Transformers-'verse. Near the mouth of the wormhole. Slapdown on a slimeball.

[random_xtras]

The space near the mouth of the wormhole was silent and empty but for the jet that hovered a safe distance from its mouth. Occasionally a bit of drifting junk would get sucked into it, but nothing else moved.

Then four mechs appeared out of nowhere; two burly black ones, a yellow one with red markings, and a femme that shone blindingly white in the unfiltered light of the sun.

Instantly the jet shifted position, creeping near. //Autobots! What do you want?//

//You,// said the yellow one grimly, folding his arms over his chest. //You've killed your last Autobot, Starscream.//

//And who's going to take me?// The jet's voice was mocking. //You don't even have any who have aerial modes.//

//Oh don't we?// The yellow one gave a clear smirk despite the relative immobility of his face.

And then she decloaked....

Comments

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

That had to have been her cue.

Endeavour switches off the concealment device and lets a few seconds pass, such that Starscream can get a very good look at her alternate mode before she changed, unfolding gracefully and silently in the vacuum of space.

//That'd be me,// she says, her voice sounding... hard, for lack of a better descriptor. She definitely doesn't sound like her typical entirely-pessimistic-but-still-generally-happy self.

She snaps her right arm into its weapons configuration and grins, using her left arm to tell the others to hang back.

//Your move or mine?//

[random_xtras]

The Decepticon takes a moment for stunned surprise, and then arcs toward her, guns blazing.

Ratchet restrains his shout of warning, knowing that his wife will have seen the move. Still, his spark is jumping as he watches, absently aware of the others activating their guns in preparation of backup.

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

Starscream's forward momentum is too large, she realizes as he barrels in her direction. She smirks to herself and changes the angle of her wings while he closes...

...and she darts away at the last second, streaking down and away and coming up behind him. She's thankful there's no air in space; the move would have taken her past her aerodynamic limit. Her RCS thrusters are still useable in her robot mode and she comes to a stop rather rapidly, and lets loose a plasma bolt, communicating to her comrades a marked desire for them to get out of the way.

She reverts to her shuttle in only a millisecond or two and decides to buzz him. She knows he'll want to pursue her and only her if she becomes annoying enough.

And then she tries something new.

Even as she's arcing away, main engines erupting in cones of blue, her payload bay doors open...

...and perched on the end of the RMS is her cannon.

//Come and get it,// she says, her voice mocking.

[random_xtras]

//Ouch! Oh... be careful.// Ratchet winces as Ironhide finally manages to grab him, then turns his head to check on his wife and winces again. //Oh, Dev. Be careful,// he murmurs, then starts praying silently.

Chromia, in the meantime is heading after the other three, even though she can't keep up. She can still provide backup. Eventually.

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

She's gone, still dodging Starscream's blasts and countering with her own, transforming mid-flight again to grab the girder as she comes closer, ready to bat him into the next vorn.

[random_xtras]

He wheels desperately as he realizes that he can't outrun her, the other gun finally coming back online and catching her dead center....

on the PINpoint.

Meanwhile, back on the planet...

[jeimu.livejournal.com]

For the first time in a long time, Jeimu is thankful for her mental gifts, as it's allowing her to effectively control her emotions from the Autobot kids as she watches the data stream from Endeavour that is displayed on her laptop computer as she sits under the workbench in the rear of the hangar.

They're all curled up beside her, little!Optimus in her lap, Honey and Rap and Columbia sitting beside her. Elita is on the workshop table, still inert and offline.

Things are progressing well, and by well of course, Jeimu means that Endeavour hasn't pulled a Challenger quite get and gone and blown herself up. The avionics measurements were showing that she was pushing her dynamic limits, but otherwise staying intact. She'd told the Autobots she would not tap into nor initiate any communications with or from them unless the downlink showed something was up.

After a fashion Jeimu stares at the screen.

Endeavour's downlink has vanished.

Jeimu's eyes go wide and she mouths 'oh @#$%' before grabbing her headset and initiating communication with the Autobots.

"Autobots, Nellis 1, do you copy?" Her voice is flat and professional; and, she realizes, she sounds pretty good considering she thinks she's just lost the shuttle.

It's just then that she hears the incoming transmission from them.

Oh, Endeavour was gone.

Keep a cool head. Keep a cool head. Instrumentation failure? Her cloaker acting up? Just... don't freak out. It's no good to freak out.

Then she hears Chromia's assessment of the situation and perks up slightly.

"Autobots, say again? You say you saw a teleport?" This could help. She starts mashing on the keys, thankful also that she's got an Omniversal Receiver on this laptop.

A set of coordinates pop up.

They're the coordinates for Port aux Basques, Republic of Newfoundland.

"Oh, this is not very good..."

Re: Meanwhile, back on the planet...

[nottabeater.livejournal.com]

"What is it?" asks Rap in a low voice.

Optimus stirs and looks up at her, his big optics seeking her face.

[jeimu.livejournal.com]

"Dev went somewhere," Jeimu says, hurrying to establish a link with the Newfoundland Republican Armed Forces to let them know what may be hurtling toward them at this very moment. "Now I have to let the people there know."

While the connection to NRAF was being made, Jeimu switched over to comms with the Autobots. "Autobots, be advised we show that Dev's PIN was activated, but I still have no downlink from her."

Yes, there was technically no we, but convention is hard to break.

While she waits for the Autobots to respond, the NRAF link is established. A staticky, Newfie-accented voice orders her to state her name and intent.

She grins. "NRAF this is Jeimu Chang-Oboa at OC 00895, 38.069836, -117.235666. Be advised you have a giant robot inbound, flight capabilities assumed but unknown at this time.... Advise duck and cover."

The NRAF personnel are not amused. "A what?"

"If you're lucky, NRAF, she'll resemble the Space Shuttle."

"Are you sh*tting us?"

"No. Request scan frequencies for possible communication and aid in descent. Suggest opening Gander International Airport."

"Why Gander?"

Jeimu grunts. "Space Shuttle."

"Oh yeah...."

She cuts the link at this point; the Autobots are trying to get through again. She's a little too busy right now to look after the kids.

[random_xtras]

"Dev might need me." He frowns, absently reaching a hand toward Columbia.

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

Who runs past the dialing Jeimu and hugs her father around the waist, making small sad sounds.

Something's up, but she doesn't want to get in the way and ask about it.

[random_xtras]

"Shhh," he says softly, putting an arm around her and wishing that his balancers weren't off kilter so that he could stoop and kiss her on the head. "Everything's going to be alright, sweetheart."

Rap just makes a slight smile as he takes Optimus and then lifts his sister and packs both tinies out of the room.

[random_xtras]

Ironhide sets Ratchet down next to Endeavour, then steps back and hunkers down to look with bland quizzicalness at the big scaly guy, who gives him a similar look in return. Chromia, in the meantime is looking around with interest, just a pretty white female critter over twenty foot tall.

"Dev?" Ratchet touches her nose cone gently. "Can you hear me?"

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

She attempts to open her payload bay doors, but all that's heard is the grinding of their opening mechanism, and she stops trying with a sigh.

"I hear you." Her voice sounds strangely slurred, almost as though she was drunk. "Isn't this such a pretty rock I've landed on? Those people are so nice..."

[random_xtras]

"Yes. Just let me give her a painkiller. It may not hurt now, but it will... Ironhide and Chromia, could you excuse us? Go talk about your grandchildren or something." Ratchet's digging through his bag.

Ironhide growls and exits with his wife.

[jeimu.livejournal.com]

Jeimu's still leaning on the wrench, surveying Endeavour with a frown.

"Do you have any idea where to start?"

Endeavour beeps. "...stap nu rond als een gans/zo gaat de kabouterdans!"

Jeimu rolls her eyes. "Duly noted, Dev." Then she looks at Ratchet as if to say 'shut her up before I hit something'.

[random_xtras]

"It wasn't my idea for Starscream to use me for a spite venting target." He gently removes the damaged wing, then starts on Endeavour's engines, wincing at the condition of them.

[jeimu.livejournal.com]

Jeimu looks at them as well. "They're structurally sound, but I think the injectors are messed. To say nothing of the bells themselves..."

She drifts off into muttering about the inner workings of the SSMEs as she climbs right on in to disconnect some of the tinier parts.

[random_xtras]

He carefully triggers the transformation, then picks up the first engine and starts reattaching it.

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

The moment the engine is aligned, Rover comes out of his hiding spot below the main workbench and runs up to Dev's engine components, swatting away the hand of the Large Yellow One.

He can't do this properly, what with those large hands of his. And the Organic Lady is simply too jittery.

Rover tells each of them this, in terms that he believes are quite simple and forthright. But as usual, they don't seem to understand.

[random_xtras]

He blinks, but then carefully scoops her up and tip toes around the mess as best a guy with feet his size can tip toe. "Let's get you to bed."

[go-endeavour.livejournal.com]

She shudders and retches again, but her fuel tanks are empty, so it doesn't really matter anymore.

"...feel like I got shot in the face."

[random_xtras]

The yellow mech hunkers down and silently cups his hand around her back, offering support.

[jeimu.livejournal.com]

She shakes her head the moment she feels his hand on her back. "I should go home," she says quietly, shaking despite the heat.

[random_xtras]

Jav hugs her close, then looks up and nods to Ratchet before hitting the button and taking them home.

//Ratchet, Rover is giving me attitude.//

Ratchet sighs and heads for the Workshop. //Remind me never to repress Dev. I think all her spunk starts leaking out through her symbiont.//