The Diego Diaries: All Along the Watch Tower (dd7 265)
=0=Up there
It was a whirlwind of sound rolling through his processor as he felt himself being touched. Springer felt energy against his body, then the darkness was back. The EMT who was working on him noted his phase in and out of consciousness.
"Did you call for Ratchet?" another EMT asked as he plugged into Drift. "DON'T MOVE HIM! We wait for Ratchet." He stared at Drift who was laying face down on the floor, his body peppered by shrapnel and his affect weak and low.
"He's coming, D-O. The medical runabout is ready to take them when we can clear this up," another EMT said as the office mechs who were responding emotionally to the situation stepped back from Drift.
"Hook him up if you can, Bond. Get him ready to read for data," D-O said as he finished hooking Springer into his sensor pack. He would help Bond do the same with Drift.
=0=Ratchet
He reached the Metro stop under the Watch Tower having taken it to get there faster. Running up with his siren and lights flashing, he sped upward to the first floor, then ran through the gathering crowd to an elevator. He jumped in, did an emergency override and took the bullet path upward. He would get to the top floor in seconds.
Literally.
=0=Prime and Ironhide
They drove with their sirens going full stop, something all Senior Autobots had but few used. Driving both on and off the highway and streets, they blasted into the downtown traffic of Metrotitan, transformed on the fly, then ran for the tower down the street. It would take a moment before they ran inside and took an override to the top floor.
=0=Hercy and the Boys
They rode a Metro to Metrotitan, the second stop of the four in town that was under the tower. Up they went heading full speed for the top floor. It would take a moment to make it through the crowds, get an elevator, then go.
=0=Ammas, Appas and Uncles
They carried the children to The Fortress Military Daycare all the way from Tyger Pax and the Mall. The children were quiet, aware that something had happened but used to this enough that they didn't fuss. Ammas and Appas were going to be 'coming back really quickly' but they had 'a thing' that 'just came up'. They were to play and have fun, eat snacks and dance. Ammas and Appas would come for them 'right away'.
They stepped off at Metro 1, then hurried down the street to the junction, the short walk to The Fortress and the walk down the corridor on the second sub floor to a spectacular place for the kids, one that was open 24/7 for the military who needed it. They would pat, hug and kiss, then step calmly out of sight before sprinting for the door and a fast train to Metrotitan.
=0=Up there
Ratchet hurried down the corridor, slipping around and past the mob, then entered the ante room office. Maxi was sitting on her desk along with all the rest of the femmes and mechs who worked for the Day/Night Watch in her office area. They looked dazed but relatively okay. He didn't stop to check given that a mob of doctors from police substations and the local Medical Center were taking care of them. He followed the pungent odor of explosives and the resultant destruction and smoke to Springer and Drift's shared office.
=0=Up there, part 2
They reached the top floor, then burst out of the elevator. Walking briskly, they reached the edge of the crowd.
Prime waved Sky over. "What happened?"
Sky who was a Seeker of some note and head of forensics for the Empire stared at Prime gravely. "There was a bomb delivered to the office, how is not known. It went off when Springer and Drift were inside the room. I don't know how things are but Ratchet just went past and the EMT's and other doctors and medics are there as well."
Prime looked stunned. He glanced at Ironhide who looked shocked as well.
Ironhide moved forward as Prime followed.
=0=Elsewhere, at a department store
Prowl was watching with great amusement as his grandparents found and exclaimed over a frame that matched one that used to stand on the small table by their berth. That one had contained an image of Prowl three orns after he was born. Given that his own genitors carried with them every image and document that pertained to all of them from before his birth until ten minutes ago, it would do that duty again.
They had lunch, had ordered a number of familiar things sent to his grandparent's apartment and were just wandering the colony to look at things, talk, be together in a new and better way as well as finding the odd treasure here and there. It was something that being together in the past never was … delightful, happy, genuine and peaceful.
Then he received the call.
=0=Elsewhere
They sat in the apartment playing cards after having gone to lunch at a diner nearby, one that Corsair and Imaldo would at some point consider 'theirs'. They were laughing, eating snacks and drinking tea while reminiscing about the good old orns in the neighborhood when 'all of you were the cutest sweetest younglings'.
Magnus got the call, absorbed it, then glanced at the others. Mack and his bond, Jetta, Arcee and Elita were anteing up for the bet. "I have to take care of something. I'll be right back." He stood. "Keep my place for the ready."
They glanced up at him with amusement. "Do come back soon, Deion. I do so love to see you. You've become such a handsome mech now that you're completely grown up," Corsair said as some of his legendary sweetness came through for him.
"I will, Omi," Magnus said as he absorbed the familiar goodness that came from being in company with those who he loved and who had helped shape his life. He walked to the door, then left.
Imaldo glanced at Arcee. "I wish I could tell you how much it means to have you all around us again. That you and Deion are a bond is such a blessing. Its as great a blessing as Jetta and Elita." He glanced at Mack and his bond. "I do include you in this as well. I am terribly happy to be here with all of you. Orion and his genitors … we must get together when we can."
"You'll love Prowl's genitors and Ratchet's entire family. Ironhide's genitors go back about three generations and they're immense fun, Omi," Arcee said. "We have to have a party at someone's house."
"That would be great fun, right, Imaldo?" Corsair asked as he glanced at his bond with a smile.
"I think it would be capital," Imaldo said with a grin.
Jetta and Mack felt their sparks sing.
=0=Elsewhere, part 2
Prowl excused himself with real regret before it disappeared into all business and the usual sense of dread that any of his side getting hurt always engendered. He walked to the Metro, then hurried onward, stepping off under the Watch Tower to make the trek upward. He would be joined by a grim faced Ultra Magnus.
=0=Up there
Ratchet noted that Springer was the lesser hurt of the two. He would require a few replacement struts for broken arms and legs. The impact with the steel walls at that speed was damaging as frag. He had a concussion but not much worse. The metallic shards of what Ratchet knew was a fragmentation bomb had peppered him but missed his face.
He moved to Drift and plugged in. Drift was much worse. He had broken legs, a broken back and neck as well as dozens and dozens of shrapnel wounds. His tough armor and the swords on his back had prevented them from penetrating too deeply. If they had they would've shredded his insides. As it was, a few minor things would have to be pulled out and replacement parts inserted. The broken bits were the worst part of the list for him.
He paused long enough to order the appropriate doctors, techs and gear to be gathered at Autobot City Medical Center. He would bring them both there because he'd be able to care for them better in the center of colonial medicine. It was the hub of the medical wheel. All of the various medical centers, one per city were the spokes. Then he ordered the stretchers to be brought including a specialist one for Drift. "We have them stabilized. We can't move Drift with his injuries in a normal way. He has a broken back and neck strut. I'm having a magnetic stretcher coming."
He felt rather than saw Ironhide who was in the doorway. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted the fear and horror on his face and Prime who was behind him. "They'll live. Drift is the worst. He's going to take a convalescence. Both of them will. We're taking them to The City to care for them there. I have people and parts standing by."
Ironhide stared at Ratchet with intensity, then nodded slightly.
Ratchet turned to Drift, then set him into a light medical stasis. He did the same for Springer, then stood as medics trained to lift dangerous cases appeared with the stretchers. "I want Springer to go first. You three lift him and take him to the hallway. Have the EMT's take him to the shuttle. Is it ready at the helipad?"
Bond nodded. "It is, Ratchet."
Ratchet moved as the three techs came inside. They lay the stretcher next to Springer. A medic managed the gear he was connected to, then the three straightened Springer out gently. With each of them commanding a position, then slid their arms under, coordinated together, then lifted him to the stretcher. Gently strapping him in, they moved him and his attached gear into the next room. Transferring it to three or so officers in the anteroom, they came back to do the harder lift.
Ratchet studied Drift, then with infinite care over eons of practice utilizing his sensors and other specialist internal gear, he arranged Drift's arms and legs. Gently removing his swords after determining they weren't aiding his condition and removing them wouldn't cause harm, he handed them to Partition who was standing next to the door with a frightened expression. He took them and held them closely.
"Okay," Ratchet said. "I want him positioned so that the stretcher extends beyond his peds and helm. Adjust it and let me check," he said as he knelt.
They held the stretcher with a shiny copper colored seemingly metallic carry area attached to metallic rods that were designed for dangerous lifting. Lowering it, they held it millimeters from touching Drift.
Ratchet who was on his knees staring underneath sat back up, taking the control from one of the techs. "Alright, lets do this. Remember, let the thing do what it has to do when I activate it. Don't hinder it. I'm going very, very slowly." He bent down to watch, then turned the dial very slowly.
An electrical current washed through the device to all corners of its carry surface. Lowering it at Ratchet's command, it touched Drift. As it did it adhered to him, magnetizing to fit his body like a glove as it then began to lower even more. When the metallic bars that formed it were flush with the floor, he was sealed into the stretcher like someone taking the air out of a plastic bag around a steak, attached by his back to its surface. It conformed to him and would make his transfer smooth without his body being able to move.
Ratchet sat up, set the control, then subbed it. "We can lift him now but it must be smooth and simultaneous. Get a corner," Ratchet said as he bent down again. "Lift very slowly."
The stretcher rose in their grip until it was waist high to them. Drift was attached so completely that nothing moved even though he was facing the floor.
Ratchet who was underneath watching and sensing stood at last. "He's held fast. Now let's turn him over. I'll grip underneath as you turn him." He glanced at Partition and a medic. "You stand by at each end in case someone slips. Drift is a big mech."
Everyone moved into place, the stretcher was rotated and the operation completed. Drift was lying face up, held fast to a metallic stretcher ready for transport. Gathering up some of the gear attached to him as Partition picked up the rest, they slowly began to carry him out into the anteroom and the hallway beyond.
Being carried past solemn and silent mechs, they headed toward the door just as Maxi stepped down from her desk where she sat as she saw him. "DRIFT!"
"He's going to be okay, Maxi. You sit. You're going to have to past muster with me. Bring the entire group affected including her to the Medical Center in Autobot City. That's an order," Ratchet said as he followed the stretcher into the hallway.
The EMT's would help them go, all of the staff, to one of the other runabouts and they would fly to the helipad at the Med Center as well.
Drift was carried past officers, clerical, friends, legal people there for business, soldiers and scientists. It was unearthly quiet as they filed past. He would be carried past Hercy and the boys, Magnus, Prime and Ironhide. They would all follow to go to the Medical Center.
The scene would be left to Sky and his experts.
=0=TBC 4-27-2020 5-8-2020
EMT: Emergency Medical Tech. They work for fire departments where I live and they are the greatest. Ever. Best. They first respond to the scene, work with doctors over the phone line and transport. They drive ambulances.