Transformers: Steel Reign

[SirNitram]

No crushing death came. Overload backed up, slowly turned around, and then backed into the shed. "I'll tow you back to base. That flyer has flown the coup, at least for now." Rumbled the old soldier, as the holomatter engineer flickered into being and began attaching tow cables. "If you can transform, it'd be alot more comfortable to roll."

[LadyTevar]

Crimson watched, her optic sensors switching to magnifying mode to better understand what Overload was doing. "Well... I think he's planning on towing the wounded home, Stryke."

She looked up to the bigger 'bot. "No sign of the copter... in either form. I've heard the 'Cons practice random raids in the European cities, but it makes no sense for one of them to fly over here and just leave. There's a screw loose here somewhere...."

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke looked down at her. "Yeah, there always is." He took one last look around. "All right, you head back to base to meet them there. I'm going to do one last sweep with Hornet and then head back in. And then we need to do something about that 'Con trash that you are thinking about giving amnesty."

[LadyTevar]

She tilted her head to look up at him oddly. "There's something more here you're not saying, Stryke." She remembered the similar tone of his terse private comment earlier "There's something between you and Deathstrike, isn't there."

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke continued looking around. "You've got your orders Crim, get back to the barn to patch up that hurt 'bot Overload is bringing in. You know, the one on your own side." He said, ignoring her question.

[LadyTevar]

"Fine," she replied, turning her back on him before transforming. "But you forgot something, Stryke...," her holoRider looked up at him challengingly. "They're -both- on our side now."

The revving of her engine faintly reached down to Overload as she started down the hillock. "Overload, Shellshock: Stryke's wanting to take Hornet on a perimeter sweep and then return to base. Overload, do you need help or an escort?"

[SirNitram]

"It'd be nice to have some cover if that helicopter came back." Overload pointed out, as the towing was set up. "You guys don't think like Decepticons, not at all. They strafe the area, bust one guy away from the rest good, and then they just have to wait for us to come to his aid."

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke transformed, his holomatter persona, looked back at her, and spoke softly. "Deathstrike will never be on my side." His holoman turned and took hold of the machine gun. "Hornet, I'm doing one last sweep around the reactor, at a distance of 5 miles. I want you to orbit around and keep scanning. Don't talk unless you find something." He said and started driving.

[LadyTevar]

Crimson shook her head at Strykes's comment. There was a story there.

She said nothing back to Stryke, but radioed Overload. "Ok... checking area now." She swung wide to do a spiral around the structure before meeting him inside. She set her sensors to detect any metallic concentrations in the area -- one of the ways she'd found valuable ores in her years in space. She'd often traded those ores for both Energon and repairs of her Harvester. It also doubled as a good way to find large metallic robots trying to hide from normal sensor sweeps.

... But again... there was nothing to be found.

[Charon]

Shellshock openned his comm again. "Stryke, we don't have the manpower to go after that Decepticon and the last thing we want to do to go after him is split up. Our main concern now is to get everyone back here so we can make sure of what's going on."

[General Havoc]

Hornet could barely believe his auditory sensors. "Really?!" he asked over open channel with a voice that sounded almost disbelieving. "Awesome! I'll be sure to..."

"Don't talk unless you find something."

Hornet's words died in mid-sentance, and his voice seemed to deflate a bit. "What did... I..." he said with a hurt tone, before finally just snapping "Fine!" into the radio clearly used to being told to shut up, and equally clearly not very happy about it.

He keyed his afterburner once again, and gained altitude, lazily orbitting the site in question. He cut his radio and muttered to himself for a moment or so about the unfairness of it all, when suddenly a terrible idea came into his head.

He looped around, accelerating as he came up on Stryke at an altitude of less than a thousand feet. Timing it carefully, he waited until he was almost directly above Stryke, and then he openned his throttle up 100%, ignited his afterburners...

... and broke the sound barrier.

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke grumbled but turned around. "Roger. Hornet, do the sweep and then keep an orbiting CAP around the reactor." He said, heading back towards the base. He wasn't paying attention to the radar and the Hornet broke the barrier. He shouted as his audio sensor's spiked, shutting themselves down to avoid burning out. He transformed and raised his pistol, about to fire at the small jet before he realized it was Hornet who had done that.

"HORNET, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He shouted, his audio sensor's still shut down.

[Charon]

Shellshock let out a string of curses in various languages that he had picked up during the war. "Hornet, what was that? There an incoming? Get back in here right now you hear me? Get out of that fire zone if a Decepticon is coming in."

[LadyTevar]

The Harley wobbled at the loud boom, nearly laying down but transforming and rolling to an alert crouch, pistol drawn, sensors stretching even as she knew a jet going that speed would be nearly out of range....


Then Stryke's scream came over the comm

"HORNET, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

By the Matrix, was the kid that stupid? "OverLoad, did you see who did the boom?"

[General Havoc]

... perhaps that was not the wisest course of action.

Hornet had intended merely to make his displeasure known, but he appeared to have overdone it a bit...

... or a lot.

That cold feeling in the pit of his spark told him that he had just made a major mistake.

His voice crackled over the radio, and was thin, weak, and apologetic.

"... that... that was... me..." he said, as though expecting someone to reach through the radio and kill him. "... sorry."

[SirNitram]

"It was the kid." Overload sighed. "Stand down, Shellshock. Hornet's being a kid when Stryke's giving orders. Now. Stryke, you need to learn you are not the ranking officer here. I'm not sure there is a ranking officer, but if you want to try for that right, I'll snap your flimsy cannon in two. So stop giving out orders. Hornet. You knock that off. You bring Decepticons, they'll hit the airborn first. I know you're new at all this, but you bring trouble and I will be speaking with Ironhide and Optimus. At length. We on the same frequency?"

[Charon]

Shellshock muttered something under his breath. "Hornet. Get back to base."

"Now."

Shellshock rubbed his head. "Stryke, you should get back to base too, we can't have you out there by yourself with that Decepticon still likely out there."

[General Havoc]

"Yessir..." said Hornet in a very sheepish and small voice, avoiding Stryke by a long margin, just in case. "Sorry..."

[Dark Silver]

During the time the others broke from the site to go answer the distress call from the apparently stranded Autobot, Wideload had made the decision to rendezvous with the ones escorting Deathstrike.

When he approached in his dump truck form, twin lasers popped up above the engine compartment, infront of the window, and trained on the Decepticon.

"Настолько высокомерное теперь eh Decepicon? Настолько грубо теперь вы не имеете ядерныйа реактор, котор нужно спрятать позади." he said in his heavily accented Russian, transforming into his bot form. The drab grey and brown dump truck unfolded, the bed swinging up and back, seperating and filling out to two legs, arms unfolding from the engine compartment and mounts, the head rising from the now abbreviated cab section, both hands holding tightly to their respective weapons. Wideload's face was rather plain, though it seemed as if lines of age had been worn into his face, and a small metallic goatee hang below his mouth, where the chin would have been.

"Мы идем теперь, ожидания Gridlock.(2)" Wideload ordered, moving to the right side of Deathstrike, and pushing him forward with the barrel of his rifle.

------

Gridlock in the meantime, was inside of Maintanence Bay Five, preparing the C.R. Chamber for the incoming Decepticon, making some final preperations to the stasis cycle motivators.

On the main viewer behind him, was the ever stern visage of Prowl, Autobot Strategist and Sector Commander for this area of North America - Gridlock's direct superior at the moment.

"Is positive," he said, "Teenybot is stow-away, others in convoy not seem to like him. I take him under wing, da? Explain to Prime. Am preparing special C.R. Chamber for Decepticon prisoner, he surrendered, possible is convert?"

'I'll alert Wheeljack his pet project has been found, he's been looking for Hornet for a day now. As for the prisoner, Deathstrike is it? I'll inform HQ of his capture, keep him under guard until we can manage to get someone there."

"Is no worries Prowl, am putting him in special Tank. Will keep him in C.R. Stasis until we ready to pull him out."

"Good work Gridlock, I know it's not your thing, but keep the group inline. I'll have Springer and Jazz headed out that way 16 hours. Prowl out."


-------------------------------
Traslations
1. Not so haughty now eh Decepticon? Not so tough now you don't have nuclear reactor to hide behind."

2. We go now, Gridlock waits.

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke grumbled. He wanted to tell Overload off, since he was only here to haul freight and his friend. However, he held his tongue. He heard the train's comment about talking to Ironhide and Prime. Stryke intended to talk to them as well. "Fine, Overload."

[LadyTevar]

Crimson shook her head before transforming back to Alt-mode. The way Hornet was acting, you'd think he was some biohumaniod's offspring....

Then some of the stories she'd heard about his 'exploits' started coming back to her, as well as jokes about Wheeljack's little 'experiment'. Her own experience with several generations of one particular mining family and their offspring came back to her slowly.

No... Wheeljack wouldn't program him as a blank slate and let him grow and learn like a biohumanoid... would he?

"Shellshock, I'm joining up with Overload for the trip back to base, as planned," she announced, suiting actions to words. This was going to be an Interesting Mission.

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke heard Shellshock's suggestion and ignored it, transforming and driving out into the wilderness. He was about five miles away when he stopped and transformed, sitting down as he remembered, all those years ago. He remember joking with Quicksilver, the three pushovers, Deathstrike blasting a crater into his back. His hand reached back and touched the spot. And then he remember Quicksilver sacrificing himself to save Stryke. The olive drab robot stood and shouted in anger and unleashed his cannon at the top of a small hill, destroying it in his anger and grief. He transformed and took off back towards the facility, where Deathstrike would be.

[LadyTevar]

"Stryke? Where are you going?" Crimson asked as the military bot drove off. Her sensors tracked Stryke as far as she could before losing him. "Scrap metal... Overload, he's going off on his own anyway," she said, pulling in beside the huge train.

"Wow... you got torn up," she whistled, looking over Swiftshot before transforming to help Overload get the wounded up and in a condition to be moved. "I'm Crimson, this is Overload... just relax, friend."

[SirNitram]

"If he was half as mature as he thinks he should be, he wouldn't do such childish things." Overload reflected. "Let's start moving. Do what you can, Crim, but Stryke and Hornet have cost us the stealth."

The radio went on. "Stryke, thank you. You've confirmed you're nothing like a soldier. Now, if you want to avoid me talking to Prime at length and Ironhide at longer length, you will stick it in drive and escort us back. I recommend you seriously consider what you've done and how you've reacted to entirely reasonable orders and requests."

[Agent Fisher]

Stryke was already back when the radio transmission came through. "Already on my way back." He said coldly, not really caring if Overload talked to Prime or Ironhide. If things worked like Stryke was planning, he would have to talk to those two anway.