The Theoretician Arrives

[Deleted]

Characters: @skids, Open
Location: Orkney Islands, Scotland
Content Warnings: TBD
Plot Summary: Skids crash lands on Earth after jettisoning himself off the Lost Light in a pod.

[Deleted]

Well...that could have gone better.

Yellow optics surveyed the smoking wreckage of a pod and the small crater it had created. Definitely not his best landing. But, the thing about landings was that it didn't matter how much practice or scientific knowledge you had, they were always unpredictable.

Skids turned away from the crash site. He'd find the captain and then they'd clean this thing up. He didn't want to have Magnus chasing him down for breaking the Tyrest accord, after all. The thing was...he wasn't exactly sure where the captain was...they'd picked up his reading on the Lost Light and Skids had volunteered to got down, but...now he wasn't picking up anything.

At a loss for what else to do, he opened his comms.

::This is Skids. Anyone read me? Rodimus, maybe? No?::

[Ratchet]

While he wasn't working in the medical bay today at the Autobot base in Jasper, Ratchet had kept watch on the monitors in case there was an incoming communication from a fellow Autobot or if there was something they needed to be aware of such as a Decepticon attack or a mysterious relic popping up.

What he hadn't anticipated as an urgent message from an Autobot he not only knew, but hadn't seen or heard from in so very long.  Skids!  This was a bright mech he hadn't seen since the days on Cybertron, and hadn't been on a mission with since the days of Orion Pax!  He smiled at the thought of meeting up with an old friend again, and was more than happy to assist.

::Skids?  I'm reading you loud and clear.  This is Ratchet.  Are you in need of medical assistance?::

[Deleted]

Well, that was...odd.

The theoretician paused. Ratchet had picked up? From the Lost Light? Unlikely, Skids wasn't getting any readings from the ship. And he sounded almost surprised...but Ratchet had known Skids was heading to Earth...it hadn't exactly been a secret. More importantly...that transmission was coming from Earth.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Skids glanced back at the wreckage. His self diagnoses turned up nothing but general damage from the blunt trauma of the crash. He was rattled but otherwise fine.

::Ah, no, I don' think so. Though a pickup would be nice...and maybe a cleanup crew. I made a bit of a mess on entry.::

[Ratchet]

Well that was good.  Skids didn't seem to be hurt or anything, so medical attention wouldn't be necessary.. unless he wasn't making much of any injury he did have.  Skids didn't seem the type to do that, so Ratchet wouldn't press him on that any further.  Once he was at the Autobot base, then he'd give him a once over just to be sure.

::That's good to hear.  I'll open up a ground bridge for you and.. contact Agent Fowler.  He's a human liaison that works for the human government that covers for us.  He'll be sure to have it cleaned up.::

It could have been an excuse, but Fowler would have freaked if proof of Cybertronians were just left out there for anyone to see.  Just how many times had he gotten angry with Wheeljack for that now?  After pinging the human, the medic worked the controls of the ground bridge to begin setting it up.

::Skids, the bridge should open for you shortly.  It will take you to our base.::

[Deleted]

Skids glanced back at the wreckage, frowning slightly. Just what was going on here? That was Ratchet, certainly. But wasn't Ratchet also on the Lost Light? Alternate dimension, maybe? That would explain the general weirdness...

::Sounds good, Ratchet. Do you need me to confirm coordinates?::

It would be hard to explain if the medic was going off his signal alone, missed, and somehow ended up opening that thing where humans could see it. That Fowler person would definitely have an issue on his hands then...

[Ratchet]

While it was possible for Ratchet to track Skids' coordinates through his communication, having the exact coordinates of where he should place the bridge didn't hurt in the least.

::Go ahead and send me the coordinates.::

Ratchet would wait for the coordinates, plugging them into the command console once received.  Honestly he was glad that Skids wanted to be cautious about this and not like someone such as Smokescreen who would be more likely to have it plopped down right in the middle of someone's house.  The kids could be nothing but troublemakers sometimes..

::I'm looking forward to rendezvousing with you.  It's been a long time.  We really do need to catch up.  Honestly don't remember the last time that I saw you.::

[Deleted]

Skids sent the coordinates without hesitation, making his way back to the wreckage and poking over it. Ah, there they were. Minor energon rations.

He stepped back, subspacing the rations. His faceplates shifted in a look of confusion. A long time? He knew that old bots tended to judge time differently, but...it'd been a few hours at most. And Ratchet had a good memory...

He didn't comment, choosing instead to ponder what this meant.

::It's good to hear from you too,:: he said honestly, ::Couldn't imagine a better bot to pick me up honestly.::

He'd wait for the groundbridge to open and then step through, expression still ponderous.

[Ratchet]

Once Ratchet had the coordinates from Skids, he plugged them straight into the ground bridge and booted it up right away.  It wouldn't take long for it to open up on Skids' end just as the other end opened at the Autobot base.  Even though Skids had felt something had been wrong unknowingly to the medic, Ratchet had felt that this was all completely normal.

::The ground bridge should be ready for you now.  Step on through and I'll meet you on the other side.::

He would wait at the controls of the ground bridge, waiting eagerly for his old friend to arrive at the base.  In the meantime he would ping Agent Fowler about the clean up that would be required, not surprised at all that the human would be frustrated with it all.  It was as if the human was always in some sort of bad mood.  And they said that the medic was the grump?  Once he was finished, his optics would remain trained on the swirling portal before him.