blue]

As the seconds tick into minutes, time passing at Nellis, so it passes at Dead City. The flow there is inconsistent, but manages to come close this time to being relative to one of the few realities that currently matter to those who have been battling there on and off the last several hours.

PINpoint light flares in the bear mech's area and when it fades, Tracks, Moledive and Steiner are left standing in its wake. Immediately, the Corvette is on the alert.

"Where are Ratchet and the others? We left them here! Primus, don't tell me they tried to follow... They were worse off." His scanners begin sweeping without hesitation. "Moledive, you know this place? If they are not here, where are they?"

[nottabeater]

Bee pauses to push away nausea at the thought of ripping out sparks, then lowers her head and runs after the angry mech. "Wait up! I'm going that way too."

"Yes." The big black mech rumbles and nods, mentally comparing this guy's appearance to the Tracks he knew as his team follows him inside. "I'm supposed to take this slag heap to the lockup."

[beau_in_blue]

While Moledive sighs and waits for 'Bee to catch up before continuing, Tracks looks over the rest of Ironhide's team briefly before responding. "An alt of yours assisted in the initial battle against the Monstercons. I daresay some of the wounds Steiner is sporting are the result of said alternate's cannon fire. ...which reminds me..."

Giving himself enough boost to elevate himself to Steiner's near shoulder, Tracks pulls a circular saw blade from it with little reaction from the larger mech. "That other Ratchet will likely want this returned." He subspaces the piece and drops back to the ground to address the situation at hand once more. "To lock up? Do you intend to try him for his crimes here? And while I do realize he a prisoner, some one might want to check him at least briefly to make sure he doesn't leak all his fluids out while being held. It would seem that without Klank to give him orders, he really has no direction. He should not be that hard to contain."

[random_xtras]

Ironhide's mouth twitches slightly in what might be a smile. "You're Tracks alright. Fond of the sound of your own voice."

Then he scowls and scans Steiner. "Sam and Soundwave are meeting us there. They both know feild mechanics. And I have no idea what Prime will want to do with him, right now we just want to make sure we don't get anymore holes in the walls."

"The door's open," says Bee as she and Moledive reach it. "So it should be safe to go in."

Inside, Ratchet is seeing if he can't get his alternate to come back online. He and Endeavour have finished the most pressing repairs on the three mechs, and are now focusing on the smaller stuff, like finding out if that newly installed optic works.

[beau_in_blue]

((Aaaand I'm gettin' lazy. Combining comments.))Tracks sputters indignantly. "I beg your pardon? I know the value of stealth and silence, thank you very much

[random_xtras]

"Channel has stayed here from time to time in the recent past," rumbles a deep voice from the door, where Optimus is now standing out of the way and watching everything. Elita is looking over the side of the hand that the Prime holds cupped close to his chest, her expression drawn and weary. "She was very concerned about finding and speaking with you, and also someone that she called her 'kitty'."

Even before bearRatchet's silence registers Bee realizes her mistake, and her blue eyes go wide. "You have a Sam... slag... me and my big mouth... should have left the vocalizer offline....Sam grins and applies the painkiller override program, perhaps giving a setting just a bit higher than is really needed because he sees how big his patient is and wants to make sure he gives him enough. Poor Steiner is in danger of being stoned. "There you go, buddy. Hey, what's your name? I'm Sam, and this is Soundwave and Ravage... Ravage, what are you doing? Get off of him! Sheesh, Soundwave, that's not cool, he doesn't want a cat walking on

[beau_in_blue]

"I'm going to have to look for her as soon as I get out of here..." Tracks sighs heavily. "Perhaps I should enlist 'help' from home

[nottabeater]

"I know someone who might be able to help," Bee offers Tracks softly, her face still flushed at her slip up. "She travels all over the whole Multiverse, and she's got an inborn tracking ability. Um... not sure if it works for mechs, but I can ask

[beau_in_blue]

"Truthfully, I should be able to locate Channel with some degree of ease simply because she is my twin sister. We have a connection that most don't quite understand. The trouble is that the death of our reality may have effected it and I have been away a long time. I can only sense that she is out there, but not where," Tracks admits with a sigh.

The bear mech glances at Optimus Prime with an arched ridge. "Who's Charlie?"

---

Steiner merely glances at Soundwave, then turns his gaze to the ceiling. He really doesn't have much to say to anyone. He's an empty, broken mech in more ways that one... If he does recover from the loss, it will take some time.

[random_xtras]

"Hrrm, sounds like Ironhide," mutters Ratchet, thinking of his brother's liking for being overcharged. "Well, he seems to be getting along with Sam thus far, but I guess we'll find out some of his feelings toward Autobots when I get down there and check him over."

Then he pauses and looks at his alternate. "He's not going to go dictator on you."

"Honey, you little flirt." Mikaela laughs as she climbs up onto Catilla's table. "Leave the poor guy alone and let him rest."

"Bbbb." The Pretender gets pat patted again.

[l33tmedic]

"I honestly don't know what he'll think of you. I know he hated me, or seemed to, if just because Klank did. And when the battle began at the other Nexus hub, another alternate of ours who looks exactly like you was in on the fight. That may or may not affect Steiner's opinion of you." Ratchet shrugs. The bit about Prime going "dictator" makes the bear mech smirk slightly, however. "I didn't really expect him to...though I had a habit of back talking my own Prime if he got my gears grinding over something."

Catilla grimaces again and then decides a distraction may be in order. Contacting his shell, he sends the tiger padding around the side of the table to bump Honey's leg with its nose. Pet me!

[nottabeater]

The tiger is given a scoldy finger just like how Sam does, and then the sparkling reaches into her storage compartment and pulls out two softly glowing orange rocks with yellow veins.

"Honey!" Mikaela kneels by Catilla's arm. "That's mid-grade. You know you're not supposed to have it."

"Bbbb!" One rock gets tossed at the tiger, the other is offered to Catilla.

"I'd never dream of doing such a thing," says Ratchet blandly, then rumbles a bit before holding up one hand.

"Right." A replica of Gregory House appears on it, speaking in his voice. "I'll just get some use out of this ridiculous gadget."

Mikaela now has the giggles.