Dawn came, and everything changed. The gates fell to Devastator--but Devastator found himself embattled by the Dinobots. The Last Charge of Optimus Prime became a deed of legend.
Prowl watched Prime face Megatron with foreboding.
I've never seen Optimus like this before, Ironhide. I don't think either one of them is going to walk away from this fight, he told the others.
They're not the only ones, answered Ratchet.
Outside the gates, Soundwave staggered to his feet; his cassette mechanism was damaged, but the sheer mass of it had saved him from more serious injury. He tapped his communicator. "Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ravage: return. Cassette retrieval currently impossible. Operation: defend the wounded and prepare for evac."
Blitzwing, who had neatly dodged Prime's initial charge and subsequent fire, shifted to plane mode and darted after Thrust, catching the out-of-control red Seeker before he crashed. Somewhere beyond the gates, Devastator broke apart into his component Constructicons under the relentless pounding of the Dinobots. Astrotrain dove into the fray, shooting, punching, dodging, holding Grimlock and Slag at bay until the shaken combat engineers could regain their bearings.
From above, Starscream watched the battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron with horrified fascination, and a certain anticipation. No matter who won, he could turn it to his advantage.
The rest were not so lucky. Thundercracker half-lifted himself on one arm; where was Skywarp? He could feel fuel leaking from the deep wound in his chest, and things weren't working right. He could barely move; transforming was out of the question. Where was Skywarp?
His visual circuits were glitching; things blurred in and out. He could barely make out the crumpled form of another Decepticon nearby--one of the Insecticons, he thought. Beyond the Insecticon, another form lay; Thundercracker thought he could make out a purple and black wing.
The form of the white and red Autobot crouching beside him snapped into focus. Thundercracker stared at him for a moment. It was the Autobot medic, what was his name again?
"Ratchet?" Yeah, that was it.
Ratchet looked a bit startled, like he hadn't expected the Seeker to notice him. It occurred to Thundercracker that something was amiss; the Autobot shouldn't be here. He finally remembered why.
"I'm dying, aren't I?" Thundercracker said, feeling oddly, terribly calm. Deep down, he'd always feared this moment, and now that it was here, he suddenly didn't. Only... he didn't want to leave Skywarp. It just wouldn't be right to do that to his lifelong friend, partner, brother in every non-biological sense of the word.
"I won't lie to you, Thundercracker," Ratchet answered, his voice gentle in a way the Decepticon had never heard from his enemy before. "You'll die if you don't get repairs very soon. If someone can get to you, you have a decent chance of pulling through."
"What about Skywarp? Will he make it?" Thundercracker struggled to sit up, but failed. Most of his servos simply did not respond to his commands.
"Skywarp is as badly wounded as you are, perhaps worse" Ratchet answered. "Again, if he can get repairs in time...."
"You're here. Help me... please. Help me help Skywarp. Even if it's just enough to get me to him--don't want him to die alone." Part of Thundercracker--the loud-mouth who lived in the everyday world of Megatron's Decepticon warriors--cringed in horror at what he was asking and who he was asking it of. The better part of Thundercracker knew that that part of him was already dead and just didn't realize it yet. Live or die, he'd never be the same again. And if it meant getting Skywarp help, he'd crawl to Optimus Prime himself and grovel worse than Starscream.
Ratchet nodded slowly, and unhinged one of Thundercracker's access panels. Something clicked into place, and the light blue Seeker felt, not really better, but like he wouldn't die quite so soon.
"There, I've re-routed your motor circuits; you should be able to move now. There's a temporary patch on that leak--very temporary. Try not to take any more damage, it'll pop again very easily." Ratchet looked at the wounded Seeker for a long moment. "I'll see what I can do to stabilize Skywarp."
"Th-thanks," Thundercracker said. "And, for what it's worth... I'm sorry we had to kill you." He turned himself over painfully and began the slow crawl to Skywarp's side.
Ratchet favored him with a small smile. "You're not the one who owes me an apology--but I accept it. For what it's worth."