A new arrival

Chapter One

Crashing down to Earth

Long after the Great War between the heroic Autobots and brutal Decepticons, and Cybertron being declared a barren wasteland, there were few whom still held hope. A group of these few were the crew of the aging cargo ship Shard, travelling to and from Cybertron, delivering that precious fuel of life: Energon. This is where our story begins. Though the beginning is tragic, it is only the beginning for one Autobot who was intended for higher designs by Primus himself.
The crew was mostly young and inexperienced. They were brought online long after Cybertron was abandoned, they were unwilling to accept that their home was forever lost to them. So against all odds they forged the Shard and sought about finding caches of energon in hopes the power would aid in its repairs. They had just collected their latest load of fuel when fate chose that moment to enact Primus's will. The crew suddenly found their ship under siege by rogue Decepticons. The Captain already knowing the end result ordered the ship abandoned. But she knew they all wouldn't survive to see another cycle. Quickly she rushed down to the racks and roused all she found, ordering them to take a pod and escape.
She herself was about to leave, when she realized that her friend among the crew was missing. Going below decks she found him tinkering with their energon. He turned to her hurried entrance, surprised, that she was here to visit him. He smiled until she ordered him to evacuate. When he pressured her with his asking she responded rather loudly.
"The Cons are attacking the supply ship!"
There was a flurry of explosions above decks, along with several cries for help. The Captain's friend, being a Medic, wanted to rush above lay the con's low and cover his fallen brethren. If the Captain wasn't holding him back. She turned him to face her, and pushed him towards the aft escape pod.

"We can't fight much longer… [BLAST]… AAARGH!"
The Decepticons had breached the cargo hold's security systems and were pouring in like ants. The Medic desperately raced to his partner crying her name. In a last ditch effort the Captain used her special ability to open a space bridge, to bridge her friend to the pod. This sealed, with enough energon to keep him alive for several cycles.

"SIREN!"
His cry fell on deaf ears as the pod prepared to launch. The Medic easily hacked the systems attempting to get out and assist her. He was a Medic, and he'd be damned if he couldn't help those in need, especially those he cared for most.

"ESCAPE POD LAUNCH OVERRIDE ALPHA!"

The pod sealed its space travel locks and launched the last thing the Medic saw was his Captain smiling, with a big hole blown right thru her chassis.
Siren turned and aimed her cannon at the cargo.
"Go to Unicron, Decepticon scum."
[BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!]
{BOOM!}
The explosion rocked the pod farther into space; the Medic looked around frantically as pods with his friend were incinerated in the ensuing fireball. Just as he thought his time to join the Well of Sparks had come, the pod's primary engine fired launching him farther into deep space, with the pain of losing his friends, Siren, and his home. The pod gently put him into stasis as the energon inside began providing its occupant with life blood as it drifted aimlessly through the cosmos.

"The Cons are attacking the supply ship!"

"…we can't fight much longer… [BLAST]… AAARGH!"

"SIREN!"

"… take some energon cubes and save yourself."

"But Siren..."

"ESCAPE POD LAUNCH OVERRIDE ALPHA!"

[BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!]

(After countless cycles of stasis the pod reached its destination; Earth. )

" ESCAPE POD AT 40 % INTEGRITY."

"COLLISSION IMMINENT, PREPARE FOR IMPACT"

[CRASH!]

The escape pod crashed on Earth and exploded spectacularly due to the remaining energon cubes present in the pod.
Shrapnel flew everywhere, some embedding themselves in the Transformer that had been occupying the pod. He lay there on the ground clutching his frame in a faulty attempt to stop the bleeding. Crawling slowly away from the flames raging near him, he slumped against a tree and looked at his injury, hissed, and covered it again.

'In retrospect maybe taking some energon cubes for the trip wasn't such a great idea.' The unknown Transformer thought with a sardonic smile on his face as he slowly shut his optics, his head leaning over and gently landing in the dirt as blazes from the explosion died down around him.

Meanwhile in the Autobot base, Ratchet was working in his laboratory when a signal appeared on the main computer screen. Ratchet stopped what he was doing and checked the Hub.

"Optimus, I'm picking up a weak Autobot and energon signature." Ratchet announced to Optimus Prime.

"Current location?" Optimus asked.
"3 clicks away from the base." Ratchet replied.

"Understood."

"Bumblebee set a ground bridge; Arcee and Bulkhead go with Ratchet to scout the area. It may be a trap.
But if my suspicions are correct, there could be an injured Autobot in need of medical attention."

A ground bridge opened, the three Autobots entered it quickly.

The three Autobots arrived at the co-ordinates.

A thick, smoky trail could be observed from the wreckage.
Arcee scanned the area and found a red and white, inert form among some debris.

"Over there." She pointed in the direction of the Autobot.

Ratchet rushed over to the Autobot while Arcee and Bulkhead covered him.

"Oh, Primus." Ratchet muttered.

The Autobot was heavily injured to say the least.
Half of his faceplate was burnt, both of his optics were cracked, he was bleeding on his neck and had a large piece of shrapnel imbedded in the left of his frame.

"Bumblebee open up a ground bridge, Bulkhead carry him gently."
Ratchet ordered.

A ground bridge then materialized.
The four Autobots entered the ground bridge.

Once back at the base Bulkhead and Ratchet walked over to the Medical bay.

"Bulkhead put him on that table. GENTLY!"
Bulkhead complied and gently put the Autobot down on a surgical table.
Ratchet inserted an energon drip into the Autobot's servo and turned off his pain receptors and induced him to recharge.

Ratchet applied pressure to the wound to minimize bleeding, irrigated the wound in the Autobot's frame, and pulled the shrapnel pieces out slowly and gently.
Ratchet knew that he had to act fast because the shrapnel had hit a major artery; he sucked up the energon with a tube, sutured the artery and welded the frame back together. It had been a time consuming procedure.

Now that the major spark threatening injuries had been dealt with, Ratchet inspected the Autobot for small wounds.

The Autobot had a small cut on his neck dribbling with energon. Both of his optics were cracked.
Ratchet peered at the wound on his neck and proceeded to clean it up.
Unfortunately Ratchet had underestimated how long to induce the Autobot to recharge for.
Suddenly said Autobot woke up with a hostile look on his face. He lifted his frame from the table, brought out a sabre from his forearm and tried to stab Ratchet.

Despite his old age, Ratchet still had admirable reflexes and gripped the Autobot's servo before he could administer a cut, let alone a lethal blow.
Considering that the Decepticons had been one of the last bots the Autobot probably encountered and that his vision was impaired, the Autobot could have been forgiven for thinking that Ratchet was a Decepticon.

"If you're going to kill me, it would be most effective, if you cut the carotid artery, just under my audio sensor." Ratchet advised calmly.

The Autobot frowned, this isn't how Decepticons speak, he must be an Autobot, the Autobot thought as he retracted the blade.

"That's it, take it easy now, you're in safe hands in an Autobot base. Now would you PLEASE let me do my work? Thank you." Ratchet reassured the Autobot.

"…I'm sorr…" the Autobot uttered before collapsing back on the table.
Ratchet then proceeded to fix the Autobot's optics and induced the Autobot to recharge for a longer period of time.

Once Ratchet had fixed all of the Autobot's wounds to the best of his abilities, he walked away from him and shook his head with contempt.

"Humph, bots these days have no respect. Back in my day we NEVER attacked the Medics."

Thank you for reading and reviewing this story and a special thanks to Michael-656 for proof reading and refining this chapter and for writing most of the introduction.