Transformers: Steel Reign

[LadyTevar]

"Oh yes, the bird and the cat are still very functional," Crimson laughed. "Last time Bumblebee came back with scratches from hood to tailpipe, and cursing Ravage strongly."

[General Havoc]

If Hornet had posessed a heart, you might just have heard it snap at the news that not only was he being ordered to stay with the train, but that Ironhide was in fact going to be told all about his escapade. Ironhide would assuredly flay him alive once he found out he had left the base without permission.

He stood there in the dust kicked up by the others, and felt as useless as he ever had, a fact which wasn't helped in the slightest by Wideload and Gridlock standing over him and making comments about how much he reminded them of a petrorabbit. They offered him something called "Vodka", which he had never heard of, and while normally he would have loved the chance to try something new, right now he felt like just heading home and waiting for Ironhide to nail him to the wall.

"Thanks Gridlock," he said sadly, "but... I don't really feel like it right now." He sighed and trudged back towards the train, kicking at a small rock as he went. It just wasn't fair.

And then he heard over the radio that the Decepticon had been located.... and was surrendering.

He froze in mid-step. Surrendering?

This he HAD to see.

He hesitated as he turned around, staring at the ridge that the others had gone over. Crimson had ordered him to guard the train. She had further ordered him to not follow the rest of them. At the same time though, she was also going to report him to Ironhide ANYWAY. If he did this, what more was she going to do to him? Report him twice? Ironhide was going to kill him in any event...

He hesitated, then got a creative idea...

With a leap, he turned into a miniature jet fighter and unleashed his afterburners, blasting into the air like a meteor in reverse. He clawed for altitude, flying up to one thousand, two thousand, three thousand feet, high enough so that he could use his magnification lenses to watch what was going on. Wheeljack had belatedly installed basic reconnaisance gear into Hornet as a sop to Ironhide, and now it would pay off. He could watch the Decepticon arriving, and still be guarding the train, doing exactly what he had been told to do.

... it did not occur to him that doing so would make him visible to every radar system within a hundred miles, and any Decepticon within fifty.

[Charon]

Shellshock kept his weapon down and loaded, keeping in step behind Deathstrike. When Crimson made her comment Shellshock laughed. "You wouldn't be saying that if you were as tall as I am. Do you know how hard it is for me to find cover?"

When the fast moving target showed up on his sensor scans Shellshock perked up immediately, his gun pointed towards the possible threat.

"There's something that just gained a lot of altitude. Looks like it's coming from the train."

[Cynical Cat]

"So Bumblebee continues to avoid destruction?" said Deathstrike. "Perhaps I underestimated him."

[Dark Silver]

Gridlock was rising from his kneeling position, preparing to pick up Hornet and put Teeny-bot (his new nickname for Hornet) on his shoulder, and head to the Maintenance Bays and Energon bar when Crimson's call came through.

"Dah, we have CR chambers in maintence bay five open, I meet you there with Teeny-bot......."

Then Hornet took off, first to the train, then to the air, and Gridlock sighed, "nevamind about Teenybot..he is in air, meet at Maintenance Bay 5"

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke had headed with Overload, listening in on the conversation. And then Crimson made the announement.

He froze. He opened a private channel with Crimson. "Could you repeat that, Crim?" He asked, his voice cold. The military 'bot transformed and began driving back towards Crimson.

[General Havoc]

Hornet flew in lazy cirlces, slowly descending in altitude as he watched the gigantic Decepticon being escorted back to the train. Without really thinking about how bad of an idea it was to draw attention to himself, Hornet opened up his own radio and asked a question.

"Do... do we get to keep him?"

It was the first time he had ever heard of a surrendering Decepticon. He wasn't sure how this sort of thing worked. Did they just repaint him or something?

[LadyTevar]

"I understand it's been a near thing at times," Crimson admitted, before she also looked skywards, quickly calculating both speed and momentium... and then mass.

"Hornet........" she said, eyes narrowing. "I tell him to guard the train, and what does he do?" Then the trajectory of his flight became clearer to her. "The little bird-brain is doing an aerial patrol? With Blackout or whoever that Copter was up there?!"

The private comm from Stryke reached her, and again she subvocalized. "Your audio working, Stryke? Shellshock and I have accepted his surrender. Now, have you found that Copter yet? Hornet's just gone airborne and lit up every sensor in a hundred klicks or more"

[Charon]

Shellshock relaxed some as the incoming signal openned a comm channel and turned out to be Hornet. "Hornet, you're supposed to be guarding the train. I almost shot you out of the sky damnit, give us some warning next time or I swear by the matrix you won't make it back to Ironhide to be rebuffed by him save in tiny bite size pieces."

Shellshock turned back to look at Deathstrike. "Yeah, we get kids like that. I don't like it either."

[SirNitram]

"Turn it around, Stryke." Overload rumbled. "This isn't a time for your personal scores to rule you. You're a soldier now."

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke grumbled and held course for a few seconds more, before slamming on the brakes, turning around and flooring it. He opened a channel to Overload. "I've always been a soldier, Overload." He said, reaching his top speed. He would deal Deathstrike later.

[General Havoc]

Hornet obviously heard the transmission from Crimson, as he let out a yelp over his radio and immediately winged over and dove for the ground, levelling off at barely fifty feet above the ground, before applying his brakes and transforming back into humanoid form, landing on his feet, just like Jetfire had taught him to.

Learning how to do that had been a painful process.

"I WAS watching the train!" he said almost indignantly. "I can't see over it from the ground!"

He had landed midway between the train and the incoming Decepticon with escort, and turned towards the latter, craning his neck back and blinking in astonishment as the Decepticon approached. "Wow..." he said, a bit louder than he was intending. And then, without further ado, he addressed the gigantic Decepticon.

"Um... hi!" he chirped to the Decepticon. "I'm Hornet! Who're you?"

[SirNitram]

"Then act like it." Was the curt reply, railwheels biting into the cold ground. "It's forty below out here, I have no patience for personal grudges when we're trying to see what that flyer was up to."

[Cynical Cat]

"I am Deathstrike. Once I was a Decepticon warrior and one of Megatron's lieutenants."

[General Havoc]

Hornet looked almost surprised that the Decepticon had replied to him rather than blowing him to bits. He had never spoken to a Decepticon before, and was obviously a bit tongue tied as to what to say.

"You... worked for Megatron?" he asked, in obvious astonishment, his optics wide and awestruck. "Wow..."

He glanced at the Decepticon's injuries, which looked extensive, not that he was an expert.

"Did... Shellshock shoot you?"

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke turned his comm off and muttered under his breath. "Piss off, old man." He said, but tried to be quiet so he wouldn't hear. Stryke came over a small hill and spotted the small building that had gotten shot up. "Overload, your a closer hitter, go over to the building and check it out, I'll keep overwatch."

[Charon]

Shellshock looked down at Hornet. "Hornet, leave him alone. He needs a CR chamber, not questions. At least wait until he's healed, and get back to keeping watch of that train. Now."

[LadyTevar]

The problem about Hornet's complaint? Crimson couldn't see over the train either. So, in a way, she had to admit that the best way for the teenybot to guard would be from the air.

It did surprise her that Deathstrike spoke to Hornet, a flier not even half his size. Then again... Deathstrike did seem to give the smaller Cassetticons respect. So, for the moment, she kept quiet. If ShellShock wanted to give him an audio-blistering, that was up to the older warrior.

[Cynical Cat]

"I don't know the names of the Autobots that hit me," said Deathstrike. "I was hit twice and then crashed. And yes, I worked for Megatron. I was one of his strike leaders."

[General Havoc]

Hornet deflated as Shellshock ordered him to resume watching over the train. "Yes sir..." he said sadly, and turned to fly off. Before he could though he hesitated, another idea coming to mind.

"Could... could I go help look for the Helicopter?" he asked anyone who cared to answer. "Jetfire said that airplanes are good at hunting helicopters, and I'm an airplane! I'll be real careful, and I can see him a long way away!"

"Wheeljack upgraded my magnifiers last week!" he added proudly, as though showing off a trophy of some sort. He neglected to mention that Wheeljack had done so because Hornet had managed to blow his own optics out after a disasterous accident with a pressure chamber.

[LadyTevar]

Wow.. the little bot came up with a good idea. However...

"Hornet..., you've been given orders twice now to guard the train," Crimson answered sternly. "I won't argue doing it from the air, but you will follow -that- order first, understand?"

Inside, however, she was wanting to laugh at the eager little bot.

[B4UTRUST]

Ice activated his comm unit, broadcasting unencrypted across all available autobot frequencies within range.
"I-if anyone can hear me, this is Swiftshot, I'm taking heavy fire from unknown Decepticon forces. Not sure how much longer I can hold out."

During the transmission he began to alternately fire his photon cannons into the air and into the building surrounding him, giving the appropriate sounds of a small war breaking out for background noise.

"I repeat, anyone that can hear me, this is Swif-"
He cut the transmission abruptly by aiming one of his photon lasers into his center mass and pulling the trigger several times in rapid succession. His comm unit went dead as well as a few other of his less crucial functions, leaving him mobility enough to escape if the need should arise. He was well practiced at this, having pulled this same ploy a few times before. Of course most Cybertronians that knew of that were currently among the deceased.

He sent one of his lasers back into subspace holding and relaxed his grip on his remaining one, letting it half-fall out of his hand. He was the very appearance of an Autobot who had just had his exhaust port handed to him. Noticable scratches and dents on his armor, blackened sections, loss of functions. As helpless as a petrorabbit.

And then he waited.

[General Havoc]

Once again, Hornet seemed to deflate as his request was shot down. "Okay..." he said grudgingly. He waved goodbye to the giant Decepticon looming overhead. If the Decepticon had surrendered, he figured that made him an Autobot, and so a potential new friend. Complexities in such things were beyond him.

With a roar, his afterburner caught and he blasted back into the air and resumed turning circles above the cargo train, making sure to keep an eye out for any helicopters on radar...

... you never knew....

Suddenly his radio crackled to life.

Hornet listened in abject horror as an Autobot named Swiftshot reported himself nearby and under attack.

Quickly he scanned for an active radio transponder, and spotted a signal several miles off with a friendly ID signiature. "Swiftshot? Swiftshot?" he called into the radio. He waited a second, but when no reply was forthcoming, he broadcast to the others on the ground. "I know where he is! I should go help him!"

[SirNitram]

Things were odd. Stryke was forgotten as the transmission came. Radar wasn't showing much of anything in the air, yet there was someone, not far, in this direction under fire. Turning, in this form, was a pain. But Overload managed it and continued to rattle on across the Tundra. "Keep it off the comms, kid, but watch the skies."

And, thought the old train... Where's the tracks? If an Autobot is out here, where are the tire tracks?

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke parked ontop of a hill, transforming and cradling his machine pistol, keeping a watch of the sky. He activated his zoom and looked around. There should only have been six autobots out here, the convoy and then the two working the reactor. Something was definitely not right.