We are a literate, intermediate to advanced AU Transformers RPG Based off of the first season of TFP with dashes of other incarnations sprinkled here or there. Characters from any continuity are welcome however must be restyled to match the TFPrime universe.
Active, with ongoing plotlines, we are always willing to integrate new characters into storylines once incorporated into the setting.
"Me? Call Red? Miko, really. Who do you think you're talking to?"
She'd been around enough (air quote) adults to know exactly what that tone meant. Really, it was impossible to pull on her over on her so they should just stop before they even began. Miko was terribly crafty. So crafty she even outsmarted herself at times.
"Duuuuude, you already called him." She gave the radio an accusing glare and crossed her arms with a humph! Already her foot tapped against the floorboards restlessly as she debated how awful this was gonna go. She was going to be stuck in Red Alert, at the mercies of his "advice", until they lost the tail. If they lost the tail. What if this was one of those crafty Cons! She could be stuck with him all evening!
"I got a better idea...you let me out and I go lay in the road and wait for anything better to come along then Red Alert!" She flailed her hands to emphasis how bad of an idea this was to Rook. Couldn't he see the door he'd just opened? It led to a bad place!
Rook's first response to Red Alert's message was I'm not a moron but thankfully the words never made it into his vocoder. If nothing else, the long war had at least taught him to never speak before thinking and, while the message might not have gotten him captured, tortured or killed, Red in lecture-mode of You-Are-Just-Not-Careful-Enough-Ever could make one wish any of the earlier three had happened.
::Been doing it, mean to keep doing it, sir.:: The Aero sighed, his engine dropping to a barely audible hum as he merged into more abundant traffic, stopping to idle while a traffic light two cars ahead lorded it over them all. ::I was thinking a bit of -- :: Suddenly realizing that explaining to Red Alert the correlation between Miko and a game of pass-the-live-bomb was not likely to be a five-second undertaking, Rook switched tacks so smoothly only a trained audio might have noticed the difference. ::--blind-and-shuffle might be in order. Jasper's Green Mall has a covered parking lot. Lots of corners. Lots of turns. Lots of places where I can pass her off to someone who can get her places safe while I do my best impression of a mech with a passenger and take our boy for a scenic tour. Meet you there?::
The light changed. "... Well, you gave me the idea", he told the irate quasi-Wrecker on his passenger seat, his tone as mellow as mellow got. "Besides, this is bigger than you and me, Miko. We can't have this guy following you home -or- to the base, or to Raf and Jack. We're going to meed Red at the mall, and he'll probably be fussing at the tail so much he'll never know about someone forgetting their homework back at school unless it's mentioned to him."
Rook drove onwards sedately. "We don't really want to mention that little tidbit of news, do we?" He was not above blackmail, and he kinda needed the bitlet to, you know, not run off into the mall, rather than towards safety.
... but it was still Red Alert. "I'll owe you a ride to the mall. Even wait for you while you go shopping, as long as you don't skip school for it."
Last Edit: Aug 11, 2014 23:21:48 GMT -5 by Deleted
He had never been to the place himself (granted, he had never been to most places in Jasper, seeing as he rarely ever left the outpost), but from Rook’s description of it, it was as good a place as any to assign as their rendezvous point. A quick internet search revealed the location of the mall, while also providing directions as to how to get there.
Doing a bit of calculating, Red Alert estimated that, given their current locations, he could make it to the mall just a few kliks after Rook, assuming he didn’t run into any traffic on his way there. ::It might take a few minutes, but I’ll be there:: He replied, as he made his way to the atrium at last.
He hurried over to the front entrance before hurriedly transforming and racing down the narrow winding passageway that led out of the mountainside. The majority of his journey would be spent just getting off the rural roads and into the city itself---once there, the Green Mall would not be terribly difficult to spot.
If only it weren’t midday. He could have cut his travel time in half had he simply bridged onto one of the highways leading into the city, but at that time of day, all the roads would likely be populated by at least one or two passing cars. Risking being discovered by even more humans, who would in turn be put in danger by knowing of the existence of Cybertronains, was decidedly NOT worth shaving off a few minutes of his travel time.
At the very least, he didn’t have to worry about traffic - as he drove down the highway, only a few cars obstructed his path, and even though the number of people he had to share the road with increased significantly once he finally reached the city, he had little trouble navigating around them. Most people seemed inclined to give him the right of way, what with his alt-mode looking like it belonged to a person of authority. Who knew a firechief logo was all it took to have an easier time on the road?
"I don't like shopping!" But the mall had an arcade... "But, I'm willing to overlook that this time around. Deal." And there was that cookie shop that had really good chocolate chip cookies the size of her head. She'd managed to eat one of those in one sitting once. Her stomach hadn't liked her after that.
"And stop trying to blackmail me! Aren't you a good guy? That's dirty, Rook." No matter that she would probably resort to the same or resort to white lies to get her way. That was different. Miko was human and therefore had some leeway with how she acted. And she was young. Young meant you could do stupid stuff and get a do-over.
"I'm an Autobot, not a Prime." Rook was amused at the accusation, mainly because he'd seen Miko pester, badger, blackmail and otherwise use every dirty trick in her fairly ample repertoire when it suited the need. "I do dirty when dirty's called for and besides, when do you ever get a day's ride out of anyone in the Base without badgering?"
The mall was, unsurprisingly, busy. With school out for a couple of hours already, every kid who could had gravitated to the usual gathering spot. The parking lot was not full, but the choice spots closer to the gates were. Rook could make a perfectly reasonable show of circling slowly while looking for some parking spot mojo.
"Red's on his way. We'll go to the underground lot as soon as he's in position. When I say go, you head out and straight to him. I mean it, Miko. Deal's off if you go anywhere but to him. He'll get you out, I'll take our friend back there for a ride, and I promise I'll give you the details of that when I come back to base."
The Aero prowled slowly forward, making sure to keep his speed low enough that, when a lucky spot did open up here and there, he'd lose it to someone else. He couldn't keep doing that forever, though, and eventually he turned and headed towards the underground lot. If his tail remained interested in being covert, the 'Con would likely fall way back - at which point he'd pass the hot potato to Red Alert and trawl onwards to somewhere less breakable.
::Going underground, Red. I'm letting Miko bounce out to you as soon as I see you.::.
He managed to reach the mall without too much trouble, traffic was merciful and he was lucky enough to not be stopped by too many lights on his way there. When Rook commed him once more to let him know they would be rendezvousing somewhere within the underground parking-lot beneath the mall, he sent a short affirmation that the message was received before making his way down to the lot himself.
He drove around a bit, to the first then second level, before finally spotting Rook. In preparation for the trade off, he unlocked his doors, so that Miko would not find herself trying to seek refuge in a locked vehicle - within those few seconds of delay, the Decepticon tailing Rook could no doubt easily spot her and shift targets.
::On your right, Rook.:: He said, alerting the mech to his location as he began to slow down, trying to pass himself off as nothing more than a human looking around for a good parking space.
Vheicons were, generally speaking, not terribly bright. Even if his act wasn't terribly convincing, chances were the Con tailing Rook wouldn't suspect anything until Miko was safely stowed away inside his cabin.
"Ugh, fine! But know that I'm doing this under duress." She slumped in the seat and resisted the urge to waggle her foot in irritation. How could this have happened? Not the tail on her. That was weird, but hey, she could deal with that annoyance. But having to ride around with Red! Of all the Bots he could have called!
"Try not to have all the fun without me." If she sounded a little sulky as they pulled into the underground lot, well, she would never admit it. It just wasn't fair. The Bots got to have all the fun and she got stuck being babysat. Sighing at her luck, she grabbed her backpack and laid a hand on the door. As soon as they were flush with Red Alert, she gave Rook one last aggrieved look and pushed open the door to flee to the other Autobot.
It had occurred to Rook, while he bargained (never blackmail!) with the crabby munchkin in his passenger seat, that Red Alert was not exactly the model of forgettable vehicles. The Aero, however nondescript his color, could make no claim to it either.
Red, however, had something going for him that next to no other 'Bot could claim: his paintjob proclaimed authority. Since both Bots and Cons seemed to have an ongoing mandate to remain under the proverbial human radar, Rook could only hope that it would serve as an added line of defense if the Vehicon just could not be shaken.
He was, however, going on his usual default thinking where everything that could go wrong would. Somehow. Even as he trawled slowly through the rows, inching sedately closer to Red Alert, he could pinpoint the blind spot where he would turn. His door unlocked; he even popped the belt for her.
"Try not to have all the fun without me."
"Never crossed my mind." Which was a technical truth, as the spook had kept it firmly in mind at all times that Miko could not be brought along into that kind of combat.
The girl slipped out and ran for the safety of the Security Chief, and Rook yanked his door closed, all but for the last inch, which he closed as quietly as possible. He continued on sedately, one rear mirror trying to keep track of that elusive dark shadow at his back; he wanted to give Red some time, some distance.
He was also trying to figure out the nearest out of the way, out of sight spot where this particular afternoon issue could be dealt with. He accelerated minutely out of the underground lot and turned right, towards the stretch heading back to the main street. Few blocks and he could be down beyond the warehouse district; not ideal but --
"What the slag?"
His tail, a few car-lengths behind him, had turned unerringly left.
"... Scrap." Never had a most heartfelt sentiment been expressed so succinctly. ::Red? Situation.::
The first thing Red Alert did once Miko was safely inside his cabin (aside from locking the door, which was a given) was, unsurprisingly, to urge her to take safety measures. Instead of a “hello” or a request to know how she was doing given the circumstances, Miko was greeted with a curt, one word command: “Seatbelt.”
Miko likely didn’t need to be told to buckle up, but Red Alert was not keen on the idea of forgoing the reminder, just in case she forgot in her rush to switch between vehicles without being seen. That, and despite how obviously important the safety measure was, Red Alert knew full well that not all humans took it as consistently as they ought to. He had never driven with Miko as a passenger before, and as such he had no way of knowing what her traveling habits were like - for all he knew, she could have been the sort of person to instinctively buckle up the moment they were seated, but he didn’t want to take chances--to the surprise of absolutely no one.
He drove off in the opposite direction of Rook once Miko had successfully transferred herself, careful to avoid drawing the attention of the eradicon trailing after the other mech. Once he was out of the garage and into the mall’s parking lot, Red Alert wasted little time in getting the hell out of dodge and making his way onto the main street.
Not even five kliks later, Rook commed him, his tone implying something had gone amiss. Red Alert didn’t have to guess what that something could have possibly been; there was really only one thing that could have happened.
Red Alert would have sworn, but Miko was right there, and he didn’t particularly want her to pick up any more curse words than she likely already knew.
::Let me guess; I should expect company::
Sorry Rook, that dry, disparaging tone isn’t anything personal. That’s just how he talks when he’s miffed.
Miko narrowed her eyes at the steering wheel but dutifully clicked the lap belt across her small frame. Which she was gonna do anyway if someone would just let her get to it. Jeez. He just assumed she was an unsafe passenger. ...aside from being chased around by Decepticreep drones. That was just a coincidence.
"I always wear a seatbelt." She grumbled and set her bag in the floor beside her feet. At this rate she was never going to be able to get her homework done anyway. So really, it was probably for the best that it got left behind. Though, this getting chased around wasn't as exciting as she thought it would be. She couldn't do anything other than ride along and she was stuck with the one Autobot that wouldn't know fun if it put a bullet in him.
"....I have to go to the bathroom." Miko wasn't bluffing either. She suddenly had to go and rather quickly. Slag, why did this always have to happen to her??
The good thing about knowing who the Vehicon was following, was that Rook didn't have to close in to keep track of the 'Con. He could shadow Red two, three blocks down and a block to the side, and still be close enough to move in if something went down.
The bad thing about it was everything else. Up to and including, how? As far as he could tell, the transfer had been perfect. Zero visibility on the munchkin, no telltales. What had gone wrong?
::Tail's on you now. How do you want to handle this, boss?::
OOC: That's ok, Red, I know you love us all like your kids. Like your idiot, aft-witted kids <3 Consider Rook outta the thread unless you need his paranoid palladium aft X3
Red Alert was not at all surprised that things were not going according to plan. He firmly believed in Murphy’s law, and as such, he made a point of always---always---expecting something, somewhere, somehow, somewhen, to go wrong. Usually terribly, and if the universe was feeling particularly spiteful, at the worst possible moment - but at that point, things strayed out of Murphy’s territory and into Finagle's Law of Dynamic Negatives.
Red Alert knew better than to jinx things by hoping the situation remained dictated by the former rather than the latter law. Doing so would all but ensure the opposite would happen.
Focusing on the road before him, Red Alert speed up a bit, putting a comfortable amount of distance between himself and the car in the opposite lane, before signaling in advance and merging a few car-lengths in front of them. To the surprise of absolutely no one, he was a cautious driver. His plan was to gradually zig-zag his way through traffic, putting not only distance but several other vehicles between himself and the vehicon. With any luck, if the ‘Con tried to follow close behind him, they would wind up being boxed in by other cars, unable to switch lanes to follow after him.
Of course, that was assuming he would have any luck at all. Which he sincerely doubted he would.
His doubts were further reinforced when Miko spoke up, and informed him that she needed to use a bathroom. This perplexed him for a moment, as he couldn’t quite figure out how that statement was at all relevant to the situation at hand, or how Miko could possibly think bathing was a priority at a time like this, before he remembered something rather important. Humans had a variety of bodily functions, most of them disgusting. It did not require much thought, once he remembered how oddly organic creatures functioned, to realize what it was Miko was actually talking about.
Once he did, he wished he still had use of his hands, so he could firmly plant his face in one. “Hold it.” He replied tersely, not wanting to discuss the matter further.
He was quick to direct his attention back to Rook, before he could ponder Miko’s (and by proxy, his own) predicament further.
::Keep your distance, but stay on stand-by. I’m hoping to lose them in traffic, but if I can’t shake them, I’ll need you to provide a distraction while I pass Miko off to someone else::
Ughh, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. She resisted the urge to kick Red Alert's console with her boots. Not only was he rude, he was boring and rude. Which was entirely unforgiveable. Ratchet was rude but he wasn't boring. Optimus was boring but he wasn't rude. It was a universal understanding. You could be one not the other. Red Alert was both.
I wonder if I can force the door open and bail. Would he notice? Would he let me unlock the door? I can survive the fall! You just tuck and roll! That's easy! Then I can flee. Rook didn't say I had to stay with Red Alert. He just said I had to get in him. Well, I'm in. I'm ready to get out. So, so ready.
She stewed and schemed to herself, arms crossed over chest and posture defining the definition of slouch. While she sulked, she glanced at the side mirror and realized that either Red Alert was driving like a lunatic through the traffic or they still had company. Few Autobots drove like they were delivering a live bomb (even though that's what her bladder felt like at the moment) through the city. Which meant that they were still being followed by the vehicon. Which meant...that this had been for nothing.
She was going to kill Rook.
"Oh come on! He's still behind us?! I would honestly rather be doing homework right now!" Not really, and she couldn't anyway, not with it still back at the school. But it was the thought that counted. She wanted everyone to know just how upset she was. This was dire straits here.
Miko’s complaints fell upon deaf ears. Or rather, ears that were the opposite of deaf but really just did not care to pay attention to her whining while there were more important matters to focus upon. Namely the fact that they were still being tailed by an armed and dangerous vehicon who could attack at the slightest provocation and harm Primus only knew how many innocent civilians in the process.
Emphasis on could. Insofar the vehcion did not seem particularly inclined towards acting rashly or becoming violent quite so abruptly, but still. It could happen. It was a possibility. One Red Alert very much wanted to avoid seeing made a reality.
Hence why he continued to weave in and out of the lanes, zig-zagging between cars in order to put both distance and physical obstacles between himself and the vehicon. After a short while, the flow of traffic began to slow in front of him, and he realized they were approaching a red light. At the same time, the turn-signal up ahead had switched from green to yellow, warning that soon anyone in the left turn lane would be unable to move forward.
Red Alert saw it as a grand opportunity to shake their pursuer.
Picking up speed, Red Alert toed the line of breaking the law by rushing into the turn lane, his steering wheel rotating as he turned sharply, just before the light turned red a split-second later. Once safely in their new lane, Red Alert dropped slightly in speed, easing back into the 45 miles per hour dictated by the speed-limit signs.
Miko had no idea that a thrilling, life or death chase through a city would be so boring. Gods, was this boring! One time she and a few other students from the private school back home had borrowed their teacher's segway and taken it for a little spin around the building. They'd nearly fallen/rode down a few flights of stairs before the irate owner had caught up with them. The slow, rambling, jerky flight in the school hallways had been more thrilling than this.
The seatbelt pressed into her neck as she slouched as far as she could and glared out the windows. Stupid downtown and the stupid vehicon ruining her day. She could be doing anything right now. Like getting icecream at the shop right there...
Wait a minute, I know that shop!
"Dude, stop the...you! I know where we are! Ms Darby works in that building at the end of the block! I can jump out and run in there. That could shake him. And even if it doesn't, it makes it super awkward to find me." If he said no to her plan, she was going to kick the console until her shoe fell apart. Then kick it some more.