Friend or Foe? II
Ironhide and Jazz were on patrol just outside the Ark when both of their scanners picked up on something entering the atmosphere at a rapid speed.
"Prowl, you got a fix on the incoming object?" The black weapons specialist Ironhide asked through his com-link.
"Yes, the signature is Cybertronian but I'm getting no response. I'm also-" Prowl was cut short by Jazz. The silver Pontiac Solstice's optics widened when he realized just what was coming towards them.
"FRAGGING PRIMUS IT'S A YOUNGLING!!" Jazz yelled as he sprinted in the direction of the falling youngling. Jazz shifted into his secondary form in a desperate attempt to catch the small mech before he crashed. His efforts were in vain though.
Echo crashed into the ground with such force that it shook the trees nearby. Shortly after his abrupt landing, the induced stasis started to wear off. On lining his one working optic, the youngling found himself in a large crater. His processor was still fuzzy and every part of him felt so heavy. Letting out a soft click or two he fell back into darkness.
Jazz was the first one to reach the crash site and he jumped into the crater without a moment's hesitation. The saboteur picked up the small bundle of wires with the utmost care felt his energon run cold.
"'Hide! We gotta get this little guy to Ratchet right away!" The silver mech said as he crawled out of the hole with the assistance of the black mech.
"Ratchet, get the bay ready," Ironhide said as he ran alongside Jazz back to the base.
Touch was the first sense that Echo regained as he woke for a second time from Primus's induced stasis. He then realized that he was being carried, in a rather rushed manner, somewhere. Forcing his one working optic online, he found himself in a pair of yellowish colored arms. Then there was the pain.
It started out as a dull throb, but in seconds rose to an unbearable stabbing sensation. Echo let out a pain filled squeak as the mech carrying him shifted the way he was holding him.
"Hang in there little one," the stranger holding him said over the sound of doors hissing open. Another voice was heard but Echo couldn't find the strength to see who it was.
"B-But Ratchet it's a Decepticon," the new voice said hesitantly to whoever was holding him.
"I can see that Red Alert," the white mech snapped back irritably as he laid the youngling down on one of the tables. The small mech watched the one known as Ratchet pull out several tools and then reach out to him. Echo let out a small whimper of fear and pain as he shied away from his touch.
"I'm not going to hurt you," the medic said in a soft tone as he reached out to him again, this time with success. Trying to close the wound in Echo's abdomen, Ratchet hit a sensitive spot and Echo squeaked loudly as he tried to move away. However, doing this only made him break into a coughing fit.
Ratchet quickly scanned the youngling and found that he had lost a substantial amount of energon and was on his last reserves. The medic yelled at Red Alert to ready an energon feed and listed off several tools he needed.
Everything was starting to blur around the edges and Echo's processor felt fuzzy again. He let out several soft and confused clicks as the medic filled a syringe with some sort of clear liquid.
"Don't worry, no one's going to hurt you," he whispered as he slipped the needle into Echo's neck. A weak squeak escaped his vocal processor as the shadows crept in till there was only darkness.
Echo was pulled from the darkness by the sound of muffled voices. Forcing his red optics online, he looked around and found that he was in some sort of infirmary. Wincing, he sat himself up and found that he was wrapped in a warm blanket and had an energon feed in his right arm. Straining his audios, he tried to hear what the mechs outside his door were saying.
"How is he Ratchet?" A deep voice asked.
"He's still in stasis," Ratchet replied in a tired tone. "If Jazz and Ironhide hadn't gotten him here when they did-" The CMO stopped mid sentence as his scanners picked up on Echo's weak signal through the door.
"I take it he's awake," the mech with the deep voice said knowingly. Echo panicked and laid back down pretending to still be in stasis.
The door hissed open and Ratchet strode into the room. Fixing his bright blue optics on the youngling he smirked when he found that he was pretending to still be asleep.
"I know you're awake," the medic said as he sat down beside Echo. The small youngling whimpered softly and curled up into an even smaller ball. Ratchet sighed and cast the red and blue mech in the doorway a tired look. A small smile tugged at the corner of the mech's mouth as he entered the room and kneeled so he could see Echo's face.
"Hello little one," Optimus said gently. Echo looked at the face in front of him and screamed. Not expecting such a loud reaction the leader of the Autobots fell back on his aft, optics wide with surprise that such a loud noise could come from someone so small. Taking advantage of both of the larger mech's confusion, Echo ripped the energon feed from his arm and bolted out the door.