Transformers: Steel Reign

[Charon]

Shellshock put on a more serious face. He turned on a private comm. "Teletran, please inform me on recent important discoveries or activity in New York City or Decepticon held territory."

While Shellshock uploaded the information he responded to Crimson. "Hah, yes he likely will. How do you think he'll react to realizing that you used to be that tall?"

[rhoenix]

It was a mark of the many years of training he'd undergone that Blindside wasn't going his full speed along the highway - merely about 100 mph as he took in all the scenery of this lush, beautiful organic world. The artificial roads and other signs of habitation reminded him a bit of the sterile beauty of Cybertron as he remembered it, with the trees and animal life making a beautiful balance.

Following the detailed map Deathstrike had given him, he switched highways as he headed further north, now noticing that there were other cars on the road. He was momentarily elated, thinking that he was amongst the Autobots again, when he didn't feel anything from them. They felt...dead, though they were still moving. This confused him at first as he passed them by on the highway, though he began to understand as he saw the humans within them. These were the intelligent organics he was told about, and he was fascinated by their gestures in their cars, though he got the suspicion quickly that some of the unfriendly gestures he was seeing were directed at him.

He was just coming to terms with this, when he saw another car, with flashing lights and making a horrible noise behind him, closing the distance. The organic being within the car seemed to be on an important mission, so Blindside moved to the other lane to let the car and driver by once he had room. Thankfully, it didn't take long, as there weren't many cars on the road.

To his surprise, the car swerved into the same lane behind him, with the distracting flashing lights and loud, repeating and irritating noise. Since he was used to long periods of silence and near-solitude for millennia, this was nearly painful to his senses. He observed the vehicle more closely now, noting its black and white stark paint, and the legend of "Highway Patrol" on the hood. He had no idea how to deal with this, as he was just now realizing that this Patrol of the Highway was evidently not happy with his driving. He didn't understand why, as he was actually driving far more calmly than he did many times on Cybertron, slow enough for him to take in all the scenery, while still making good time.

Blindside was still trying to figure out what he should do when he passed a signpost that proclaimed the maximum speed was 70 mph. This confused him at first, as both he and and this Patrol of the Highway were travelling well above that.

Then, it dawned on him that he wasn't supposed to even be going at the pace he was; that he should be acting as if his maximum speed matched the sign. He began to coast until he was only going the speed indicated by the sign he'd passed, but noticed that the Patrol car was now directly behind him, and still hadn't ceased the horrible noise or the distracting lights. Worse yet, there appeared to be two more joining the first, and all of them seemed interested in him.

Checking his map, he realized that since he was now much closer to the Autobot's base than before, actually a direct over land route would be faster than using the freeways. Deciding to ignore the Patrol cars for now, he forced himself to flip sideways off the road, and into the high and heavy bushes along the highway. Right before he landed behind the tall bushes, he almost liquidly changed into his large and much more quiet wolf form, and began to run with a tireless stride on a mostly direct path toward the base. Looking behind him, he could see quite a distance behind him through the bushes that the Patrol of the Highway cars had evidently stopped, and the organic beings were looking through the underbrush for something. However, the important thing was that none of them had noticed him, so he mentally shrugged as he kept running, and focused his attention more on the path in front of him.

He was somewhat amused - many millennia ago, causing a big scene and wanting to be the center of attention would have thrilled him. Now, he merely wanted to enjoy the moment in quiet and solitude. Blindside also felt better when he resolved to ask some of the Autobots about his experience with the organic beings, and their Patrol of the Highway after he had met them, and was hopefully accepted into their ranks.

[LadyTevar]

While Shellshock uploaded the information he responded to Crimson. "Hah, yes he likely will. How do you think he'll react to realizing that you used to be that tall?"

"What do you mean? I was never tall," Crimson asked, confused. She had always been the same size, picking her Alt-forms to fit her smaller frame. Elita-1 and several other FemBots were larger, but they had been created from larger vehicles to begin with. Crimson, like Bumblebee, was just created small.

[rhoenix]

After running at a good pace for the last few hours, though not his maximum sprinting speed in his form of a dire wolf, Blindside at last was approaching the entrance to the Ark. He slowed to a walk, and moving to the plain surrounding the entrance, looked carefully all around him. He didn't see anyone outside, though heard very faint noises from within the Ark that indicated it was habited.

He looked around, his golden eyes noting every detail, and he came to the conclusion that he was likely watched. He changed almost liquidly into his humanoid robot form, with more ease than he changed into his car form. He spoke aloud, hoping to be heard and approached, as he wasn't ignorant enough to simply walk inside. He spoke with a loud, clear, though calm voice. "My name is Blindside. I wish to speak to whomever it concerns about joining the Autobots."

With that, he sat down cross-legged about a hundred meters from the entrance, and closing his eyes, softly concentrated on the heartbeats of energy moving within him, while still keeping his senses keen to the world outside of himself.

(EDIT: Fixed a minor error, and added the necessary last paragraph.)

[Cynical Cat]

Deathstrike streaked by overhead, observed Blindside sitting crosslegged in the dirt, and then transformed and descended. The humans had a word for entities that acted like Blindside was doing now. That word was "hippies." It seemed every Autobot he met, with the exception of Blindside, was crazy in one way or another.

He walked into the Ark, allowing the Autobots to meet their wayword member. He had other things to do. He called up his schematics on one of Teletran-1's consoles and began attacking the problem of how to modify his nuclear engines so they could supplement his quickly exhausted energy supplies.

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack thanked Primus that he had had the foresight to make Hornet so modular.

Hornet's systems were insanely complicated, but Wheeljack had been careful to always ensure that Hornet could, if needed, be disassembled into component bits without too much trouble, thus permitting him to replace damaged sections quickly. The hole through the stomach was the hardest part, but even that could be isolated and replaced without waiting the weeks that it would otherwise take to literally rebuild his chassis

When finally Wheeljack stood back from his handiwork, he paused for a moment to consider the bigger picture. Hornet's paint job was still mildly unfinished, and he had uneven patches on his face, wing, and stomach. On the other hand, he was once again fully functional, and with a mission looming, that was more important than perfect paint.

He was about to switch Hornet back on, when he hesitated and remembered what Crimson had said. Opening a radio channel, he paged her.

"Wheeljack to Crimson. Hornet's ready for re-activation again."

[LadyTevar]

Crimson had just been teasing Stryke about his new paintjob (not yet telling him about the small detailing on his rear fender, similar to a rumored set of mudflaps on a certain 18-wheeler), when she got the call.

Since she was still in the main repair bay with the rest of the Convoy, she let them all hear the good news. "Hornet's ok! WheelJack's about to wake him up." With that said, she turned and hurried down the passageways to WheelJack's lab. Those of the Convoy who wanted to follow were free to do so.

The door to the lab opened at her knock, and she came in with a smile. "That was faster than I'd thought, WheelJack," Crimson said, walking closer to look Hornet over. "Ahh... you've left him bondo-gray and orange? That will teach him to be more careful with his paintjob..."

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack chuckled as Crimson walked in and instantly commented on Hornet's paint.

"Hornet has yet to have a paint job survive more than 48 hours without getting scuffed, scratched, peeled, burnt, or otherwise ruined," he said. "Until such time as he is capable of watching where he's running to or otherwise avoid coming back looking like he's been run a belt sander over himself, I don't see the need to go into exacting detail on his paint."

Wheeljack smirked. "In fact if you all make fun of him for it, it might teach him the lesson quicker."

He gently rolled Hornet back over onto his back and turned to Crimson. "Would you like to turn him back on, or should I?"

[LadyTevar]

"Einata, Hornet! Time to get up and join the rest of the Convoy!" Crimson gleefully answered.

[General Havoc]

Hornet's systems spun back up quickly, and a second later, both his old and new optics brightened up. He yawned a few times, sat up blinking, looked around, saw Crimson and Wheeljack, and broke into his characteristic big grin.

"Hi, Crimson! Hi, Wheeljack!" he said, as if he'd been away on holiday. "Is it time to go?"

Without even waiting for an answer, he volunteered another interjection.

"I had a dream while I was asleep!" he chirped, as though proud. "You guys were there, and so was Shellshock and Overload and Stryke and.... maybe some other people. We all went out on one of the humans big flat ships and they let me fly off of it and land on it, and the humans said that I was the best airplane that any of them had ever seen! And they gave us super-high octane jet fuel! And then I jumped in the water and went swimming and saw a dolphin!"

It was possible that this made sense in Hornet's mind. In the real world however.... not so much...

[LadyTevar]

Transformers can dream ... they are intelligent, souled beings despite being mechanical. So the idea that Hornet had a dream wasn't that surprising; it was what he dreamed was outlandish.

Crimson gave Wheeljack an amused shrug before looking back at Hornet. "Well, at least in the dream I was there to see it. But right now, I think you need a look in the mirror."

[rhoenix]

Seeing Deathstrike roar above him in his powerful jet form, transform, and walk inside, Blindside smiled. However, he did not call a greeting to the Autobot who had rescued him, as much as he was tempted. For all he knew, he was being tested of worth right now by those making the decisions within the Autobots.

He would not move, he would not act until he was directly greeted. "I will have the patience of worlds," he thought. Rejoining his brethren Autobots was important enough to him to wait out here, for vorn if he needed to.

[Charon]

Shellshock only nodded as his own repairs were completed. "I'd love to Crimson, but first I have to take care of something, namely a new alt. form." Shellshock quickly got up and stepped out of the repair bay.

The old warbot came to a stop in front of Teletran-1. "Teletran, load an XS-57D Siege tank, prep for alt. form. Unit Shellshock to receive this new form."

Teletran-1 beeped and whirred as it prepared the schematics and wound up the necessary equipment. Shellshock stepped into a side room and Teletran got to work.

[General Havoc]

Hornet cocked his head slightly at Crimson's suggestion, and hopped off the diagnostic table to go look in a mirror. Wheeljack had been subtly recording Hornet's description of his dream, for research purposes. Later he would go over Hornet's I/O buffers and see what he could derive from them. Whatever else Hornet might be, Wheeljack had built him first and foremost as an experiment, and he needed to keep an eye on him for that purpose.

A few moments later, Hornet gave an alarmed yelp and sprinted back over to Wheeljack.

"Wheeljack!" he cried out in terror. "My paint's falling off! I'm melting!"

Wheeljack forced himself not to laugh, and bent down. "You're not melting Hornet, but you are pathologically incapable of keeping your paint in order. Since you are always getting it scratched up, I've decided to leave your new components in their primer coats for the next while."

"But," protested Hornet, "but you can't... I can't... everyone's gonna laugh at me!"

"Unlike most things, I'm confident you can survive a bit of laughter, and maybe it will remind you that paint schemes are not everlasting, and to think the next time you go sledding down a rock slope or crash land in a sandstorm."

Hornet lowered his head sulkily. "But I'm orange!"

"You're only part-orange, Hornet, and who knows, perhaps you'll come to like it? After all, you seem to dislike silver so much since you perversely enjoy ripping it off!"

"Nono!" insisted Hornet, "I like silver, honest! Please can't I be silver again! I'll be more careful!"

"Well... I'll consider it," said Wheeljack, "but there isn't time to finish painting you anyhow. You'll just have to deal with it for this round. However, I tell you what..."

Wheeljack pulled Hornet closer to his face, and whispered to him conspiratorally.

"If you do as your told in this mission, and don't mess anything up, I think I might have an upgrade for you when you get back."

Hornet's optics widened to the size of dinner plates. "An upgrade?!" he said almost reverently, like a little kid promised a candy cane. "What kind?"

"It's a surprise, Hornet. You'll have to see and find out."

Hornet beamed up at Wheeljack. "I'll do really good! I will! Honest! Crimson will tell you when we get back, right Crimson?"

He turned to Crimson excitedly, assuming that she would of course confirm what he had just said.

[LadyTevar]

Hornet beamed up at Wheeljack. "I'll do really good! I will! Honest! Crimson will tell you when we get back, right Crimson?"

She had managed to stiffle her laughter when Hornet thought he was melting, but this... oh this was just asking for a punchline. "That's right, Hornet," she said, looking over his head at WheelJack. "I will give WheelJack a full and complete report on your behavior and actions throughout the mission."

It wasn't so much the words, it was the way she said them. They promised that she had a recorder and knew how to use it, and that every little thing that Hornet did could and would be shown to WheelJack in complete and unflinching detail.

"And I'll even make sure that ShellShock and Overload know to tell WheelJack how you do on the mission as well." Which was just overkill, but she couldnt' resist it. WheelJack had his hand to his vocorder, trying very hard to hide the laughter as he knew what Crimson was mock-threatening.

[General Havoc]

Hornet seemed to wilt as the full meaning of what Crimson was saying sank into his processor. He looked almost stunned, and blinked at Crimson in a stunned daze.

"Ev... every... thing?" he asked hesitantly and nervously, immediately recalling all of the various things he had done that he desperately hoped and prayed that Wheeljack never found out about. He gulped audibly and turned his head back and forth between Wheeljack and Crimson, looking simultaneously terrified and extremely guilty.

Wheeljack managed, with difficulty, to avoid bursting into laughter, and walked over instead and patted Hornet on the head. "I have no doubt that Crimson will tender a full and complete report. Now, run along Hornet, your friends will be waiting for you!"

Hornet looked like he was considering which window to jump out of, but unfortunately there were no windows in Wheeljack's workshop, and so he looked back at Crimson, gulped again, and walked over to her, quite visibly conscious of every action he made.

"Where're... um... what're... what am I s'possed to... what should I do? Sir?"

[LadyTevar]

Crimson was about to continue teasing him, when Hornet got an unexpected reprieve from Teletran-1. "Unit Crimson, please report to the Main Entrance to escort Unit Blindside to Briefing Room Alpha."

Crimson looked over to WheelJack, who shrugged as he also did not recognize the name. Then she looked down to Hornet. "Well, right now, you're with me on escort duty, it seems. Now, thank WheelJack for repairing you so quickly, and catch up to me."

She turned and started walking out towards the main entrance, giving WheelJack and Hornet a brief moment of paternal privacy.

[General Havoc]

Hornet nodded and turned back to Wheeljack as Crimson left the repair bay. He walked over and scuffed his foot gently against the floor, holding his wings behind his back. "Thanks for fixing me, Wheeljack," he said, still looking down at the floor, as though afraid of what might happen should he look up.

Wheeljack knelt down and put a hand on Hornet's shoulder. "Don't worry too much," he said. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. And when you get back I'll have finished your new upgrade. You do want an upgrade, don't you?"

Hornet looked up and nodded energetically, smiling again. "Is it a new laser blaster?" he asked breathlessly.

Wheeljack laughed. "Not as such. You'll see what it is, but I wager all your friends will be jealous once they see what I've made for you."

Hornet looked like he wanted to find out more, and who could blame him, but Wheeljack patted him on the head. "I'm very proud of you, Hornet," he said. "Just do what you know to be the right thing, and pay attention to Crimson and the others. Do that, and it'll be enough for me."

"R... Really?"

"Well... I mean you could try to come back intact this time, just for the novelty of it."

Hornet laughed and sprang forward and hugged Wheeljack with his wings around the larger Autobot's neck. Though Wheeljack was kneeling down to be more on Hornet's level, Hornet still had to stand on tiptoe to reach. Wheeljack gently squeezed him back for a few moments before disentangling Hornet and standing back up.

"Now run along to find Crimson," he said, and Hornet waved goodbye and sprinted out of the workshop, racing down the hallway as fast as he could before catching up to Crimson and dropping back into a jog to keep alongside her. He didn't mind so much. He had to flat out run to match most Autobots walking speeds.

"Who're we gonna escort?" he asked. "Is it someone important?" He suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about his splotchy paint scheme.

[LadyTevar]

"You heard Teletran," Crimson answered, looking down slightly at the tinier 'bot. "Blindside ... I'm assuming a new arrival."

She lead Hornet out the main entrance, pausing to scan the area for a moment before seeing a silver and black Autobot sitting peacefully in the sunlight. She couldn't help but be reminded of the -last- so-called stray Autobot that showed up, and turned out to be a Decepticon spy. Stryke would blow a gasket if she fell for that trick and got hurt again. She routed those doubts away for the moment, trusting Teletran's analysis for the moment.

"And I'm assuming that will be him. Now," she looked down to Hornet. "Be polite, be professional. Try not to ask all the questions I know you're wanting to ask... it can wait until after he's met Ironhide. Ok?"

Warning given, the red and chrome Fembot lead her smaller orange bondo-painted companion over to where Blindside was setting. Crimson honestly did not expect Hornet to do as she said, but wonders never cease.

[rhoenix]

Blindside heard the two approaching from the entrance of the Ark, and his golden eyes opened as he calmly watched them walk. One appeared to be a reddish female Autobot, who looked familiar to him, though he couldn't say why offhand. The other was somewhat silver and white, though was partially orange. The reddish one walked calmly, the one with the mis-matched paint was...skipping.

He did not move or speak as he observed them approach, thinking that this might be a test of some sort.

[General Havoc]

Hornet nodded quietly and earnestly to Crimson. "I'll be polite!" he said, and that part at least he probably would, though the difficulty was that there were many topics and things Hornet didn't realize were impolite.

He started skipping over towards the newcomer, then remembered that he was supposed to be acting 'professionally', and stopped, and walked the rest of the way, clasping his wings behind his back. He walked up to the larger Autobot and smiled.

"Hello!" he chirped. "I'm Hornet. Who're you?"

Not the most... official sounding of greetings, but Hornet's friendliness and intent-to-please was beyond-obvious, and his grin was broad and welcoming. As far as Hornet was concerned, this was a new friend, and he was always eager to meet one of those.

[LadyTevar]

And Crimson mentally ticked off the credits she'd have lost had she bet any of the Convoy that Hornet could be professional. At least he'd realized he had been skipping and stopped.

Ah well, time for her own introduction. "You must be Bllindside. I am Crimson," she said to the silver/black bot. Sitting, he was nearly as tall as Hornet, so she knew he'd tower over her like most Autobots. "Teletran-1 has asked us to escort you inside for debriefing."

[rhoenix]

Being somewhat taken aback, Blindside nonetheless smiled slightly in spite of his trepidation. "My blessings to you, Hornet. My name is Blindside, a recent arrival to this world; Terra, I believe."

He looked next at the one he knew now as Crimson, and bowed his head a moment as a nod of recognition. "My blessings to you as well, Crimson."

He stood gracefully and without a sound. He moved his left hand into a fist in front of him, and covered it at the same time with his relaxed open right hand, finally bowing to both of them. "I am honored by your greeting. Please lead the way."

[General Havoc]

Hornet looked a bit perplexed at the gesture and the blessing, but he had seen far stranger modes of greeting befor, and so he looked up as Blindside stood up, and hopped and skipped (and then remembered and walked) over to the entrance to the arc and beckoned for Blindside and Crimson to follow.

"It's this way," he said. "Ironhide wants to see you." He waited for the large Autobot to follow and then jogged alongside to keep up.

"So...." he said, remembering that he wasn't supposed to badger Blindside with questions, but unable to resist asking at least one. "Where'd you come from?"

He didn't notice if Crimson was slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand.

[LadyTevar]

Crimson had bowed her head slightly, returning Blindside's greeting. Something about his voice had triggered her memory circuits, but it was such a faint match that she didn't take the time to track it down at the moment.

As Hornet skipped on ahead, once again remembering half-way to just walk, Crimson politely gestured Blindside to follow the tiny bot. As she expected, Blindside was bigger... probably 9m. The odd colored optics and the obvious claws resting on the back of his wrists were highly unusual. She had to wonder what Alt-Form Blindside had that would reflect those traits as she fell into step behind him.

As they caught up to Hornet, Crimson was amazed. A full Three Cycles between questions? That had to be a new record for the Teenybot!