As it turned out, Wheeljack was absolutely fine. He had indeed run into some Cons, who had thrown him off the road. Now they were battling in the woods beside the highway. Optimus was grateful that thus far the loose cannon hadn't brought attention to himself. Bulkhead was relieved his friend was okay, though he honestly wasn't surprised to see him kicking tailpipe. 

And that he was, slicing his blades through Vehicons as if it were nothing. Under his mask he was smiling madly, enjoying the rush. He took a quick break, wiping the Energon off his dual swords, just before the other Autobots drove in quickly. They hadn't used a GroundBridge for safety, so they were a little late to the party. As they transformed into their biped modes, drawing their blasters, maces, and blades, they found that most of the Cons were already offlined, and most of the others either injured or trying to escape.

"Woah, Jackie, you're really denting it in them this time," Bulkhead laughed, easily smashing down two more of them.

"Yeah, I got every right to do so," the wrecker retorted, cutting another one in half.

It wasn't long before all of them were finished. Optimus put his guns away and looked over to Wheeljack, relieved to see that he was uninjured. He approached the wrecker and placed a servo on his shoulder plate.

"I am pleased to see that you are well, Wheeljack," he said.

Wheeljack's mask slid off, revealing a smirk. "Same to you, chief. Sorry about the late work, I couldn't contact ya cus of a kick I took to the helm." He tapped his audio receptor, wincing.

Bulkhead looked at him worriedly. "You alright?"

His friend shrugged, throwing him a smile. "Yeah, just one kick. My helm might ache for a while, and I might need a new commlink, but I'll be fine." His faceplate fell slightly. "Although, Ratchet won't be able to fix it for a while, is he?"

Arcee sighed, shaking her helm. "No, Wheeljack."

The said mech looked back to Optimus. "I'll help any way I can, but it doesn't look like any of us are having much luck, does it?"

All of them helms bent down, optics gazing at the floor. Bumblebee sighed. "<We have to keep looking. Ratchet is probably trying to find some way to contact us right now!>"

Wheeljack nodded. "Knowing Doc, he probably is." He turned to the leader again. "I know we were on our way to base, but maybe you want to check out that puddle I found outside Jasper. Maybe I missed somethin."

The Prime nodded, agreeing. "Autobots, roll out!"

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Ratchet almost couldn't believe just how good Alpha and Omega were. Their combat skills were those of veterans, something his team were capable of. He had never imagined the young bots knew so much about combat. They spoke so little of war, so he had imagined that they had only seen the end of it on Cybertron. He had hardly had to help at all, only taking out some of the Vehicons that were hiding away while trying to contact the higher ups. It wasn't long before the smaller mine was completely under their control.

"So," Alpha sighed, his blaster steaming. "What now? I've never actually stormed a mine before."

Omega nodded beside the doctor, her blades disappearing. "Or even been in a mine before. I've never seen Energon in this form," she said, looking around in wonder.

The medic rolled his optics. "Of course not." He gazed around the area before he spotted what he was looking for. "We load as much as possible onto those carts and take them back to your ship. I can process it there."

The two young bots nodded obediently, rushing off to do as he instructed. Ratchet assumed charge of the work, telling them how to cut it carefully with the lasers they found, and how to properly load it. The GroundBridge still open, they wheeled back and forth, taking as much as they could. The process took a couple hours, but it was going faster than Ratchet had first anticipated. The two were good listeners, and adapted quickly to their surroundings.

As the last of the Energon was being loaded and taken back, Ratchet stepped away and put his servo to his audio receptor. He took a deep breath before activating his commlink.

"Ratchet to base," he said quickly. "Do you copy?"

A static flew into his audio receptor, causing him to flinch. He hadn't expected that. He repeated it over and over, but the only response was the static. He sighed in frustration, changing the frequency to Alpha and Omega's.

"Are you finished with the Energon?" he asked, only to meet the same noise as before. He quickly realized that he wasn't out of range, rather that his commlink was broken. He groaned, knowing that had probably been the work of Knockout.

Omega peeked around the corner. "There you are. What are you doing here? We tried to comm you, but it didn't work."

The old medic sighed. "It appears no one will be able to contact me. My commlink is offline."

The femme looked startled, then apologetic. "Oh. I'm sorry. Maybe we can fix it?"

Ratchet shook his helm. "Your ship doesn't have the proper tools. My commlink is down until I somehow get back to base."

"Well, maybe the Energon will help the GroundBridge," Omega said hopefully. "It should give it more power and more range, right?" 

Ratchet nodded. "That is the plan, yes. I just hope this is enough." 

"If it isn't, we can always get some more," Omega assured him. "And I can help you fix more parts at the ship, so that you can contact your friends."

He sighed again, turning to leave. "That would be appreciated."

She followed him out. "But first we have to fix Alpha," she said with a groan.

"What?" The doctor turned to her in surprise. 

"I don't think it's bad. As I was following him out, I noticed he had a gash on his backside. It was leaking, so I thought I'd better tell you." She huffed, rolling her optics. "It's like him to not tell anyone when he's injured. He wouldn't even tell Freezecharger."

There was that name again. Ratchet considered asking her about it, but decided against it, simply nodding and leaving the tunnel. He found Alpha waiting for them by the Bridge, arms crossed.

"There you two are," he groaned, rolling his optics. "Took you long enough."

"Do you think you acquired damage to your backstrut?" Ratchet asked seriously as he approached.

The mech blinked in confusion once, before looking over to Omega and sighing. "Of course you told him."

"Why wouldn't I?!"

"Don't argue now!" Ratchet moaned, pinching the bridge of an imaginary nose. "Did you or did you not?"

Alpha shrugged as he began to walk through the portal. "I don't think so. It's not so bad."

"We'll find that out once I examine you," Ratchet retorted, following him through.

Once they landed back in the ship, Alpha raised his servos in surrender. "Alright, alright. Cool your circuits, Freezecharger."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge while Omega slapped her forehelm. "Freezecharger?" he asked skeptically, wondering if he would get an answer.

Alpha slapped a servo over his derma, shock and regret in his wide optics. He huffed and quickly turned around. "I'll see you in the medic bay," he grumbled as he stormed off.

Confused, Ratchet turned to his sister, but she only mumbled a quick "I'll tell you later," before rushing after him. The medic sighed, annoyed and confused, following the two bots.

So far, I'm getting nowhere on nearly all counts.

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I don't know why, but this story gives me a sorta 'meh' feeling now. Probably because I know how to end it, but don't exactly know how to get it there. Yea, probably that.

Mystery solved.

Any ideas? DM me if you have some.. I could use the help.

Anyways, see you later.

*waves*