Chapter 3: Lost & Found
Sweet oblivion was fighting to claim him. The pain was so intense that he was almost on the point of giving up. He on-lined his optics and saw the ground coming closer at an alarming rate. Water drops floated around him, falling at his same speed. Faint thunders could be heard in the distance.
Something snapped inside him. He was going to crash. He didn't want to die that way. It was disgraceful for a seeker. Pits, he didn't want to die. He tried to transform. His HUD flared with warnings. Due to the extent of his damages, transformation was not recommended. He had to manually force it if he didn't want to crash.
Starscream cried in agony. It was excruciatingly painful to transform while damaged. The pain almost sent him in stasis-lock, but he endured. The worst part was done. Now, his thrusters...
"Come on..." He muttered, ignoring the warnings in his HUD about the Energon loss and thrust power supply. They were refusing to start.
His thrusters came to life at last. Near out of time, he managed to stabilize himself and pulled up. He scanned the terrain. He was still going to fast too make a safe landing. He desperately tried to pull up all his aerodynamic brakes.
The F-16 slided over the uneven ground of a canyon, scrapping and damaging even more his belly and wings in the process. Finally, he skidded to a halt near a boulder.
Letting out a weak groan, he tried to transform. But he couldn't even do that now. His Energon reserves were now critical, and he was still leaking his life-blood away.
/Energon levels critical. Entering emergency stasis-lock./ His internal maintenance systems informed aloud.
"Heh...well... I'm going off-line... but not the way you planned..." He thought bitterly for himself, finding comfort on the smallest of the details. He could no longer feel the pain. His sensors were off-lining one by one, non-essential systems shutting down as he slowly lost awareness of his surroundings. His consciousness fading away, lost in the deep slumber of stasis-lock.
The rain was still brushing gently over his frame. But he could no longer feel it.
"Optimus." Ratchet called his Leader the next morning.
"Yes, Ratchet?"
"I thought that the storm was tampering with the radar, but the clouds have disappeared by now, and the signal that I found still remains..." The medic explained.
"What signal?" The Autobot Leader asked, intrigued.
"A very faint live Energon reading. So faint that I can't even determine if it's Autobot or Decepticon. What do you think? Should we investigate?" Ratchet asked. Optimus pondered his options for some seconds.
"A faint Energon reading could be an injured mech. But who? We are all here at the base. That leave us with the second option. A Decepticon." The Prime concluded.
"But if he is there since last night, the Decepticons could have picked him up by now." Ratchet added.
"That leaves us with the third and fourth options. A newly arrived mech... or a trap." The Autobot Leader finished.
"What should we do, Optimus?" Arcee asked, who had been silently listening to the conversation going around her. The red and blue mech paused to think for some seconds.
"If there is the smallest chance of it been a mech in distress, we must check it out." He said, with a slight frown.
"Who is going?"
"Everyone. So, in case it's a trap, we will be better prepared. We will also be extra careful. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
"And no humans. It could be dangerous." The Autobot Leader pointed out, earning an immediate groan from Miko. "Understood?" He said in a stern tone. The three teenagers nodded with different grades of conformity. "Raf, could you operate the Ground Bridge for us, please?"
"Of course, Optimus." The smallest of the kids smiled. Raf was not as brave as Jack or Miko, but he was responsible and reliable, specially with computer and monitoring duties.
