Transformers: Steel Reign

[General Havoc]

Hornet seemed almost reluctant to release Crimson, so fond was he of getting squeezed back (something Wheeljack had tried and failed to discover the root of at least half a dozen times).

"But... I feel lots better! Honest!" he said, in the manner of a child being told he was too sick to go out and play with his friends (which wasn't too far off the mark). He quieted down very quickly however when he saw that Deathstrike had showed up to visit. Plainly he was as confused by Deathstrike's presence as Wheeljack was.

Staring rather rudely, Hornet woke up to the fact that Wheeljack was frowning at him with crossed arms. "Erm... hi Deathstrike!" he chirped, suddenly remembering his manners (what passed for them at least). "Are you okay?"

The question was obviously aimed at both Crimson and Deathstrike.

[Cynical Cat]

"I am fine," said Deathstrike. Did Crimson really think he was too stupid to notice the connection between her words and Hornet exiting shutdown? That simple observation and deduction was beyond him? Apparently everyone thought he was just a stupid Decepticon thug. "I was concerned for your well being. My repairs were basic and the human ones were of uncertain quality. You-" Teletrain-1's transmission interrupted Deathstrike.

"Excuse me," said the Decepticon warrior. "Apparently I am needed elsewhere." He turned to leave.

[LadyTevar]

"Take care DeathStrike," Crimson called out as he left, without even saying why he stopped by.

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack appreciated Crimson's discretion, but it wasn't really necessary. Even had Deathstrike known all the commands that Crimson used to wake and sleep Hornet, even if he had a recording of her voice, it would not avail him or anyone else to use the codes. There was layered protections on Hornet's wake and sleep routines, involving transponder signals, hypersonic distortions unique to a transformer's speaker, and incrimented saved sound templates to ensure no re-recording was being used. Not even Wheeljack himself could use Crimson's codes. Of course that was why he had his own...

Hornet, as usual, blinked with his one eye for a second as Deathstrike admitted he was concerned for his well-being, and then decided that it didn't matter and smiled broadly. "I'm okay!" he chirped. "Wheeljack can fix anything!" He grinned up at Wheeljack, who did not look quite as certain as Hornet did.

As Deathstrike had to suddenly leave, Hornet looked puzzled at Crimson for a second, before waving goodbye to Deathstrike.

"Where's he going?" he asked Crimson, unaware that she likely had no idea.

[LadyTevar]

"I guess your comm system is still down, then," Crimson answered, glancing to WheelJack for verification. "Teletran-1 called for him. I'm assuming they need a flier that's still able to fly."

She added the last bit to point out bluntly Hornet did not fit the description, just in cause.

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack nodded. Hornet's radio was presently sitting in about three hundred pieces on top of a work table on the other side of the room.

Crimson's comment was blunt enough for even Hornet to get it, and he frowned and gently moved the flipper-like stump of his right wing through the air almost wistfully. Perhaps it was a facet of all fliers, or perhaps just one of the strange aspects of Hornet's programming, but Hornet hated being unable to fly. Not that he was in any hurry to go run out and take to the air, but he liked knowing that if all else failed, he could just take off and fly for a while. The re-assurance of having that capacity was important to him, and with half of his wing missing, it wasn't there. Accordingly he looked sheepishly up at Crimson

"I'll be able to fly once Wheeljack finishes fixing me," he said with what passed for great authority for hom, as though he was trying to convince himself of that fact. The nervous glances he cast at Wheeljack periodically, looking for re-assurance, did not lend much to his credibility.

Wheeljack folded his arms and adopted a suitably serious tone. "I'm not sure about that," he said. "Since you tend to get in trouble so much, I was thinking perhaps it's time for a new form for you. A steamroller maybe? Or a floor lamp?"

It was a joke of course and Wheeljack barely managed to restrain his laughter as Hornet took it completely seriously and nearly panicked, instantly begging Wheeljack not to remodel him into something terrestrial and slow, promising to behave better and not crash so many times, before in desperation turning to Crimson and begging her in total sincerity and seriousness:

"Don't let him do it, Crimson! I don't wanna be a floor lamp! Please!"

[Dark Silver]

.:Standard Earth Orbit:.

Cascade flew between the Decepticon satellites, performing a normal maintenance scan upon each one, physically most of the time it seemed, as he approached. He hated this duty, but as one of the Decepticons who was able to achieve orbit on his own power, he was forced on this duty - he drew the short pine tree.

His form was a variation of the Cybertronian Fighter design, clearly a descendant of what had become Deathstrike's form, though obviously slightly slower and more aged. He had decided against updating alternate modes many times in the past - he had grown rather fond of his alt mode and feared any change to it that might come with a Reformat.

He approached the last satellite for this cycle, when he picked up the transmissions, a faint Autobot comm frequency, a old one by the feel of it. A Autobot, calling for assistance, in orbit....

"Well, looks like this will be a easy kill...."

Cascade smirked to himself, positioning his bulk for a better scan, and locked onto the source of the transmissions. Transforming was a simple matter, and his thrusters flared to cold fusion life, rocketing him through the near spacefield, and headed for the aged Decepticon shuttle - his weapons armed and ready. Once he got within range, he displayed the reason he got his name - a swarm of specially designed missiles flared from his launch ports, arced up above Blindside's shuttle, then seperated. what was five became twenty, as miniture missiles seperated from the hulk, and dived into the shuttle's hull.

Infra-energy lasers added to the damage the ship took, as it was knocked from orbit, and began to head down, towards the planet who was only far to happy to allow gravity to take it into her bossom.


------ 0 ------ 0 ------

"Deathstrike, Priority mission," TELETRAN began as Deathstrike approached the duty station, "Decepticon shuttle has appeared in orbit utilizing outdated autobot communication frequencies and identification code. Assess situation, report findings, and initiate appropriate measures."

With that, TELETRAN waited not for a confirmation, but data dumped the appropriate coordinates and launch vectors to reach the shuttle directly into Deathstrike's primary navigational buffers.

[rhoenix]

Hearing the proximity warning, Blindside tried to get a better glimpse of the trans-atmospheric jet that had set off the spatial proximity alarm he'd set. Passive scans made his eyes narrow slowly - it was definitely a Decepticon.

He sat with dread, knowing this old shuttle had no way whatsoever of out-maneuvering an asteroid, let alone a specialty trans-atmospheric jet, as this one appeared to be.

Missile warnings flashed on the sensors, prompting him to make a quick transmission over the communication array. "This is Blindside, and my transport shuttle has been attacked by Decepticon forces. Evasion is impossible, projecting impact in..."

The ready light of the communication array winked out at the same time the ship rocked with multiple impacts. He knew with sickening certainty that the communications array was certainly offline, as were the rather touchy engines, according to the updated ship's diagnostic.

Blindside smirked to himself, though - this seemed to be the second time this sort of thing had happened, and with the same ship. His gyrometrics began to fluxuate as the shuttle, amidst many creaks and groans from an over-stressed hull, nosed down toward a major landmass, identified helpfully now by the navigation array as the North American continent. Firing the navigational thrusters to attempt slowing down his descent, it did help somewhat - but the impact would still be horrendous.

( EDIT: Due to Deathstrike's greeting, though the crash is imminent, it won't be the stasis-lock causing one as previously anticipated. Further notes in the OOC thread. )

[SirNitram]

"Heh. I'll stick with the slagging mudballs, myself. Cybertron's been smashed and rebuilt enough in my lifetime. I can't wait to retire somewhere." This was Overload's voice, coming from a much smaller body. The rebuilt Autobot strode into the repair bay, folding his arms. "Shellshock, down here. This is why you shouldn't get blown up. This was all Teletraan could do."

[LadyTevar]

"Don't let him do it, Crimson! I don't wanna be a floor lamp! Please!"

Ok, Crimson couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. "Hornet, he's teasing you!" she managed to say through the giggles. "Silly teenybot, do you really think he'd do that to you?"

[General Havoc]

Hornet blinked at the revelation. "He... he might!" he insisted, glancing up at Wheeljack. "One time he threatened to take away my engine and turn me into a glider! He said that maybe then I wouldn't hit buildings so much!"

Wheeljack was laughing as well by now, and Hornet looked almost pouty, as a small child would when their concerns were not taken seriously.

"He keeps saying if I don't stop getting broken, that he'll turn me into something that can't move," he explained, trying to sound reasonable. "Wouldn't you get scared if they said you couldn't have wheels anymore?"

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike launched himself into the air, transforming as he gained altitude. Once he assumed his space fighter form he fired his engines at maximum thrust, blasting through the clouds and through the stratosphere as he headed towards the cold void of space.

[Dark Silver]

Deathstrike streaked through the atmosphere, arriving in orbit just intime to see Cascade's final run on the shuttle - the ship itself falling into the planet's atmosphere, and heating up as friction went to work.

Cascade, for his own, was occupied with his own victory, to note Deathstrike's coming up out of the atmosphere, and pulled a overly grand loop as if he was in atmosphere, before turning back to watch the shuttle burn up and impact.

[Cynical Cat]

You would think that some people would learn to watch their six, thought Deathstrike. Some people never learn. A nice, flashy loop. Sometimes it was almost too easy. Just point and shoot.

He aimed at Cascade and fired a long laser pulse at maximum power.

[LadyTevar]

Hornet blinked at the revelation. "He... he might!" he insisted, glancing up at Wheeljack. "One time he threatened to take away my engine and turn me into a glider! He said that maybe then I wouldn't hit buildings so much!"

Wheeljack was laughing as well by now, and Hornet looked almost pouty, as a small child would when their concerns were not taken seriously.

"He keeps saying if I don't stop getting broken, that he'll turn me into something that can't move," he explained, trying to sound reasonable. "Wouldn't you get scared if they said you couldn't have wheels anymore?"

"Oh Hornet...," Crimson said, chuckling and reaching out to touch the unharmed side of his head. "We are teasing you. That is all. We know how much you love the skies, and we'd never take that from you. It's just teasing."

[Dark Silver]

Cascade was gloating to himself, about to contact his superior on Earth with his report, when Deathstrike's laser gutted him.

The blast was so sudden, the impact so immediate, Cascade didn't even have a chance to scream as his power systems died out, and he was sucked in by Earth's gravity well.

Overall, he made a less flashy fireworks display than the shuttle who was currently falling quickly towards the mountain range known as the North Americna Ozarks.

[General Havoc]

Hornet hesitated for another second, just to make sure Crimson wasn't kidding further, and glanced at Wheeljack, before breaking out into a broad smile and, as always, giving Crimson another quick hug (best he could with one and a half wings).

"Hey!" he said suddenly as an idea came to him (a scary prospect). "Maybe Wheeljack can make you something to let you fly too! Like a rocket or something! You'd love it! Flying is the greatest thing in the whole world!"

He glanced over at Wheeljack to see if his idea could be put into practice. It did not occur to him to see if Crimson agreed with his assessment.

[LadyTevar]

"I'll let you and Deathstrike do the flying," Crimson quickly replied, once again pulling Hornet off her and pushing him down onto the repair slab. "I'm not ready to ReFormat any time soon." Honestly, she preferred her own version of flying at 300mph on a straight stretch.

"now, do you want me to tell WheelJack about how you got this shot up, or not?"

[General Havoc]

"Shellshock mentioned that he tried to take Sixshot on single-handedly" said Wheeljack as he crossed the room to check on something. Hornet looked up at Crimson almost pleadingly, so convinced was he that Wheeljack was going to be extremely upset with him.

"I've told you before, Hornet," said Wheeljack. "You can't go up against a full-scale Decepticon fighter and expect this not to happen." Wheeljack had plainly not yet heard of what had happened to Hornet in the repair bay, and from the look on his face, Hornet was worried what his reaction would be once he did.

[LadyTevar]

"Well, from what I heard it was more he didn't duck in time," Crimson said, studiously ignoring the looks Hornet was giving her, since she knew WheelJack a bit better than Hornet thought.

"I'm talking about the ..." a slight pause here, just barely noticeable. "... robosmashed humans that attacked the base while Hornet was getting repaired. It seems Hornet took out four of them, all roughly his size, before they slaughtered the humans around him."

[Charon]

Shellshock snorted at Brawn's comment. "Then you're free to go back home and fight for burned out pits. 'Mudballs' are where this fight is happening now, so keep your mind here, not on thoughts of distant home."

When Shellshock heard Overload's voice, he was confused, because it was not over his private comm., nor did he see his tall friend. Shellshock glanced down and smirked. "Ha! You look like your ready to gnaw Megatron's ankles clean off!" Shellshock laughed outloud, utterly hystarical at the new size of his old friend.

[General Havoc]

Hornet actually winced as Crimson said that, and curled up a little smaller on the work table as Wheeljack's tinkering sounds stopped.

Slowly the Autobot engineer turned around. "... robosmashed humans?"

Hornet gave a soft whimper, as Wheeljack walked over. "Hornet," he said, "what happened?"

Hornet's voice became very soft and small. "I was in the repair bay at the base," he said, "and five... big humans in armor came in and started shooting everything. And... so I... I fought with them, and I shot two of them, and the humans shot one, and I knocked another one out with a bar.... and then the last one shot me with a taser and with a gun... in the optic... and I had to... to..."

Hornet left the last bit unsaid. He wasn't crying, but he was clearly not far from it. He closed his optic and curled up slowly into a small ball. Wheeljack walked over slowly, setting his tools down, and looking at Crimson for confirmation, laying one hand gently on Hornet.

[LadyTevar]

"He scrapped the last one," she confirmed. "Shoved a steel beam through the torso." She reached over, recognizing amongst the spare parts a working memory reader and plugged the cable into one of her easier accessed I/O ports.

The reader created a holo of the so-called HeadMasters, in airplane, drone, and then 'armored human'. "This is why I said Robosmashed. After Overload blew up Shockwave, they all crashed like empty AI."

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack closed his optics slowly as Crimson told him the news, and gently patted Hornet, who looked to be on the verge of tears, but trying to avoid letting them out. "Dear Primus," he whispered and shook his head slowly, but he didn't sound disapointed, not that Hornet could tell the difference.

"I'm sorry..." said Hornet in a voice that was barely a whisper, and he repeated it. "I'm sorry..."

Wheeljack did not reply with words, but gently picked the little bot up in both arms and held him tightly, and let him cough back his tears as best he could (which wasn't very well). Hornet was constantly going from all smiles and hugs to all tears and... well... more hugs. Some things were constant.

"It's all right," said Wheeljack. "It's all right, Hornet." Hornet made as little noise as he could, and with only one optic to leak, there wasn't much mess.

"The humans," said Wheeljack to Crimson. "They were... automatons?"

[LadyTevar]

Crimson accessed more of her memory of the battle, showing what she had seen of the Drones tactics and reactions. "Deathstrike suggested they were ... volunteers from China. Those who had been given a choice in the matter."

The memory panned down a long line of attacking drones. "There were even more hiding in the base. At that point, it was clear there were too many to be simple volunteers." She paused, rewound, and replayed the scene of a HeadMaster separating from the drone, obviously transforming. "That is more than just mindwiping. The Decepticons ... reformatted the humans to do that."