Echowave is a Transformers OC and Flicker's biological father.

Appearance

Usually Echowave's appearance is composed and he avoids unnecessary movements. Even if he is big and bulky, his movements are usually slow and deliberate. However, he's packed with raw strength and he can be surprisingly quick if needed. He can transform his servos into small cannons and while they're not very powerful, they work well for self-defence.

Echowave has a low and rough voice. He tends to speak slowly and steadily, not letting emotions shine through.

His Autobot Insignia is located on his chest.

Personality

Echowave appears to be a quiet and maybe even melancholic mech who doesn't reveal a lot about himself. He seems to accept things as they come, not even trying to take his fate into his own servos, but instead drifting from situation to situation without much influence to them.

In reality, there's a lot going on under the surface and there's rarely a moment when Echowave isn't seized by his emotions. By remaiming utmost calm, he prevents his feelings from showing through and keeps them under check. If he was to reveal what was really going on, he would probably frighten everyone around him.

Back story

Echowave is a field engineer who helped during the war with setting up new bases and exploring unknown areas. He did a decent job, but was easily overshadowed by more skilled and successful bots, and he grew frustrated when his contributions were often dismissed. The pressures of war were starting to get to him, too, but he was able to put up with it with the support of his close friend. Echowave started to rush with his tasks in attempt to get more work done in shorter time and become acknowledged for his efficiency. However, he ended up making a grave mistake that cost his friend's life. Echowave was not only broken for losing his friend, but he was also rejected by the bots who had worked alongside him and who now held a grudge against him. Finally Echowave shut himself away from society, refusing to speak to anyone who tried to approach him. Eventually everyone stopped trying to contact him, which he took as a sign that he truly didn't deserve to be a part of the society. As time passed and he grew more bitter and lonely, he started to see everything as a wrongdoing against him.

Echowave had been by himself for a long time when the area he lived in got under attack. The building he was in was going to collapse and he accepted his fate, not even trying to save himself. However, a team of Rescue Bots had been nearby and they arrived to help however they could. One femme, Spotlight, entered the building Echowave was in and didn't take no for an answer when Echowave tried to refuse the help. Spotlight took Echowave out just in time before the whole building collapsed and only then Echowave realized that he hadn't actually wanted to die. After the incident, he became close friends with Spotlight and eventually fell in love with her.

Spotlight was worried for Echowave who had obviously suffered a lot, yet refused to get professional help. Friends and family of Spotlight kept telling her she shouldn't burden herself with troubles of Echowave, but Spotlight couldn't ignore the bot in need and she started to invest all of her time and energy on Echowave. Over time, she stopped seeing bots who had been close to her because she couldn't stand their continuous criticism of a bot she loved so much. She feared they might be right, but she didn't want to believe it.

Eventually Echowave and Spotlight decided to start a family, and it didn't take long before they got Flicker. However, neither of them were experienced in parenting and Echowave didn't have anyone he could've asked help from, nor was he willing to do so. Spotlight didn't dare to turn to anyone in fear of being criticized for starting a family with Echowave.

Not long after Flicker came around, Spotlight was killed during a mission by a Decepticon. Echowave went to look for her and once he found the rest of the Rescue Bot team, they let him know what had happened. Echowave returned home, completely broken, and considered ending his life. However, he had Flicker who was the only thing remaining of Spotlight, and Echowave realized he had to keep looking after him. But Flicker's existence reminded him of the death of Spotlight - and eventually of all the things he'd lost - and he couldn't bring himself to love him unconditionally.

At first Echowave did a decent job at taking care of Flicker. He was tough on him, thinking Flicker shouldn't rely on others like he himself had done back in the day and trying to prepare him for the war. He thought Spotlight had died because she'd been a Rescue Bot, and they didn't know how to fight, so he tried to teach Flicker the basics of close combat and weapon handling. However, Flicker seemed way too sensitive and skittish for any of that, and Echowave started to feel like Flicker, a failure to begin with, was just another wrongdoing of the world thrown at him.

As his depression got worse, he started to neglect Flicker's needs and finally take his anger out on him physically. Sometimes he beat the young mech up and then left for several hours or even a full day, wandering aimlessly, lost in his intrusive thoughts of doing horrible things or even ending his own life, but he was always too afraid of death to implement any of his plans. Once he returned home, he always apologized for what he'd done, explaining in great detail how all the things had gone wrong in his life and how miserable he was.

One time Echowave returned home after such an incident, only to find out Flicker wasn't there. There was no signs of fight and he came to the conclusion that the young bot had left by choice. Echowave didn't leave to search for him, but instead he sat down and waited. He was sure Flicker was too weak and scared to be gone for too long, and indeed, several hours later Flicker returned. Echowave beat him up senseless, demanding him to never do anything again without his permission. Echowave had to treat Flicker afterwards to prevent him from dying and it was a miracle Flicker didn't receive any permanent injuries.

After that, Echowave found it easier to take his anger out on Flicker without feeling remorse. He found comfort in knowing there was at least one thing in life he could control. Flicker became the anchor in midst of self-hatred and aimlessness for him. He started to control Flicker's every move and punish him if he didn't obey.

One morning Echowave woke up and noticed that Flicker had gone missing again. He was certain Flicker would return, since the young mech didn't have anything else than Echowave in his life. A day passed. Then two. Echowave set out to look for him, and at first he was sure he would give Flicker a lesson he wouldn't forget. Then he decided he would kill him. Then he was afraid he couldn't find him. As time passed, Echowave became desperate and started to ask around, but no-one had seen Flicker, nor were they aware Echowave even had any offspring. One thing was certain: no-one cared about Echowave who'd pushed everyone away for so long. Rumors had started to spread about his past, too, and bots avoided him. Finally Echowave came to the conclusion that there was nothing tying him into that place... or life.

Echowave left. He first traveled across the Cybertron, looking for a place where he could end his life. He kept traveling until he felt like there was nothing left for him in Cybertron, yet he was still alive. He couldn't admit that after all this time, he was still too afraid of death to die willingly. He ended up spending all of his savings into a small spaceship and he set to travel across the space. Now he's still traveling; he's lost count of how many places he's visited. He tried settling down once, but his past keeps haunting him and so he keeps moving, trying to escape his past - and himself.

Trivia

• Echowave has a spare tire located on his back.
• He never seems to get excited about anything.
• He hates it when someone speaks incoherently.