Uggh writing from the Autobot's perspective just isn't as fun as writing about the Decepticons, it's a lot more tricky for some reason, the syntax is all stilted and awkward, maybe I'm thinking too hard, but it just feels awful.
Ratchet had secretly hoped that they were overreacting in regard to the newest con, but after this first encounter, it became clear that the tide of war was once again tipping in favor of the Decepticons. Bulkhead was in stable condition thanks to Wheeljack's help in regard to the effects of the blast, which as far as he could tell was a devastating EMP grenade designed to disable cybertronian bio-circuitry, fortunately, the blast hadn't reached any critical systems otherwise it could have proven fatal.
Miko had understandably been incredibly worried for her guardian, not leaving his side for several hours until Ratchet got fed up and activated Bulkhead's holoform before attempting to send the two to go do something else. They, of course, argued that Bulkhead's body was already finished being repaired, but with Ratchet being Ratchet, he wouldn't allow his patient to leave until he was completely certain that there was nothing wrong.
Bulkhead grunted with effort as he tried to deactivate his holoform, causing it to flicker, "Come on Ratchet, why do you have to do this to me? I haven't used this in years and it's already starting to itch." Ratchet shook his helm and returned to work. Miko scoffed, "C'mon Bulk lets go, we can play lob ball with the twins." Bulkhead rolled his eyes, "That won't even be remotely fair, just look at me, I'm almost bigger than they are like this." and indeed he was, Bulkhead's holoform was a little over 6 feet tall, dark-skinned and barrel-chested, he had a black buzz-cut and a very short beard, he wore weathered steel-toe boots and cargo shorts as well as a simple olive green t-shirt with black sleeves.
The look would be rather intimidating if it weren't for the soft expression and carefree slouch, but his calm demeanor was broken as he squirmed every few moments, the disused nanomaterials that made up his holoform clashed and tangled creating a most uncomfortable sensation that was its own form of torture.
After several minutes of wandering, they bumped into Jack in his human form, "Jack? Why are you using your holoform?" Jack shrugged, "I could ask you the same thing, Bulkhead." Miko huffed and crossed her arms, "Medi-Bot kicked us out so he could finish fixing Bulkhead's body. Hey, have you seen the twins lately?" Jack struggled to hide his grin, "I have, but they are unavailable at the moment, they somehow knocked themselves out while trying to play follow-the-leader with Beastbox."
Miko stifled a giggle and Bulkhead smiled, "That seems about right." Jack suddenly twitched prompting a frown from the two standing in front of him, "Uhh I'm going to head back to Soundwave" he said as he turned around, "Mind if we come along?" Jack shook his head, "Not at all." Raf came running down the hallway after them, "I'm coming too" Jack grinned as he led them to a large room that was the living quarters for Soundwave and the minicons.
Soundwave looked up as they entered and stopped petting Ravage, who jumped down from his master's lap. The newcomers stared dumbfounded, looking from Jack to Ravage, two personas that were supposedly the same entity, working independently of each other. Soundwave grinned at their baffled expressions and decided to answer the unspoken question, "Ravage's personalities can work independently when the holoform is active." he mused, "And before you ask, no, they cannot stay like this. Their minds become hampered the longer they are apart, especially since they are now merging into a single persona."
Raf huffed, "Aw, I was kind of hoping that the old Jack could return." Jack reached out and ruffled the smaller boys hair, "Sorry buddy, but I am afraid that won't be possible, old Jack may not be around for much longer, at least not on his own. But once Ravage's personality and mine are ... assimilated, I woon't have to argue witth mysself anymorrre" Jack was beginning to slur his words and twitched again, more violently this time, Ravage growled and pawed his helm, a small yellow portal appeared beside Jack which he promptly stepped through, it closed behind him soundlessly.
"They must merge to prevent processor damage." Soundwave stated his tone betraying no concern whatsoever, then Ravage suddenly collapsed, optics dim but still online, Miko yelped and ran over to the large cyber-cat "What happened? Is he alright?" Soundwave nodded, "He is fine, his systems are just rebooting, once their personalities are properly synchronized this won't be an issue." Miko nodded then recoiled as the metal panther's cooling fans suddenly came on full power, one of the hidden vents coincidentally blowing right in her face, and with it, dust that caused her to sneeze.
Ravage startled awake at the loud noise and nearly knocked Miko over as he jumped up, the human scrambled backward as the cyber-cat whipped around blindly, finally calming down once his yellow optics came fully online. The hiss of the cooling fans ceased and Ravage transformed, "Ugh, it gets worse and worse each time." he groaned and rubbed his helm with a four-clawed servo.
"Why do you do it then if it's so uncomfortable?" Bulkhead asked, "Ravage wanted to be alone with Soundwave, and I felt like going for a walk." Jack answered with a shrug, Soundwave kneeled down so he could better speak with the smaller beings, "It would be best to not use the holoform for a few weeks, or however long it takes for your personalities to mesh, but it will take longer if you two keep bickering in there." he gently tapped the smaller mech's helm in emphasis.
Bulkhead opened his mouth to say something but didn't get the chance as his holoform deactivated, flickering and coming apart before heading towards the medbay in a barely visible haze of nanomaterials. "Uhh, bye," Miko said awkwardly, Ratchet had no doubt finished his work. Raf's face scrunched up as he thought of something, he turned and looked up at Soundwave, "Hey, why are they called holoforms anyway, when they aren't actual holograms? And why is Jack's so much different?"
Soundwave hesitated as he thought about it, "Well in order to answer that, I will have to explain the history of holoforms. At one point they were purely holographic, the first versions scarcely able to move, let alone interact with their environment, but later versions became more and more complex eventually allowing the illusion of possessing the holoform via a small drone that projected the hologram around itself, providing the user with rudimentary haptic feedback. But for an extremely long time they were essentially just very expensive toys, their practicality hampered by the fact that they weren't solid. It wasn't until the invention of spacebridge technology that hard-light projectors became prevalent and with it the holoform technology that we possess now,"
Both humans nodded in understanding but Miko wasn't quite satisfied "And what about Jack?" This time Soundwave didn't hesitate as he continued his explanation"Well what Ravage has is not a holoform per se, but more of a shell that his consciousness can take control of, which as you have seen is stored in subspace, such a form would have been ideal for long undercover missions or passing intense scrutiny. But unlike our holoforms, the shell won't break down or even become uncomfortable under normal circumstances, and as evidenced by recent events it can survive even if the original body is offline."
"Oooh, like a ghost in the machine." Miko squealed, which earned her several confused looks, including that of a minicon up in the rafters, which made his presence known by shouting down to them, "What's a ghost?" they all looked up to see a magenta colored bat sprawled on his back across some ventilation pipes. Raf adjusted his glasses and squinted, "Hey weren't you colored orange?"
Soundwave's golden optics widened as he looked at the small flyer, "Wingthing, what did you do." he asked even though he already knew exactly what had happened, "No my name is Ratbat!" the minicon hissed as he rolled onto his belly, "Wingthing is a silly name and I don't like orange." he huffed and sat up, folding his wings in since he couldn't actually cross them.
To Ravage's understanding this issue started a few months ago, Ratbat had matured much quicker than his siblings which resulted in a far more aggressive 'moody teenager' phase, during which he refused to answer to his original designation and insisted on being called Ratbat of all things. And now he had sealed the deal by repainting himself, although how he had done it, especially without hands, was completely lost on Jack.
"I hope you're pleased with yourself then" Soundwave scolded "Ratchet is going to be very unhappy when he finds out you were in the supply closet." a sneer played across Ratbat's muzzle as he was about to retort, but he was stopped when he heard pedesteps coming down the hall, accompanied by the angry muttering the Autobot medic was known for, "Oh no not the Hatchet!" he exclaimed fearfully, bolting from his perch, narrowly dodging Ratchet as he scrambled to a hiding place where he stayed for the next several hours.
1519 is the magic number for words in this very poorly concluded chapter, today is the last day of the 2018-19 school year and I am completely sapped, (spends six minutes trying to figure out what to say next) uhh ciao
YOU ARE READING
Shattered Ranks (A Transformers Prime Fanfiction) Discontinued : (
Action{(Non-Canon) Sequel to Ravages Return by Schizo Writer} Two years have passed since Jack went missing and the Autobots went quiet, Miko and Raf were forced to go on with their lives as if nothing had happened, but it isn't long before an unexpected...
