Ep: 2 Nevada, "The Desert State" (Closed, Bluestreak, Bee)

[Deleted]

Takes place Week 4, day one. Random spot in Nevada.
((Yes, I know Nevada isn't the "Desert State", but Skystone sure thinks so XD))

Flying was, generally, an enjoyable activity for Skystone. It had once been her job, after all. But after the Exodus, flying had become more like a chore. It’s all she had done day in and day out, until she had received the call from Optimus Prime himself to rally at Earth.

    While she respected the Prime’s decision, she was seriously starting to have some doubts about this. Change wasn’t an issue for her. Her life had taken so many sharp turns that the change of scenery would mean little to nothing. But at the same time, she still had absolutely no idea what she was getting into. And she generally liked to have at least an idea about what a new life would mean for her. She’d always known the consequences of her actions, and that took the edge off. But this? This was her jumping off the deep end after having her wings cut off. Which generally wasn’t a great thing. But she had rationalized it to herself. You’ll finally get your chance at the Decepticons. You’ve been waiting for something like this for vorns. With that, she’d flown on.

    Now she was here, however, and so the doubts resurfaced. She could land and promptly be attacked. She was, after all, landing in the general vicinity of where she might ought to be, and wasn’t that just specific of her. So if the Decepticons were anywhere near, and they picked up on her signal, she’d be up close and personal with the All-Spark in a very bad way. But she’d given up running a long time ago. It seemed to only cause some of the worst decisions of her life, and she was determined to step into this situation with a new confidence that somehow had faded away before.

    But holy frag, the entire planet was covered in water, and what if she landed in it all?! Primus. She gently banked towards the northern/western area of one of Earth’s continents gingerly. Her mind was on autopilot ((no pun intended)) as she began her landing. Earth’s atmosphere stung and burned slightly during her descent, but she knew if she stayed on course, everything would be fine. Her doubts were pushed away as she began a task that she had done for her entire life.
When she finally neared the planet's surface, she couldn’t help notice how...bland it looked. She gently stopped her engines and transformed midair, letting her pedes hit the dry ground, causing it crack. She lifted her pede gingerly, staring at the ground. Huh. The ground was comprised mostly of dirt and dust, and all of the green Earth seemed to have was not here. She scoured her processor. Ahh, think, what was this place called? When she couldn’t find a very immediate answer, she left it. The details of Earth’s biomes were not high on her priority list right now.

    The sky above her glowed brightly, Earth’s sun glaring down into her optics, shifting them from a green-yellow to a bright yet faded golden. She knew someone was going to come by sometime, most likely a native, with her luck. She swung her head around, trying to pinpoint signs of any life. Just as she was about look to the skies and debate finding a different location, she heard a soft scraping noise, the sound of sand shifting under something. Whirling around, she prepared to transform in case it was a native, because she had no idea if these inhabitants would take well to her being on their planet. A little canine creature stepped out, and by Primus, Skystone had never transformed faster. She stalled for a moment before circling the creature, unsure of what to do next. It did seem to fit in, it’s tannish-brown fur melting in and out of it’s surroundings. Skystone wasn’t by nature exceptionally curious, but she figured that knowingEarth’s creatures was something she should investigate. Realizing that the creature wasn’t much more than an animal, and certainly not sentient, she swooped down, transforming and creeping closer. The animal’s nose flew high in the air, before it scampered off, leaving Skystone alone again.

[Bumblebee]

Somewhere far below the flying femme, two Autobots had been sent to track down the signal and locate and retrieve the bot at the other side of it. They were hauling aft across the desert, the golden-red sand kicked up behind them – Bee was thankful that Bluestreak could keep up with him, nor did he seem to have any complaints at how fast Bee went. For security reasons they couldn't exactly give out the exact location of the Omega Base, they couldn't be sure just who was listening in on these broadcasts; so a general location was given to those who could make their way here.

At least this Autobot seemed to be a flier, and they weren't being tasked to retrieve yet another crashed shuttle. Not that Bee had ever been tasked to pick up a newcomer before, which was probably the reason he was so excited – if a little cautious. The femme on the other end of the transmission had said she was Autobot, but until they found her and confirmed her identity? Who knew.

::I think we're close!:: He beeped excitedly. He was constantly scanning for other Cybertronian, and they seemed to be close. ::Ya doing alright back there, Bluestreak?:: While Bluestreak was fast, Bumblebee was pulling ahead eagerly. Youthful optimism and a weird playful competitive streak meant he wanted to spot the newcomer first!

Due to the femme being a flier, Bee was able to watch from a distance as she landed. Not wanting to rush straight ahead and greet her until all the formal protocols had been followed, he would pull behind a nearby rock and transform into his root mode; peeking out and watching the stranger – motioning with one servo for Bluestreak to follow. He didn't know if he was doing this right, but this felt right.

He watched curiously as a canine stepped out from a nearby brush, no doubt spooked by Bumblebee and his companion. What he saw next made him chuckle as the femme seemed to panic, transforming infront of them. He remembered being terrified of things like that at one point, but it still made him laugh to see it happening to her.

Once the femme was alone and back in her root mode? Bumblebee would turn to Bluestreak.

--Should we go over?-- His beeping quiet, as not to draw attention to the fact they were both hiding behind a rock. He had no idea what to do in situations like this, so would follow Bluestreak's lead. ((Hope this is okay for you, Sky & Felds. If you need me to change things let me know.))

[Bluestreak]

"Doing just fine," the silver mech had laughed in response to Bumblebee's excited commentary. "Keep going, keep going, go, go go! You spot anything yet? Besides rocks and dirt and more rocks and dirt and uh, well, maybe some nicer rocks and dirt? Not that I don't like those things - you ever stopped to really look at rocks? Okay, scratch that, they're kind of boring. So's the dirt, but the plants are pretty cool. Oh wait, hey, you know, turtles, those are interesting - I saw this thing right and I thought it was a rock but looking it up on line, nope, turtle. They're faster than you'd think and- oh, nah, feels great to just drive, I'm grand back here, always grand. Keeping up just fine!"

It was true, he had simply been enjoying the drive. Blue sky above, bright blare of the sun. The yellow Camaro in front of him kicked back a mist of dirt as it hauled across the open desert, and the silver Nissan kept pace easily. Every once in a while Bluestreak flicked his windshield wipers, sweeping the Nevada dust away from his sleek glass with a bit of a mechanical shrug.

Perfect day for a drive. Ah, I know it's patrol but with the way things have been going here with MECH we've all been so confined. Not that that's wrong but it's sure not fun.

It's nice to get out.

It was. He missed being able to gather up and take a short drive on his time off duty without having to have a partner. Sometimes it was better to be alone with his thoughts so the he could shake them out. He missed that. He missed Wash a lot. However he was enjoying his time with Bumblebee a lot. The yellow mech didn't mind being out into the desert, and he sure didn't mind driving at speed.

Feels good to just pack up and go flat out. Well there's the human highways but that's all posted with speed limits and you better follow the speed limits because we've been warned to do it. Miss Cybertron speedways, they were faster than fifty five, for sure. I don't know how anyone delivers anything on time here. Seriously, all those ads for thirty minute pizza are kind of funny, totally feel sorry for anyone who ends up having to eat the costs because you aren't exactly on time. Wonder why airlines don't work like that, seems like it would make a lot of sense, considering the amount of humans who complain about them on television.

Now though, his mind was on more pressing matters. Watching the femme in front of him for starters, since they'd apparently found the source of that earlier transmission.Crouched Bumblebee behind that rock shield, Bluestreak tipped his head towards his companion.

"Dunno. I guess we give it a second, and see what's up. I'm always a bit more concered when you come across an Autobot flier, isn't that awful of me? I mean, you get these random transmissions and I used to totally trust those codes all the time, but not any more, you know...?"

He couldn't voice it to the mech beside him, but he didn't thinnk Bluestreak had sadly come to a wary understanding. Which was, when you got a random transmission that said they were Autobot? Verify it.. Yes, there were codes and yes there was protocol, but there was too much that had gone on since Cybertron. Not that there had ever been any sort of honor towards the end of the war. Too many Decepticons that just enjoyed ambushing and killing because they simply could.

Bluestreak trailed off and looked at the femme again, picking her way carefully across the terrain.

When she sprang into the air at the appearance of the small canid, it instantly caused him to tense and hesitate. For a second, concern flickered across his features. He started to shift his weight, and the rifle across his shoulder was within easy reach of his hand; he was ready to draw in case this was a Decepticon and it was going to turn an innocent organic into a smear-- no and...

She only banked and then transformed again with light curiosity. The fact that she was creeping after the little creature caused his doors to lift with relieved mirth. Nope, no smears today.

"Hahah, aw, well, I think we got our answer, right, she's pretty much a friendly. I know how she feels too. I swear, it's hard to get used to everything that pops out of the rocks on this planet. Haha, that includes Miko, but don't tell her I said that, she's pretty awesome," Bluestreak admitted to Bumblebee, even as he stood up and stepped out from behind that rock.

"But hey, just in case I've totally misjudged um, cover me?" he asked.

With a flick of his doors, the tall silver mech cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Hullo!" he called out brightly with a wide grin, his voice echoing across the flat terrain. "Hey, hullo! You okay?"

[Deleted]

Skystone was never a very quick femme. She did what she had to efficiently, but never felt the need to rush about.

But holy mother of Primus, she’d never moved so fast until she saw a silver mech jump out behind a rock. Her usually mild field suddenly lit up, crackling like it was electrified. Because like slag she was going to be taken by Decepticons in her first few minutes on Earth. Her blades flared from her arm, glinting in the bright Nevada sun. She widened her stance and faced them off. Her blades wouldn't do well to reach the mech from this range, but if this didn't at least give the other mecha a long enough pause for her to fly over there, then her pistol would have to do. Even though it was something you could probably find in a scrapyard, it would get the job done.

Then she saw the Autobot insignia, and she blinked owlishly at the mechs. One of them asked her a question, and she drew back momentarily before answering. “Hello,” she greeted carefully. “Yes, I’m fine.” Her words were steady, but there was a note of uncertainty. She drew in her blades with a sharp shik noise, and picked her way over to the rocks. Her field had calmed down from it’s explosion, and was now coiled in tightly, rather than it’s generally uninterested waves or it’s explosive emotional reactions. Her optics were narrowed distrustfully, and she wasn’t quite sure how to proceed. Sure, she saw the insignia, and wasn’t going to directly attack him...

...But that didn’t mean she wanted to be anywhere near the mech. She had met Decepticons during her time as a Neutral who would pose as a frendly, be led to camp, then start shooting. She wasn’t really willing to go through that again, and he had just sort of popped out of nowhere. That seemed like something very, very random, and Skystone’s life was built around what she could expect, even when she had been on the run. She didn’t do random like some mecha did.

But you’ve been alone for so long, a traitorous part of her stated. Wouldn't it be nice to finally be a part of something? She let out a little ex-vent, then made her way over to the rock, not sure what to expect. She finally figured anything was preferable to the overly-mundane life of flying around alone in space. Even she couldnt handle that level of boredom. As she was coming forward, she made eye contact with the silver mech who spoke to her and held it, determined to look independent and confident until she was sure she was out of danger.

((sorry it’s so short, if I need to change anything, just tell me))

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee wished there were more bots like Bluestreak. He was so.. Friendly. He reminded him of one of the heroes from a cartoon he'd watched once, and found himself looking upto him - if only in amazement at how nice he was. He was chatty and pleasant - maybe a little too chatty – Bee had chuckled as he started to ramble on about dirt.. Rocks.. Plants.. before detouring somewhere along the way to turtles. Bee liked this guy. It was nice to be out and about with someone so refreshing for a change, especially in this dull landscape that never seemed to change. Boring desert that went on for miles and miles...

Back to the moment right now, however... Bee glanced briefly over his shoulder at the femme to make sure she wasn't heading this way just yet, then turned back to Bluestreak.

--Nah, that aint awful of you. I'm the same. Think it's 'cos I don't know too many Autobot fliers to begin with, so I'm always a little wary.-- Okay so he knew Thunder and Carbine, but.. Autobots who flew seemed to be somewhat rare, at least at the base. He never was one for flying, and the time he'd had the unfortunate luck to be on the Nemesis? He'd wanted to get off near instant. Although that maybe have had something to do with the fact it was swarming with Decepticons who wanted to offline him. But anyway, the Decepticons seemed to mostly have fliers in their ranks, while the Autobots seemed to prefer land-based vehicles. So it was probably normal that they were somewhat iffy about them. But they shouldn't dwell on such things, not with a stranger just meters away.

He could feel the femme's field from over here, and hummed quietly in thought, peeking out behind the rock at her once more.

--Ya reckon? I mean she does seem pretty harmless. Plus there's two of us, so... As for Miko, couldn't tell her even if I wanted to!-- He beepily chuckled at that. Bluestreak had a point though, just when you thought you were used to Miko, she was always getting upto something new and quite possibly dangerous, or jumping out at you in a corridor wearing a crazy mask and making you scream like a little girl. Or maybe that was just Bee.

--I got ya back, don't worry.-- He nodded, adjusting his posture and getting on the alert, straightening up, but remaining oh so very hidden behind the rock. For now the Energon blasters in his arms would stay tucked away – not wanting to spook the femme into attacking Bluestreak out of fear, but he was ready just incase.

The femme was braver than he first thought, and he watched as the blades slid from her arms – and for a moment he tensed up, as if ready for a fight. It didn't last long however, as no sooner had the blades appeared? They'd slid back into their sheaths. He paid close attention to her field, which had gone from calm, to paniced.. Back to calm. Good. 

As she cautiously moved closer toward the pair, he'd step out from behind the rocks and moved to stand beside Bluestreak once he realized that she probably wasn't going to attack them. The doorwings on his back fluttering as he nodded in greeting, his optics whirring audibly as they adjusted to the harsh sunlight. His own field was calm, but he would still be ready for anything should things go bad.

--Hey there!-- He beeped cheerfully, peering at her. Oh he hoped she could understand basic.. --Ya sure you're fine? Lookin' and sounding a little spooked there. I'm Bumblebee, call me Bee.-- Raising one servo, his thumb tapping his chassis; before sideglancing to Bluestreak, letting the Mech introduce himself and ask for her codes and identification.

[Bluestreak]

"I know you totally have my back," Bluestreak replied to Bumblebee. "Thanks."

He did, he trusted that wholeheartedly. If he had to be honest, if you had to get into a some sort of fight, he was glad Bumblebee was with him. Sure, he could shoot, but the key point to that was - distance. Up close? Oh yep, he was totally useless. Unless you counted throwing up a desperate arm to block while yelling 'not in the face'. Okay, he'd never done that. Well, not yet anyway.

He'd sure thought it though.

The sharpshooter thought it one more time as the mostly white femme in front of him whirled and flicked out a blade. Instantly, his hands were up, he took a step back and held them up where she could see them. He didn't make a single move towards the gun strapped across his shoulder; the long handle of the sniper rifle could be seen easily. He immediately swung his shoulder weaponry away off to one side as well; the movement was exaggerated and obvious.

The shock flared out of her; she'd been surprised to see them. Bluestreak could have kicked himself.

Nice going. Hi, glad you made it to Earth, sorry about causing you to nearly seize up your engine. We have a great medic though so don't worry, he'll be more cranky at me for this, trust me. I really need to remember to think before I talk, but hey, too late. Now I'm thinking, I swear. Quick, think! I think she's got a knife. That's what I think. Gah.

"Whoa whoa, it's okay, hey, it's fine, I'm sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he apologized instantly. The set of silver doors behind his shoulders lifted and then lowered with his tone; he looked utterly embarrassed. He was. Of course she had every right to turn around and pull a weapon; for all she knew they were the ones that had come to meet her with guns blazing. Small favors, she'd pulled a blade and not a gun.

Not that that was much better, because she sure looked like she would go straight for the optics in a fight. He liked his optics where they were. Or she'd lay him out with one good roundhouse. She was not a small Cybertronian- most fliers that he met weren't, though. She carried herself with broad shoulders and solid framework.

When she blinked and drew in her blades, the silver mech vented out a relieved sigh.

"Oookay," the sharpshooter said as she walked towards them. His mouth quirked in a friendly smile as she met his optics. He didn't look away. His expression was honest and open as he dropped his hands slowly to his sides. "Whoops, I'm so sorry about that, really, didn't mean to make you jump, not that I blame you one bit. This is a terrible welcome to Earth on my part, totally take the blame for that one too."

"So, hey, I'm Bluestreak and well, Bumblebee already said who he was? Nifty, right, we're good there. What's your name?"

Then he looked apologetic again. "Hate to even ask this, but recent codes too. We've had some problems lately and- well, you know how it is. Can't be too careful."

Unless you step out from rocks and wave your hands like a target, Beanpole. Oh wait, been there done that!

Yeah, thank you inside voice, you can go now. I know, I know, protocol it is.