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randomplaces2008-05-01 06:40 pm
random_xtras) wrote in randomplaces2008-05-01 06:40 pm
Entry tags:
RiD verse. The city. Returned ((co-written with Ro-tor mun))
It’s approaching two weeks since they brought home REV’s shell, and Hotshot has long since delivered the reports on the incident to Optimus. This time he’s in Cybertron Headquarters for a general tactical discussion.
He’s doing what he can to help the team recover – which is ironic, he knows, when he hasn’t even started to do so himself. And Hotshot knows very well he’ll have to face up and deal with it before it comes back on him tenfold. But right now he’s got to handle Crosswise’s gloominess (the science officer had to examine his friend’s shell, of course, and report on it to Hotshot and W.A.R.S.) and W.A.R.S.’s temper flare-ups, Mirage’s broodiness and Ironhide’s open grief.
And the fact that at every briefing and training session, every discussion and refueling break his tactician and his second is just not there.
So he’s here with W.A.R.S. now, in the main command centre. The computer banks seem more subdued than normal: T-AI must be running at her usual capacity, but the lights and sounds are quieter if they’re present at all. Hotshot doesn’t question what the AI’s trying to express by it. Beside him, the red warrior is silent. It’d be easier for him if it had been down to Predacons, Hotshot knows. Then there’d be someone to be angry at.
But there's no way to be angry at the person responsible for their loss. Midnight Express is still so shaken that there's talk of sending him home. The gentle train-former hasn't even left his berth since he was dismissed from the repair bay.
"What's this, T-Ai?" asks Optimus from where he's leaning against the wall with his arms folded and Koji standing by his feet. The Autobot leader has noticed a yellow car on the monitors and is frowning at it, bothered by a nagging familiarity.
T-AI's hologram fades into view, the computer program absently powering up her avatar for the first time in days as she answers. “I don’t know, Optimus. There’s something odd about its energy signature, but I can’t get a fix on it. It’s almost like…”
An indifferent glance at the screen from the two Spychangers, and it has their full attention. “What the slag?” W.A.R.S. wonders, frowning at the image.
Hotshot just stares, murmuring “It can’t be…” ever-so-faintly.
As they watch the car turns off the freeway and zips along the side street that leads toward the parking garage. Optimus's frown turns to an uneasy scowl. "Almost like what?"
The hologram looks up and stares at the onscreen image as though she weren’t already seeing it. “…Like it has Cybertronian stealth technology.”
“Worse,” Hotshot says quietly. “Spychanger stealth technology.”
“And it’s heading for the base.” W.A.R.S. glares with narrowed optics at the screen, then turns to go and meet the incoming vehicle. “Whatever’s going on here, I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
Then the radio crackles and a familiar voice says, sounding a little strained, "REV reporting to base...."
Optimus's optics widen as Koji gasps. "That's impossible."
“It’s got to be a Predacon trick,” W.A.R.S. growls.
“Except that they didn’t kill him,” Hotshot reminds him. “They shouldn’t have our technology.” The black Spychanger turns and joins his team-mate, getting a frowning stare. “And they don’t know where our base is.”
"T-Ai?" asks the voice uncertainly. "Are you there? Anyone?"
"Reply," says Optimus, turning toward the door and gesturing for Koji to stay put. "W.A.R.S. you stay here. Hotshot, I'll go with you."
This could get tense. Optimus doesn't want it to get worse than it needs to.
"Right, Optimus." T-AI appears to turn back to the console she's inside. "REV, this is T-AI. What's your status?"
W.A.R.S. frowns but nods and stays put, watching the door as Hotshot heads out with Optimus.
Hotshot knows what he has to do – confirm if it’s REV and question the ‘bot either way. But he’s stunned that he has to do it. And as he strides out to meet the car, there’s a rising determination in him. Forget the rest: something strange is going on, and he’s going straight for the bottom of it.
"I... don't know," says REV uncertainly, stopping a few stalls away from the entrance and perking with relief as he sees it open and who comes out of it. "Optimus. Hotshot. What... what happened? What day is it?" Then he sees their expressions and the chill returns to his circuits. "What's wrong?"
"It's all right, REV," Optimus says, letting Hotshot transmit an identification query. The Spychanger will be better able to judge his team-mate's veracity. "We just need to check a few things."
The yellow Autobot changes to his own robot mode as he responds to the query, freeing a whiff of brand new paint as he does so. "Right... but something's happened. I'm missing time."
And he's shaken, and it's showing more than he's ever let anything of the sort show before.
Hotshot runs through the full series of checks, then nods slowly at Optimus. He's clear. Hotshot steps toward the other Spychanger, still too surprised for the relief to have sunk in. "Do you remember anything?" he asks.
"Coming online in a dark place with someone telling me to calm down... and then coming online again about three hours later in a warehouse, with this on my chest." He holds out a rumpled piece of receipt paper. "Before that? The raid on the tanker where Armorhide wound up going over the side."
Which was nearly a month and a half ago.
Hotshot exchanges a glance with Optimus, taking the paper to examine it. "So you don't remember getting hit by a train?"
The paper holds a spidery, hard to decipher Germanic script of English that will probably take a little work to figure out.
"What?" REV frowns. "No. I wouldn't be stupid enough to..." He stops and droops slightly as he recalls the lost time. "Would I?"
Deciphering patterns is familiar ground, and the task gives Hotshot something to do while his processor settles.
"We're not sure exactly what happened," Optimus tells REV gently. "But you reported that you were chasing something just beforehand."
The yellow mech frowns and looks down, searching his memory banks and drawing a blank. "What day was that?"
He’s doing what he can to help the team recover – which is ironic, he knows, when he hasn’t even started to do so himself. And Hotshot knows very well he’ll have to face up and deal with it before it comes back on him tenfold. But right now he’s got to handle Crosswise’s gloominess (the science officer had to examine his friend’s shell, of course, and report on it to Hotshot and W.A.R.S.) and W.A.R.S.’s temper flare-ups, Mirage’s broodiness and Ironhide’s open grief.
And the fact that at every briefing and training session, every discussion and refueling break his tactician and his second is just not there.
So he’s here with W.A.R.S. now, in the main command centre. The computer banks seem more subdued than normal: T-AI must be running at her usual capacity, but the lights and sounds are quieter if they’re present at all. Hotshot doesn’t question what the AI’s trying to express by it. Beside him, the red warrior is silent. It’d be easier for him if it had been down to Predacons, Hotshot knows. Then there’d be someone to be angry at.
But there's no way to be angry at the person responsible for their loss. Midnight Express is still so shaken that there's talk of sending him home. The gentle train-former hasn't even left his berth since he was dismissed from the repair bay.
"What's this, T-Ai?" asks Optimus from where he's leaning against the wall with his arms folded and Koji standing by his feet. The Autobot leader has noticed a yellow car on the monitors and is frowning at it, bothered by a nagging familiarity.
T-AI's hologram fades into view, the computer program absently powering up her avatar for the first time in days as she answers. “I don’t know, Optimus. There’s something odd about its energy signature, but I can’t get a fix on it. It’s almost like…”
An indifferent glance at the screen from the two Spychangers, and it has their full attention. “What the slag?” W.A.R.S. wonders, frowning at the image.
Hotshot just stares, murmuring “It can’t be…” ever-so-faintly.
As they watch the car turns off the freeway and zips along the side street that leads toward the parking garage. Optimus's frown turns to an uneasy scowl. "Almost like what?"
The hologram looks up and stares at the onscreen image as though she weren’t already seeing it. “…Like it has Cybertronian stealth technology.”
“Worse,” Hotshot says quietly. “Spychanger stealth technology.”
“And it’s heading for the base.” W.A.R.S. glares with narrowed optics at the screen, then turns to go and meet the incoming vehicle. “Whatever’s going on here, I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
Then the radio crackles and a familiar voice says, sounding a little strained, "REV reporting to base...."
Optimus's optics widen as Koji gasps. "That's impossible."
“It’s got to be a Predacon trick,” W.A.R.S. growls.
“Except that they didn’t kill him,” Hotshot reminds him. “They shouldn’t have our technology.” The black Spychanger turns and joins his team-mate, getting a frowning stare. “And they don’t know where our base is.”
"T-Ai?" asks the voice uncertainly. "Are you there? Anyone?"
"Reply," says Optimus, turning toward the door and gesturing for Koji to stay put. "W.A.R.S. you stay here. Hotshot, I'll go with you."
This could get tense. Optimus doesn't want it to get worse than it needs to.
"Right, Optimus." T-AI appears to turn back to the console she's inside. "REV, this is T-AI. What's your status?"
W.A.R.S. frowns but nods and stays put, watching the door as Hotshot heads out with Optimus.
Hotshot knows what he has to do – confirm if it’s REV and question the ‘bot either way. But he’s stunned that he has to do it. And as he strides out to meet the car, there’s a rising determination in him. Forget the rest: something strange is going on, and he’s going straight for the bottom of it.
"I... don't know," says REV uncertainly, stopping a few stalls away from the entrance and perking with relief as he sees it open and who comes out of it. "Optimus. Hotshot. What... what happened? What day is it?" Then he sees their expressions and the chill returns to his circuits. "What's wrong?"
"It's all right, REV," Optimus says, letting Hotshot transmit an identification query. The Spychanger will be better able to judge his team-mate's veracity. "We just need to check a few things."
The yellow Autobot changes to his own robot mode as he responds to the query, freeing a whiff of brand new paint as he does so. "Right... but something's happened. I'm missing time."
And he's shaken, and it's showing more than he's ever let anything of the sort show before.
Hotshot runs through the full series of checks, then nods slowly at Optimus. He's clear. Hotshot steps toward the other Spychanger, still too surprised for the relief to have sunk in. "Do you remember anything?" he asks.
"Coming online in a dark place with someone telling me to calm down... and then coming online again about three hours later in a warehouse, with this on my chest." He holds out a rumpled piece of receipt paper. "Before that? The raid on the tanker where Armorhide wound up going over the side."
Which was nearly a month and a half ago.
Hotshot exchanges a glance with Optimus, taking the paper to examine it. "So you don't remember getting hit by a train?"
The paper holds a spidery, hard to decipher Germanic script of English that will probably take a little work to figure out.
"What?" REV frowns. "No. I wouldn't be stupid enough to..." He stops and droops slightly as he recalls the lost time. "Would I?"
Deciphering patterns is familiar ground, and the task gives Hotshot something to do while his processor settles.
"We're not sure exactly what happened," Optimus tells REV gently. "But you reported that you were chasing something just beforehand."
The yellow mech frowns and looks down, searching his memory banks and drawing a blank. "What day was that?"
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"I'm starting to think of her as the local tengu," Optimus says dryly, "but either way, it's just a nickname. There's no species on record that fits her profile, but whatever her abilities, she's playing a very dangerous game."
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"What does she look like?" Koji wants to know. "Why didn't you tell me about her? Is she a robot?"
"Why would she... you said I called saying I was chasing something?" REV's struggling to think past his shock and disorientation.
"...Do you think that might have anything to do with how X-Brawn got knocked out when he swears he hadn't been anywhere near any of the Predacons or Decepticons?" asks Koji, remembering the gruff SUV's woozy report as he'd lay in the repair bay.
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"Not a robot, Koji," T-AI says, rematerialising at his level. "She doesn't resemble any kind of Predacon we know. She seems to be really organic." The AI sighs in exasperation. "But I can't understand what she's trying to do on Earth."
"We've been tracking her activity in between dealng with Megatron's regular forces." Optimus nods at REV. "You were in pursuit when Midnight hit you."
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Koji frowns, feeling confused. "But... Megatron hates organics."
"Midnight hit me?" REV's expression drops into dismay as he thinks of the young train-former's gentle streak. "Is he alright?"