Not bad for his first foray into combat for the first time in millennia. Especially against Insecticons.
Pocket Wolf (TF:P SI as a Targetmaster/Weaponizer)
- Thread starter Cave_Canem
- Start date
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
To be fair, being a gun makes things simple at least. They basically get to piggyback on the experience and skill of their wielder, while giving said wielder a lot more firepower to make use of that experience.
And Bumblebee is legitimately a very good and experienced fighter despite often being referred to as 'young'.
Of course, this does limit them to just boosting the performance of another bot - while Spitfire is capable of fighting independently in root mode, that's usually not going to be much more than a distraction outside of fighting other minicons and the basic vehicons.
Though, sometimes, a distraction is just what you need.
There's a few tactical options that could still be explored. Obviously Bumblebee+gun is going to be the go to. But his root mode is small and stealth can be trained. He'd be useful paired with Arcee to infiltrate decepticon energon mines.
Or he could probably fit inside some of the autobots' alt modes. As a shell game. The 'we have mcdonalds at home'of deployer frames lol
The cons spot bumblebee and knowing that he normally deploys with the gun they send their heavies. This lets Bumblebee go on a merry chase while Spitfire plays the objective.
Or he could probably fit inside some of the autobots' alt modes. As a shell game. The 'we have mcdonalds at home'of deployer frames lol
The cons spot bumblebee and knowing that he normally deploys with the gun they send their heavies. This lets Bumblebee go on a merry chase while Spitfire plays the objective.
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
All excellent points, yes. The reason he goes with Bumblebee usually is that he can fit in Bee's back seats, which lets him get carried along without needing to actually be attached to Bee outside of combat. And yeah, once they get a reputation for being seen together, subverting that by splitting up is a valid tactic.
But yeah, he's also by default the stealthiest Autobot there. Like... For all that Arcee complains about Smokescreen's alt not being subtle... None of the Autobots are particurally subtle really. The altmodes give them plausible deniability, but they don't exactly blend in.
Optimus is an enormous bright red and blue truck.
Arcee is a superbike we never see another model of, and Jack immediately beelines to her in the first episode
Bumblebee is a bright yellow and black muscle car
Bulkhead is a giant army green SUV
Wheeljack's a sports car too.
And Ratchet is literally an ambulance, a kind of vehicle specifically designed to be as attention grabbing as possible.
Out-Of-Universe that's obviously because they want the main characters to have memorable designs, but in-universe they are not subtle, just more subtle than giant alien robots openly walking around the place.
Smol wolf boy, even without any extra stealth training, is probably the most stealthy one there just by virtue of not being entirely painted in a bright and highly reflective primary colour and being so much smaller. The white tailtip is probably the most eye catching part and he can just tuck that down if he's trying to sneak somewhere.
Yeah even Silas and his MECH forces noted of it albeit assuming the vehicle forms of Team Prime were driven by Agent Fowler's best subordinates during the escort mission until they reveal themselves to fight Vehicons.
Interlude 1 - The Warship
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
Interlude 1:
Decepticon Warship
"Knockout!" Megatron scowled, "You return empty handed yet again! What, exactly, is your excuse this time?"
"This 'relic' was barely anything of the sort, my liege!" The red sports car protested, "Just some kind of rifle, it hit a bit harder than usual but it jammed as soon as I tried to use it! Then the Autobots picked it up, and apparently it worked just fine for them!"
Before the medic could continue, Soundwave had connected to the central computer console and brought up a short clip of a black, grey and white lupine Minicon transforming into a rifle and back. "Rifle. Beast. Familiar?" The taciturn communications officer 'spoke' in clipped recordings of multiple voices, inclining his head towards Knockout.
The medic started at the recording for a moment before nodding, "Yes… Yes, that's the one. But… You're saying this was a Minicon, then?"
Megatron chuckled darkly, "Indeed, doctor. However, given they merely overheated and jammed rather than attempting to rip your neck struts out, it seems a certain old punishment yet holds firm." He mused, "Ah, the irony of the Autobots holding prisoner a beast that wished to join them to start with. Clearly, they did not know of his true identity… A fact which, for your sake, we should hope remains the case."
"A-Ah, my liege?" Knockout asked nervously.
"So long as they remain unknowing of the identity of their newfound weapon, it is just that – perhaps a somewhat more powerful gun than most, but nothing that will change the balance of power. If you had captured it intact… Yes, we could have made use of their other capabilities, with appropriate reprogramming. Since you did not… We will have to hope the Autobots squander the opportunity you just dropped into their laps!"
"Surely, a single Minicon wouldn't be that big an issue..?" Knockout questioned nervously.
"This one was trained by Ravage, Knockout. I need not remind you of how great an asset that one was." Megatron hissed, "Until it was announced this one had 'offlined', anyway..." He trailed off. "... A fact we now know to be mistaken."
The warlord turned to Soundwave, "Recall your Minicon, Soundwave. I believe we may yet be able to turn this to our advantage."
Decepticon Warship
"Knockout!" Megatron scowled, "You return empty handed yet again! What, exactly, is your excuse this time?"
"This 'relic' was barely anything of the sort, my liege!" The red sports car protested, "Just some kind of rifle, it hit a bit harder than usual but it jammed as soon as I tried to use it! Then the Autobots picked it up, and apparently it worked just fine for them!"
Before the medic could continue, Soundwave had connected to the central computer console and brought up a short clip of a black, grey and white lupine Minicon transforming into a rifle and back. "Rifle. Beast. Familiar?" The taciturn communications officer 'spoke' in clipped recordings of multiple voices, inclining his head towards Knockout.
The medic started at the recording for a moment before nodding, "Yes… Yes, that's the one. But… You're saying this was a Minicon, then?"
Megatron chuckled darkly, "Indeed, doctor. However, given they merely overheated and jammed rather than attempting to rip your neck struts out, it seems a certain old punishment yet holds firm." He mused, "Ah, the irony of the Autobots holding prisoner a beast that wished to join them to start with. Clearly, they did not know of his true identity… A fact which, for your sake, we should hope remains the case."
"A-Ah, my liege?" Knockout asked nervously.
"So long as they remain unknowing of the identity of their newfound weapon, it is just that – perhaps a somewhat more powerful gun than most, but nothing that will change the balance of power. If you had captured it intact… Yes, we could have made use of their other capabilities, with appropriate reprogramming. Since you did not… We will have to hope the Autobots squander the opportunity you just dropped into their laps!"
"Surely, a single Minicon wouldn't be that big an issue..?" Knockout questioned nervously.
"This one was trained by Ravage, Knockout. I need not remind you of how great an asset that one was." Megatron hissed, "Until it was announced this one had 'offlined', anyway..." He trailed off. "... A fact we now know to be mistaken."
The warlord turned to Soundwave, "Recall your Minicon, Soundwave. I believe we may yet be able to turn this to our advantage."
Its Dangerous To Go Alone, Take This!
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
Hold Wolf Gentle Like Hamburger
First and so far only proper artwork for this story... and its a meme lol.
But hey, anyone who wanted to know what Spitfire's wolf mode officially looks like? This here.
Commissioned from ashi__kau on Twitter
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
The problems of being small and pickuppable.
Imagine Agent Fowler riding Spitfire. An out of shape ex-Army Rangers man and a Minicon wolf that can turn into a gun.
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
I mean, being a Minicron, he is strong enough to give a human a ride if needed...
Chapter 6
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
Autobot Base Omega-1
With the ice broken, we looked around the armoury for a few more minutes before I reminded Smokescreen we still had to see the rest of the base…
… Even if I inwardly promised myself that I'd be back to get some of these weapons ready again.
"So, here's the storage wing, such as it is. Not much compared to the Hall Of Records, huh?" I said lightly as we walked down the storage area, the repurposed armoured garage doors sealing off the recovered artefacts and other valuables.
Smokescreen chuckled a bit, "Eh, I like it.... rustic, right? And. Hm. Yeah, I recognise some of these..." He said, slowing to look at the Phase Shifter.
"If you want to try it out, just make sure to sign it out with Ratchet or Optimus first." I advised him, "It worked for Bee and I, though I doubt the Phase Shifter will so eagerly volunteer." I said, chuckling slightly.
"Good point." He nodded, moving on, "I-woah, what kind of relic is that!?" He shouted, recoiling away as he spotted Airachnid's stasis pod.
I snorted, "The kind that's here because we don't have a prison, and Optimus doesn't like killing downed foes. Some kind of Insecticon queen, I think? She was bad news even before the war. Liked taking... Trophies. Organic or Mechanical."
He shuddered slightly, "Ugh, I did not need to know that. Glad she's in there and we're out here." He said, turning away from her makeshift cell, "So, we've seen most of the base now, but what about the planet, can you tell me anything about that?"
"I've only been here a few orns too, you know, but yeah, a few things. The native sapient species here are called humans. Fairly standard – two legs, two arms, one head – and about Minicon-sized but a lot more fragile. So... you know, watch where you step. For both our sakes, please. I probably wouldn't offline if someone accidentally stepped on me, but it would be… unpleasant."
"Don't worry, I'll watch my step. Be a pretty bad way to thank you if I stepped on your tail or something, huh?"
"Right." I chuckled slightly, "So, the other thing is that their tech isn't generally a match for ours, but they're close enough in a few areas that their military needs to actually be taken into account, and there's billions of them. Because of that, both sides are operating as Robots in Disguise – Megatron because he currently has a numerical advantage and going too overt risks the humans joining in and countering that, and Optimus because any such team-up would inevitably lead to a lot of dead humans and that's unacceptable to him. The human government here is cooperating with that, but there's no point making their job more difficult, so it's best if you scan an earth-based vehicle mode and keep a low profile where possible. Though, I mean, the rest of the team are a mix of superbikes, muscle cars, giant military surplus offroaders and a bright red and blue truck so, subtle is relative."
"Okay, yeah, that makes sense..." He nodded thoughtfully, "What about you? I mean, you don't have a vehicle mode, right?"
"No, but they have canine animals here. Apparently, they're popular pets among humans. Observe:" I turned on my Samoyed holoform again and barked once before letting my tongue loll out as I 'panted' a bit. "I am reliably informed the puffy white coating makes it at least fifty percent cuter."
"...Okay, yeah, that is actually pretty adorable, and they've got animals that look like that?"
"Oh, yeah, tons of them." I nodded quickly, turning off the holoform again, "I'll have to show you sometime. That one was one of the companion types that humans like to have around, so I'll most likely use it if I need to go around in a town or city. I'll probably get some more for when just wandering around in the wild. But back to you – I'm guessing, sports car of some kind?" I said, looking up at him.
He nodded, "Yeah, something with proper aerodynamics at least. You know anything around here that'd work?"
I grimaced slightly, "We're kinda in the middle of nowhere at the moment, most of the vehicles are going to be pretty boring trucks and efficient transports. But I'm sure something will come up. Now, anything else…" I kept walking for a few paces before perking my audials up, "Oh, right! Yeah, so there's a human called Agent Fowler who's basically the government of this country's liaison with Team Prime. I've not actually met him yet, but he does a lot of important work and despite appearances, based on the reports I've read he generally has the team's back. Up to and including engaging the Decepticons himself on occasion. So, if he gets annoyed at you for making more work for him, well, remember we're on their planet, and he's just trying to do his job."
Smokescreen grimaced, "And they've got plenty of reasons for not wanting their planet to end up like Cybertron, yeah. Thanks for letting me know." He said, letting out a breath of spent coolant as we looped back around towards the central room again, "And for the tour. Think I could borrow you for the firing range later?"
I chuckled slightly, "I'm sure I can fit it into my busy schedule. Though, I'm normally gonna be with Bumblebee most likely."
"Heh. Yeah, looked like you worked pretty well together back there." He nodded, "I just, uh… Always liked the Modular Pulse Rifle platform. Wanted to try one ever since I saw the base commander with one."
"It was actually our first mission working together, believe it or not. And hey, I told you I like anyone with good taste in firearms. Just don't let me spoil you, the standard models are a lot less talkative than I am. Less powerful too." I wagged my tail a bit as I spoke.
"Wow, really? Guess sometimes you just click, huh?" He grinned, "Any idea when I'll get to see some action?"
"Took me a few orns before they let me head out on this mission. After Bumblebee and I beat the previous range record, though I don't think that part's a requirement." I shrugged a little, "My advice? Make sure they know you're available, but don't push too much. If they say they want you to stay back for a bit, its only because they want to make sure you're in top shape before putting you in danger again. And because you need that Earth Vehicle mode so we at least have plausible deniability if someone spots you.."
"Right, that." He nodded, "Well, so long as it's got wheels…"
-----------------------
Jack soon Groundbridged out with Smokescreen to the cliffs overlooking the highway for the latter to scan his Earth mode, while I was left with the others as Optimus called Agent Fowler to find the current location of the Red Energon and make sure the area was evacuated.
"So, you've spoken with him more than the rest of us have now. What do you think?" Arcee asked me, leaning against a support column.
"Young and eager to prove himself, but more because he feels like he doesn't measure up to the rest of the team than anything else. I mentioned I didn't exactly have a glorious background either and that it's not something he should be worrying about, seemed to help a bit. I'm sure he'll settle down once he gets used to things." I said, chuckling a little, "There's no way you weren't off balance for at least a few orns when you first started working with Optimus. I at least had the benefit of knowing him before all that, so for me, it was more 'wow, Orion takes to being a Prime well' than for him where it's meeting… well, someone famous you've only ever heard of in stories before."
Well, admittedly meeting Optimus fucking Prime was still a pretty big deal… But it was hard to be intimidated or worried about him when your first interaction with him was as a shy but well-meaning file clerk.
"Heh, true enough." She mused, "It's been long enough that it's easy to forget how distant a figure he must be for a lot of bots. But you knew him before the war?"
"Not like friends or anything. But we'd spoken a few times. This was back when Orion and Megatronus were working together, and Ravage and I hung around a lot of their debates. Though, we ended up debating them ourselves more often than listening. He also asked me sometimes about both how I was treated in my job and about the kinds of things I'd seen the Guard doing. I don't think he liked a lot of the answers."
"Still weird to think about Optimus hanging around with a bunch of Decepticons…" Arcee admitted, "And you were… What, friends with Ravage?"
"Why not?" I shrugged slightly, "We had disagreements, sure, but we liked each other well enough. She taught me how to fight properly in my root mode, we discussed our positions on Megatronus and Orion Pax's policies over Energon… Whatever the war made her into, she wasn't a monster back then. I'll admit, I've been… Loathe to look up what happened with her since. Would it be worse for her to have offlined, or to have become something terrible?"
And the worst part was, I really didn't know what might have happened to her. Ravage didn't show up at all in Prime, nor in the games that themselves were only debatably connected, I vaguely thought there might be an Aligned comic with her in it but with the state of Aligned that meant precisely Jack and Shit.
"Never thought I'd hear about someone calmly discussing political opinions with that one… But, unfortunately, I don't think you'll find many answers. She was definitely one of Soundwave's most effective little spies, and especially vicious. Seemed to just disappear mid-war. One Vorn, happily running around spying and assassinating bots, the next? Nothing. No reports from anyone of offlining her, no further contact reports...." She shrugged a little, "… Sorry. I know it's probably not what you'd like to hear."
I sighed and closed my optics for a moment, "The uncertainty is actually the worst part. But... She made her choice." I said quietly, stretching out a forelimb to look at the Autobot symbol freshly emblazoned there, "… And so have I."
----------------------
Optimus soon turned to us as his call with Agent Fowler closed, "Agent Fowler has confirmed the location of the Red Energon in a cargo port, and ordered it evacuated. To prevent it from falling into Decepticon hands, we must recover it immediately. Autobots, Roll Out!" He nodded to Ratchet, who had already plugged in the coordinates and now lifted the lever to activate the Groundbridge.
I ran over to Bumblebee again, and we emerged into the container yard with the Red Energon high up in a crane… And Starscream in the Apex Armour facing us.
Scrap.
+Single Shot armour piercing?+ Bee asked me hopefully.
+… Worth a shot. Charging now.+ I started emitting a rising hum as, instead of my normal quick charge and discharge, my internals started storing up energy for a single big shot.
Starscream smirked, "Your fancy new gun won't help you against the Apex Armour. Go on. Give me your best shot." He preened, outright posing in front of us. Ugh, this guy gets really annoying when he figures you can't hurt him.
The hum reached a crescendo as five seconds passed with the bots slowly spreading out, +Bee, fire!+
Bumblebee snapped up my muzzle and fired a perfect shot right into the Apex Armour's faceplate, a brilliant blue bolt shooting out from my muzzle that was almost as large as those fired by Optimus' Path Blasters and more than twice as bright. I drew a split second of vicious satisfaction at seeing Starscream flinch despite his bravado… Only for the shot to spatter harmlessly off the armour, not even marking the 'glass'. Starscream's smirk came back in full force.
"Autobots…" He drawled slowly, "Slow learners."
+Oh, that's just not fair.+ I complained softly as Optimus strode up next to us, looking at Bumblebee and Arcee – and by extension me, given Bee was still carrying me.
"… Secure the Red Energon and have Ratchet bridge it back to base! Go!" Optimus ordered, deploying his Path Blasters as Bee and Arcee ran off to climb the crane.
+Bee, I can't do anything to that armour no matter what mode I'm in. Drop me and I'll try to distract him at least. Besides, you'll need both hands free to climb.+ I sent quietly to Bee.
Bumblebee nodded and dropped me carefully, +Good luck.+ He said to me as he and Arcee started climbing up the side of the stairwell.
Well built, these cranes.
I ran up the human-sized stairwell four at a time, making it to the top just in time to see Starscream punt Optimus into a stack of shipping containers and Bumblebee and Arcee to likewise make it up.
"Oh, Autobots, didn't you hear? The higher you climb, the harder you fall!" Starscream laughed as he climbed slowly up after us.
Bumblebee turning and firing his wrist blasters at Starscream did precisely as much as my earlier charged shot had – namely, absolutely nothing – but Optimus' punches earlier had at least physically moved him…
I'm about to do something really stupid, aren't I?
"Get the Energon!" I shouted to Bumblebee as I dove over the railings and onto the Apex-suited Starscream before I could think better of it, deploying my tail and claw blades and throwing myself against the suit any way I could think of – scrabbling over the glass, trying to jam claws into the joints between segments of armour, firing my reduced power root mode's weapon at the transparent faceplate mostly in an attempt to disorient him, all while growling and snarling viciously as my claws skittered off the metal of the armour.
Nothing so much as scratched the paintwork. But it made you invincible, not able to fly. Nor immune to the laws of physics. Such as Centre of Mass and Gravity.
"Gah! Get off of me, you mangy beast!" He shouted, trying to use one arm to swat me away. I growled louder and started snapping at the glass instead. I am not mangy!
Finally he caught me with a vicious swipe, and I yelped as I got flung off with an impact like being hit by a train. But his sudden violent swing had upset his balance, and Starscream fell from the crane after me, crashing roughly into the concrete below.
That was some consolation as my muzzle met the steel of a blue shipping container.
-------------------
The sounds of combat coming back through the team's commlinks were interspersed for a few seconds by vicious growling and snarls, before they were cut off by a clang and worrying yelp of pain followed by more crashing sounds.
"Come on Doc, I've got my v-mode and everything! I'm ready to roll!" Smokescreen protested, "They need me out there!"
"Starscream is using the Apex Armour. Your blasters won't make any difference." Ratchet glared at the supercar.
"I'm not saying I'm going to just run out there and try punching him!" Smokescreen frowned, "I've got a plan – just… Hear me out here, okay?"
Ratchet turned fully around to face the newcomer, folding his arms, "… Go on."
-----------------------------
I groaned as I pulled myself out of the shipping container I'd been lodged in, wincing as the jagged metal scratched at my flanks. Fraaaagggg, that was a bad idea… Everything ached, and my olfactory sensors were throwing calibration errors that were already giving me a headache.
But nothing seemed broken, and as I finally emerged I could see Arcee and Bumblebee pulling the cage containing the Red Energon up to the top to recover it, and Optimus once again attacking Starscream. I was already down here, so…
I shook myself out a bit to make sure nothing was broken and ran in at an angle, this time keeping my distance as I took potshots at the Apex-Armoured Starscream. Not really out of any expectation of hurting him, but more just to try and distract him from the Prime who could at least somewhat affect him.
This wasn't going to last for long though… Starscream was getting more and more used to the Apex Armour and was barely flinching now even when I nailed him in the faceplate. Another punch and Optimus was sent flying back into another stack of containers that collapsed atop him… Then Starscream turned to me.
"Well well well, it seems to Autobots found a new pet." He scowled at me, "Though… Not for much longer."
The sound of the Groundbridge opening again was the sweetest sound I'd heard that fight, as a white and blue supercar roared through and transformed.
"Hey Scream! How about you pick on someone your own size?" Smokescreen taunted, making a beckoning gesture with one hand and a confident smirk.
Arcee groaned slightly from where she was watching on top of the crane.
"Ugh, another new recruit? Autobots are just showing up everywhere now, aren't they?" The fighter jet grumbled, before chuckling slightly, "No matter. You are no more able to harm me than any of your comrades. Any last words, Autobot?"
"Just four: Kiss your armour goodbye!" Smokescreen grinned as he started running at the former air commander, and the wavering hum of the Phase Shifter filled the air.
"… What!? NO!" Starscream realised what he planned a moment too late, trying to turn and run too late as Smokescreen phased through the Apex Armour… But not through Starscream, throwing him bodily out of the suit to crash against the concrete floor.
"Hah!" Smokescreen grinned, "And that's how you deal with a creep in armour!"
Starscream growled as he pulled himself upright, then wilted slightly as Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and I all pointed our blasters at him, the scout also carrying the hunk of Red Energon we'd spent so much effort on in his free hand.
Starscream's optics snapped to it, and I realised an astrosecond too late what he was planning.
"Bumblebee, look out!" I yelled as Starscream transformed and flew straight at him, trying to loose off a few shots but missing as the scout was bowled over and Starscream flew away, shots from Arcee and me flying after him as Optimus helped the scout up.
+I'm fine, he just...+ Bumblebee beeped as he stood up again, looking down at the ground where he'd landed +The Red Energon!+
… Scrap.
----------------------------------
… Damnit, the first major mission and it actually ends worse than without my involvement! Smokescreen still got the Apex Armour, and he actually thought to ask first so Ratchet and Optimus are happier with him for showing respect for the chain of command, but… Starscream got all of the Red Energon!
He already caused enough problems with the single dose he got away with normally, who knows what's going to happen now!? Scraaaaapppp…
I'd ended up mindlessly making my way to the armoury after we got back – given the amount of dust in here, I was pretty sure nobody else ever really used it, so it made a good place to go and brood while not technically going and locking myself in my room.
Plus, it let me actually be productive while I thought – I'd grabbed a small set of spare tools and cleaning supplies and was methodically stripping, cleaning, re-lubricating and re-assembling each stored weapon in sequence. It was simple work that kept my paws busy while my processor worked. Thankfully, being a Cybertronian, my paws were fully opposable and entirely capable of picking things up if I wanted to. Couldn't really walk around while carrying something that way, but sitting down and cleaning things? Perfectly doable.
Less dextrous for their size than proper hands would be, but I was so much smaller that I could still easily work with parts the larger bots would struggle to grip properly.
Hrf… Nothing I can think of really to stop whatever Starscream ends up doing. With even more Red Energon than he originally had he'd basically have speedster powers. About the only thing that might stop him would be an automated Spacebridge shutdown if the base computers detected Decepticons in the base… But even that was iffy, and well… Starscream was a jet. If he found himself unable to bridge back out he'd just fly out and learn the location of the base earlier too.
Still… Since we knew he had it, mentioning that we ought to take precautions against someone using Red Energon to sneak through an open portal wouldn't hurt. Even if I couldn't think of anything, Optimus or one of the others might. Heck, Raf's pretty smart, and if anyone could program a computer to react fast enough to do something it would be him…
I tilted my head slightly as I rubbed at an oil stain on the Neutron Assault Rifle I was cleaning. "Wow, that's just negligent." I snorted slightly, "No worries, I'll get you all cleaned up again."
Look, if Ratchet could complain about Demolition Derby's with Earth vehicles being bloodsport, I can emphasize with regular guns being mistreated.
My optics snapped over to the door as it opened and Bumblebee stepped in. +There you are! What are you doing in-?+ He beeped before going quiet as he looked around at the carefully cleaned and reassembled guns neatly arranged back on their racks, the smaller pile of disassembled guns around my paws, and the assault rifle I was carefully clearing of grime. +Here?+
"… Just… trying to clear my head a bit. Didn't really feel like I helped much back there, and maintenance has always been relaxing for me." I said quietly, "Hope Ratchet doesn't mind I borrowed some of his supplies."
-----------------------
Ratchet didn't mind, as it turned out. In fact, he was glad that 'someone was finally taking some responsibility around here' and I'd summarily found myself officially assigned as the team's Armourer.
Turns out he was well aware that not just the armoury but also several other parts of the base were in varying levels of disrepair due to either lacking time to keep up with repairs or being in locations that most of the bots couldn't reach easily. Since nobody was really using the armoury at the moment it had been made a low priority.
I'd also been asked if I wouldn't mind helping to fix some other systems in the human scale parts of the base. It wasn't an order, just a request for when I had free time… And, tracing cable runs, replacing damaged Ethernet cable connectors by splicing on new ones, and helping Raf troubleshoot physical issues with the base's human computer systems?
It was both refreshingly different to my altmode-assigned function, and… pleasant to fix things, rather than break them. I don't think I'd want to do it full time, but… yeah. This was nice.
Many times, those cables were run through trunk lines in the ceiling… Which, now that I was fully healed, I reached by virtue of a little trick Ravage had shown me.
You see, Minicons are pretty efficient. Yeah, we're not as powerful as a bigger bot – but our power-to-weight ratio is actually better in most cases. That extends to a lot of our subsystems too, including magnetized soles.
For most bots, magnetizing their pedes was just enough to stop them from floating away into space when in zero-g – the adhesion wasn't strong enough to overcome gravity so trying it on a planet would just result in falling off as soon as you tried to put some weight on it.
But I was a lot lighter than most bots, so mine could, and many of the walls of the base were either lined with metal or at least had metal supports.
To be fair, Ravage had mentioned it as a stealth thing, because 'you'd be surprised how few bots look up inside a building', not as a way to scuttle along the ceiling fixing things like some kind of spider-handyman, but it worked just fine for me.
Besides, this was certainly one way to learn all the shortcuts and little nooks and crannies around the base.
With the ice broken, we looked around the armoury for a few more minutes before I reminded Smokescreen we still had to see the rest of the base…
… Even if I inwardly promised myself that I'd be back to get some of these weapons ready again.
"So, here's the storage wing, such as it is. Not much compared to the Hall Of Records, huh?" I said lightly as we walked down the storage area, the repurposed armoured garage doors sealing off the recovered artefacts and other valuables.
Smokescreen chuckled a bit, "Eh, I like it.... rustic, right? And. Hm. Yeah, I recognise some of these..." He said, slowing to look at the Phase Shifter.
"If you want to try it out, just make sure to sign it out with Ratchet or Optimus first." I advised him, "It worked for Bee and I, though I doubt the Phase Shifter will so eagerly volunteer." I said, chuckling slightly.
"Good point." He nodded, moving on, "I-woah, what kind of relic is that!?" He shouted, recoiling away as he spotted Airachnid's stasis pod.
I snorted, "The kind that's here because we don't have a prison, and Optimus doesn't like killing downed foes. Some kind of Insecticon queen, I think? She was bad news even before the war. Liked taking... Trophies. Organic or Mechanical."
He shuddered slightly, "Ugh, I did not need to know that. Glad she's in there and we're out here." He said, turning away from her makeshift cell, "So, we've seen most of the base now, but what about the planet, can you tell me anything about that?"
"I've only been here a few orns too, you know, but yeah, a few things. The native sapient species here are called humans. Fairly standard – two legs, two arms, one head – and about Minicon-sized but a lot more fragile. So... you know, watch where you step. For both our sakes, please. I probably wouldn't offline if someone accidentally stepped on me, but it would be… unpleasant."
"Don't worry, I'll watch my step. Be a pretty bad way to thank you if I stepped on your tail or something, huh?"
"Right." I chuckled slightly, "So, the other thing is that their tech isn't generally a match for ours, but they're close enough in a few areas that their military needs to actually be taken into account, and there's billions of them. Because of that, both sides are operating as Robots in Disguise – Megatron because he currently has a numerical advantage and going too overt risks the humans joining in and countering that, and Optimus because any such team-up would inevitably lead to a lot of dead humans and that's unacceptable to him. The human government here is cooperating with that, but there's no point making their job more difficult, so it's best if you scan an earth-based vehicle mode and keep a low profile where possible. Though, I mean, the rest of the team are a mix of superbikes, muscle cars, giant military surplus offroaders and a bright red and blue truck so, subtle is relative."
"Okay, yeah, that makes sense..." He nodded thoughtfully, "What about you? I mean, you don't have a vehicle mode, right?"
"No, but they have canine animals here. Apparently, they're popular pets among humans. Observe:" I turned on my Samoyed holoform again and barked once before letting my tongue loll out as I 'panted' a bit. "I am reliably informed the puffy white coating makes it at least fifty percent cuter."
"...Okay, yeah, that is actually pretty adorable, and they've got animals that look like that?"
"Oh, yeah, tons of them." I nodded quickly, turning off the holoform again, "I'll have to show you sometime. That one was one of the companion types that humans like to have around, so I'll most likely use it if I need to go around in a town or city. I'll probably get some more for when just wandering around in the wild. But back to you – I'm guessing, sports car of some kind?" I said, looking up at him.
He nodded, "Yeah, something with proper aerodynamics at least. You know anything around here that'd work?"
I grimaced slightly, "We're kinda in the middle of nowhere at the moment, most of the vehicles are going to be pretty boring trucks and efficient transports. But I'm sure something will come up. Now, anything else…" I kept walking for a few paces before perking my audials up, "Oh, right! Yeah, so there's a human called Agent Fowler who's basically the government of this country's liaison with Team Prime. I've not actually met him yet, but he does a lot of important work and despite appearances, based on the reports I've read he generally has the team's back. Up to and including engaging the Decepticons himself on occasion. So, if he gets annoyed at you for making more work for him, well, remember we're on their planet, and he's just trying to do his job."
Smokescreen grimaced, "And they've got plenty of reasons for not wanting their planet to end up like Cybertron, yeah. Thanks for letting me know." He said, letting out a breath of spent coolant as we looped back around towards the central room again, "And for the tour. Think I could borrow you for the firing range later?"
I chuckled slightly, "I'm sure I can fit it into my busy schedule. Though, I'm normally gonna be with Bumblebee most likely."
"Heh. Yeah, looked like you worked pretty well together back there." He nodded, "I just, uh… Always liked the Modular Pulse Rifle platform. Wanted to try one ever since I saw the base commander with one."
"It was actually our first mission working together, believe it or not. And hey, I told you I like anyone with good taste in firearms. Just don't let me spoil you, the standard models are a lot less talkative than I am. Less powerful too." I wagged my tail a bit as I spoke.
"Wow, really? Guess sometimes you just click, huh?" He grinned, "Any idea when I'll get to see some action?"
"Took me a few orns before they let me head out on this mission. After Bumblebee and I beat the previous range record, though I don't think that part's a requirement." I shrugged a little, "My advice? Make sure they know you're available, but don't push too much. If they say they want you to stay back for a bit, its only because they want to make sure you're in top shape before putting you in danger again. And because you need that Earth Vehicle mode so we at least have plausible deniability if someone spots you.."
"Right, that." He nodded, "Well, so long as it's got wheels…"
-----------------------
Jack soon Groundbridged out with Smokescreen to the cliffs overlooking the highway for the latter to scan his Earth mode, while I was left with the others as Optimus called Agent Fowler to find the current location of the Red Energon and make sure the area was evacuated.
"So, you've spoken with him more than the rest of us have now. What do you think?" Arcee asked me, leaning against a support column.
"Young and eager to prove himself, but more because he feels like he doesn't measure up to the rest of the team than anything else. I mentioned I didn't exactly have a glorious background either and that it's not something he should be worrying about, seemed to help a bit. I'm sure he'll settle down once he gets used to things." I said, chuckling a little, "There's no way you weren't off balance for at least a few orns when you first started working with Optimus. I at least had the benefit of knowing him before all that, so for me, it was more 'wow, Orion takes to being a Prime well' than for him where it's meeting… well, someone famous you've only ever heard of in stories before."
Well, admittedly meeting Optimus fucking Prime was still a pretty big deal… But it was hard to be intimidated or worried about him when your first interaction with him was as a shy but well-meaning file clerk.
"Heh, true enough." She mused, "It's been long enough that it's easy to forget how distant a figure he must be for a lot of bots. But you knew him before the war?"
"Not like friends or anything. But we'd spoken a few times. This was back when Orion and Megatronus were working together, and Ravage and I hung around a lot of their debates. Though, we ended up debating them ourselves more often than listening. He also asked me sometimes about both how I was treated in my job and about the kinds of things I'd seen the Guard doing. I don't think he liked a lot of the answers."
"Still weird to think about Optimus hanging around with a bunch of Decepticons…" Arcee admitted, "And you were… What, friends with Ravage?"
"Why not?" I shrugged slightly, "We had disagreements, sure, but we liked each other well enough. She taught me how to fight properly in my root mode, we discussed our positions on Megatronus and Orion Pax's policies over Energon… Whatever the war made her into, she wasn't a monster back then. I'll admit, I've been… Loathe to look up what happened with her since. Would it be worse for her to have offlined, or to have become something terrible?"
And the worst part was, I really didn't know what might have happened to her. Ravage didn't show up at all in Prime, nor in the games that themselves were only debatably connected, I vaguely thought there might be an Aligned comic with her in it but with the state of Aligned that meant precisely Jack and Shit.
"Never thought I'd hear about someone calmly discussing political opinions with that one… But, unfortunately, I don't think you'll find many answers. She was definitely one of Soundwave's most effective little spies, and especially vicious. Seemed to just disappear mid-war. One Vorn, happily running around spying and assassinating bots, the next? Nothing. No reports from anyone of offlining her, no further contact reports...." She shrugged a little, "… Sorry. I know it's probably not what you'd like to hear."
I sighed and closed my optics for a moment, "The uncertainty is actually the worst part. But... She made her choice." I said quietly, stretching out a forelimb to look at the Autobot symbol freshly emblazoned there, "… And so have I."
----------------------
Optimus soon turned to us as his call with Agent Fowler closed, "Agent Fowler has confirmed the location of the Red Energon in a cargo port, and ordered it evacuated. To prevent it from falling into Decepticon hands, we must recover it immediately. Autobots, Roll Out!" He nodded to Ratchet, who had already plugged in the coordinates and now lifted the lever to activate the Groundbridge.
I ran over to Bumblebee again, and we emerged into the container yard with the Red Energon high up in a crane… And Starscream in the Apex Armour facing us.
Scrap.
+Single Shot armour piercing?+ Bee asked me hopefully.
+… Worth a shot. Charging now.+ I started emitting a rising hum as, instead of my normal quick charge and discharge, my internals started storing up energy for a single big shot.
Starscream smirked, "Your fancy new gun won't help you against the Apex Armour. Go on. Give me your best shot." He preened, outright posing in front of us. Ugh, this guy gets really annoying when he figures you can't hurt him.
The hum reached a crescendo as five seconds passed with the bots slowly spreading out, +Bee, fire!+
Bumblebee snapped up my muzzle and fired a perfect shot right into the Apex Armour's faceplate, a brilliant blue bolt shooting out from my muzzle that was almost as large as those fired by Optimus' Path Blasters and more than twice as bright. I drew a split second of vicious satisfaction at seeing Starscream flinch despite his bravado… Only for the shot to spatter harmlessly off the armour, not even marking the 'glass'. Starscream's smirk came back in full force.
"Autobots…" He drawled slowly, "Slow learners."
+Oh, that's just not fair.+ I complained softly as Optimus strode up next to us, looking at Bumblebee and Arcee – and by extension me, given Bee was still carrying me.
"… Secure the Red Energon and have Ratchet bridge it back to base! Go!" Optimus ordered, deploying his Path Blasters as Bee and Arcee ran off to climb the crane.
+Bee, I can't do anything to that armour no matter what mode I'm in. Drop me and I'll try to distract him at least. Besides, you'll need both hands free to climb.+ I sent quietly to Bee.
Bumblebee nodded and dropped me carefully, +Good luck.+ He said to me as he and Arcee started climbing up the side of the stairwell.
Well built, these cranes.
I ran up the human-sized stairwell four at a time, making it to the top just in time to see Starscream punt Optimus into a stack of shipping containers and Bumblebee and Arcee to likewise make it up.
"Oh, Autobots, didn't you hear? The higher you climb, the harder you fall!" Starscream laughed as he climbed slowly up after us.
Bumblebee turning and firing his wrist blasters at Starscream did precisely as much as my earlier charged shot had – namely, absolutely nothing – but Optimus' punches earlier had at least physically moved him…
I'm about to do something really stupid, aren't I?
"Get the Energon!" I shouted to Bumblebee as I dove over the railings and onto the Apex-suited Starscream before I could think better of it, deploying my tail and claw blades and throwing myself against the suit any way I could think of – scrabbling over the glass, trying to jam claws into the joints between segments of armour, firing my reduced power root mode's weapon at the transparent faceplate mostly in an attempt to disorient him, all while growling and snarling viciously as my claws skittered off the metal of the armour.
Nothing so much as scratched the paintwork. But it made you invincible, not able to fly. Nor immune to the laws of physics. Such as Centre of Mass and Gravity.
"Gah! Get off of me, you mangy beast!" He shouted, trying to use one arm to swat me away. I growled louder and started snapping at the glass instead. I am not mangy!
Finally he caught me with a vicious swipe, and I yelped as I got flung off with an impact like being hit by a train. But his sudden violent swing had upset his balance, and Starscream fell from the crane after me, crashing roughly into the concrete below.
That was some consolation as my muzzle met the steel of a blue shipping container.
-------------------
The sounds of combat coming back through the team's commlinks were interspersed for a few seconds by vicious growling and snarls, before they were cut off by a clang and worrying yelp of pain followed by more crashing sounds.
"Come on Doc, I've got my v-mode and everything! I'm ready to roll!" Smokescreen protested, "They need me out there!"
"Starscream is using the Apex Armour. Your blasters won't make any difference." Ratchet glared at the supercar.
"I'm not saying I'm going to just run out there and try punching him!" Smokescreen frowned, "I've got a plan – just… Hear me out here, okay?"
Ratchet turned fully around to face the newcomer, folding his arms, "… Go on."
-----------------------------
I groaned as I pulled myself out of the shipping container I'd been lodged in, wincing as the jagged metal scratched at my flanks. Fraaaagggg, that was a bad idea… Everything ached, and my olfactory sensors were throwing calibration errors that were already giving me a headache.
But nothing seemed broken, and as I finally emerged I could see Arcee and Bumblebee pulling the cage containing the Red Energon up to the top to recover it, and Optimus once again attacking Starscream. I was already down here, so…
I shook myself out a bit to make sure nothing was broken and ran in at an angle, this time keeping my distance as I took potshots at the Apex-Armoured Starscream. Not really out of any expectation of hurting him, but more just to try and distract him from the Prime who could at least somewhat affect him.
This wasn't going to last for long though… Starscream was getting more and more used to the Apex Armour and was barely flinching now even when I nailed him in the faceplate. Another punch and Optimus was sent flying back into another stack of containers that collapsed atop him… Then Starscream turned to me.
"Well well well, it seems to Autobots found a new pet." He scowled at me, "Though… Not for much longer."
The sound of the Groundbridge opening again was the sweetest sound I'd heard that fight, as a white and blue supercar roared through and transformed.
"Hey Scream! How about you pick on someone your own size?" Smokescreen taunted, making a beckoning gesture with one hand and a confident smirk.
Arcee groaned slightly from where she was watching on top of the crane.
"Ugh, another new recruit? Autobots are just showing up everywhere now, aren't they?" The fighter jet grumbled, before chuckling slightly, "No matter. You are no more able to harm me than any of your comrades. Any last words, Autobot?"
"Just four: Kiss your armour goodbye!" Smokescreen grinned as he started running at the former air commander, and the wavering hum of the Phase Shifter filled the air.
"… What!? NO!" Starscream realised what he planned a moment too late, trying to turn and run too late as Smokescreen phased through the Apex Armour… But not through Starscream, throwing him bodily out of the suit to crash against the concrete floor.
"Hah!" Smokescreen grinned, "And that's how you deal with a creep in armour!"
Starscream growled as he pulled himself upright, then wilted slightly as Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee and I all pointed our blasters at him, the scout also carrying the hunk of Red Energon we'd spent so much effort on in his free hand.
Starscream's optics snapped to it, and I realised an astrosecond too late what he was planning.
"Bumblebee, look out!" I yelled as Starscream transformed and flew straight at him, trying to loose off a few shots but missing as the scout was bowled over and Starscream flew away, shots from Arcee and me flying after him as Optimus helped the scout up.
+I'm fine, he just...+ Bumblebee beeped as he stood up again, looking down at the ground where he'd landed +The Red Energon!+
… Scrap.
----------------------------------
… Damnit, the first major mission and it actually ends worse than without my involvement! Smokescreen still got the Apex Armour, and he actually thought to ask first so Ratchet and Optimus are happier with him for showing respect for the chain of command, but… Starscream got all of the Red Energon!
He already caused enough problems with the single dose he got away with normally, who knows what's going to happen now!? Scraaaaapppp…
I'd ended up mindlessly making my way to the armoury after we got back – given the amount of dust in here, I was pretty sure nobody else ever really used it, so it made a good place to go and brood while not technically going and locking myself in my room.
Plus, it let me actually be productive while I thought – I'd grabbed a small set of spare tools and cleaning supplies and was methodically stripping, cleaning, re-lubricating and re-assembling each stored weapon in sequence. It was simple work that kept my paws busy while my processor worked. Thankfully, being a Cybertronian, my paws were fully opposable and entirely capable of picking things up if I wanted to. Couldn't really walk around while carrying something that way, but sitting down and cleaning things? Perfectly doable.
Less dextrous for their size than proper hands would be, but I was so much smaller that I could still easily work with parts the larger bots would struggle to grip properly.
Hrf… Nothing I can think of really to stop whatever Starscream ends up doing. With even more Red Energon than he originally had he'd basically have speedster powers. About the only thing that might stop him would be an automated Spacebridge shutdown if the base computers detected Decepticons in the base… But even that was iffy, and well… Starscream was a jet. If he found himself unable to bridge back out he'd just fly out and learn the location of the base earlier too.
Still… Since we knew he had it, mentioning that we ought to take precautions against someone using Red Energon to sneak through an open portal wouldn't hurt. Even if I couldn't think of anything, Optimus or one of the others might. Heck, Raf's pretty smart, and if anyone could program a computer to react fast enough to do something it would be him…
I tilted my head slightly as I rubbed at an oil stain on the Neutron Assault Rifle I was cleaning. "Wow, that's just negligent." I snorted slightly, "No worries, I'll get you all cleaned up again."
Look, if Ratchet could complain about Demolition Derby's with Earth vehicles being bloodsport, I can emphasize with regular guns being mistreated.
My optics snapped over to the door as it opened and Bumblebee stepped in. +There you are! What are you doing in-?+ He beeped before going quiet as he looked around at the carefully cleaned and reassembled guns neatly arranged back on their racks, the smaller pile of disassembled guns around my paws, and the assault rifle I was carefully clearing of grime. +Here?+
"… Just… trying to clear my head a bit. Didn't really feel like I helped much back there, and maintenance has always been relaxing for me." I said quietly, "Hope Ratchet doesn't mind I borrowed some of his supplies."
-----------------------
Ratchet didn't mind, as it turned out. In fact, he was glad that 'someone was finally taking some responsibility around here' and I'd summarily found myself officially assigned as the team's Armourer.
Turns out he was well aware that not just the armoury but also several other parts of the base were in varying levels of disrepair due to either lacking time to keep up with repairs or being in locations that most of the bots couldn't reach easily. Since nobody was really using the armoury at the moment it had been made a low priority.
I'd also been asked if I wouldn't mind helping to fix some other systems in the human scale parts of the base. It wasn't an order, just a request for when I had free time… And, tracing cable runs, replacing damaged Ethernet cable connectors by splicing on new ones, and helping Raf troubleshoot physical issues with the base's human computer systems?
It was both refreshingly different to my altmode-assigned function, and… pleasant to fix things, rather than break them. I don't think I'd want to do it full time, but… yeah. This was nice.
Many times, those cables were run through trunk lines in the ceiling… Which, now that I was fully healed, I reached by virtue of a little trick Ravage had shown me.
You see, Minicons are pretty efficient. Yeah, we're not as powerful as a bigger bot – but our power-to-weight ratio is actually better in most cases. That extends to a lot of our subsystems too, including magnetized soles.
For most bots, magnetizing their pedes was just enough to stop them from floating away into space when in zero-g – the adhesion wasn't strong enough to overcome gravity so trying it on a planet would just result in falling off as soon as you tried to put some weight on it.
But I was a lot lighter than most bots, so mine could, and many of the walls of the base were either lined with metal or at least had metal supports.
To be fair, Ravage had mentioned it as a stealth thing, because 'you'd be surprised how few bots look up inside a building', not as a way to scuttle along the ceiling fixing things like some kind of spider-handyman, but it worked just fine for me.
Besides, this was certainly one way to learn all the shortcuts and little nooks and crannies around the base.
Someone make a meme about Spitfire being handed a racoon and told to do a crime. Anyway awesome chapter. Even if Starscream got the Energon hes to stupid to not squander it.
Nice.
Agent Fowler: "Run more closer! I want to hit them with my sword!"
Spitfire: "You've been waiting your whole life to say it, huh?"
It feels like a Take That jab to Bayverse Transformers as it featured US military-Autobot team up which resulted a lot of human casualties when fighting the Decepticons.
Careful Smokescreen, your Deadpool* is showing.
*Nolan North voiced the Merc with the Mouth in Hulk Vs Wolverine animated film.
Megatron: "Not bad for a librarian! Perhaps you should spend more time at the pit!"
Optimus Prime: "Then perhaps you should spend more time at the library!"
Either you die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.
Wait, is Ravage a Femme in this Au? Does that mean Spitfire and Ravage might end up as more then, 'friends', considering you made Ravage a Mech in your other story, and your making it clear they had a friendship prior to Spitfire being locked up
Iridium Flare
Cyborg Commando
- Location
- AC-130 Gunship circling overhead
I vaguely recall some implication that Spitfire's 'disappearance' may have caused Ravage to go AWOL? I might've been reading too much into it, but it seems possible, and I want to believe.
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
Spitfire is the gun being given to the raccoon lol.
Hey if they're both having fun thats what matters right?
Its maybe a little bit of a jab... But yeah. Avoiding Bay-style giant battles in the middle of cities means that they at least don't have the massive backlash against transformers that happened in those movies.
Smokey is just fun lol.
The mid battle banter in those games was fun lol.
Tbf, almost all the bots and cons still alive have killed a lot of the opposing side by now.
At least she wasn't Shockwave?
This story came to me when I'd just watched Earthspark, so the femme Ravage there inspired them admittedly lol. Frankly I consider them just showing up at all to be the au part here given they just flat never even get mentioned in Prime itself.
Though their design takes from the aligned comics they appear in, since its an interesting design, bit different to the usual setup for Ravage.
Something like that. Didn't technically leave, but went on a 'long range mission' and just never came back.
Oh, the Fowler with "hit them with my sword".... ITS A ONE PIECE REFERENCE!!!!!!!! BROOK AND FRANKIE!!!!!!
Chapter 7 - Prelude Ravaged (1)
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
Edited 26/06/2024 – Correcting a few spelling/grammar mistakes, and changing a few lines from Agent Fowler to make more clear why the Autobots are being sent rather than just deleting the data.
Prelude: Ravaged (1)
Hidden from prying earthly eyes by the Moon's bulk, a sleek purple stealth fighter dropped out of FTL and accelerated out carefully before cutting thrust and engaging emissions controls, looking to any Earthly sensor like any other small asteroid.
Except that, instead of burning up as it passed through the atmosphere, the ship levelled off and sent out a single ping on Decepticon channels, following the return signal to a seemingly empty patch of sky.
Soundwave and Megatron stood on the Nemesis' flight deck as the small fighter touched down – itself only the same size as a jetformer, given its intended passenger.
Sure enough, a feline minicon dropped out of the cockpit hatch, yellow optics taking in Megatron and Soundwave impassively before they walked closer. Mostly purple, with silver plating on their lower limbs and the pair of blasters mounted to their hind legs, and the long segmented tail swaying slowly behind them neutrally, not going away any signs of stress or irritation as the Cougaraider sat back on her haunches and curled her tail around her forelegs.
Ravage stared up at the warlord for a few long astroseconds, "Lord Megatron. Soundwave." She said simply, "Your message said there was something I would want to know about."
"Several things. However, the matter I believe will best get your attention is something that has just been brought to my attention. Soundwave?" The warlord nodded to his communications officer.
The deployer brought up recovered images of Spitfire being used by the Autobots, taken from the surviving Vehicons of the same battle that had also led to them recovering Smokescreen, displaying them on his visor.
Ravage focused in on them for a few astroseconds before rapidly turning back to Megatron as he continued.
"It appears that our announcement of your…friend's offlining was premature. Indeed, it is now clear that he was, in fact, captured by the Autobots." Megatron spoke, "If he could be recovered… I may be willing to consider his time served punishment enough."
'No you won't. Not without some extra form of insurance.' Ravage thought, even as she nodded slowly, "That would be… Agreeable. What is my first assignment?"
Megatron smirked slightly, "You are to do what you do best, of course. Gathering information. Specifically… The location of the Autobot Base on this world. Through whatever means necessary."
Ravage simply nodded. That was the kind of task she had done many times before. "I will begin immediately, my lord."
"Excellent. Do so, Soundwave should have any information you require on the native inhabitants." Megatron grinned slightly… Then, as Ravage nodded and started to turn away, she halted as his blade suddenly pressed down on her neck plating. Not hard enough to cut metal, but the Minicon nonetheless froze in place. "And Ravage…" Megatron continued, still sounding like he was just having a pleasant conversation, "… If you ever disobey me again… You will be hunted down as a traitor and killed. I give you this second chance only out of acknowledgement of your past deeds, and Soundwave's contributions."
"… Understood, Lord Megatron."
----------------------------
Chapter 7
US Military Airbase, Nevada – UNIT:E
It was a moonless night at the remote military base, the airfield lit only by its own floodlights and surrounded only by pitch darkness.
The soldiers, hardened by years of training but used to being posted in a 'safe' location, went about their patrols professionally even though the chances of anything actually happening here seemed remote.
But tonight, something felt different. Like they were being watched by something, cold optical sensors picking them out of the gloom with an acuity no human eye could possibly match.
Private James Anderson was the first to catch a glimpse of it, as he patrolled just inside the perimeter fence.
He caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye and quickly turned to face it, but when he looked it was gone like nothing had ever been there. The fence was intact and he couldn't see anything beyond it. Not even some nosy civilian trying to climb the fence and take pictures.
"… Damn coyotes." He said to himself.
Over the next few hours, reports started trickling in. Soldiers swore they saw something moving in the darkness, always just too far to get a proper look at it and disappearing before anyone could get closer, accompanied by the whirr of compact but powerful motors and servos as the presence darted from one building to another, obviously searching for something.
The base's security cameras had become almost useless after the first glimpse had seen a squad of soldiers almost catch it, the robotic beast had seemed to register the cameras as a threat to be avoided, rarely straying into their fields of view as its systems calculated their most likely fields of view and kept out where possible – and where it was not, such as the indoor cameras in the offices it searched, it simply destroyed the camera and moved on before a response could be mounted.
The night dragged on, and the sightings continued. The creature, whatever it was, remained elusive. Only seen in flashes, it seemed to be a quadruped, moving with an unnatural grace and speed that defied logic, as well as an uncanny intelligence as each attempt to corner it ended in the realisation that the creature had simply bypassed their position, often only to come back once they had been forced to respond to reports of a sighting elsewhere.
When they decided to try to dig in, the beast instead went after the base's infrastructure, destroying the generator and plunging the base into darkness lit only by the soldier's torches.
Special Agent William Fowler arrived at the base just before dawn, his presence a welcome addition to their efforts. Fowler was known for his expertise in handling classified threats, and his arrival brought a mix of relief and apprehension for the exhausted and uncertain soldiers.
"We're dealing with a rogue AI," Fowler announced after reviewing the scant evidence. "A prototype that was stolen from a top-secret project. It's designed for reconnaissance and infiltration, and it's smart. If it's here, it's after something specific..." He trailed off.
"Sir?"
"I know what it wants." Fowler grimaced, "Come on, we have to stop it!"
As Fowler led a team to the secure building housing classified documents, each of them lifted their guns slightly at the feeling of being watched, quiet whirrs of motors seeming to come from all around them. The soldiers' flash lights cut through the darkness, casting long shadows that danced with every movement. Suddenly, a shape lunged from the shadows, its metallic limbs glinting in the artificial light.
Chaos erupted. The quadruped robot moved with terrifying speed, its sleek, armored body deflecting bullets as it targeted Fowler. The soldiers fought desperately, their training kicking in as they tried to protect the agent and repel the mechanical menace.
Fowler dodged and weaved around its swipes and bites and kicked it back hard, the mechanical beast stumbling back just long enough for the slightly overweight agent to get up and run for it again. As he reached the secure room, the robot pounced, knocking him to the ground. Its cold, emotionless eyes bore into his, and he instinctively closed his eyes as it swiped at his neck with its claws.
… Then sighed and leaned his head back slightly as they stopped a fraction of an inch away from his neck, before slowly pulling away, the robot pulling back and sitting down as the soldiers caught up and surrounded them both.
"I believe this means you're dead, Agent Fowler." The wolf like robot said lightly, "And therefore unable to keep me from stealing the data on the position of the Autobot base." Spitfire gave a wolfish grin as he offered a paw to the agent, Fowler taking it to pull himself up much to the confusion of the soldiers around him.
"Damn. Was hoping I'd at least get to 'destroy the evidence' or something." Fowler grumbled, "And did you have to tackle me like that? Think I bruised something…"
"You kicked me, and your guys were shooting at me." Spitfire shrugged, "Speaking of, could you let them know they can put the guns down now?"
"Stand down men." Fowler ordered them, smiling slightly, "And welcome to Unit:E. You did pretty well, for your first time meeting an alien robot. Freshen up and report for debriefing in two hours." He said to them before pulling out his radio, "This is Fowler. Training scenario complete."
The base lights came back on promptly, giving the soldiers that hadn't seen him properly before now a good look at the sleek-plated robotic wolf sitting unconcerned in front of the agent he had just been trying to 'kill'.
"So it's… not a rogue AI?" Private Anderson asked nervously.
"Not rogue or an AI, actually." Fowler grinned, "Meet Spitfire. He's an Autobot, a member of the group you may be called to work with as members of Unit E. Occasionally one of them comes to help us train the new guys. Now go on, I'm sure the base commander thinks we've taken up enough of his time with this. Dismissed."
They quickly saluted and left, still looking somewhat shellshocked after not just one but two profound changes in what they thought was possible.
"So, what do you think?" Fowler asked once they were gone.
"They did well enough, didn't panic, tried to hem me in. They're clearly not used to trying to find someone like me but can hardly blame them for that. I'll send you my report of what you could do better in a bit. But the short version is: Your security is pretty good, better than a lot of places on Cybertron since your air vents are too small for us to fit through. But if I can manage it, so can Ravage."
Granted, that relied on Ravage knowing which military base to target to start with, but that was kind of unavoidable since I couldn't exactly start breaking into random military bases with the excuse of 'testing security'. I had actually had to find where the 'classified documents' were being stored though, since it had changed every time we did this.
"I was afraid of that. You're sure this Ravage is here?"
"Omega-1 caught a brief signal from her personal craft. She's here. And gathering information is what she does." I said quietly.
"Well, at least we have some idea of what to expect now."
"Just so long as you remember that Ravage has thousands of Vorns – er, centuries - of experience on me." I shook my helm slightly, "As well as already being an active spy even before the war. If anything, she'll be better."
"And isn't that a pleasant thought…" He frowned, "But, forewarned is forearmed. Again, thanks for your help. And here." He said, tossing me an iphone, "Government data plan. Should work anywhere you can get a signal, and there's no data limits. Just be careful with it."
I caught the device and stored it in my subspace. While we didn't technically get paid, Agent Fowler had access to government money and contracts, so asking him for a phone in return for some help seeing if some of his new recruits had what it took to be in Unit:E was simple enough.
"Thanks." I nodded to him, "Be seeing you, Agent Fowler." I said, before switching to my long-range comms. +Spitfire to base, requesting a Groundbridge.+
---------------------------------
Convincing Raf to help set me up with a proper interface for my new smartphone was easy enough – the kid lived and breathed computers, and I think he was excited to work with a Cybertronian that was actually willingly involved – and also required because, surprise, its touchscreen wasn't designed to work with metal claws.
Ironically despite all the problems that came of not having a humanoid root mode on Cybertron, interacting with technology had never been one of them. Everything had to be big and easy to operate for giant mechs with chubby sausage fingers down to little needle like fingers like Arcee or Knockout, and my size meant that even if I had to jump onto a standard size console I could just step on the controls I needed like the humans did – and anything that couldn't be controlled that way could be linked to wirelessly.
Human tech? All designed to be operated by fleshy creatures with two arms, two legs, five fingers per hand and the basic assumption that everyone had at least a similar overall body-plan and size.
Fortunately, this was a kid who coded up a virus for a literal alien computer system in a few minutes – it took longer – and a few uncomfortable questions to Ratchet before he was satisfied it was safe – to work out a proper way of connecting it, but removing the case, screen and anything else not needed for our connection program to work made it small enough to slip under one of my plates in a location where it would be mostly protected while also not interfering with my systems.
Which meant I could now browse the internet independently, looking up the forums Raf spent time cleaning the Autobot sightings from, but also just general news sites to get an idea of how much regular people knew about what was going on… And, admittedly, to play some music while I worked on other things.
Bulkhead was still slowly recovering, but was now at least able to limp around the base reasonably well and just needing to rebuild his strength, even if the slow progress was annoying him. From what I understood the main reason it was taking so long was the prolonged tox-en exposure more than the actual damage that was done – provided the tools and resources, most injuries that didn't damage a biomechanism like a T-Cog or Vocaliser could be fixed fairly quickly by just fabricating appropriate replacements.
Agent Fowler had made an early appearance, apparently to get a read on myself and Smokescreen.
To his credit, he seemed only momentarily surprised to be talking to a – to his perspective – large robotic canine, and had seemed happy to learn I had at least some understanding of sneaking around. Even if he was significantly less happy to learn about who had taught me.
But, he'd talked with Optimus and convinced the Prime that me getting some more practice at covert operations was a good idea, hence the training mission I'd just done with him. At least some of it, I think, was reminding him that more than once now the kids had needed to be sent in to grab something from a human building, while I could do that relatively easily with much less risk to myself if I ran into a Decepticon.
Probably couldn't beat one by myself, but I wasn't limited to running away and screaming for help from the bots at least.
There were tradeoffs of course – If I was sent in ahead to scout things, I might not be available to help with the fight itself, but the benefits should outweigh the risks in most cases.
I was taking a few moments to relax (and carefully ignoring Bulkhead's complaining at Ratchet) when the base comms system rang with a call from Agent Fowler, "Prime, we've got a situation. At 1630 hours today, a satellite was stolen from a high security military vault. Camera's picked up Breakdown at the scene. But that's not all."
The security cam footage switched to show the armoured car stopping at the gate, "He entered the base in vehicle mode… with someone in the driver's seat."
"A Decepticon paired with a human!?" Ratchet sputtered disbelievingly.
"More likely than you might think. I have a pretty good idea of who. The satellite that was stolen? Was Project Damocles. Invented by a group under the command of one Colonel Leland Bishop."
"MECH." Optimus nodded slowly.
"I'd guess the former Colonel Bishop wanted it back." Fowler agreed, "He knew where it would have been stored, as well as how to unlock the secure storage crate it was in.."
+Wait, didn't Silas get crushed by that copy they made of Optimus?+ Bumblebee beeped.
"Yeah, last we saw Silas he was flattened under fifty tonnes of metal. No human can survive that… Right?" Arcee added.
"Until now, I'd have agreed with you. But, we never did find a body." Fowler said quietly, "Why he's throwing in with the Decepticons I'm less sure. But their interest is pretty obvious: Project Damocles itself."
"Damocles is human tech right? Why would the Decepticons of all bots want it bad enough to work with a human?" Smokescreen asked.
"Because, Project Damocles is built around a Particle Cannon powerful enough to slice up a hardened bunker like a birthday cake. Or destroy entire city blocks." Agent Fowler said, crossing his arms, "From anywhere in orbit." He shook his head slowly, "It's the work of a madman. And in the hands of someone like Megatron…"
"An unacceptable threat." Optimus nodded slowly. He could use it to threaten human capitals, or make it impossible for the Autobots to fight as they would be constantly dodging attacks from above… It would make an already difficult position completely untenable.
"Exactly. Fortunately for us, the satellite is programmed to only respond to its original authentication codes. I put in a request to find out where they were being stored, and… yes, turns out they were kept in one of our long term archival buildings in Colorado. I'm calling them now, see if we can delete the data before Silas and his new buddies figure that out too."
The line on our end was silent for a few seconds, before Fowler came back on sounding worried, "Line's dead. Either nobody's there to answer, or someone cut the hardlines. Either way, we need boots on the ground, now!"
"We must keep these codes out of Decepticon hands at all costs." Optimus nodded, "Ratchet, set the Groundbridge Coordinates, Autobots, prepare to Roll Out!"
"EP EP EP, Bulkhead I have not yet cleared you for duty!" Ratchet shouted, as I ran past to join Bumblebee.
We headed through as soon as the Groundbridge was formed – only to immediately come under fire from a squad of Vehicons.
"The Decepticons got here first... Autobots, recapture that building!" Optimus shouted, engine roaring as he accelerated towards them, followed by everyone else. I was looking out one of Bee's windows when I saw it.
"Incoming!" I shouted as the brilliant orange Particle beam roared down in front of us, the Autobots all turning away as it started to follow us, cutting off once we were far enough away.
Every time someone had a clear shot and tried to make a break for it, the beam appeared in their path and forced them to turn away.
"Bumblebee, if you can get me out there without Soundwave noticing, I might be able to sneak in and shut it off."
+Good idea!+ He beeped, +One distraction, coming up!+
The muscle car accelerated towards the building again, this time though deliberately turning wide and spinning his wheels, throwing up a cloud of dust and dirt, +Go Go Go+
I dove out through a partially opened door and flattened myself to the ground as much as possible as the beam passed me by.
I slowly made my way to the building, sidling away from the Vehicons that were still busy watching the rest of the team and sneaking in through a side entrance.
I crouched down low, stalking instincts helping me lighten my pedesteps as I took a peek around each corner. No humans so far... And this should be...
Soundwave. The sticklike form of the Decepticon communications officer was stood hooked up to the control systems with a pair of data tendrils, the screens around them scrolling constantly through data as the mech scanned through their contents.
I had no illusions of beating him in fight... But I wasn't here to fight Soundwave, And the human computers he was downloading data from were a lot more vulnerable.
I took aim at the mainframe and charged as quietly as I could, 'There we go. Say good bye to your-Ack!'
I yelped as my proximity sensors warned me, too late, about the Cougaraider that had been hiding under one of the tables I had not checked, turning to try and face them with a snarl only to freeze as I felt fangs pressing on the soft metal under my neck plating.
Prelude: Ravaged (1)
Hidden from prying earthly eyes by the Moon's bulk, a sleek purple stealth fighter dropped out of FTL and accelerated out carefully before cutting thrust and engaging emissions controls, looking to any Earthly sensor like any other small asteroid.
Except that, instead of burning up as it passed through the atmosphere, the ship levelled off and sent out a single ping on Decepticon channels, following the return signal to a seemingly empty patch of sky.
Soundwave and Megatron stood on the Nemesis' flight deck as the small fighter touched down – itself only the same size as a jetformer, given its intended passenger.
Sure enough, a feline minicon dropped out of the cockpit hatch, yellow optics taking in Megatron and Soundwave impassively before they walked closer. Mostly purple, with silver plating on their lower limbs and the pair of blasters mounted to their hind legs, and the long segmented tail swaying slowly behind them neutrally, not going away any signs of stress or irritation as the Cougaraider sat back on her haunches and curled her tail around her forelegs.
Ravage stared up at the warlord for a few long astroseconds, "Lord Megatron. Soundwave." She said simply, "Your message said there was something I would want to know about."
"Several things. However, the matter I believe will best get your attention is something that has just been brought to my attention. Soundwave?" The warlord nodded to his communications officer.
The deployer brought up recovered images of Spitfire being used by the Autobots, taken from the surviving Vehicons of the same battle that had also led to them recovering Smokescreen, displaying them on his visor.
Ravage focused in on them for a few astroseconds before rapidly turning back to Megatron as he continued.
"It appears that our announcement of your…friend's offlining was premature. Indeed, it is now clear that he was, in fact, captured by the Autobots." Megatron spoke, "If he could be recovered… I may be willing to consider his time served punishment enough."
'No you won't. Not without some extra form of insurance.' Ravage thought, even as she nodded slowly, "That would be… Agreeable. What is my first assignment?"
Megatron smirked slightly, "You are to do what you do best, of course. Gathering information. Specifically… The location of the Autobot Base on this world. Through whatever means necessary."
Ravage simply nodded. That was the kind of task she had done many times before. "I will begin immediately, my lord."
"Excellent. Do so, Soundwave should have any information you require on the native inhabitants." Megatron grinned slightly… Then, as Ravage nodded and started to turn away, she halted as his blade suddenly pressed down on her neck plating. Not hard enough to cut metal, but the Minicon nonetheless froze in place. "And Ravage…" Megatron continued, still sounding like he was just having a pleasant conversation, "… If you ever disobey me again… You will be hunted down as a traitor and killed. I give you this second chance only out of acknowledgement of your past deeds, and Soundwave's contributions."
"… Understood, Lord Megatron."
----------------------------
Chapter 7
US Military Airbase, Nevada – UNIT:E
It was a moonless night at the remote military base, the airfield lit only by its own floodlights and surrounded only by pitch darkness.
The soldiers, hardened by years of training but used to being posted in a 'safe' location, went about their patrols professionally even though the chances of anything actually happening here seemed remote.
But tonight, something felt different. Like they were being watched by something, cold optical sensors picking them out of the gloom with an acuity no human eye could possibly match.
Private James Anderson was the first to catch a glimpse of it, as he patrolled just inside the perimeter fence.
He caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye and quickly turned to face it, but when he looked it was gone like nothing had ever been there. The fence was intact and he couldn't see anything beyond it. Not even some nosy civilian trying to climb the fence and take pictures.
"… Damn coyotes." He said to himself.
Over the next few hours, reports started trickling in. Soldiers swore they saw something moving in the darkness, always just too far to get a proper look at it and disappearing before anyone could get closer, accompanied by the whirr of compact but powerful motors and servos as the presence darted from one building to another, obviously searching for something.
The base's security cameras had become almost useless after the first glimpse had seen a squad of soldiers almost catch it, the robotic beast had seemed to register the cameras as a threat to be avoided, rarely straying into their fields of view as its systems calculated their most likely fields of view and kept out where possible – and where it was not, such as the indoor cameras in the offices it searched, it simply destroyed the camera and moved on before a response could be mounted.
The night dragged on, and the sightings continued. The creature, whatever it was, remained elusive. Only seen in flashes, it seemed to be a quadruped, moving with an unnatural grace and speed that defied logic, as well as an uncanny intelligence as each attempt to corner it ended in the realisation that the creature had simply bypassed their position, often only to come back once they had been forced to respond to reports of a sighting elsewhere.
When they decided to try to dig in, the beast instead went after the base's infrastructure, destroying the generator and plunging the base into darkness lit only by the soldier's torches.
Special Agent William Fowler arrived at the base just before dawn, his presence a welcome addition to their efforts. Fowler was known for his expertise in handling classified threats, and his arrival brought a mix of relief and apprehension for the exhausted and uncertain soldiers.
"We're dealing with a rogue AI," Fowler announced after reviewing the scant evidence. "A prototype that was stolen from a top-secret project. It's designed for reconnaissance and infiltration, and it's smart. If it's here, it's after something specific..." He trailed off.
"Sir?"
"I know what it wants." Fowler grimaced, "Come on, we have to stop it!"
As Fowler led a team to the secure building housing classified documents, each of them lifted their guns slightly at the feeling of being watched, quiet whirrs of motors seeming to come from all around them. The soldiers' flash lights cut through the darkness, casting long shadows that danced with every movement. Suddenly, a shape lunged from the shadows, its metallic limbs glinting in the artificial light.
Chaos erupted. The quadruped robot moved with terrifying speed, its sleek, armored body deflecting bullets as it targeted Fowler. The soldiers fought desperately, their training kicking in as they tried to protect the agent and repel the mechanical menace.
Fowler dodged and weaved around its swipes and bites and kicked it back hard, the mechanical beast stumbling back just long enough for the slightly overweight agent to get up and run for it again. As he reached the secure room, the robot pounced, knocking him to the ground. Its cold, emotionless eyes bore into his, and he instinctively closed his eyes as it swiped at his neck with its claws.
… Then sighed and leaned his head back slightly as they stopped a fraction of an inch away from his neck, before slowly pulling away, the robot pulling back and sitting down as the soldiers caught up and surrounded them both.
"I believe this means you're dead, Agent Fowler." The wolf like robot said lightly, "And therefore unable to keep me from stealing the data on the position of the Autobot base." Spitfire gave a wolfish grin as he offered a paw to the agent, Fowler taking it to pull himself up much to the confusion of the soldiers around him.
"Damn. Was hoping I'd at least get to 'destroy the evidence' or something." Fowler grumbled, "And did you have to tackle me like that? Think I bruised something…"
"You kicked me, and your guys were shooting at me." Spitfire shrugged, "Speaking of, could you let them know they can put the guns down now?"
"Stand down men." Fowler ordered them, smiling slightly, "And welcome to Unit:E. You did pretty well, for your first time meeting an alien robot. Freshen up and report for debriefing in two hours." He said to them before pulling out his radio, "This is Fowler. Training scenario complete."
The base lights came back on promptly, giving the soldiers that hadn't seen him properly before now a good look at the sleek-plated robotic wolf sitting unconcerned in front of the agent he had just been trying to 'kill'.
"So it's… not a rogue AI?" Private Anderson asked nervously.
"Not rogue or an AI, actually." Fowler grinned, "Meet Spitfire. He's an Autobot, a member of the group you may be called to work with as members of Unit E. Occasionally one of them comes to help us train the new guys. Now go on, I'm sure the base commander thinks we've taken up enough of his time with this. Dismissed."
They quickly saluted and left, still looking somewhat shellshocked after not just one but two profound changes in what they thought was possible.
"So, what do you think?" Fowler asked once they were gone.
"They did well enough, didn't panic, tried to hem me in. They're clearly not used to trying to find someone like me but can hardly blame them for that. I'll send you my report of what you could do better in a bit. But the short version is: Your security is pretty good, better than a lot of places on Cybertron since your air vents are too small for us to fit through. But if I can manage it, so can Ravage."
Granted, that relied on Ravage knowing which military base to target to start with, but that was kind of unavoidable since I couldn't exactly start breaking into random military bases with the excuse of 'testing security'. I had actually had to find where the 'classified documents' were being stored though, since it had changed every time we did this.
"I was afraid of that. You're sure this Ravage is here?"
"Omega-1 caught a brief signal from her personal craft. She's here. And gathering information is what she does." I said quietly.
"Well, at least we have some idea of what to expect now."
"Just so long as you remember that Ravage has thousands of Vorns – er, centuries - of experience on me." I shook my helm slightly, "As well as already being an active spy even before the war. If anything, she'll be better."
"And isn't that a pleasant thought…" He frowned, "But, forewarned is forearmed. Again, thanks for your help. And here." He said, tossing me an iphone, "Government data plan. Should work anywhere you can get a signal, and there's no data limits. Just be careful with it."
I caught the device and stored it in my subspace. While we didn't technically get paid, Agent Fowler had access to government money and contracts, so asking him for a phone in return for some help seeing if some of his new recruits had what it took to be in Unit:E was simple enough.
"Thanks." I nodded to him, "Be seeing you, Agent Fowler." I said, before switching to my long-range comms. +Spitfire to base, requesting a Groundbridge.+
---------------------------------
Convincing Raf to help set me up with a proper interface for my new smartphone was easy enough – the kid lived and breathed computers, and I think he was excited to work with a Cybertronian that was actually willingly involved – and also required because, surprise, its touchscreen wasn't designed to work with metal claws.
Ironically despite all the problems that came of not having a humanoid root mode on Cybertron, interacting with technology had never been one of them. Everything had to be big and easy to operate for giant mechs with chubby sausage fingers down to little needle like fingers like Arcee or Knockout, and my size meant that even if I had to jump onto a standard size console I could just step on the controls I needed like the humans did – and anything that couldn't be controlled that way could be linked to wirelessly.
Human tech? All designed to be operated by fleshy creatures with two arms, two legs, five fingers per hand and the basic assumption that everyone had at least a similar overall body-plan and size.
Fortunately, this was a kid who coded up a virus for a literal alien computer system in a few minutes – it took longer – and a few uncomfortable questions to Ratchet before he was satisfied it was safe – to work out a proper way of connecting it, but removing the case, screen and anything else not needed for our connection program to work made it small enough to slip under one of my plates in a location where it would be mostly protected while also not interfering with my systems.
Which meant I could now browse the internet independently, looking up the forums Raf spent time cleaning the Autobot sightings from, but also just general news sites to get an idea of how much regular people knew about what was going on… And, admittedly, to play some music while I worked on other things.
Bulkhead was still slowly recovering, but was now at least able to limp around the base reasonably well and just needing to rebuild his strength, even if the slow progress was annoying him. From what I understood the main reason it was taking so long was the prolonged tox-en exposure more than the actual damage that was done – provided the tools and resources, most injuries that didn't damage a biomechanism like a T-Cog or Vocaliser could be fixed fairly quickly by just fabricating appropriate replacements.
Agent Fowler had made an early appearance, apparently to get a read on myself and Smokescreen.
To his credit, he seemed only momentarily surprised to be talking to a – to his perspective – large robotic canine, and had seemed happy to learn I had at least some understanding of sneaking around. Even if he was significantly less happy to learn about who had taught me.
But, he'd talked with Optimus and convinced the Prime that me getting some more practice at covert operations was a good idea, hence the training mission I'd just done with him. At least some of it, I think, was reminding him that more than once now the kids had needed to be sent in to grab something from a human building, while I could do that relatively easily with much less risk to myself if I ran into a Decepticon.
Probably couldn't beat one by myself, but I wasn't limited to running away and screaming for help from the bots at least.
There were tradeoffs of course – If I was sent in ahead to scout things, I might not be available to help with the fight itself, but the benefits should outweigh the risks in most cases.
I was taking a few moments to relax (and carefully ignoring Bulkhead's complaining at Ratchet) when the base comms system rang with a call from Agent Fowler, "Prime, we've got a situation. At 1630 hours today, a satellite was stolen from a high security military vault. Camera's picked up Breakdown at the scene. But that's not all."
The security cam footage switched to show the armoured car stopping at the gate, "He entered the base in vehicle mode… with someone in the driver's seat."
"A Decepticon paired with a human!?" Ratchet sputtered disbelievingly.
"More likely than you might think. I have a pretty good idea of who. The satellite that was stolen? Was Project Damocles. Invented by a group under the command of one Colonel Leland Bishop."
"MECH." Optimus nodded slowly.
"I'd guess the former Colonel Bishop wanted it back." Fowler agreed, "He knew where it would have been stored, as well as how to unlock the secure storage crate it was in.."
+Wait, didn't Silas get crushed by that copy they made of Optimus?+ Bumblebee beeped.
"Yeah, last we saw Silas he was flattened under fifty tonnes of metal. No human can survive that… Right?" Arcee added.
"Until now, I'd have agreed with you. But, we never did find a body." Fowler said quietly, "Why he's throwing in with the Decepticons I'm less sure. But their interest is pretty obvious: Project Damocles itself."
"Damocles is human tech right? Why would the Decepticons of all bots want it bad enough to work with a human?" Smokescreen asked.
"Because, Project Damocles is built around a Particle Cannon powerful enough to slice up a hardened bunker like a birthday cake. Or destroy entire city blocks." Agent Fowler said, crossing his arms, "From anywhere in orbit." He shook his head slowly, "It's the work of a madman. And in the hands of someone like Megatron…"
"An unacceptable threat." Optimus nodded slowly. He could use it to threaten human capitals, or make it impossible for the Autobots to fight as they would be constantly dodging attacks from above… It would make an already difficult position completely untenable.
"Exactly. Fortunately for us, the satellite is programmed to only respond to its original authentication codes. I put in a request to find out where they were being stored, and… yes, turns out they were kept in one of our long term archival buildings in Colorado. I'm calling them now, see if we can delete the data before Silas and his new buddies figure that out too."
The line on our end was silent for a few seconds, before Fowler came back on sounding worried, "Line's dead. Either nobody's there to answer, or someone cut the hardlines. Either way, we need boots on the ground, now!"
"We must keep these codes out of Decepticon hands at all costs." Optimus nodded, "Ratchet, set the Groundbridge Coordinates, Autobots, prepare to Roll Out!"
"EP EP EP, Bulkhead I have not yet cleared you for duty!" Ratchet shouted, as I ran past to join Bumblebee.
We headed through as soon as the Groundbridge was formed – only to immediately come under fire from a squad of Vehicons.
"The Decepticons got here first... Autobots, recapture that building!" Optimus shouted, engine roaring as he accelerated towards them, followed by everyone else. I was looking out one of Bee's windows when I saw it.
"Incoming!" I shouted as the brilliant orange Particle beam roared down in front of us, the Autobots all turning away as it started to follow us, cutting off once we were far enough away.
Every time someone had a clear shot and tried to make a break for it, the beam appeared in their path and forced them to turn away.
"Bumblebee, if you can get me out there without Soundwave noticing, I might be able to sneak in and shut it off."
+Good idea!+ He beeped, +One distraction, coming up!+
The muscle car accelerated towards the building again, this time though deliberately turning wide and spinning his wheels, throwing up a cloud of dust and dirt, +Go Go Go+
I dove out through a partially opened door and flattened myself to the ground as much as possible as the beam passed me by.
I slowly made my way to the building, sidling away from the Vehicons that were still busy watching the rest of the team and sneaking in through a side entrance.
I crouched down low, stalking instincts helping me lighten my pedesteps as I took a peek around each corner. No humans so far... And this should be...
Soundwave. The sticklike form of the Decepticon communications officer was stood hooked up to the control systems with a pair of data tendrils, the screens around them scrolling constantly through data as the mech scanned through their contents.
I had no illusions of beating him in fight... But I wasn't here to fight Soundwave, And the human computers he was downloading data from were a lot more vulnerable.
I took aim at the mainframe and charged as quietly as I could, 'There we go. Say good bye to your-Ack!'
I yelped as my proximity sensors warned me, too late, about the Cougaraider that had been hiding under one of the tables I had not checked, turning to try and face them with a snarl only to freeze as I felt fangs pressing on the soft metal under my neck plating.
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Honestly this is on him. I mean seriously he knows Ravage is around and how sneaky she is and he doesnt immediately check every possible location she could be hiding in?
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
There's always a balancing act between being fast and being thorough. In this case he was hoping to derail things before the kids get put in danger due to Raf having to hack it.
Unfortunately for him, yeah, Ravage was nearby.
That being said, Ravage isn't going to particularly enjoy what cones next either.
Chapter 8
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
Chapter 8
I froze as I felt sharp fangs around my neck strut, just inches away from slicing through my primary fuel line. My instincts were screaming at me, but I didn't even have to expose my neck – it was already exposed, and the fangs were already there.I forced myself to not move. A battle was one thing, but if Ravage had wanted to kill me she would have done so by now, and we both knew it. No, this was a warning and dominance display, and it was usually considered rude to maintain those for more than a few astroseconds.
Sure enough the sharp fangs removed themselves after a couple astroseconds, followed by an apologetic lick of the slightly dented metal. "Sorry. But I can't let you interfere."
I turned my helm to look back at her with as much of a glare as I could manage, "Nice to meet you too Ravage. I'd heard you left." I said acidly.
"Oh, you know how it is." She said lightly, "Something came up that I just couldn't resist." The 'raider grinned slightly, prowling around me as I slowly sat down, before sitting in front of me and looking down at her paws for once, audials drooping slightly as her frame lost some of its confident poise. "... For what it's worth, I'm sorry. It was... it was never supposed to be like this. If I'd known you were still online I'd have-"
I growled despite myself, hackles rising, "What, tossed me back to the Decepticons? Like their good little pet?"
Ravage jerked as if slapped, a warning hiss meeting my growl, "Don't you dare!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, who meekly walked off after their lord and master Megatron assured them I wouldn't even be aware of the time passing, that this would be the best way?" I growled, "Do you... Do you have Any Idea how long I screamed for you to come back? For anyone to come back?"
Ravage's optics brightened slightly in alarm, backing away a couple paces, "I-y-you... You weren't supposed to… I never thought..."
"What, because Megatron told you so?" I snorted, "I was in policing, remember? I'd seen those things before. There's a reason they were supposed to be prohibited to use on bots that can't talk in their altmode. I tried to tell you that, but did you listen!? Nooooo, Megatron this, Megatron that, as if something is true just because he says it!"
"What else was I supposed to do!?" She growled, "He was going to execute you!"
"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE LET HIM!" I shouted, suddenly uncaring of the silent Decepticon in the other room, or the rest of the Autobots outside, or anything else outside of the sudden silence after my shout. "... You should have let him..."
The sounds of blaster fire getting closer and Soundwave stepping away from the console clued me in that Raf must have started his hack, and the Autobots were now coming.
Ravage was still staring at me, "... Primus, Spitfire. What did they do to you?"
I stared back, "... Verceron and Windstorm. Check those Decepticon records. Then tell me why they deserve your loyalty. And why you didn't already know."
Ravage circled around me uneasily, obviously hearing the Autobots approaching as well as I could as her audials flattened, "… I'll do that." Then she grimaced slightly, "You're going to have to attack me. I was supposed to capture you if you showed up, so if I come back without a scratch and without you…"
I took perhaps a bit more enjoyment than I probably should have done from clawing through the Decepticon badge on her right foreleg, the Cougaraider hissing slightly before nodding to me and bounding off to join Soundwave as the Autobots burst in and the Decepticon spies flew away, Ravage magclamped to the top of Soundwave's Reaper drone alt.
I walked into the main room to watch them fly off.
"You look good, for having an encounter with Ravage." Arcee commented once we'd gotten word the satellite had been deorbited and the control software was useless to them now.
I rubbed at the dents on my neck plating, "Apparently I'm wanted alive not dead. You guys showed up before they were ready to leave."
"Hmm…" She looked at me searchingly for a moment, before seeming to accept that for the moment.
------------------------------
Decepticon Warship Nemesis
Ravage
Ravage watched the ex-human abomination being dragged out of the command centre with a vague sense of guilt. It made little sense; She didn't know either this 'Cylas' or Breakdown that well, it had no effect on her either way, and frankly his puppeteering of a Cybertronian body was ghoulish and disgusting anyway. She should be glad he was getting what he deserved, but she could only think back to Spitfire's words from earlier.
'Was he pleading like that too?… Does anyone deserve that Knockout is going to do to him?'
"Ravage." Megatron's voice cut through her thoughts, the minicon looking back at the warlord as his glowing red eyes switched to staring at her, "You return empty handed. I believe you were instructed to capture your little friend if they were spotted."
"The intel I was given was outdated. Spitfire was fully capable of assuming root mode and fought back." Ravage answered carefully, shifting to show the clawed out section of her Decepticon badge, "I could likely have subdued him, but the Autobots arrived before I had the chance."
"Hmm… Very well. Get Knockout to have a look at that once he's done getting his new… 'patient' settled in. Then return to your primary task." Megatron said eventually, clearly in a good mood again if he wasn't doling out further punishments.
'Was he this cheerful about what Spitfire was going through? Was that why his mood suddenly improved? Primus…' Ravage thought, though what the Cougaraider said was, "At once, my lord." As she got up and marched out of the bridge.
But she didn't head straight for the medical bay. Instead, Ravage turned their skills towards stealing information from the Decepticons for once, rather than the Autobots.
The stories of her as a hoarder of data were silly rumours of course. Any spy knew never to carry any information they didn't absolutely need – Soundwave had ingrained it among the Senate Recordicons that whatever data they captured should be kept in an isolated drive and dropped off at a secure location as soon as possible, and that they were only to have information on their own specific missions. What a spy did not know, they could not reveal under interrogation.
But that required a great deal of trust in your superiors, to give you the information you needed to know, and to make the best wider decisions they could with the data you gathered but were never privy to. Ravage had internalised that, was used to 'need-to-know' measures and when an authority said something was the case, that was that.
Megatron said that Autobot advances meant that harsher measures were necessary? Well, he'd know better than Ravage did.
That trust had been cracked when she realised they must have been sending Spitfire's alt mode onto the front for him to get 'killed' by Autobots.
And now?
The fact that Spitfire had been awake and aware of his state that entire time, that she'd recharged during night cycles with him likely begging for her to come back and release him (or kill him, her recall subroutines supplied unhelpfully)…
Ravage clamped down tightly on her emotional subroutines as she slunk into a side access to the computer core and transformed, transforming herself into Data Disc mode and slotting into the console.
It was time to get some answers.
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Shorter one than most, but this felt like a natural end point since anything further would just be rehashing the episode.
Cave_Canem
Miniature Cyberwolf
I do believe I mentioned either here or in the SB thread that Spitfire's main coping method is 🌟Repression🌟
Now we see what was being repressed: surprise, its more trauma!