Ratchet

## Biography

### Earth infiltration

Around 2001, Ratchet was deployed to Earth as part of the tactical response unit led by Prowl.

The infiltration unit intercepted a coded Decepticon pulsewave, which revealed that a Human had been targeted for termination. Ratchet requested permission from Prowl to intervene, but his superior thought it was a tenuous lead and a waste of resources, so denied the request. Ratchet disregarded the orders. Ratchet attempted to save Stoker from termination but was too late to save him, finding his corpse shortly after the Human was killed. Ratchet came under attack from Runabout but managed to discourage pursuit temporarily.

Meanwhile Thundercracker targeted two Humans, Verity Carlo and Hunter O'Nion, who were in possession of the data storage device. Thundercracker destroyed the Human's vehicle, but before he could kill Verity and Hunter, Ratchet arrived. Using his concealed weaponry, Ratchet forced Thundercracker to disengage and rescued Verity and Hunter. He communicated with them via his holomatter avatar, which was a paramedic.

With the Humans safely inside him, Ratchet sped away from the site of his confrontation with Thundercracker at around one-hundred and ninety miles per hour. The speed that Ratchet was going at clued Hunter into the fact that Ratchet was one of the transforming alien mechanoids he had been searching for. Even at over one-hundred and ninety miles per hour, Ratchet soon found that he had company in the shape of Runabout and Runamuck. Ratchet once more deployed his concealed weaponry, forcing both Runabout and Runamuck to crash. Thundercracker returned, and Ratchet deployed an oil smokescreen to force him to withdraw.

Needing a place to hide and effect repairs, Verity directed them to a garage in Riverside, California run by a friend of hers, Jimmy Pink. Ratchet allowed Jimmy to examine his damage, and considered Jimmy to be an excellent mechanic. Ratchet was then confronted by Hunter, who had stolen Verity's SM-40 Notebook and found pictures of the Decepticons on it, proving his theory. While Verity went from incredulous about his beliefs to anger that Hunter had stolen her computer, Ratchet confirmed Hunter's theories. Verity grabbed the SM-40 and stormed out of the garage. Shortly after, a terrified Verity came back in, uttering the word "Decepticon." Ratchet realized the enemy had found them, and directed the Humans to get inside, just as the front wall of the garage came crashing down, revealing Runabout and Runamuck.

As the Humans stood in shock, Ratchet used his holomatter avatar to generate a facsimile of the SM-40 and hand it to Runabout. As the Decepticon reached for it, Ratchet overloaded his holomatter generators and shocked Runabout. With Runabout out and Runamuck distracted, Ratchet transformed into robot mode to used a weapon concealed in his right forearm to blind Runamuck. Reverting to ambulance mode, Ratchet ordered Verity, Hunter, and Jimmy to get before escaping from the incapacitated Decepticons.

Speeding north on Interstate 15, Ratchet filled Verity, Hunter, and Jimmy in on the events that led him to follow Stoker and meet all of them. Ratchet realized that the information on the computer was more important than he thought as Stoker did something his unit had failed to do; discover the Decepticon's secret base. As Ratchet explained, Thundercracker caught up to them. The Autobot managed to engaged his mufflers in time to neutralize Thundercracker's sonic boom attack. The others cars on the interstate were affected and disorientated, forcing Ratchet to weave between them. Behind him, Runabout and Runamuck smashed through the traffic in pursuit of Ratchet.

Ratchet was surprised that the pair had revealed themselves in battle configuration, adopting modes that showed they were not ordinary vehicles. The pursuit continued with Runabout and Runamuck openly attacking Ratchet. The Autobot managed to weave through traffic between two semi-trucks, forcing the Decepticon pursuit off the road. Relatively safe, the events got to Verity and she ordered Ratchet to stop. He pulled over and let her leave the cab. Jimmy got out to comfort her, leaving Hunter alone with Ratchet.

Ratchet and Hunter conversed until a panic-stricken Verity and Jimmy came back, having spotted Thundercracker returning. The Decepticon fired a missile at the stationary Autobot; Ratchet waited until the very last moment to move, engaging his thrusters to aid his escape. Rocketing across the desert, Ratchet led Thundercracker directly into the path of reinforcements—Ironhide, Prowl, and Sunstreaker. Their combined weaponry damaged Thundercracker and forced him to retreat. The three Autobots transformed and placed Ratchet under arrest for his actions. Ratchet countered with two words: Siege Mode.

With the Humans aboard *Ark-19*, Ratchet was forced to defend his actions to Prowl. Recounting the events that had befallen them, Ratchet advised sending a pulsewave to Optimus Prime. Prowl did not agree with Ratchet's assessment of the situation, citing that the only reason he was not in the brig was because of the potential information on the SM-40 Notebook. Prowl ordered Ratchet to convince the Humans to allow them to access the data. After talking to them and revealing some information, Ratchet gained their trust and downloaded the information on the SM-40 Notebook.

The data pointed to an abandoned Decepticon Command Bunker in Nebraska which Ratchet felt needed to be investigated, but did not want to take the Humans into danger again despite their enthusiasm to help out. Bumblebee was eavesdropping on the conversation and convinced Ratchet that investigating was the right call. Together, the two Autobots prepared to leave for Nebraska with the Humans.

Arriving in northwest Nebraska, Ratchet and Bumblebee assisted the Humans in descending into the abandoned command bunker. They warned them that the Decepticons were prone to booby-trapping their former bases but hoped that the Human's size would not set them off. While waiting on the surface, their position came under attack from the Decepticons Skywarp and Blitzwing.

Realizing that they were not the primary target, the Autobots deduced the base was. As the ordnance began collapsing the ground above the base, Ratchet ordered the Humans to abort before coming under attack from the Decepticons again. While Bumblebee engaged Skywarp, Ratchet targeted Blitzwing. Using his knowledge of Blitzwing's personality—namely his paranoid nature—Ratchet fired a flare that overloaded his sensors which were at optimum sensitivity and caused him to crash.

Transforming, Ratchet moved in to check if Blitzwing was out of the fight. Unfortunately for Ratchet, Blitzwing had transformed into his tank alt-mode. Ratchet was targeted by a single shot from his cannon, blasting him in the chest. Skywarp and Blitzwing continued their assault on the base, giving Bumblebee time to move in and check on Ratchet. Despite sporting a wound in his chest, the medic was still alive, although he had also been run over by Blitzwing while in tank mode. With the attack still ongoing, the ground underneath them was destabilising and threatening to cave in on the installation below.

Ratchet and Bumblebee returned to the ingress point where the Humans had entered the base. they found Hunter and Jimmy on the surface waiting for Verity to ascend. While Ratchet warned them of the dangers of the collpasing superstructure, they insisted on waiting for Verity. As the tree they had attached their rope to began to fall into the pit, Bumblebee managed to stabilize it long enough for Verity to get to the surface. All three Humans piled into Ratchet as the two Autobots sped away from the collapsing base. As they moved off, Ratchet and Bumblebee became aware of the arrival of Megatron, a fact that they then reported to Prowl and Ironhide.

While Bumblebee headed to Oregon, Ratchet took Verity, Hunter, and Jimmy back towards Lake Michigan, travelling on the I-80 through Iowa. Prowl wanted the Humans out of harm's way, and Ratchet agreed since the arrival of Megatron upped the stakes, and they were lucky to get out of the command bunker alive. The Humans reluctantly agreed with Ratchet's assessment, and he praised their actions and thanked them for helping the Autobots. Arriving back on *Ark-19*, Ratchet witnessed the arrival of Optimus Prime on Earth.

## Appearances

* *The Transformers: Infiltration #0* (First appearance)
* *The Transformers: Infiltration #1*
* *The Transformers: Infiltration #2*
* *The Transformers: Infiltration #3*
* *The Transformers: Infiltration #4*
* *The Transformers: Infiltration #5*
* *The Transformers: Infiltration #6*

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 *The Transformers: Infiltration #0*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *The Transformers: Infiltration #3*
3. ↑ The timeline given in *Revolutionaries #1* dates the events of the Transformers arrival on Earth to 2001.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 *The Transformers: Infiltration #2*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *The Transformers: Infiltration #1*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 *The Transformers: Infiltration #4*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *The Transformers: Infiltration #5*
8. ↑ *The Transformers: Infiltration #6*