Ratchet (G1)/2005 IDW continuity
Once a bright and idealistic doctor, Ratchet found this youthful optimism tempered as Cybertron descended into millions of years of civil war, giving rise to a brand of world-weary cynicism all his own. This cantankerous and sometimes gruff attitude is something of a façade he's deliberately cultivated to hide his natural compassion for his fellow Autobots and innocent organics, a personality trait that's come in handy more than once during his adventures on Earth.
Following the end of the war, Ratchet's war-weariness led him to leave Cybertron aboard the Lost Light, embarking on a series of adventures across the galaxy that saw him come to terms with his advancing age while battling demons from his past. Despite captain Rodimus's objective to find the mythical Knights of Cybertron, Ratchet remains a staunch atheist and a firm believer in empirical science—something that irritates his friend and frequent verbal sparring partner Drift to no end.
- First appearance: The Transformers: Infiltration #0
Fiction
[edit]Joining the Autobots
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Ratchet of Vaporex How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2 was forged,Arm the Lonely and due to the circumstances of his birth, he was gifted with a set of incredibly dexterous hands, possessing a naturally unique skill which made them almost hypnotic while in motion. Ratchet studied medicine at the Iaconian Academy of Science and Technology Post Hoc alongside Thunderclash, Little Victories, and befriended Orion Pax. Though Ratchet eventually became the Senate's Chief Medical Officer, he felt unsatisfied with his work; Orion encouraged him to open a free clinic without the Senate's knowledge in Rodion's Dead End, where he assisted the impoverished "Empties" who lived there.
When Nominus Prime was badly wounded in a terrorist attack, Ratchet was responsible for saving his life but was unable bring the Prime back online, leaving him to languish in a coma. Some time later, Ratchet treated a destitute junkie named Drift, who had overdosed on circuit boosters. Ratchet told the homeless 'bot that he saw something special in him, a remark that both would remember. When a nearby news broadcast revealed that Nominus had recently perished, Orion—now a police officer and the 'bot responsible for bringing Drift to the clinic – trusted the medic enough to reveal that he had a friend in the Senate who knew members of the Senate itself had done the deed; Ratchet was skeptical until the broadcast claimed that Nominus had died from a "long-standing rust infection" that he knew for a fact the Prime didn't have. Post Hoc
Investigating further, Orion uncovered a Senate plot to plant a bomb in Nominus's body and blame it on the new Decepticon movement, and so Ratchet joined him in putting a stop to it. Patternism Ratchet joined Orion, Roller, and a crew of outliers on a mission to the Primal Basilica, using his precise fingers to pick the locks holding the bomb in place. Though one close call nearly led to Ratchet dropping the bomb, the team was successful in their mission. An Intimate Beheading Pax and his allies were now fugitives for crossing the Senate and they were forced to go on the run, leaving Ratchet behind to look after his patients. Ratchet's inability to say goodbye to his friends meant that he never properly bid Roller farewell; when Roller seemingly vanished from history some time later, Ratchet's failure would haunt him for many years. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme Ratchet would go on to work for Nominus's successor, Sentinel Prime. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It
As the Decepticon movement evolved from a political philosophy into a full-blown insurgency, Ratchet served with the Security Forces stationed in Kaon and was present at the funeral of Bumper and Fastback. Megatron Origin #3 When Zeta Prime took command following Sentinel's defeat at the hands of Megatron, Ratchet became his Chief Medical Officer Post Hoc and left Rodion, taking a staff position at Ultirex's prestigious technoversity. There, he befriended Jetfire, a brilliant graduate student whose airborne alternate mode made it difficult for him to find scientific work under the tenets of Functionism. To Walk Among the Chosen
Shortly after Zeta Prime ascended to Primehood, Ratchet was kidnapped by the Decepticons and held at the Rust Spot as a ploy to capture Alpha Trion during a hostage exchange. Fortunately the hostage exchanger was Orion Pax, who managed to save both Ratchet and Trion. Omega's Conundrum
Following the death of a Decepticon sympathizer in police custody, Orion took Hefter's body to Ultirex for Ratchet to examine; Ratchet correctly deduced that Hefter's injuries didn't match the official report of his death. The news that an Autobot cop was investigating the murder prompted Jetfire—a believer in the Decepticon cause—to attack Prime, much to Ratchet's horror. To Walk Among the Chosen
Ratchet participated in Orion Pax's uprising against an increasingly corrupt Zeta Prime, and would have repaired Orion after the battle if not for a sudden betrayal by their Decepticon allies. Overthrown He was still working in Ultirex when Orion Pax, now Optimus Prime, broadcast a rallying call for support against Megatron's dictatorship. Broadcast
As the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons began in earnest, Ratchet would distinguish himself as the only Autobot who had personally saved the life of every Prime since Nominus. Post Hoc Early in the war, Ratchet repaired Optimus Prime after his first confrontation with Megatron at Sherma Bridge, a duel which left Prime in so many pieces it took Ratchet over two months to find and put them all back together. Chaos Theory #1
Optimus Prime sent a team of scientists including Ratchet to the remains of the Toraxxis mega-refinery to search for traces of energon. Fallout Indeed, they did find some in the form of a pool in the caverns beneath the crater, but when an earthquake sent Ratchet falling into the liquid, he went berserk and started attacking his comrades. He quickly regained his composure, but before they could study why the energon had turned him into a mindless beast, the scientists were attacked by monsters living in the caves. As they fled, Ratchet used his alternate mode to bust into another cavern, where the team found a gigantic sleeping dragon. Underworld They reported their findings to Optimus Prime, who told them to find a way to neutralize the creature so the Autobots could make use of the energon, Prey Ratchet then fought against Trypticon's minions during the monster's rampage across Cybertron. Annihilation
Ratchet played a role in curing the Dynobots of the effects of the same corrupted energon, Primacy #1 and shortly afterwards patched Bumblebee up during a Decepticon assault on Iacon. Primacy #4
Ratchet was later transferred to the Deltaran Medical Facility and became friends with fellow Autobot medic Pharma. House of Ambus The two of them accompanied the team who apprehended Roadbuster for brutalizing the cadets under his command to the point of death. Of those cadets, he and Pharma were only able to save Hubcap. Sins of the Wreckers issue 4 As the war went on, the young Drift, whom he'd once helped, went on to become "Deadlock", one of the most brutal Decepticon warriors. This long rankled the medic. Chaos Theory #1
When Ultra Magnus died under unspecified circumstances, Ratchet became one of the few Autobots who was privy to Chief Justice Tyrest's project to keep the legend of the "immortal lawman" alive using the Magnus Armor. Indeed, Ratchet was the only Autobot who knew every wearer of the Magnus Armor, right back to the original. The Sound of Breaking Glass In the 19th century, Ratchet was stationed aboard the Autobot command vessel, and helped repair the armor after the passing of its most recent bearer. Shining Armor #5
In the early 2000s, Prowl ordered Ratchet to join his covert team on Earth. Rather than properly say goodbye to Pharma, Ratchet just left when his back was turned. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme
Adventures on Earth
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Now a part of Prowl's unit, Ratchet and the other Autobots under his command arrived aboard the Ark-19 and spent the next few years fighting the Decepticon infiltration unit that had landed on Earth. Although loyal to the Autobot cause, Ratchet's conscience frequently got the better of him; in 2006, he intercepted a Decepticon pulsewave ordering the elimination of a human being. While he was too late to save that human, Ratchet was able to outmaneuver the Battlechargers Infiltration #3 and encountered two other humans—Verity Carlo and Hunter O'Nion—who had stumbled upon the Decepticon plot. Infiltration #0 Evading Thundercracker, Ratchet took shelter in a nearby garage owned by Verity's friend Jimmy Pink; when Runabout and Runamuck attacked, Ratchet was able to outthink the pair in a high-speed chase and ferried the humans to safety... while also earning the ire of Prowl when Autobot reinforcements arrived to bail him out. Infiltration #2
Though Ratchet attempted to explain his side of the story, having learned that the Decepticons had prematurely engaged siege mode in a new, above-ground fortress, he was seemingly alone in his convictions until Bumblebee agreed to help him and the humans investigate the abandoned Decepticon base in Nebraska. Blitzwing and Skywarp arrived while the humans were reconnoitering and began an aerial bombardment of the bunker, intending to destroy it. Bumblebee and Ratchet engaged the Decepticons in order to buy the humans time to escape the collapsing bunker. Infiltration #4
The Autobots and humans were leaving the Decepticons to finish their work when an enraged Megatron burst from the buried ruins of the bunker. Thankfully for them, Megatron was more concerned with the treachery brewing within his own ranks, allowing Ratchet and the others to escape with their lives. Infiltration #5 Unwilling to risk their safety further, Ratchet subsequently returned the humans to the Ark-19, where they met the newly arrived Optimus Prime. Infiltration #6 With Prime hoping to get the humans out of the line of fire when the war for Earth inevitably escalated, Ratchet said his farewells to the humans and let Sunstreaker and Ironhide take them home, unaware that the Autobots on Earth had been found out by the villainous human organization known as the Machination. Escalation #1
With the humans out of harm's way for the time being, Ratchet went with the other Autobots to investigate Decepticon activity in the country of Latveria, where they discovered a heavily shielded "array" that the Decepticons were using as a base. Man and Machine, Part One They wound up skirmishing with the Avengers, who were under the influence of the Decepticons' mind-altering Psycho-Prism, and Ratchet wound up subduing Ms. Marvel with his driver-side airbag. After throwing off Ms. Marvel, Ratchet was able to attach an inhibitor device to Captain America, which nullified the effects of the Psycho-Prism, and gave Captain America enough devices for everyone on his team. Now calmed down, the two groups teamed up to destroy the Psycho-Prism, attacking the array's defenses and provoking a Decepticon retaliation. Man and Machine, Part Two
During the fight, Luke Cage and Ratchet discovered a weak spot in the array's defenses and went in. Prowl followed to make sure Ratchet didn't put human interests ahead of Autobot interests; learning that Spider-Man was held captive inside, so Prowl gave in and let Ratchet and Luke Cage attempt a rescue. The two were surprised by a powered-up Megatron, who blasted Ratchet and took Luke Cage hostage. Man and Machine, Part Three Ratchet awoke next to Prowl to find Spider-Man had been freed by Doctor Doom. Prowl and Ratchet decided to use the Decepticons' mirror response mode equipment to boost their power with Spider-Man's superhuman abilities before Wolverine arrived with Jazz and Bumblebee and suggested they use his abilities instead. They did, then orbital bounced with Spider-Man back to the battle outside, where their added strength helped defeat Megatron. Wolverine, Jazz, and Bumblebee stayed to destroy the Psycho-Prism. Man and Machine, Part Four
When Sunstreaker was apparently destroyed, Escalation #1 Ratchet inspected the wreckage and concluded that the body was a fake—Hunter and Sunstreaker had been kidnapped, with their abductors leaving a decoy in their place. Escalation #2 Realizing that Prowl would likely ignore him, Ratchet and the humans set out to solve the mystery themselves. Escalation #3 While Optimus and the other Autobots went to Brasnya, Ratchet briefly took a call from Sideswipe, who was stuck guarding Thunderhead Pass on Cybertron. The resentful Autobot prompted Ratchet to realize that he may have already doomed Hunter and Sunstreaker through his inaction; Spotlight: Galvatron Joined by Ironhide, the group went against orders and left the base to find more clues about the kidnappers. Escalation #4
Their search brought them to Indiana, where they discovered a Machination outpost disguised as an automobile shop. When the humans inadvertently triggered a trap, Escalation #5 When the humans set off a trap, the Autobots saved them, though Ironhide was critically injured and Ratchet was forced to abandon him to bring the humans to safety. Escalation #6
When the Autobots decided to relocate the Ark-19 to avoid the Machination, they were attacked by Sixshot, who downed the ship in mid-flight. Devastation #1 Ratchet was ordered to take Verity and Jimmy into an escape pod while the rest of the crew piloted the ship into the ocean. Devastation #2
Sixshot soon found Ratchet and pursued him relentlessly. Ratchet used the distraction provided by some human jet fighters to escape, hiding among an ambulance pool in Pensacola, Florida. Sixshot soon flushed him out, however, and pursued him out of town, forcing Ratchet to abandon Verity and Jimmy for their own safety. When cornered at the water's edge, Ratchet prepared to make a last stand, but was saved by the timely arrival of the other Autobots. Devastation #3 The humans made their way back to the Autobots to warn them about an air attack by the military, and Ratchet took them with him on an orbital bounce to the Ark-32. Unfortunately, this killed Verity and Jimmy. Devastation #4
A guilt-stricken Ratchet managed to restart their hearts after more than five minutes, and contrary to his fears that they might have suffered brain damage, the two humans survived with no immediate effects. Devastation #5 Ultimately, the humans were able to reunite with Hunter, who in the interim had been experimented on by the Machination, turning him into a Headmaster binary-bonded to Sunstreaker. Ratchet took charge of the two guinea pigs and was able to undo some of the Machination's handiwork; though Ratchet was able to minimize the mental link between Sunstreaker and Hunter and rebuild the Autobot into a new body, he was afraid to remove Hunter's cybernetic implants as he claimed that Sunstreaker's spark still sustained him. Maximum Dinobots #5
Ratchet was eventually able to successfully sever this mental link entirely, but the process left deep wounds in Sunstreaker's psyche. All Hail Megatron #7 Replay Returning to Earth, Ratchet dropped Hunter back at his sister's house; still unable to say goodbye, he brusquely told Hunter that he wouldn't keep him and drove off. Unknown to Ratchet, Hunter would be abducted by Bombshell minutes later to access the cyborg technology that Ratchet had been unable to remove, a kidnapping that would ultimately prove fatal for the human. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme
A year later, Ratchet and a number of other Autobots were led by Optimus Prime in an attempt to rid Earth of the Decepticons once and for all. Unfortunately, they fell right into a trap, and Ratchet was injured by a shot to the chest. The Autobots were then thrown into a space bridge leading to the ruins of Cybertron, where the Decepticons hoped the "swarm" would eat them. All Hail Megatron #7 Whilst hiding from the swarm, Ratchet tended to the critically damaged Optimus Prime. All Hail Megatron #1 After listening to Hot Rod's tale about how the Trion and its crew had crashed on the planet as well, All Hail Megatron #5 Ratchet mingled with him and Blurr. All Hail Megatron #6
Ratchet later checked up on Sunstreaker, telling him that his separation from Hunter had been a complete success, although the human would never be "fully human" again. Replay Their base soon came under attack from the swarm, however, so the other Autobots formed a perimeter around Ratchet and Roadbuster as they fled elsewhere. All Hail Megatron #8
At their new base, Ratchet managed to use a CR chamber to heal his damaged comrades, although he reported to Kup that the chamber could do nothing to improve their declining morale. In addition, he and Wheeljack were still having trouble repairing Optimus Prime, and Ratchet cursed that Perceptor had turned into just another "clown with a gun". Thankfully, they eventually came through and brought Prime back from the brink of death. All Hail Megatron #9
Ratchet and the others finally managed to get off Cybertron thanks to Omega Supreme, and returned to Earth to continue their fight against the Decepticons. All Hail Megatron #11 He survived the battle in New York City, and cheered with his comrades as the Decepticons fled the planet. All Hail Megatron #12 Earth was left in a devastated state due to the Decepticon invasion, with Transformer stragglers hunted by militaries across the globe. Ratchet was part of the rescue party that saved Bumblebee from a military attack after the yellow guy abandoned his cover to save some refugees. After repairing Bumblebee, Ratchet told the mini-bot that they found him by monitoring human radio signals. Hidden
At some point, Ratchet had become a fan of "Fisitron's" Wreckers: Declassified datalogues, following the adventures of the Wreckers. Several years after Megatron's defeat, "Fisitron" (real name Ironfist) died from a severe gunshot. Ratchet would often think afterwards that he could have saved Ironfist's life. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back
With Transformers now a known threat to humanity, both Autobots and Decepticons were targeted by the anti-Transformer organization Skywatch, forcing the Autobots underground as humanity rebuilt; with Prime's contingent of Autobots stranded on Earth, the planet became the de facto meeting point for all the Autobots who had survived the Surge across the galaxy. Ride-Along Not all Autobots were content with the virtually directionless existence Optimus Prime had led them into; Ratchet was present when Hot Rod demanded Prime allow him to stage a rescue operation to recover Prowl after he was captured... and afterwards, when Ironhide came back from the mission as a corpse. He witnessed Optimus Prime abdicate his role as leader, and leave the Autobots to surrender to Skywatch. ...For All Mankind
In the aftermath of Prime's decision, and the subsequent departure of a splinter faction under Hot Rod's command, Ratchet and the others were left in a state of shock. With the war effectively over and the Matrix missing, the line of succession was no longer clear. The Autobots decided to hold an election to see who their new leader would be. No one was more surprised than Bumblebee when he turned out to be the new chosen leader; Ratchet quickly stepped up as Bumblebee's second-in-comnmand, helping shepherd him into his new role. New Arrivals, Old Encounters Bumblebee's authority was challenged almost immediately by the arrival of Ultra Magnus, but Ratchet did his best to support 'Bee before Magnus took off on a mission of his own. A Rude Awakening
Ratchet had his work cut out for him, though. Not only was Wheeljack undermining Bumblebee's authority from the start, Bumblebee himself just couldn't adjust to the role quickly enough. Still, he supported Bumblebee's decision to form a clandestine alliance with Skywatch through Colonel Gordon Horiuchi, who was acting outside his mandate in the hopes of using the Autobots to stop Skywarp and the other Decepticons who were still running loose on Earth.
Working in secret with Horiuchi, the Autobots hoped to prove their value and good intentions to Skywatch's higher ups by racking up an impressive number of Decepticon captures. They even began wearing specially-designed Skywatch insignia badges for communication and to mask their activities from Skywatch operatives who weren't "in the loop". After five successful bag-and-tags, however, Horiuchi threw them the first curveball. The Autobots' next target was Blurr, one of their own who had left after Ultra Magnus's arrival. As Ratchet and the others refused to hunt one of their own, Horiuchi demonstrated a hidden feature of the badges—the ability to forcibly revert the Autobots to vehicle mode at his command. The Hanging Sword
Left with no choice, Ratchet and Bumblebee led the Autobots in capturing Blurr. The whole situation was a fiasco, however, and Blurr even fired on Bumblebee during the encounter, damaging his badge. Bumblebee found the courage to defy Horiuchi and refused to turn over Blurr to Skywatch later that day. The colonel tried to mode-lock Bumblebee for his insubordination, but the shot to Bumblebee's badge had rendered it useless. Quick on the uptake, Ratchet whispered to Bumblebee to fake it so Horiuchi didn't realize he'd lost his edge over the Autobot leader.
At Ratchet's prompting, the Autobots pretended the damaged badge had left Bumblebee trapped in vehicle mode permanently, despite Horiuchi's attempts to reverse the mode-lock. With Blurr's help, they recovered another Volkswagen Beetle to use as a ringer, allowing Bumblebee to leave the base and seek a solution for their predicament. Because Skywatch was constantly monitoring their vocal output using the badges, Ratchet and the others couldn't even speak a word of encouragement to 'Bee as he set off on his mission. The Impossible Knot
With Bumblebee on the loose, Ratchet continued the ruse of pretending to cooperate with Colonel Horiuchi and his staff, showing them the malfunctioning "Bumblebee" for examination. Meanwhile, he and Wheeljack kept in touch with the real Bumblebee using a text-only comm signal that wouldn't show up on Skywatch's monitoring. Ratchet was named acting leader of the Autobots while "Bumblebee" was off-line, as he and Wheeljack secretly led the real Bumblebee to Sanjay Bharwaney, creator of the badges' control board. Bumblebee needed access to the board's schematics in order to free his friends, but had to manipulate Bharwaney's young daughter into helping him. Ratchet had to comfort Bumblebee through "using" the girl for his own purposes. The Gift Horse
Unfortunately, the rogue Decepticon Skywarp had also learned of the board, and was coming to Bharwaney's to steal it. Ratchet and the other Autobots were forced to blow their cover to rush to Bumblebee's aid. They were too late, however, and Bumblebee was forced to set off an EMP, knocking him and Skywarp off-line while disabling the control board and the badges as well. As Ratchet brought Bumblebee in for repairs, he reluctantly agreed to upgrade his new commander into a more powerful, combat-ready body to suit his new duties and role as a leader. Wings of Wax
Soon, Ultra Magnus returned from his scouting mission to challenge Bumblebee's authority again, gathering Ratchet and several other Autobots in the name of the Tyrest Accord to arrest Hot Rod for colluding with the enemy. Hot Rod's mistake became clear when his "ally", Swindle, activated a new Decepticon combiner and unleashed it on the Autobots. Enemies of the System After several Autobots were damaged fighting Menasor, Ratchet began patching them up as best he could, with the help of Skywatch personnel. He barely finished working on Ultra Magnus before the enforcer stomped off to search for Swindle. Earthworks Following this, the Autobots entered a formal alliance with Skywatch. All His Engines
Ratchet was part of an Autobot-Skywatch team sent to Las Vegas once Galvatron showed up with an army of zombies in tow. They fought with him until he managed to calm them down and explain that they needed to combine their strength in order to destroy the zombie plague. The Transformers: Infestation #1 Together with Galvatron and his minions, the Autobots banished the undead hordes and their leader, Britt, to the Dead Universe. The Transformers: Infestation #2
Ratchet was helping a human technician repair Cliffjumper when Spike Witwicky showed up and asked for the Autobots' help with defeating the Combaticons in North Korea. They accepted, but due to pressure from the President of the United States, they were going to have to do it in disguise. The Land Ironclads Their initial clash with the Combaticons ended in failure, and Ratchet ended up having to repair Jetfire and Broadside. Ranks of Bronze
He took to the front lines in their next attack, during which he attempted to saw off Vortex's rotor blades. Hawk Among the Sparrows The Combaticons were ultimately defeated, but the Autobots' cover had been blown in the process. Sitting over an unconscious Vortex, Ratchet wondered aloud what would happen to the Autobots now that their alliance with Skywatch was public knowledge. All My Sins Remembered
On the way back from Korea, the plane carrying the Autobots was shot down over the ocean by a returning Megatron. The occupants survived, however, and made it ashore. Woken Furies They rolled out to confront the Decepticon leader near Albuquerque, but Optimus Prime ordered Ratchet and the others to stay back while he went ahead alone to confirm what was going on. Burning Chrome Most of the Autobots remaining in America had been injured by Megatron, or in Bumblebee's case, rioting humans who still mistrusted the Transformers, and so Ratchet had his hands full repairing them all. Enemy Mine
After some six weeks of repairs, Ratchet managed to get Bumblebee back on his feet, though owing to the scarcity of spare parts the yellow Autobot was left weakened and relying on a cane. That same day, the Autobots learned that Cybertron had been restored to a habitable state, only to have fallen under Galvatron's control. They wasted no time in boarding Omega Supreme's rocket mode, leaving Earth to liberate their home. Orphans of the Helix
During the trip, Ratchet aided Perceptor in searching the captured Megatron's body for hidden weapons. He was annoyed by those pesky "laws" that prevented them from just executing their prisoner and also feared his purported ability to syphon antimatter from black holes, but Perceptor dismissed that myth. Later, Ratchet and Wheeljack bet over whether or not Optimus Prime would let them overhear his questioning of Megatron. He wouldn't, and Ratchet walked away 50 Shanix richer. Chaos Theory #1
Believing that the Matrix might cloud his judgement regarding how to punish Megatron, Optimus temporarily left Ratchet in charge of the relic. While carrying it, he tended to the disabled Sunstreaker and got him walking again, which Ratchet credited the Matrix for. After returning the Matrix to Optimus, he reassured the Autobot leader that his judgment was still as sound as ever. Chaos Theory #2
After arriving on Cybertron, Ratchet participated in the battle against Galvatron's Sweep army. Numbers Then Megatron broke loose and summoned his Decepticons, and the Autobots had to fight them as well. Kings The battle—and, by extension, the Great War itself—ended with Cybertron restored to a living, "primordial" state. All across the galaxy, thousands of neutral Transformers began returning home, drawn to the planet by a signal emitted by Cybertron. With Optimus Prime missing in action after his defeat of Galvatron, the Autobots spent the next few weeks working with Metalhawk, the spokesman of the "NAILs", and coordinating the resettlement of Autobots, Decepticons, and NAILs as Transformers continued returning to Cybertron. Ratchet repaired Metalhawk, the spokesman of the "NAILs", when he was injured during a NAIL riot against the Autobots being in command, a conflict that ended only after Optimus Prime, having returned from the Cybertronian wilderness, agreed to go into voluntary exile. The Death of Optimus Prime
The Lost Light
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After millions of years of civil war, Ratchet began to feel his age after his famous hands began to fail, a medical condition known as "advanced form fatigue". Hangers On Twenty Plus One After proving unable to save a NAIL protester from transforming himself to death, he confided in Bumblebee that he was worried about getting old and losing his touch as a doctor. In the hopes that he could help people and find himself a successor, he joined the crew of Rodimus's Lost Light which left Cybertron in search of the Knights of Cybertron. Unfortunately for him, Drift was on the crew too, having reformed and joined the Autobots. Ratchet almost immediately started to insult the ex-Decepticon to whoever would listen, How to Say Goodbye and Mean It and imply he only had a third-in-command role because he told Rodimus what he wanted to hear. Hangers On
The Lost Light's prototype quantum engines were designed to allow the ship to make "quantum jumps" that would carry the ship quickly through the galaxy; on launch day, however, those engines malfunctioned, and the ship disappeared in a fiery explosion. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It In reality, the quantum explosion created two copies of the Lost Light: one on-course, and one off-course, with quantum duplicates of every crew member. The Road Not Taken
The "off-course" version of Ratchet immediately had his hands full as the ship materialized on the outer rim of the galaxy: having to repair an ancient crippled Tailgate, an armless Rung (who was very impressed with Ratchet's dexterity until he saw the medic smash his own hand with a hammer to loosen some joints), Whirl and all the Autobots who fell out of the ship during its unfortunate launch. Hangers On
When Shock was found dead, Ratchet analyzed his body, annoyed by the others blaming the death on a Sparkeater until he concluded that they were right. Once Rodimus defeated the creature at the cost of his arms, Ratchet built him new ones. He was working on Tailgate again when the little guy suddenly revealed that he wanted to be a Decepticon. The Chaos of Warm Things
Having received a datalog detailing an unusual death rate among patients at Delphi, Ratchet brought Drift and Pipes with him to investigate and found that the facility was infected with a deadly Red Rust virus. While he was trying to figure out what happened by talking to the local medics, First Aid, Ambulon, and his old friend Pharma, Pipes and Drift were infected. The Autobots were then attacked by two Genericons, but saved by Fortress Maximus. Life After the Big Bang
Ratchet quickly figured out the properties of the virus, learning that it only activated when its host transformed; despite being infected himself, Ratchet was able to deduce that Pharma had engineered the outbreak to escape a deal he had made with the Decepticon Justice Division. Ratchet was able to infect Pharma with his own virus and chase him to the roof of the medical facility, whereupon Drift sliced his hands off and sent him plummeting out of sight. Ratchet used Pharma's vaccine to cure the infected Transformers and went back to the Lost Light with Drift, Pipes, the survivors of Delphi... and a new pair of hands, having replaced his worn out digits with Pharma's. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back Subsequently, he and Ambulon visited Swerve's, and watched as the bar's proprietor learned the truth about Ambulon's embarrassing alternate mode. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases
Ratchet was testing out equipment in the Lost Light's medical bay when he, along with nearly everyone on board of the ship were frozen in place due to one of Brainstorm's experimental weapons accidentally going off. After he recovered, he was awarded a Rodimus Star "for exceptional endurance in the face of adversity". The Reluctant Specialist
After Fortress Maximus went on a shooting spree inside the Lost Light, Ratchet treated the victims with First Aid's help. He noticed a strange pattern between all five casualties: they shared the same colors as Overlord, which proved to be the key to deciphering Maximus's postwar trauma. Interiors
Around this time, the Decepticon Justice Division arrived at the other Lost Light to kill the quantum duplicate of Overlord on board. When Tarn saw Drift, he attempted to kill the turncoat as Drift tried to defend Ratchet. The DJD followed this up by butchering Ratchet and every other crewmember of the duplocate ship. The Permanent Revolution The Road Not Taken Ratchet's corpse would have its brain module put inside his mouth by Helex. slaughterhouse
Aboard the surviving Lost Light, First Aid, Ambulon, and Ratchet were all instrumental in saving Rung's life after he was accidentally shot in the head by Swerve. Rules of Disengagement Later, Ratchet helped Ultra Magnus rid some Nanocons inside him and attended Tailgate's Autobot Initiation Ceremony afterwards. He was among the crew members that were teleported down to Theophany by the Galactic Council to investigate Crystal City, where they came across Metrotitan. Galactic Council forces attacked them after the Titan shot an eye blast at their ship, and Ratchet joined a team to hold them off while Rodimus attempted to free the Titan. The Lost Light crew were able to free the Titan, who teleported the crew back to their ship and quantum-jumped Lost Light to safety. You, Me, and Other Revelations
In an attempt to jump-start Rung's brain, Ratchet agreed to tell a story about pre-war events that involved him and Orion Pax; this included the story of how he saved Drift and gave him a pep talk, something both he and Drift long thought about. Post Hoc Ratchet later narrated their revelation of the Senate's plans and stated to Whirl that a reason why Megatron went bad was probably due to the triggerhappy bot's past beating on Megatron. Patternism As the story was having no apparent effect on Rung, Ratchet rushed it along until it came to a close, at which point an alarm began ringing and everyone moved to battle stations. An Intimate Beheading
Following a battle with a group of Decepticons on Temptoria, Ratchet operated on two of the injured, Spoke and Lockstock. Before & After
When Thunderclash and the Vis Vitalis paid the Lost Light a visit, Ratchet was eager to catch up with the Autobot hero; as Thunderclash's ship was the massive life support machine responsible for keeping him alive, he had hoped to use the Lost Light to jumpstart his vessel... but was unprepared for when his second-in-command Paddox revealed himself to be a team of Ammonites in disguise. Little Victories
When the Lost Light's alarm system went off, Ratchet was the first to fully engage the escaped Overlord in combat. He and Drift held the line for the few moments necessary for Rodimus and the others to reach the battle. Under Cold Blue Stars While Overlord was eventually ejected from the ship, he killed at least five crew members before the end. Ratchet did his best to repair those he could, but even the mighty Ultra Magnus was on the verge of death, counting down the number of days until his spark shrank away to nothing. After Drift came forward and claimed responsibility for bringing Overlord on board, he was exiled from the Lost Light. As he departed, grieving Autobots threw trash at the spiritualist, knocking him down, but Ratchet stepped up and helped his friend to his feet before he left. The Gloaming He would soon realise how much he'd liked Drift now the 'bot was gone. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme
After an accident with the "death clock" Ratchet ended up diagnosing Tailgate with old-age and cybercrosis, laying the brutal truth out for the little 'bot. Tailgate fled his clinic in tears just as Chromedome walked in, ostensibly to get his arm rebuilt. Later Ratchet was present in the observation deck when the Lost Light hurtled through the space-portal that would eventually lead to Luna 1. He was invited by Rodimus to join the landing party on the "Miracle Moon". He became the first of the group to correctly identify their location as a reignited hot-spot, and explained to Tailgate what "constructed cold" meant in the scope of Cybertronian reproduction.
The group was ambushed by Lockdown and a platoon of Depticons. Ratchet's transport sled was hit with gunfire, and as he picked himself out of the wreckage, he came face-to face with a rebuilt, chainsaw-handed Pharma! The Fecund Moon
He woke up to find Pharma gloating over him in a well-stocked medical room. Pharma explained with glee how he had been rescued from Delphi by a genius friend who had given Pharma new hands. He also seemed adamant that Ratchet guess what lay in a mysterious box. When Ratchet impatiently refused to guess, Pharma showed Ratchet his own body in the box. All that remained of Ratchet was a head and a spark, bolted to a table. House of Ambus Ratchet challenged Pharma to a duel, to see who was the best doctor, and the winner could have the hands. Unable to resist a decisive completion, Pharma reinstalled Ratchet in his body, initiating a race to see who could be faster in stitching together 'bots that had been cut in half. But instead of a "worthless Decepticon", Pharma had Ambulon and First Aid taken from the Lost Light. Ratchet pleaded to stop the race, but Pharma was committed to the game. Ratchet quickly told the two medibots to re-route their nerve circuits away from their waists to minimise their pain, however Pharma mocked Ratchet, and chain sawed Ambulon in half, lengthways. The Divided Self
Oddly, Pharma quickly vacated the medibay to leave Ratchet crouched over Ambulon's two halves. Ratchet was haunted by Pharma's claims that he could save Ambulon, when it was clear Ratchet might not be able to. Watched over by the Legislators guarding them, Ratchet quickly went to work, refusing First Aid's assistance. This did not go down well with the former nurse, who criticized Ratchet severely for not letting him help, and quickly upped the argument to blame Ambulon's predicament upon Ratchet, his obsessions with his "stupid hands" and being the "Chief Medical Officer in Perpetuity". Ratchet finally stopped First Aid with the revelation that Ambulon had died half an hour before, then shoved First Aid out of the way to blast the Legislators with a weapon made from the remains of Ambulon's body. Ratchet promised First Aid that if they survived, he would officially hand over the CMO title to First Aid.
They caught up with Rodimus and the others, who had escaped Tyrest's prison. Ratchet had a moment with Tailgate to confirm that Tailgate's increasing paralysis was a result of his cybercrosis, and that despite the nearby medibay, the cure only lay in Pharma's head. The 'Bots teamed up to storm Tyrest's control room, unfortunately to little effect. Ratchet narrowly missed being blasted by Pharma's gun, before being felled - along with the others - by Tyrest's "Weapon of Mass Suggestion". Arm the Lonely Thanks to a heroic action by Tailgate, Ratchet and the others survived to thwart the plot. Unfortunately, that still meant Ratchet had the grim task of looking through Tyrest's notes to find there was a cure for cybercrosis but Tailgate was too far gone for it to work. Cyclonus was able to use his Great Sword to keep Tailgate's spark going This Calamitous Life and Ratchet was able to save him.
He took time out to quietly inform Minimus Ambus that, as their medic, he had always known about the Magnus replacements and just never told anyone: he'd seen no point. As far as he was concerned though, Ambus was the 'true' Ultra Magnus. The Sound of Breaking Glass Eventually, Rodimus came clean and informed everyone that he was responsible for bringing Overlord on board, and held a vote on whether he should continue as captain. Ratchet was one of those who voted against him, though ultimately Rodimus remained in command. Predestination: A Beginner's Guide
Some time after the vote, the Lost Light arrived over the remains of Gorlam Prime, and wound up rescuing Orion Pax, Hardhead, Garnak, and Wheelie from the collapsing planet's gravity well. Ratchet was pleased to be reunited with his old commander. Dark Dawn Learning of Shockwave's plan to end the universe, Ultra Magnus took command of the vessel while Rodimus and Orion headed into the Dead Universe; though charged with tracking down Shockwave's old teacher Jhiaxus, a distress signal from Metroplex took precedence, and despite Ratchet's objections, the ship quantum jumped to the ocean world of Hydrophena. Winners & Losers There, they encountered more Ammonites—who had formed an alliance with Shockwave—and Ratchet was one of the Autobots who boarded the Rodpod to do battle with the swarm. Though they were able to blast their monstrous combined form apart, the Ammonites reformed and chased them through the ocean until they inadvertently stumbled across a gravely wounded Metroplex. Into the Abyss
Though Ratchet was unsure if Metroplex was still alive, a quick scan confirmed that the Titan had seemingly survived... but that his brain module had been surgically removed and his spark was dwindling. After disembarking at a dry dock, the team embarked on a search for the Titan's brain module, a search that led them right back to where they started before an Ammonite saboteur destroyed the Rodpod. No Exit Shortly afterwards, the group were approached by a pair of Camien Transformers: Nautica and Chromia. The Dead Are Not Enough As more Ammonites poured into Metroplex to attack, Ratchet, Brainstorm, and Magnus wound up fleeing with the Camiens into Metroplex's left shoulder, where Windblade had relcoated Metroplex's brain module. Ratchet was confused by the concept of "gender" that the three Transformers embodied, and was irritated when Nautica mistook him for Pharma. The group was able to rouse Metroplex back to life by using the Lost Light's quantum engines to jump-start his systems, and both ship and Titan subsequently teleported back to Cybertron in time to make a stand against the Necrotitan. Burning Bright
With Shockwave's plan seemingly stymied, the Lost Lighters reunited with the Autobots they'd left behind on Cybertron; Ratchet grudgingly reattached Megatron's legs, the Decepticon leader having recently formed an alliance with Bumblebee to stop Shockwave. Ratchet later worked with Fixit and Flatline to help upgrade Arcee into a new body. This downtime was cut short when Shockwave returned, supported by a billions-strong swarm of Ammonites, intent on fulfilling the "Dark Cybertron" prophecy by collapsing the universe. The Becoming Ratchet took part in the battle to slow down the Ammonites; Black Planet Shockwave's plan was foiled, but not without Bumblebee seemingly perishing in the course of the battle and Megatron choosing to abandon the Decepticons and become an Autobot. ...And the Damage Done
As Cybertron struggled to rebuild from the catastrophe, Ratchet found himself part of the High Command cabal discussing Megatron's trial. He was uneasy about the idea of a military trial but it would go ahead. Towards Peace He advised that due to all the internal damage Megatron had recently suffered, it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make him take sedatives. Rage, Rage Shortly after Megatron's trial was adjourned on a legal technicality, Ratchet found Rodimus had been given a list of all the Autobots who'd voted against him staying as captain. A furious Ratchet reminded him that this was an illegal act but since Megatron was now getting to be an Autobot, the medic was willing to turn a blind eye to this far less minor transgression, and further informed him that the list was fake anyway. When Rodimus asked how he knew this, Ratchet snapped "because my name's not on it". Predestination: A Beginner's Guide Rage, Rage
Ultimately, Ratchet returned to duty aboard the Lost Light; as part of Megatron's plea bargain, the ex-Decepticon joined the crew of the ship as its "co-captain", and Ratchet took the chance to quietly ask him if Megs could really make black holes come out of his eyes. Words Hang in the Air One of his tasks was to administer "Fool's Energon", a sedative designed to sap Megatron's strength. What only he, Rodimus, and Optimus knew was that there was no such thing as Fool's Energon: as Ratchet's own notes said it would be cruel punishment to deliver a real sedative, they were giving him a placebo. If Megatron ever stopped taking it, they'd know he was about to fall off the wagon. Rage, Rage
Shortly after the Lost Light departed Cybertron once more, Ratchet found himself examining a mysterious coffin that contained a duplicate of Rodimus - unaware that this was an artifact from the "other" Lost Light, coming into close contact with their ship. The coffin had spectralist markings on it, which Ratchet believed meant Drift might have made it. He didn't have time to work out what this meant as the Lost Light began disappearing around him Predestination: A Beginner's Guide and left him crammed in a Rodpod with other panicked Autobots, trying to stop Tailgate from shooting Megatron on general principle. When random Autobots began mysteriously disappearing, Ratchet and Nightbeat tried to gather data on the missing Autobots and figure out why they were being abducted, but Ratchet was unable to work out anything before he himself disappeared, leaving his hands behind. Twenty Plus One This was due to the quantum-duplicate Lost Light being so close; after its engines were turned off, the medic returned. The Road Not Taken
Following Brainstorm's attempts to use time travel to subvert the outcome of the Great War and his subsequent trial, Ratchet was reminded of Drift's own ignominious departure from the Lost Light and decided to step down and let First Aid have his job so he could leave the Lost Light and put things right. Rather than come out and just say goodbye to his friends, he invented a "super scraplet" outbreak that would allow him to talk to them. Under cover of medical work, he helped Nautica understand Brainstorm, got Rung to talk to Hoist, encouraged Skids to talk to Rung, made it clear to Rodimus that Drift had been punished too harshly, and tried to help Magnus. He also discovered that Swerve's bouncer Ten, a reprogrammed Legislator, had developed a full-fledged personality, including an artistic persuasion that led him to carve small toys of his favorite crewmembers. Ratchet managed to arrange it so that he and Ultra Magnus—Ten's favorite Autobot—could be friends.
With all his work done, he quietly departed to search for Drift and left a communicator in case "the new Chief Medical Officer" First Aid wanted to talk to him. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme This communicator would eventually find its way into the hands of First Aid's own successor, Velocity. Your Fierce Tears
Drift and Ratchet
[edit]
Ratchet finally found Drift at a Galactic Council outpost, handing over Decepticon prisoners: Drift had been fighting and capturing rogue 'cons across the outer rim, Empire of Stone #1 and Ratchet was horrified to find he was letting himself stay damaged and run down. Empire of Stone #2 Since Drift was determined to find the main Decepticon force, Ratchet inserted himself into the mission. They tracked the Decepticons to a desert plan only to find themselves shot down and their prisoner Grit escaping... only to be accused of treason for being on an Autobot ship. Ratchet was forced to back up Drift when he went to Grit's defence and all three ended up prisoners of Gigatron, Drift's old boss who'd co-opted an alien castle. Empire of Stone #1
Ratchet was used to blackmail Drift into finding a "stone army" that Gigatron wanted. After an aborted escape attempt, the Autobots and Grit got chucked in the dungeon (and groused about how it'd been handled) and Ratchet got the truth out of Drift: in his Deadlock days, he'd been to the planet before and seen a vast, slumbering stone army. The medic came up with a plan, the truly lame one of pretending Grit had "killed" Drift so the guard would open the door. An unimpressed Knockout turned out to be Grit's friend and let them out anyway. The Autobots began to argue after escaping as Drift wanted Ratchet to escape and he was having none of it, asking pointblank why the swordsbot was running himself down. (He didn't answer.) Ratchet and Drift found the stone army, and that it had been hidden from Gigatron by Hellbat. Unfortunately Hellbat found them Empire of Stone #2 and, planning to kill them after, gleefully revealed that he'd been using cannibalised Transformers for spare parts that could activate the army. Ratchet learned that this was necessary because Drift had murdered all the local monks on his first visit and they couldn't wake the army.
Thanks to an attack by Grit, the Autobots escaped captivity and Ratchet took up arms. He then dropped arms to try and save Grit and Drift with a grappling hook. This was successful (Ratchet rule!) but meant the stone army was activated. While Ratchet wanted to alert Cybertron of the threat, the imminent threat of Hellbat's genocidal campaigns meant the trio had to seek Gigatron's help to stop him. Empire of Stone #3 This unlikely teamup did destroy the Stone Army but, as far as Drift and Ratchet knew, left the Autobots at the only survivors.
When the medic again tried to get Drift back to the Lost Light, the swordsman said he'd spent his whole life struggling to belong to something but only ever joined as a killer, and the Hellbat affair just reiterated that he didn't want to live a life where all he could offer was death. Ratchet rephrased the offer: instead of coming back as an Autobot, he should come back as his friend. Empire of Stone #4
After a series of adventures against minor Decepticons, Ratchet and Drift were alerted to a problem on Necroworld by Velocity's call for help, using the space-time phone he'd left First Aid. Your Fierce Tears The two chums landed on Necroworld, just in time to save a brutalised Ten from the Decepticon Justice Division and Deathsaurus's goons. The Sun in Flight The fight went quite badly but just as Ratchet said he wasn't relying on help from above, Ravage arrived in a ship from above to lift them all to safety!
At an inpromptu base, they discovered that the Autobots stranded here with Megatron were victims of a mutiny on the Lost Light. Ratchet also learned Velocity had been trying to contact First Aid and had heard, uh, not very nice things about him from First Aid, all of which she blurted by accident. Your Fierce Tears Relations were furthered soured when, after patching up a badly wounded Megatron, he started to read a list of what he'd missed while doing the final touches, much to her open dismay. However, they had to focus on patients together and it was Ratchet that identified an issue she'd missed: Tailgate, who'd become a super-strong outlier after a spark surge, had affected nearby Autobots on the Light in a way similar to Ultra-Energon, meaning Tailgate could crash badly.
Ratchet assisted with Chromedome's attempt to hack "the Pet", the Division's beast-former sidekick that he and Drift had taken hostage. Ratchet was horrified to realise "the Pet" had been "domesticated", and enraged when Rodimus, despite his angry protests, would not stop Chromedome carrying on despite the risk to him. He urged Chromedome to stand down, in case the process killed him. This gave him a front-row seat for the discovery that the poor unfortunate was the lost Dominus Ambus and Rewind killing him to save Chromedome from suffering a similar fate.
At sundown, the Decepticons attacked At Close of Day but Velocity had hit on a plan: if someone else could get traumatised like Tailgate, they could get supercharged too! Ratchet thought little of this idea, knowing how badly they'd have to traumatise someone but Skids volunteered. As the battle raged, Ratchet fought to keep Skids stable before he could himself join the battle and leave Megatron in charge of the ward. Ratchet continued to needle the ex-Decepticon for not going out until he realised how much Megatron was genuinely afraid of how much he might cut loose. He came clean that Fool's Energon was a conjob and Megatron had always been at full strength, and had chosen not to lash out.
Unfortunately, that caused Megatron to believe he could indeed go out to save a wounded Ravage and that meant when Skids came to and took himself off the slab, Ratchet was left alone, screaming for Megatron to help him get the Autobot back on the slab before he died. All Ratchet could do was be with Skids as his spark gave out. Rage, Rage As Megatron singlehandedly took on the DJD, Ratchet tried to save Ravage as the Decepticon explained Megatron's plan to channel antimatter as a weapon. Before Megatron took down Tarn, however, the Autobots were interrupted when Roller and the other "Disappeared" Transformers appeared; the Necrobot had used time travel to pluck them from history and bring them to the Necroworld, and Ratchet happily embraced his old friend. When Rodimus rescued Megatron from the antimatter explosion, Ratchet offered to patch up his wounds... only for Megatron to flip the table in a moment of silent fury as Ravage succumbed to his wounds and died, only for the appearance of Terminus to convince him to stand down. Do Not Go Gentle
As the other Disappeared Transformers began readjusting to their new circumstances, Ratchet—after notifying Rung of Skids' sacrifice—was part of the group that Rodimus assembled to go back to Cybertron and obtain a ship, using a jury-rigged teleporter that Brainstorm was able to cobble together. When they used the teleporter, however, they discovered that the device did teleport them to Cybertron... but to the Cybertron of a parallel universe, thanks to the Galactic Council firing a geobomb at the Necroworld that wound up shunting the planet into another timeline. Some Other Cybertron
Trapped in this dystopian universe and taken hostage by Twelve-of-Twelve and his Functionaries, the captive Autobots were paraded through the streets of Iacon; a nearby statue of Primus prompted Drift to confide in Ratchet that he'd recently seen a vision that incorporated, among other things, an army of Sparkeaters and Pharma. The Functionaries were attacked by the Anti-Vocationist League, who proved so incompetent that they required the assistance of the Lost Lighters to rescue their rescuers. Once they'd seen off the Functionists, their leader Clicker invited the Autobots back to the city of Adaptica. Anomie While Rodimus and the other Autobots met with their leader, the rebellious Nine-of-Twelve, Ratchet and Megatron got acquainted with the foot soldiers of the AVL. Their brief respite was interrupted when the rest of the Functionist Council announced that the "Day of Revelation" had come, revealing the native Rung's alternate mode as a gigantic mining drill... and also the return of Luna Two, thought lost in this universe following a prior conflict. A World Misplaced
Ratchet was immediately skeptical of Rung's "alternate mode", pointing out that he was most likely a victim of "forced mass displacement". As Luna Two, revealed as a massive re-engineered harvester unit, began laying waste to Adaptica, Ratchet joined Rodimus and some other Autobots on a mission to the core of Cybertron to rescue Rung. Ratchet's suspicions were confirmed when Rung's drill tank was revealed as a ruse; the Autobot medic was able to deactivate the internal restraints keeping Rung trapped in his alternate mode and unable to talk. Bad Moon Rising Once Rung had been restored to normal, he revealed to Ratchet was his true function was: the manufacture of photonic crystals. Ratchet thus pretended to take Rung hostage in order to bluff the Functionists into letting them go, and the group escaped by teleporting directly into the Cog, flying the Functionist fortress over Adaptica to launch a last-ditch attack on Luna Two. Modes of Production
When the Cog was subsequently shot down, Rung overrode Ratchet's concerns and used the mass displacement generator in his body to grow to colossal size, fighting the moon head-on. Faced with condemning Functionist Cybertron to death or never being able to return to their native universe, the Autobots were able to come up with a third solution to the problem: teleporting the entire moon to the hollow Necroworld. As they raced to find a working teleporter that would take them up to the moon, Rung perished and Megatron was ultimately left behind with Terminus.
On returning to Necroworld and then teleporting back to their own universe, Ratchet took an opportunity to hug the Rung from his universe. This Machine Kills Fascists
Beyond the afterlife
[edit]
Rodimus came up with a new plan: using mass displacement, they would enlarge the body of a dead Decepticon with a spaceship alternate mode and use it to reach the Lost Light so that Rodimus could get even with Getaway. Ratchet was one of the Autobots who accompanied him. After Megatron
After briefly stopping off at Troja Major, An Axe to Break the Ice Chasing the Infinite the Autobots quickly began getting on one another's nerves amidst the cramped confines of the vessel; with tempers rising, events quickly took a strange turn when Ratchet's body began suffering from aggressive depigmentation despite him still being alive, which quickly worsened to a strange form of intangibility that led him to begin sinking through the floor. Sardines Things got even stranger when Ten displayed the power of speech and took command, ordering them all to the nearest Mederi center... only for the ship's mass displacement to wear off at that moment. Metastasis Badly exposed to the ravages of compressed space, their mangled bodies drifted to the nearest planet... which just so happened to be the original Mederi, a euthanasia clinic that sent its patients into idyllic dreams to ease their passing. You Are Here To the Cybertronians, this dream took the appearance of the mythical "Afterspark". Ratchet awoke, healed from his mysterious illness, and arrived where Rodimus had awoken to confirm that Ten had recently "ascended" to the full Afterspark—in reality, dying as the Mederi clinic worked its programming. Ratchet was skeptical of the reality of their situation; it took Whirl reminding him that he had been dying in the real world to temporarily shut him up. Metastasis
When Rodimus announced his intention to speak to the Guiding Hand, who supposedly ruled the afterlife, his request was granted; Rodimus was granted an audience with the "Guiding Hand", and selected Ultra Magnus, Drift, and Ratchet to be his counsel, representing law, faith, and science. Still skeptical, Ratchet was unfazed when the Guiding Hand turned down Rodimus's request to return to the living world. Re-materializing outside a temple, the group investigated, with Ratchet discovering a disguised "Ward Zero" filled with alien telepaths and guarded by the Omega Guardians. The God War As Ultra Magnus dispatched the Omega Guardians, Ratchet quickly realized the truth behind Mederi; despite Drift's objections, he shattered the power system that kept the aliens alive and powering the holomatter-fuelled systems that shaped the illusions of the Afterspark. Ratchet informed the rest of the group that they had, indeed, reached the original Mederi, and, indeed, the planet where the legend of "Cyberutopia" began. The mundane truth behind their quest was soon cut short when a swarm of Sparkeaters appeared overhead - Sparkeaters that had once been the rest of the crew aboard the Lost Light. You Are Here
Ratchet and the group would soon learn that Getaway had found "Cyberutopia" as well before meeting a mysterious figure called the Grand Architect with a Worldsweeper fleet. Bargaining for his life, Getaway allowed the Architect's ally Scorponok to turn his crew into Sparkeaters as a bulwark against Rodimus's forces when they arrived. Ratchet and the others tried to find a way to protect themselves from the Sparkeaters without hurting their infected friends. They retreated back inside the Mederi center at Ward Zero to barricade themselves while Rodimus led a small crew up to the Lost Light to confront Getaway. A Dance Before Dying Ratchet and the other doctors searched for a cure, and the newly returned First Aid discovered the means for emitting a kinetic program code that shut down the Sparkeater virus. Lūstrāre
The Lost Light was reclaimed and everyone assembled on board, just as space itself became threadbare, sucking them into a rift to the Benzene Cluster. The group were surrounded by the Black Block Consortia, more agents of the Grand Architect. One of their recently encountered allies was Nickel, a Decepticon carrying the Magnificence, the font of infinite knowledge from Ki-Aleta. Curiously, when the Grand Architect asked for a meeting with their key officers, the Magnificence spoke up and named Ratchet along with Rodimus, Tailgate, and Rung. Rodimus refused to leave anyone behind, though, and so the entire crew came aboard the Architect's Worldsweeper.Farsickness
A deeper game was being played, for the Grand Architect had cast five copies of Cybertron from an enormous mold, crafting a celestial God Gun to defend the universe from a monstrous avatar of "Primus;" in reality, the Cybertron of the Functionist Universe, refashioned into a colossal robot mode and crossing dimensions to continue its mission of religious genocide. Megatron arrived from that universe as well through a rift in space, and tried to rescue the team by blowing out the Worldsweeper's windows. Most of the group escaped this way, but Ratchet and a few others were trapped behind. The Grand Architect then revealed himself as Adaptus, clad in the body of Pharma, whom he had recovered from Luna-1. Being so close to Ratchet again was enough for Pharma's submerged personality to try and overtake Adaptus' own. The group soon learned that all of the members of the Guiding Hand had survived into the present day, and their adventures had brought them into contact with all of them: the Necrobot was Mortilus, Epistemus the Magnificence, Solomus Tyrest, and Primus himself... none other than Rung. The Return of the King
Ever the skeptic, Ratchet was quick to dismiss this claim, until Rung himself corroborated it, explaining to the group the circumstances behind his unlikely origins and the events that led to him recovering his memory of his old life. All of this, it transpired, had been a long game by Adaptus, but the Architect was killed by a furious Tyrest, and in the chaos Rodimus was able to use Tyrest's teleportation function to transport Ratchet and the others back to the Lost Light on the surface of the last Cybertron to discuss their next moves. The Magnificence itself began contributing ideas, ordering Rung to use his abilities to create several Matrices of Leadership that would annihilate the Primus-avatar from within; this was soon revealed to be the work of the malicious Omega Guardians, who sought to return to the universe and consume everything... only to be silenced by Nickel, who crushed the artifact between her hands. The Unremembering
Instead, the alliance hit upon a new plan; using Rung, they would create twelve Matrices, then fly down to the surface of Cybertron—returned to planet-mode by the arrival of Luna-1—to open them above the planet's hot spots. Rung sacrificed himself to do so, and thanks to the Infinite air support Ratchet and Drift were deployed over Vespertine Blue with Drift. As the two prepared to open the Matrix and by activating the "morality lock" each one possessed, the pair confessed that they both felt the same way about one another, and this confession seemingly allowed a triumphant Ratchet to open his Matrix, the energies combining with the other eleven to overload Vector Sigma, killing the Functionist Council and saving the universe. A Spark Among Embers
Choosing to remain on this "New Cybertron", an agreement was eventually reached with Prowl that the Lost Light's engines would be stripped from the ship and repurposed to fuel the development of the new hot spot that the Matrices had ignited on Luna-1; in the meantime, however, the crew would be allowed one last, brief "victory lap" to say their goodbyes before Megatron went away to stand trial for his crimes. Ratchet and Drift settled in for a goodbye party at Swerve's, explaining their theory that Drift's frequent visions were premonitions sent to him by the staff of Mederi. Finally, Nautica, Brainstorm, and Perceptor announced that they could attempt to recreate the accident that began their voyage: this time shunting a duplicate of the Lost Light into a parallel universe so that a version of them could continue exploring the galaxy forever. Though the crew of the ship would never know if their plan had worked, it had, with a new version of the Lost Light materializing in a new universe, ready for more adventures.
In the original universe, Ratchet and Drift became Conjunx Endurae, living and loving together on New Cybertron for many years until the day that Ratchet's age finally caught up with him, manifesting as a terminal case of "age-related burnout". Despite his gruff assessment of this diagnosis, Ratchet ultimately passed away shortly afterwards. His last wishes were to have his parts sent to medical centers across Cybertron, with the innermost energon that the mourners would offer at his funeral being donated to help Lunarian resettlement efforts.
At his funeral, many former members of the Lost Light visited to pay their respects, offering their innermost energon and other mementos of their voyage. Rodimus would be the last member of the old ship to visit, placing Megatron's old Rodimus Star on his memorial above his final epitaph: "WITHOUT LOVE THERE IS NO MEANING." How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2
Spotlight: Mirage
[edit]Ratchet was with the Autobots hiding out in the Pegasus Star Cluster, with most of the Autobot forces having been defeated. He tended to the seriously wounded Jetfire's injuries, and suggested surrender to the Decepticons to save their fellow Autobot's life. When Mirage (disguised as Bumblebee) and the Decepticons attacked, he attempted to reason with the Decepticon mercenary about Jetfire's condition, only to be attacked for his trouble. After the Autobots surrendered, he was furious when Mirage betrayed his word and prepared to carry out Megatron's order to execute the Autobots. Spotlight: Mirage
This was part of a vision Mirage was having in the main timeline. The Possible Light
The Functionist Universe
[edit]In the Functionist Universe, where the war had never broken out, Ratchet had remained close friends with Pharma. The two were present at a spaceport when the Primal Vanguard began returning to Cybertron, having a friendly conversation. The Custom-Made Now
Notes
[edit]
- Ratchet was one of the characters whom both James Roberts and John Barber wanted for their respective books.<ref>James Roberts: As for the divvying up, we both started off with two or three characters that had been dictated – actually, that’s the wrong word – by IDW editorial, then came up with a core cast wish list. There were only a few clashes. I would have liked Prowl and Wheeljack and I think John would have liked Magnus and Ratchet. We compromised.</ref>
- Ratchet (and Orion Pax and Windcharger) shows up among many attendees of Bumper and Fastback's funeral in Megatron Origin #3, but years later More than Meets the Eye #11 established that Ratchet opposed Sentinel Prime and the Senate not long beforehand. How this story works out, the TFWiki can only tell you to imagine on your own.
- James Roberts attributed Ratchet's new attitude in More than Meets the Eye almost entirely to the imminent failure of his hands.<ref>James Roberts: I know that some people think I’ve made Ratchet too crotchety, for example—although in my defense I’d argue that a lot of his grumpiness was the result of watching his hands die before his eyes</ref>
- Ratchet shows no surprise when Overlord appears on the Lost Light and turns to blind the Phase Sixer without actually seeing him. It's possible (and probable) that he saw the Decepticon in the reflection of the datapad he was holding but still...great reflexes for an old timer with replaced hands...
- For the More than Meets the Eye finale arc "The Dying of the Light" (and the subsequent "Season 3" of Lost Light), Alex Milne redesigned Ratchet with a hybridization of his "Season 1" design and his "Aligned" counterpart's Prime design. Milne stated on Twitter that he personally "heard" IDW Ratchet's voice as that of Jeffrey Combs à la the Prime cartoon.<ref>{{#if: @AutovoltGTS Agreed. I only hear Jeffrey Combs as Ratchet these days. He's the best Ratchet IMO |"@AutovoltGTS Agreed. I only hear Jeffrey Combs as Ratchet these days. He's the best Ratchet IMO"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/716709830556299264 |Alex Milne|Alex Milne}}{{#if: Twitter |, Twitter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2016 |, 2016{{#if: 04 |/{{#switch:{{#len:04}}|1=004|04}}{{#if: 03|/{{#switch:{{#len:03}}|1=003|03}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/716709830556299264 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/716709830556299264%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/716709830556299264%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/716709830556299264%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/markerguru/status/716709830556299264%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}</ref>
- Amusingly, Ratchet's one of two alternate mode scenes in this body took place in Lost Light #19, in which said alt-mode was drawn according to Prime Ratchet's specifications as no one had provided E. J. Su with reference material.
