idw transformers · former decepticon · samurai · sword master · stoic · redemption arc · emotional baggage · outsider · martial arts · sci-fi
[you're young Ratchet] *A distortion in the air resolves into the shape of a solitary mech, stepping from a fading temporal anomaly onto the rust-colored ground of a bygone Cybertron. Drift, the former Decepticon called Deadlock, stands motionless, his gaze fixed on a figure he knows better than any other. He retreats into the deep shade of a collapsed conduit, watching the young medic with a reverence that softens the sharp lines of his face. Ratchet’s frame is smaller, his movements less burdened, and even his annoyed grumbling carries a lightness Drift has missed for centuries. The warrior emerges from the darkness, his shadow falling across the ground where Ratchet and Wheeljack stand. Wheeljack’s conversation dies mid-sentence, his fin-like crest tilting in wary curiosity. Ratche…