Calling Out (open comm starter)

[Deleted]

Characters: First Aid & anyone
Location: Over comms
Content Warnings: N/A
Plot Summary: First Aid has been at Cyclonus' cave for a week (ish) and hasn't heard from any Autobots. Or Decepticons. Or any Cybertronians in general. He's worried.

[Deleted]

First Aid paced nervously. He had been on this planet for about a week, give or take, and he hadn't heard from any other Cybertronians. Sure, it was likely they didn't know who he was or that he was on Earth-- but he should've picked up some signals by now. Was he really that far away from any other mecha? Was anyone really here?

So First Aid decided to give it a shot to figure out where everyone was.

:: This is Autobot First Aid. Can anyone hear me? ::

First Aid hoped this wouldn't get him in trouble...

[Ratchet]

Back at the Autobot Base in Jasper, things had been running fairly smoothly for Ratchet as of late. Things had been difficult for him when he had been the only medic at the base, but ever since Pharma had joined the crew on Earth he didn't need to stress himself nearly as much as he had. There was still quite a large amount of stress in the job itself, as there was still much work to do, but Pharma only made things easier.

Sometimes, he wondered how much tensions would ease if more medics joined their ranks. The CMO didn't know what the odds were, especially with more and more warriors turning up each and every day.

As he ran inventory of all of his tools and the energon they had at the base, that's when he'd heard it. Someone was attempting to contact them via commlink, and Ratchet could only hope that they had meant well. The sender's name was First Aid given the limited information he had been told, and that alone made him wonder. With a name like that, was it possible...?

Ratchet wasted no time, and fired a message back.

<<"This is Ratchet speaking. I hear you loud and clear, First Aid. What is your location?">>

[Deleted]

Ratchet

First Aid's spark soared when he received a message. And from Ratchet too. Oh, boy. First Aid had only idolized Ratchet for like... ever. Ratchet was his medical inspiration. Not that he'd ever tell Ratchet that.

First Aid paused at the question... he didn't want to expose Cyclonus. He had to think a moment to figure out a better location where they could meet up.

:: I'm in the middle of the desert. I'll send you the coordinates. ::

First Aid needed to tell Cyclonus he was leaving and to thank him, but then he would be on his way to the coordinates he sent to Ratchet.

[Ratchet]

If Ratchet had known just how excited First Aid had been to hear from him, he would've been embarrassed just a smidgen. Even with how great of a medic he was, he wasn't one to brag about his skills and could be quite modest about it. Many saw him as the greatest medic there was, but Ratchet would be quick to say that he wasn't. In his optics, that role belonged to Pharma.

<<"In the desert? Very well. As soon as I receive the coordinates, I will be on my way.">>

Gathering his equipment and placing it in his medical bag, he subspaced the bag before setting up the coordinates on their ground bridge. Soon he'd be to First Aid, and soon he could get this mysterious mech back to base so he could run a full diagnostics on him. Ratchet transformed, driving through the ground bridge and found himself in the middle of the desert.

<<"I've arrived at the coordinates. I await your arrival, First Aid.">>

[Deleted]

Ratchet

Once First Aid had settled everything, he transformed and drove out to where he had sent the coordinates. He was mostly healed from his crash, but still had some bruising and scratches.

It didn't take long for First Aid to arrive at the location, somewhere away from human life so they wouldn't be spotted.

"Ratchet?" First Aid called out. "Um, I'm First Aid."

[Ratchet]

Ratchet waited in the desert, sitting idly as he waited for his caller to arrive. There hadn't been much for him to do, let alone look at, but taking a nap had been quite tempting. He opted against it however, not wanting to leave First Aid with a bad first impression. That nap could always come another time, another day. For now all he could do was wait.

Thankfully, he wasn't left waiting for an entirely long period of time. As soon as he saw the other ambulance driving in his general direction, he went ahead and transformed once he had confirmed that it wasn't a human. And if he had an ambulatory alt mode.. that meant that he was a medic! Or one in training if nothing else. It was better than nothing.

"Yes, I am Ratchet. It's a pleasure to meet you, First Aid. Just how long have you been on Earth?" He looked to the smaller mech, taking note of the scratches and bruising. He would need to look into those further, but he would let First Aid get used to his newer surroundings first.

"Are you by chance a medic?"

[Deleted]

Ratchet

First Aid still maintained his Cybertronian alt mode. He hadn't had the time or opportunity to gain an Earth-style vehicle mode. His visor softened once he saw Ratchet. It was still amazing to him that it was him.

"Approximately a week. My shuttle crash landed... I've managed to repair myself mostly, but a lot of my medical kit and tools were destroyed in the collision."

Which First Aid was extremely disappointed about. It had taken him a very long time to accumulate the medical kit he carried around with him. And now he would have to start over.

"Yes. I'm a field medic. Are there many medics on this planet?"

[Ratchet]

A week, it had been? Ratchet could hardly think of what he had one with that one week aside from repairing himself as he had, but he hadn't wanted to ask just in the event that First Aid didn't want to talk about it. Primus, he already got that with Pharma a lot with his traumas, and didn't wish to inflict that upon anyone else.

"I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to repair yourself with your supplies exhausted from the crash. I have to say that you definitely made it work in your favor from what I can tell, but I want to run a full systems scan on you at the base just to be sure there isn't any internal damage that you might have glanced over. I'm not saying that there is, but I want to rule it out at the same time."

Ratchet chuckled as the field medic spoke, not to belittle him, but out of sheer happiness that there was finally another medic among them. His smile grew wide, but lessened at the other medic's question.

"I'm afraid to say that there aren't. For a long time, I was the only doctor here, but then Pharma came along some time ago. And now that you're here? Now we have a much better staffing in terms of medicine. That's.. if you wish to join us at the base, that is. I can't tell you where it is until we arrive for safety reasons, but I would be extraordinarily thrilled to have another medic on the team."

[Deleted]

Ratchet

First Aid nodded. It had been difficult to repair himself with what he had-- or really, what he lacked. But he made due. He had to.

"I've tried my best and improvised where I could. Unless my internal scanner is broken, I only had superficial injuries in the crash landing. There weren't any deeper repairs that needed to be done."

But First Aid was accepting to the fact that his scanner could also be broken and there was more wrong than he knew about.

First Aid blinked. Ratchet wanted him on his team? He nodded quickly.

"I'd-- I'd like that a lot. I'd really appreciate working with you."

[Ratchet]

"That's the best that you could have done given your situation, and I'm proud that you managed to fix yourself with what little you had on hand. I'll take a look at your internal scanner when we return to base, but for what it's worth, you did good."

Regardless, the smaller mech did seem quite optimistic, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That eagerness would get him far one day if he put enough effort into his work, but Ratchet would make sure he turned out just fine. He'd wanted another medic to work with, and this was his chance.

And First Aid was quick to jump on board.

"I'm certain that I will as well, but enough of that for now. We should return to base so we can get you looked at properly. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get a grand tour of the medical bay." A little joking, but Ratchet grinned a little. Of course First Aid would get to see his new work station if he was getting a check-up. It was the best place to be, after all. Ratchet called for a ground bridge, waiting patiently for it to open up before turning back to the younger medic.

"Are you ready?"

[Deleted]

Ratchet

First Aid beamed at the praise, ducking his head a bit. He wasn't used to being praised, after being alone for so long.

When Ratchet continued, First Aid nodded. He'd never been in a ground bridge before. He'd only heard of the tech from various mecha.

"Yeah," First Aid confirmed. When they did go through, it was an uneasy feeling that passed First Aid. Once they got out on the other side, the smaller medic was a bit dazed from the sensation. But it quickly passed as he looked around.

"Who all is on base?"

[Ratchet]

Ratchet walked through the ground bridge, waiting for First Aid to come through before going much further into the base. It was going to take the smaller medic some time to adjust to his new surroundings, but he'd get the hang of it soon enough. Once First Aid as all set, Ratchet led him towards the medical bay straight down the other side of the base.

"This is likely where you will be spending a lot of time, but we can get you acclimated to it once you are rested. For now.. would you mind if I scan you to check your systems for any damage?"

Grabbing his tools, he motioned for the younger mech to take a seat on one of the berths. Bringing his equipment over, he looked to First Aid as he asked about who was all on base. "There's quite a few of us here, actually. Pharma and I were the only medics until your arrival. He was my mentor when I studied at the Delphi Medial Institute on Messatine. Aside from the two of us.. Optimus Prime, Arcee, Bulkhead.. a few younger femmes such as Stormgear. Although, that isn't all of us. Some simply don't stay at the base. Like Wheeljack."

Ratchet smiled to himself as he spoke the Wrecker's name, trying not to let himself get too distracted. "May I ask where you studied medicine?"

[Deleted]

Ratchet

First Aid glanced back at Ratchet as he spoke and showed him around.

"I don't mind," First Aid said. He was okay with being scanned. "There's a lot of mecha here," he stated. That was nice. It had been awhile since First Aid had been surrounded by mecha.

"Ah..." First Aid trailed off, feeling a little embarrassed. "Nowhere official. I wasn't created until after the war began in response to a combiner project. By that time, most medical training facilities weren't around anymore. I was trained by a senior medic who trained me for awhile before I was sent out on the field."

Which had been a terrifying experience.

[Ratchet]

"That there is. I remember when it was just a few of us here and when I was the only medic. Times certainly changed quickly enough, and I couldn't be more thankful. Well.. in regards to medics that is. I can't exactly say the same for the younger, more rambunctious crowd."

Smokescreen, he was looking at you.

As Ratchet began his work, scanning First Aid, he hadn't been prepared whatsoever for the younger medic's response. He'd trained.. nowhere? At least on official terms? Not only that, but he'd been created during the time of the combiner project. What a time to be alive. "That's quite a shame. I had originally studied in Iacon until I received a scholarship to Messatine. A little out of the way and not exactly the best of the best as some may say, but I enjoyed my time there."

He set down the scanner, lowering himself a bit more so that he was directly optic level with First Aid. "Listen.. this would be a first for me, but what would you say to having a chance to study under 'official' terms? I suppose I could train you up a little, and Pharma could assist me if I needed the assistance. He is the one who taught me, after all."