Triage

Triage is the fortieth episode of Transformers: Prime.

Premise
Ratchet and Wheeljack get an opportunity when Soundwave's pet Laserbeak gets injured.

Synopsis
Ratchet rendezvous with Wheeljack in a wooded area to search for the third of four relics. Though Wheeljack rubs Ratchet up the wrong way, they take off in the Jackhammer to find the relic and soon pick up Soundwave following them. After Wheeljack dogfights with Soundwave for a few minutes, Soundwave releases Laserbeak to take over the attack on the ship. Wheeljack is more than happy to chase Laserbeak instead, though as they chase the drone, it almost causes them to hit the side of a mountain, much to Ratchet's panic. He finally scores a hit on Laserbeak, but as it goes down, a random shot hits the Jackhammer, bringing the ship down as well.

Ratchet is keen to resume the search for the relic, but Wheeljack spots the downed Laserbeak. They examine it, and Wheeljack hits on the idea of planting a grenade in it to provide the Decepticons with a surprise. It gives Ratchet a better idea—implanting a virus to get them access to the Nemesis computer and hack the Iacon database. He contacts base and asks Raf to prepare a virus. At Raf's suggestion, they implant a grenade into Laserbeak as well to provide a decoy that the Decepticons will find and throw them off the scent of the virus. Wheeljack leaves Ratchet to find Soundwave so he can buy Ratchet time.

Meanwhile, Soundwave has located the relic, the Resonance Blaster, and dug it up. Wheeljack quickly locates him and attacks. They trade blows until Soundwave relieves Wheeljack of a sword and uses his tentacles to throw the Autobot around. Wheeljack manages to use Soundwave's tentacles against each other and cracks the Decepticon's visor with his head. They go flying off the cliff, but Wheeljack finally has Soundwave at his mercy, at least until Soundwave grabs the Resonance Blaster with a tentacle and uses it on Wheeljack.

Ratchet and Raf begin uploading the virus into Laserbeak, but as they need it online to do so, the drone activates and tries to fly off, forcing Ratchet to hold it down. Soundwave is about to finish off Wheeljack when he detects activity from Laserbeak and heads off to investigate. Wheeljack has time to warn Ratchet before falling unconscious, and the virus download finishes in time for Ratchet to hide before Soundwave arrives. After some tense moments, the Decepticon picks up Laserbeak, but appears to be alerted to Ratchet. Soundwave's tentacles venture into Ratchet's hiding place, but as it turns out they're merely after a lost piece of Laserbeak. Having retrieved it, Soundwave heads off back to the Nemesis. Ratchet, unable to contact Wheeljack, goes to help his comrade.

Megatron is happy with Soundwave's find, though disappointed at Dreadwing's and Knock Out's performances. Megatron has Knock Out examine Laserbeak and they find the grenade which Knock Out disposes of (after some initial panic). Soundwave returns to working on the Iacon database, where Megatron and Knock Out have a conversation in the back about Soundwave, that he WILL provide the coordinates of the remaining relics. After that, Megatron orders Knock Out to repair Soundwave's visor. Knock Out frowns at Soundwave secretly.

Returning to the Jackhammer, Ratchet calls for a Ground Bridge, having forged a mutual respect with Wheeljack. He bridges back to base, where the computers are busily downloading the Iacon database. A short time later, Raf reports that Bulkhead is returning to base, but as they open the Ground Bridge, Bulkhead comes flying through, his back smoking and unconscious.

To be continued...

Gallery
Main Article: Triage Gallery

Trivia

 * Laserbeak is named for the first time in-series.
 * In the real world, attaching live grenades to wounded enemies is a war crime. It's rather inappropriate as a "good guy" tactic in a cartoon aimed at children.