Frozen in Prime

The Human Factor

At their old base that once housed their robot prototype, a M.E.C.H. surgeon attached two cables together. A soldier pressed a button, and electricity coursed along the cable as the Blood of Primus was pumped from a container into the lifeless husk of Breakdown, which was rebuilt and a mess.

The soldier typed something into the computer, and the machine rumbled and shook as it powered down. The M.E.C.H. soldiers feared that their plans had failed, but a new optic built into Breakdown's helm powered on with the current optic.

"Welcome back, sir." The M.E.C.H. surgeon said. "What have you done?" Breakdown asked with Silas' voice as he looked at his new servo. "What we needed to in order to save you, Silas." The surgeon said. "I'm one of them." Silas said.

"The logical evolution of M.E.C.H.s experiments in biotech. Your brain fused with the donor's nervous and skeletal systems." The surgeon explained. Inside his new chassis, a mortally wounded but alive Silas observed the machinery. "The perfect meld of man and machine. Exquisite." He smiled evilly.

"Thank you all for your dedication and a lifetime of service." Silas said as he stepped off the cables. "But I now seem more suited to keep the exclusive company," He activated Breakdown's shoulder cannon. "Of titan." Silas finished. Outside, gunfire and flashes of light could be seen and heard as Silas killed off his own soldiers.

Later, a damaged army van drove towards a base and came to a stop at the checkpoint. A soldier approached the driver side, and the window lowered, revealing only Silas' eyes. "Colonel Leland Bishop." He identified himself.

"Bulkhead, you really mustn't allow yourself to decline." Ratchet said. "Yeah, Bulk. You got to pull yourself out of this funk." Miko agreed. "What's the use?" Bulkhead asked. "You need to regain your strength. The time will come when -" Ratchet started. "When what? When all of you will need an assist? Isn't that what the new guy's for?" Bulkhead asked.

"Hey, Bulkhead, I've been thinking. With your injury and all, you might want to take advantage of the armor I snagged from Starscream." Smokescreen offered. "Instint muscle suit!' He said as he held the Apex Armor. "You think I need a crutch?!" Bulkhead growled and smacked the armor from Smokescreen, right into the computer. "Bulkhead, I needed that!" Ratchet snapped with his famous line.

Bulkhead groaned. "Out of my way, rookie!" He pushed Smokescreen aside. "He can walk!" Smokescreen exclaimed. Bulkhead picked up a giant, metal ball of debris and started pushing it in. "Looks like he's fit for duty to me." Smokescreen said. "You don't even know what you're talking about." Ratchet said.

Miko gave Smokescreen a thumbs up. "You've got to be kidding, Raf. You of all people? Grounded?" Jack asked on his phone. "Big time. I misplaced some homework and blew a couple of tests." Raf said. "Translation: A- instead of an A." Miko said.

"When will you be back?" Elsa asked. "I don't know, Elsa. I'm probably spending too much time at the base." Raf said. "Rafael, I hope you're not on the phone in there." Raf's mother said. "No, Mama. Say hi to Bee for me. Until I improve these grades, I'm off Team Prime." Raf said.

Jack, Miko, and Elsa heard groaning and saw Bulkhead trying to flatten the metal ball. "Just when we get one back, we lose another." Miko said.

Over on the Nemesis, a terminal detected Breakdown's life-signal. "Strange. Lord Megatron, it appears that Breakdown's signal has popped back online, albeit corrupted." Knockout said. "Investigate with caution. It may very well be an Autobot trick." Megatron said. "I certainly hope not. Breakdown may act the brute, but he's a maestro behind a rotary buffer." Knockout said.

At the now destroyed military base, a Ground-Bridge opened, allowing Knockout and four Vehicons to step through. They surveyed the damage until a familiar 'Con came out of a burning building with a large case. "Breakdown! Where have you -" Knockout stopped when he got a good look at his former partner. Breakdown looked like he had been torn apart and put back together more than once. He even had a replacement optic where his eye-patch was.