[ti]Ep 2[/ti]I should have brought my Flip-flops (Open)

[Deleted]

< Episode 2 >
< Week 2 >
< Day 4 >
< The Sahara Desert >

Sand.
A whole lot of Sand.
Sand on the ground.
Sand whisked away by the air.

It was night in the Sahara desert, the skies were an inky black, illuminated by the billions of stars in the sky, with no clouds to obscure them as the temperature of the hours before had been too hot for them to form. The bright stars glinted and shimmered, some bright than others, and others even brighter than that. Yet the brightest light in the sky wasn't that of a star, bur rather the intense glow of a meteorite, breaching Earth's atmosphere.

Said meteorite glowed brightly in the night sky as it began to burn up. From a distance it appeared to be a shooting star, but up close, that was when it's true nature was revealed. It wasn't rock or ice, no - it was entirely metal. Continuing on it's momentous descent, the metal meteorite only picked up more and more speed, hurtling towards Earth. It was both the combined force of the speed and the intense heat began to tear into the asteroid, ripping off plates and jettisoning them into space behind it. It was that speed that meant that only less than a minute later, the meteorite made impact.

Striking the desert sands at an angle with a thunderous thud, a crater formed around the metal object, but said angle and the velocity of the meteorite caused the sand to shift beneath the pod - even within the crater - and launch it back into the air in a swooping motion. The peak of the bounce quickly was quickly reached in seconds and roughly only 5-7 metres into the air before it crashed back down, forming a far smaller crater around it, and this final collision brought the object to a sudden halt.

It lay there for many moments more, cooling considerably until the red hot metal of the object turned to a muted silver. Finally, it was obvious as to what had crashed down in the Sahara desert - none other than a Cybertronian pod. Parts of the outer hull had been torn and shredded upon entry, causing it to appear as a patchwork hunk of junk. Slowly a hum began to build, as did the intensity of the external and internal lighting of the pod, escalating into a low and constant purring whilst the lights glinted bright blue.

Pistons began to pump as plates shifted and moved as the pod's transformation systems reached activation. Sparks scattered and some of said shifting plates were torn off of the pod, it's damaged nature causing the transformation to malfunction, albeit it mostly completed the task. Most of the hull had peeled away, sliding under the bottom of the pod, exposing the contents contained within it to the world. 

Laying inside was a small, Sunset-Orange Cybertronian. Similarly to the pod it was housed in, it's internal systems hummed and whirred to life. Slowly but surely the cybertronian picked itself up, observing it's surroundings in it's groggy state. "This... is not where I am supposed to be.." The Cybertronian muttered, speaking in a soft, feminine voice. Slowly she gathered herself to a standing position, clutching the side of her head with her servo. The femme continued to observe her surroundings in the darkness of night. Whilst this certainly wasn't her intended destination, perhaps it couldn't be all that bad.


Right?

< Week 2 >
< Day 4 >
< The Sahara Desert >

Sand.
A whole lot of sand.
Sand on the ground.
Sand whisked away by the air.
And now Sand in every crack and crevice of an Orange Cybertronian's armour.

Such was the usual existence in the desert, bar that last one. That was a trait unique to this desert. Tire tracks trailed for miles in the sand, the pattern in which they moved a rather odd one. Instead of travelling in a straight line, these tracks weaved in and out, almost as though they had been created by someone skating along the desert. In truth they had. Those tire trails were caused by the aforementioned Orange Cybertronian, as they lacked pedes in the normal way, possessing wheels in their place, and skating was one of the faster ways to move about when that was your situation, especially in combination with using a motor to turn them.

The Cybertronian sped through the desert, on the trail of a cache of energon, humming an upbeat and rapid tune all the while. Blue flashes lit up on her HUD, displaying how far away the energon was and how much there was of it, with the occasional error, courtesy of the damaged system that allowed them to track the energon. Their frame was light-weight, small and thin. Curved hips and a narrow spacing between shoulders easily gave away that the Sunset-coloured Cybertronian in question was a femme. And she was one femme in particular, Sparklight, Autobot Recruit and member of the Last Sparked.

Sand whipped against her armour as she closed on location, and once there the femme knelt down, observing the dunes to try and get a lock on the source of the energon. Her entire HUD flashed bright blue - for she had arrived. Reaching out with both servos Sparklight quickly began to part the sands until she reached rock, rock that she sensed was the only barrier between her and the Energon she required. Pulling her servos out of the hole they had hastily dug, clawing sand out of the ground and placing it in piles either side of her.

Soon her efforts would yield result, as a bright glow illuminated the hole - finally, energon! Desperately she rammed both servos into the ground and yanked it out, holding in each a small shard of the precious mineral. Her optics quickly observed the two crystals, and the femme could barely contain her excitement. "Woohoo! Energon at last!" She exclaimed joyously before she hastily covered the hole in the sand and sped off back the direction she came. A small twenty minute journey awaited her, but soon she arrived at her base of operations. Well it wasn't really a base, more of a badly built shelter, using parts scavenged from the pod in which she had arrived on Earth in. Said pod wasn't much of a pod anymore, rather a few scraps of metal that hadn't be used to make something else. In fact, one of the only things still intact from it was the energon processor, the first thing she moved for upon arrival, taking both shards and placing them within it, activating the machine and letting it begin the task of processing the energon.

Sparklight was overjoyed by the fact that her most recent hunt for energon had yielded two shards. One for her, and one for her 'science project'. It was only a few minutes until the first shard had been processed into liquid energon, of which she quickly used up, replenishing her systems back to maximum, as her short duration on this planet had only meant she needed a small amount of energon to refill her supply. Not long after, the second shard had also been processed, and carefully taking the container in which it was held, she approached her creation.

In front of her was a poorly constructed/repaired communications array, barely working. All that it needed now was energon - Something she could spare. Reaching into it's fuel chamber, Sparklight carefully inserted the container of energon and stepped back, watching her creation come to life. Originally part of her pod, the communications array was damaged in her crash, but she was fortunate enough to be able to turn her pod into the replacement parts she needed. A small humming began to build up, rapidly increasing in pitch, getting higher and higher with every second. Sparks flew everywhere, electricity jolted through it's circuits, until eventually the humming and the whirring both reached a point at which they no longer escalated in pitch. Slowly, the screen began to come to life, displaying the globe on it. Unfortunately, she found no Autobot signals, yet she had to try. They could just be shielded.

Right?

Minor doubts began to gnaw at the femme's mind but she was ever hopeful that she wasn't alone. Slowly extending her servo out towards the screen, she tapped a glowing red button with an outstretched digit. A distress call was quickly transmitted across the globe, one that anyone could receive. While Sparklight hoped that the Autobots would respond first, she wasn't opposed to kicking the can of any 'con who tried to get there first. All she hoped for was that someone, anyone would respond.

[Bumblebee]

Nell had long since left Bumblebee to his own devices with his holoform. After walking it around the base twice – and only falling once, he might add! And that was only because he'd tried to run around a corner - he'd made his way back to the control room to do some further practicing before he got started with his errands and chores for the day. The next time he saw Nell he wanted to show her just how good he'd gotten at this whole 'being a human' thing, which meant he had to work fast! He didn't know when he'd next see her.

While running around and acting silly wasn't something he should be doing around the control room in his rootmode, he figured it'd be okay for him to do some sprinting back and forth as the holoform. He was trying to work it out, and this would only benefit the team in future if he knew how to work the damn thing, so he saw no harm in it. As an extra precaution he'd keep both himself and the holoform out of the way as not to annoy Ratchet or Red Alert, should they come in here to watch the monitors – even though he knew, or at least had heard through the grapevine, that Red Alert had a whole room of monitors.. Aaaand was probably watching him right now. Awkward.

Ah well. He'd be able to see Bee's skills with the holoform! And with that? He'd make it climb the stairs up onto the small platform where the kids kept the smaller television. He'd have the holoform lower into a crouch, sprinting from the top of the stairs and across to the wall, then back again – being careful of course not to overshoot and go hurtling down the stairs. Bee himself would lean on the railing and watch. Humans were so slow... Even with this thing sprinting as fast as it could it was... Ugh. No wonder they drove fast cars and raced.

Back and forth the holoform would run. Sprinting, crouching, jumping... And to think just a short time ago he could barely walk this thing. Pff.

Then the main monitor in the control room would beep. A map would blip onto the screen, along with a small tracker. It'd hover over Africa, before zooming in over whatever it was that'd triggered it – the rough location of where a distress call had gone out. Somewhere in the Sahara Desert.

At first Bee didn't notice it, his attention fully on the holoform, but only once it started beeping over and over did he yelp with a surprised beep of his own and tear himself away from the railing to move over to look at the screens. The holoform falling smack onto his face and going limp in the middle of the floor. Bee had done monitor duty plenty of times, it'd been uneventful at best and a good time to catch up on his comics, but now that he seemed to be the only one around? Go figure someone was calling for help and needed him to do something.

His optics would scan over the monitors as they all blipped, co-ordinates flashing onto one of the screens should they want to check out whatever had sent the signal. This was exciting! It could be a new Autobot! Or, on the other hand... It could be a Decepticon. He couldn't tell. He'd never actually been at the screens when a call had gone out, it was usually Fowler on the other end - and he always got annoyed at his inability to understand Bumblebee. He'd push a couple of buttons, trying to get the beeping to stop. Eventually it would, and he'd load the co-ordinates into the groundbridge – although not powering it on just yet.

What to do?! He couldn't just rush out there on his own! There was the buddy system in place, nobody was allowed to leave the base on their own incase of MECH – which was another possibility as to what this thing could be. But Bee wasn't thinking of that right now, it was the last thing on his processor. As far as he was concerned? Someone needed help, and he was going to help them! All he needed was a buddy.

A buddy liiiike... Whoever that was walking into the room. He'd shift his gaze over to see who it was. Carbine! Yes! Perfect! Well no, not really, but he'd do. It hadn't been a week since their little incident in the supply room, but he didn't have time to find someone else, so they'd just have to get over it and put aside their differences – Bee was already more than over the whole thing, but he wasn't sure about Carbine. Not that it mattered if he wasn't. There was no time to argue this! Bee's field radiated with excitement over the entire thing – any and all protocol of how to do this properly had gone, and he wanted to rush into whatever this was.

He'd mash the button that powered the groundbridge and scurry over to stand infront of Carbine, blocking his path, thumbing over his shoulder to the monitors.

--Carbine! Hey! Yo! The thingy was beepin' with a distress call so we gotta go check it out! Buddy system and all that. It's urgent 'cos it was beepin' a whole lot, so we should probably go now yeah? Go go!--

Behind him, the groundbridge would power up. He lunged forward to grab Carbine's servo before he could protest or question what the heck was going on, dragging him through the groundbridge. Once they entered the swirling green-yellow portal, he'd let go of the other mech and ran through the rest of the way, hoping to Primus and anyone else listening that Carbine actually followed. His argument hadn't been that strong, but the monitor clearly displayed that indeed a distress call had gone out, and where it was. Hopefully that'd be enough reason for Carbine to follow further, or at the very least? Follow Bumblebee to tell him how much of an idiot he was for rushing into what very well could be a trap. But he was excited!!

--

The other side of the portal would emerge out of optic-shot of whoever it was that'd called it in, hidden well behind some large rocks. The last thing Bee wanted to do was to portal right on top of them just incase it was a Decepticon, or even worse, MECH.

He'd wait, bouncing from pede to pede impatiently as he waited for Carbine to get his dumb aft through the groundbridge. If he didn't come through soon? Bee would run back through and find some way to drag him out here. His field relaxed and level now, not wanting to give himself away should whoever it was be able to detect him from over here – and would peek out from behind the rock, while remaining hidden. He could see the 'base' of whoever it was, but not much else. Not from here. They'd have to go closer.

His optics would adjust to the brightness of the sun, and he immediately noticed the heat – and the sand. So much sand... He'd sunk into it some, and it felt weird underneath his pedes. Eugh. Hurry up, Carbine!

[Carbine]

...what happened?

Carbine had been walking into the Control Room one second to see who was up and about, and the next he was being rambled at and pulled along into a Ground Bridge. The entire thing was so rapid and unexpected, that he found himself stumbling forward to follow Bumblebee with little resistance, his helm held high, and rotors hiked up in confused alarm. It really wasn't until he was half way through the swirling blue and green vortex that Bee let go of him, and he had a second to actually PROCESS what was going on.

Beeby thingy... distress call? Something urgent, got to go now... and the buddy system... something... what?

The ex-cops posture was ridged, confused, his peds planted down upon the illuminated ground plane that had him positioned between locations on the planet. The tingling sensation of being stuck between two points was weird, it twitching through his lines and causing some disorientation to add to his already confused state of being. It was during this moment he turned to look over his shoulder, seeing the vague shapes and outlines of the Control Room in the distance, while in front of him was some vast unknown. He could be walking out into a lush forest, or snow, or a water area... he had no CLUE! But... Bumblebee was gone, and he was expected to follow?

Who put the runt in charge!?

Carbine may not be ANGRY about what had happened, but he wouldn't mind giving the little yellow scout a punch in the arm or five to get some sort of retaliation. Perhaps some passive aggressive vengeance would taste the sweetest... but despite this, he couldn't bring himself to turn back home, couldn't screw over the runt by making him break Optimus' rule on leaving the outpost alone. Plus... there was a mystery here. What distress thing? What was going on? WHERE was it happening? After a moment of consideration, Carbine finally moved on his own free will, stepping out of the Ground Bridge so that it could close in his wake.

Squinting abruptly as he got out into open land, Carbine's helm rose up in order to stare blankly at the sky. It reminded him of where their base was located, the dirty gritty landscape, the clear blue sky above, and that burning blasted sun... The only difference was the fact the heat seemed far more intense, and the sky didn't even have a minute wisp of clouds on its horizon. It was like a flat painting, a sea of blue with a shining speck of the system's star overhead, assaulting them all.

Carbine's vents opened up because of this, the flared plates on his back beneath his Cassette's dock spreading to try to filter out any heat that would start to build. He was primarily black... not really a good color for anyone striving to remain cooler in what equated to an oven. Alas, he looked away from the sun a moment later, realizing that Bumblebee was crouching down behind some rocks, while he was standing straight upright like some idiot asking to get his head blown off.

A swift movement, a hunching frame, Carbine lowered down and crept forward, placing a flat palm upon the nearby rocks so that he could keep his balance better among the shifting sands beneath him. His peds were thin, narrow, cutting, the wheel of his heel sinking down into the substance which made him a bit unstable. He managed though, his helm popping up over Bumblebee to see what he was looking at.

"So... c-care to elaborat͟e͘ aga͡i͏n on why you kid̴n̡app̀ed͜ me?..."

[Deleted]

The call had been sent and anyone could receive it.
But the call hadn't been sent just once, oh no, it had been sent many, many times.

The sand beat harshly against Sparklight's frame, as she idly waited for a response. She waited and waited, and waited and waited... and then, she pressed the button again. In truth it hadn't even been a minute since the call was broadcast globally, but the young femme couldn't wait any longer, so she tapped it over and over again, giddy excitement enveloping her mind as her frame shook with enthusiasm. Like a child she stood and mashed the button continuously, repeatedly transmitting the distress signal.

Her efforts were what was causing the continuous beeping in the Autobot base, and perhaps 30 touches in she began to grow bored, and ceased her attempts entirely. Well, not entirely in fact. "What more could another touch hurt? I've already sent out the beacon 60 million times..." The femme pondered to herself in a not-so-quiet tone, her voice reverberating with energy. "But then maybe if I've sent so many they won't want to hear more... I know! What would Optimus do?" Sparklight rose her right servo to her chin, stroking it in a thoughtful and sophisticated manner, despite the fact that her thought process was anything but the latter.

"Well I guess I don't actually know what Optimus would do... I've never met him... but I do have some of his awesome speeches programmed into my processor! I mean he's all about fighting for freedom and..." It was at this point that her 'thinking out loud' trailed into incomprehensible nonsense, and also the same point she began to pace (Or more accurately skate) back and forth in front of the beacon. "...I've got it!" The femme declared in a triumphant tone. "I'll send it again!"

Eagerly she returned to the console, and launched the index digit on her right servo forward, tapping the button three times more before stopping. Similar to the first time she had sent the distress beacon, her idle waiting did not last long at all. Rather than revert to sending the signal another '50 million times' (A rough and incredibly hyperbolic estimate) she returned to slowly skating back and forth as the winds began to pick up again, not badly enough that vision could be obscured, but quickly enough that it made hearing difficult.

The young femme certainly didn't look the same as she had upon first arriving. The three days she had been out in the desert had taken their toll, even if that was remarkably minimal. Her once bright and shimmering orange hue had dulled considerably, coated in sand and dust. Both of said materials had lodged themselves in each and every tiny crack within her armour, yet fortunately nowhere beyond that.

With the winds blowing more intensely than before, it had become difficult for Sparklight to use her audial sensors as best as possible, with individual sounds hard to discern over the constant beating of sand against her armour, and more specifically said audial sensors. Despite this however she was sure she heard something, something of which few sounds could replicate - the opening of a spacebridge!

In truth, Sparklight wasn't wrong, but not correct either. Rather, she had heard the opening of Bumblebee's groundbridge - yet she could not see it. This combined with the fact that she could already barely hear, made for her to be very suspicious if it was actually there. Regardless however, she had no other choice than to try and find it. If it was there, then this was her ticket out of this dump!

Hesitantly she rolled forward, doing so at a slow pace. The holster on her back began to emit a low, blue light from a small and rounded horizontal slit, before firing it's contents into the air - a small metal... thing. At the peak of it's flight, the 'thing' transformed suddenly, extending to twice it's size. Suddenly it shot back down, but didn't hit the ground - nor was it caught by the femme's servo. Instead, it just hovered there, in the air, out by her side. It was a mere foot or so away from her right servo, hovering idly in position, following Sparklight as she moved. It was clear now, the 'thing', was a blade of some kind.

The femme's head darted about suddenly, her optics actively taking in her surroundings. Slowly she came to a stop, standing just outside the 'boundaries' of her makeshift camp. Her optics seemed to be affixed on a singular point before her, although it wasn't where the two were. Her helm sluggishly scanned about on a swivel, trying to observe as much as possible. Whilst perhaps a terrible idea, Sparklight couldn't resist the urge to call out to her potential rescuers. "Hello!?" The femme cried out, and then did so again, to make sure that she would get the attention of whoever was hopefully there.

"HEEEEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sparklight exclaimed suddenly, drawing out her words in an almost playful manner - for in truth, she was being playful, despite how badly she wanted to get out of this desert. It was just in her nature.

[Bumblebee]

Carbine could not be any slower at coming through this Groundbridge. Primus hurry up! Bumblebee was so very eager and so very excited to check things out that it was hard for him to just stand here and wait. If it were an Autobot? Hooray new possible friend! If it were a Decepticon? Well, it'd been a while since he'd had a good fight with someone from the other side! If it were MECH? Then.. Well... They could always bridge back asap. Heh. He didn't want to face MECH. Not one bit.

His own vents opened to try and filter out some of the heat. While he was bright yellow and therefore reflected most of the warmth, it was still a bit of a shock going from the nice cool Omega Base to baking under the sun in a desert.

He heard movement behind him, but didn't turn and look – he knew exactly who it was. He sideglanced to Carbine's servo as it placed on the rock beside him, although his attention was fully on the shoddy little base in the distance.

--Kidnapped? Noo! Did no such thing! Buddy system, man! There was a distress call and look! Down there!-- He'd point down to the makeshift base, making a point to keep low and behind the rock, just incase it was someone less than nice over there. His optics whirring as he focused. While he was no sharpshooter, his vision was almost good enough to be one. Well, in the right conditions anyway.

--Looks like it's just oooone... A femme,-- That'd probably be pleasing to hear for Carbine. Bumblebee could care less however. He was trying to work out whos side she was on.

--I'm not sure what she's do- SCRAP!--

He watched as she fired something into the air, scrambling backwards and straight into Carbine. There was a 'clunk' as he smacked right into the solid mass that was Carbine's armored front. He'd panicked at seeing her shooting something, and he didn't want to stand there like a doofus with his face peeking out behind a rock! What if it was some kind of heat-seeking missile or something!? Had they been spotted? If they had it was totally Carbine's fault!

It was a tense second or two, and he wouldn't budge from being awkwardly backed up against the helicopter Mech - before he vented out slowly, and took a wary step forwards and peeked out from behind the rock once more - once he decided they weren't about to have a missile come say hello. Whatever it was, was now floating beside her, and he was... Confused as to what it exactly was.

--You see that? What is that?--

It was mostly a rhetorical question for himself. He wasn't sure if Carbine could even really see that far, but he couldn't help but ask. Then the femme would yell, and Bee's frame would tense up. Well, she obviously knew someone was here.

She yelled again. Longer this time, drawing out her words.

--What is she doing yelling like that?!-- She wasn't looking their way, so there was that at least. But still, the fact she was yelling out like she was meant she knew someone was here. Either that or she was crazy.

[Carbine]

Carbine leaned forward to try to get a better view at what was going on down the way, ending up hovering over Bumblebee a bit in the process to a point his chest butted up against the smaller Cybertronian's shoulder. He simply couldn't see as far or as well however, the scout's optics designed to pick up on details and be more honed, while he was left wanting. Any tiny boons his visor gave to him to shield against the blaring sun, honestly did very little in the grand scheme of things. The shapes of yellow on his faceplate were so thinned and squinted, that they were almost invisible in the blaring light of the day's sky.

Overall, the ex-cop was rather annoyed at all of this, still a bit disoriented from being drug so abruptly and unceremoniously into a mission he had very little plans for. On the other hand... adventure! This was spontaneous and could be fun, something that could possibly grasp his attention- annd... there we go.

When Bumblebee said that the individual was probably a femme, Carbine leaned forward even more, the triangular prongs of his peds grinding down so that he could smash as hard against the rock as reasonable to try to see better. This of course meant he was also crushing Bumblebee, but those were silly little details that needn't be dwelled over.

"What, what̀'̡ḑ s͞he͞ do?"

Carbine didn't exactly make out what had happened, but he did see that something was thrown into the air. The small speck of... whatever... was hovering in place, and didn't appear to be attached to her in any way, or the attaching point was a pale color that bled into the environment to make a convincing illusion. This permitted Carbine to shove back and off of the scout, especially when the runt was squawking in protest about seeing weird stuff and probably being crushed.

"She's bluffi̷ng,͝ ̨ţr͠ying to pretend she knows wh-where we are. BUT YES! Ok litt́le ̕m̷an! I will show you how this is done! I ai͘n̵'t͢ no cơw̴ard!"

With a heroic proclamation as if he was about to sacrifice himself to save the entire team from imminent death, Carbine's hands snapped forward and clutched onto Bumblebee's shoulders. A hard shove and a swipe later, and the little scout was half shoved, half thrown out from the hiding place into the open. Carbine at least had the foresight to aim for the softer dunes around them. Once this obstacle was out of the way, the helicopter mech's slender legs cut up and over, stepping over what was in his path to stand out into the open so that Sparklight could see him.

Carbine was foolish, he was risky, but he was not a complete idiot, and this showed in the fact that while he was stepping forward, his riot armor had engaged. Sharp clicks, a few clunks, the sound of latches locking in place, it was only a moment for the shield to come up in front of his throat and lower face, and for his joints to be protected head on. From taking a direct assault, he could survive much. His armor from the front could take plenty and he'd come out kicking and fighting. Now... the back was a different story, but that was not presented to the tiny femme who he was counting on not having artillery powerful enough to be a threat. Honestly... a gun strong enough to sear though his riot armor would also probably propel her across the dunes as a form of transportation from kickback alone.

"You lost?"

Carbine bellowed this out, his voice carrying far across the area with enough force to likely be heard. He made sure to watch himself, speaking carefully as to not permit the glitching static of his normal voice to feed though. Swiftly abandoning his fellow Autobot to see who this person was, or WHAT they were, Carbine focused in and walked in a straight line at her. He was more than happy to greet a femme Autobot, but wouldn't be disappointed if he got to bury a Decepticon out here...

He hoped his armor looked inbuilt enough and matching enough to not convey how on guard he was.

[Deleted]

As quickly as it had picked up, the harsh desert winds began to subside in strength, granting somewhat better vision and hearing, albeit how much of an improvement it provided to both senses was quite arguable in terms of intensity. That said, it did make the job of communication somewhat easier, to Sparklight's joy as she called out once more. "HEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOO!" Whilst still noticeably drawn out, this shout wasn't as long as it's predecessor had been - but it wasn't by that much.

Sparklight sighed under her breath, continuing to search her surroundings from where she stood in the sand. It seemed that nobody was there, something which dampened her aforementioned joy slightly, but that by no means applied to her energy. The femme shrugged to herself, the motion of which involved raising her arms (And thusly her servos), causing the floating object by her side to follow in suit, hovering higher into the air and then back down as her arms relaxed down at her sides.

She hummed quietly to herself as she turned on the spot - a movement made easy by the wheels in place of her pedes - skating off back towards the communications console, ready to mash the button once again to send off a myriad of many more distress signals. Or atleast, that was her plan. Mid-way between her start point and the beacon, she heard something behind her, a loud shout and the clicking of panels and plating.

Similarly to before, Sparklight's wheels afforded her the ability to pivot suddenly, coming about 180 degrees in a sudden flash of motion, facing towards whatever or whoever it was behind her. As it had before, the floating object followed Sparklight's right servo for the entirety of the motion.

The femme stood in a prepared stance, low to the ground with her legs planted widely apart. Her arms quickly rose in to a similar defensive position, with her left arm forward as her right did the same thing whilst also rising upwards, moving it above her left before pulling her right one back to besides her helm, bringing it to the same level her left servo was at. The entirety of this action extended to the object, causing it to rotate 270 degrees around her left servo, being pulled in such a motion by her right servo.

If it hadn't been clear before, Carbine's closer proximity and the weaker winds would lend themselves to presenting a good view of the object, revealing itself now to be a weapon, a blade of some kind, with one prong on either side but only one of said two was pointing forwards, the other pointing back. The weapon continued to hover there, almost completely level to the floor as the femme eyed Carbine.

Her optics quickly darted about his frame, her own continuing to stand resolute in the sands, her bold and bright colour scheme still somewhat muted and dusty. For a few seconds she continued to stand like this, but it almost seemed like staying still was a nigh impossible task for the femme and thus she tried to stand her ground for as long as possible. Carbine on the other hand had began to start walking towards her, in a slow and imposing fashion - the latter of which had gone over Sparklight's head somewhat.

On the topic of things that had gone over her head, so had Carbine's earlier comment and question towards her. Instead, she targeted him with her own. "Autobot or Deceptiscum?" She asked, trying to carry an intimidating tone in her words. Both the phrasing of her question and the bright red autobrands notably on her shoulders and on her chestplate would quite quickly allude to where her allegiances lay.

"Because if you're not an Autobot, that armour might not protect you for long." Sparklight continued, trying to uphold her air of what she believed to be coming across as menace. In truth there was little chance (If any at all) of her blade penetrating his thick frontal armour, she was just hoping that Carbine wouldn't be able to figure that out in case he was a Decepticon.

[Bumblebee]

Attempts would've been made to shove Carbine back and away, but the much smaller scout wouldn't have been able to budge him much, if at all. There were pros to this, he figured, in that if it were a Decepticon down there? She might not even see Bumblebee as Carbine loomed over him – or work out that there were two mechs waiting. They'd have the element of surprise!

Speaking of surprise...

He was about to reply to Carbine's comment, all he managed however was a beepy-static scoff – which turned into a surprised yelp as he felt Carbine's servos on his shoulders. Then he was shoved. Well, it was more like thrown. Thanks Carbine! Bees face? Meet soft sand. He landed with a thud and just lay there for a moment.

Then Carbine had the nerve to step over him. Seriously?! Way to be a bro, you aft! He hoped the femme somehow saw everything from over where she was standing, and would take some kind of pity on him – if only to deny Carbine the attention he so craved for being a big damn 'hero'.

Muffled beeps of annoyance could be heard as he pushed himself up and out of the sand, shaking himself off. He already had sand in the joints of his pedes, but now it was everywhere. Thank you so much Carbine. Luckily for the other mech, Bumblebee was above shoving him back or making him look bad infront of a newcomer – at least for now. He wouldn't have been able to get a running start in the sand, so any attempts of shoving him wouldn't have worked out anyway.

His optics would whir audibly as he kept his gaze on the femme, moving to stand alongside Carbine – although he kept a step or two back. He didn't have the armor that Carbine did, so if this femme decided to attack? He wanted Carbine to take the blow and he'd act as backup. He didn't shift the small Energon blasters from his arms, even though he'd now worked out that what the femme had alongside her was a weapon. 

The things she said were promising, however, and he'd cup his servos to his face so he could effectively yell. Not that it was anywhere near the same volume as Carbine's yell, but damn if he didn't try.

--We're Autobots! Are ya lost?--

Might as well repeat Carbine's question, since she hadn't answered it. He sure hoped she could understand Basic, and that the beeps and whistles would carry over the dunes. If not? They'd have to go in closer. 

[Carbine]

Carbine continued to walk forward, mostly unphased by the femme's defensive stance and the object that was raised, despite the fact that said object now obviously a weapon of some kind held at the ready. This chance in the situation only caused the ex-cop's posture to change minutely, his shoulders pulling back, and helm rising to try to create an even more imposing frame, daring... DARING... her to raise arms against him. There was definitely a different force in play when he was fairly confident he had the upper hand, and it manifested itself in confidence and a twinge of aggression.

He was the largest Cybertronian here by a hefty margin, and he felt confident in his abilities if things were to go pear shaped. This arrogance, this invulnerable aura, pulsed out with his posture and the way he approached, unyielding, uncaring, as if she were holding but a tiny toothpick against him. As far as he was concerned, that’s all it was, though how she was holding it was another question all together. He was still banking on it being some illusion in the blinding light and contrast of the sands, because otherwise that drew up too many questions he didn't want to try to calculate then and there.

Really... the only thing that did give him pause was when Bumblebee started to follow him. It was no mystery, or hopefully shouldn't be a grand mystery, that Carbine did NOT enjoy people behind him. It made him uncomfortable, made him on guard, especially since he couldn't see behind him rather well. Bumblebee was either astute enough to pick up on this momentary tension and the way Carbine's rotors hiked up in unease, or he was lucky enough to have already chosen to keep walking until he was at the helibot's side, for once the scout was well enough in range to be seen from the corner of his visor, Carbine relaxed again, focusing on...

Wait...

What did she say!?

"Deceptiscum? Dece̷pti͘s̀cum!?"

Carbine's approach stopped abruptly, and he couldn't help but chitter out a bit of a laugh at this, the sound low and strained to try to hold it back. He repeated the word a third time while glancing back towards Bumblebee, as if asking him if he had ever heard anything so silly before, only to remember that the scout was basically a child in the processor and probably thought it was a delightful little nickname for the opposite team. Alas, as silly as the phrase was, it instantly betrayed the femme's faction allegiance, which meant she was an Autobot, as if her icon on her shoulder wasn't enough.

After this amusing statement of disbelief by Carbine, he turned back to observe the orange Cybertronian. While he did not have a face to really betray as much, the smile he was sporting could be felt in his field, amused, happy, a bubbly edge to it, all finding the situation delightful like he had stumbled across a puppy. At this point... there was about nothing threatening about the little femme, and it was now impossible for Carbine to take this interaction seriously, the tension not just bleeding away... but hemorrhaging.

"Oh little precious th́-͟th̢ing you, why don't you put d-down your toy there, and se̵nd Bumblebee here your Aut̶o̶bot codes hrmm?"

Carbine purred this out, kneeling forward a bit so that he could plant his palms down over the rounded shapes of his knee guards. It caused the arching armor of his spine to hook up a bit, white rings and clasped plates shifting some before settling back down in place with a solid click. Even while kneeling over like this, in a rather degrading fashion as if Sparklight was a toddler, Carbine loomed over them both. The armor of his chest now lined up at Bumblebees helm, and little Sparklight was regretfully right at his hip assembly. He honestly could get used to working with smaller individuals... made him feel like he was some kind of god with all the cards in hand...

Forget the fact Bumblebee hurt him rather bad last time they fought...

Shhh...

"But kudos... kudos... valiant ef́fo͝rt... You will need to gain some more int̀i̴m̕idation points before you see real results th-th̴ough."

There was a hiccup in his speech while he spoke. He would sound alright one second, and the next there was an overlay of static and a chattered pop of a stutter, that was gone just as fast as it arrived. It flickered so rapidly, and the black mech didn't seem to pay it heed or recognize anything was going wrong.

Another chuckle, another faint rattle of his frame holding back a laugh, Carbine looked over at Bumblebee then, to see what he thought on the situation. He seemed to be taking it all professional and serious though, which was sad and boring! He had to lighten up! I mean... sure... if there was Energon spattered about, and she was bleeding badly, Carbine wouldn't be acting like this... not even remotely. In addition he did make sure to keep the corner of his eye always on her, in case she did try anything, because he wasn't an IDIOT... but she appeared to be ok, and... and come-on! DeceptiSCUM! It was so childish and funny Bumblebee had to be amused at this! Don't tell him the Prime's suffocating blank aura finally rubbed off on the yellow mech.

"Think you c̢a͠n help her there scoutarino?"

[Deleted]

Sparklight continued to stand her ground, holding her stance with her weapon still raised. She wasn't intimidated by Carbine, or at the least didn't show it. The towering mech's attempts to shift his stance and posture to come across as more threatening had a similar effect as Sparklight prepared for her first fight ever, and boy was she excited.

In fact it was this excitement that was what had been blocking Carbine's attempt to intimidate her, after all, the bigger and stronger the mech, the more fun the fight would be... right? Fortunately - or Unfortunately (Depending on how much you wanted to see the small femme throw herself at Carbine) it seemed that the fight wasn't going to happen.

The femme watched as the mech stopped in place, almost seeming like he was laughing and talking to himself, but she couldn't make out what he was saying or if he was even doing either of those at all. Maybe he was just stopping for a quick break? It didn't matter either way, for his next statement was quite clear for her to hear.

As with many other things that Carbine had said and done that day, the majority of what he had to say went over her head, most notably his condescending tone. Despite this fact however, there was something that she picked out of his speech, something very important, two things in fact. The first was that she should do is transmit her autobot codes, and the second thing was who she should transmit them to.

Bumblebee.

THE Bumblebee?

THE Bumblebee who had risked his life and ultimately his voice box in the face of Megatron, THE Bumblebee who had joined Optimus Prime and Ratchet to re-take the decagon, THE Bumblebee who freed the majority of Autobot prisoners in the Kaon Prison Complex with assistance of Air raid? Could it really be?

Sparklight quickly began to light up with excitement and joy, despite her processor's attempts to calm her down, momentarily reasoning that perhaps there was more than one Bumblebee. Momentarily was the best word to describe the length of time she attempted to reason this to herself, as right then and there, the fabled scout took his place beside Carbine.

A bright smile carved itself into the femme's faceplate, her stance and seriousness dropping in an instant as she stepped back a few paces, the weapon suddenly dropping to the ground with a quiet thud. The servo that the weapon had been following rose up to her mouth, trying to muffle a gasp of surprise.

Even though Carbine was now looming over her, Sparklight continued to pay him no mind, for all of hers was focused on Bumblebee. "Y-you're Bumblebee! I-it would be an honour! ..Sir!" The young femme blurted out suddenly, tacking the sir onto the end as her processor continued to come to terms with the fact that Bumblebee had come to collect her from her crashed pod. If one listened closely enough, they might have heard the barely audible 'squee' she made.

An instant later, the codes had been transmitted, with the femme's designation, purpose and history (Which wasn't very long) and all other relevant data. Sparklight still kept her optics on Bumblebee, almost in a trance due to just how starstruck she was. Said 'trance' was shattered by Carbine's continued speech, looking up at him. "Intimidation points? How do I get those?" She asked excitedly, her face lighting up again, missing the fact that these 'Intimidation Points', weren't an actual thing she could get.

But it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee had sorta worked out from his little encounter with Carbine last week that the helicopter-mech didn't like people behind him, (even Bee himself would be wary of that, now, thanks to Bolo) so he made a point to keep a few steps to the side as he approached the other mech – and took extra care in remaining in the corner of Carbine's vision at all times – not wanting to get into another fight should Carbine somehow feel threatened. He had noticed the other mech's rotors hike up briefly, his own optics narrowing. Come on Carbine, really... There's a newcomer who we don't know, the last thing you have to worry about is me...

While he'd heard the femme, the little nickname she'd given the opposite faction had flown over Bee's helm. Carbine caught it though, and made it painfully evident by the fact he kept repeating it. The third time, he even made a point of turning to look at Bee as he said it.

--Wait really? That's what she said? Deceptiscum? Baha! That is AWESOME!--

Bee laughed, a beepy chuckle. Servos moving to his hips. Deceptiscum. That was clever! He'd have to remember to use that one in future! Decepti-scuuuum. It had a nice ring to it. He liked this newcomer already, even if he wasn't 100% sure she was on their side yet, despite everything showing as such so far. While he had been in super-serious mode, that'd only been because you could never really tell if anyone was who they said they were – at least until they'd sent over their codes.

Until then? Anyone could say they were an Autobot, when infact could be anything but. It was better to be slightly on edge than to be totally relaxed. That was just setting yourself up for trouble! He didn't understand how Carbine could be so casual about this whole thing. Sure he was a lot taller than the femme, but Bee had proven that size wasn't everything when it came to fights.

Bee would briefly deadpan at Carbine as he suggested that she send the codes to him. Anything to get out of the tiniest amount of work, right Carbine? His own field, which had remained level and alert up until now – was starting to pick up on some of Carbine's amusement. He relaxed some, his servos shifting from his hips and dropping to his sides.

--Yeah, yeah... I got it. I guess ya aint givin' me much of a choice, eh?-- His tone surprisingly cheery. He didn't mind! It was only fair, he figured – since he had dragged Carbine out here.

Scoutarino...? That wasn't as good as Deceptiscum.

He took a step forwards and into better view so he could address the femme directly – knowing Carbine hopefully had his back should this all go horribly wrong. He was about to speak, when... She dropped her weapon, taking a few steps back as she raised her servo to try and muffle an obvious gasp.

Okay? Weeell.. That was... Odd. Was she scared? Carbine had told her to drop the weapon, but the fact she'd gasped afterwards made Bee think that she'd dropped it due to something else. The situation was weird. She'd stepped back, yet was smiling. Her field seemed to buzz with excitement, too. That was the complete opposite of scared.

Was Bumblebee missing something here?

He'd give Carbine a quick, confused glance over his shoulder, as if silently asking if he was picking up on the mixed signals too. Then the femme spoke and he'd turn his attention back to her. His optics whirred audibly as he... Processed what she'd just said. Sir? Sir? If it weren't for the fact she'd addressed him directly by name, he would've thought she was talking to someone else. It was an honor to give him the codes? It was just a routine thing... Why would it be an honor? An honor would be to hand them to someone like Optimus Prime himself! Bee was just a Scout! 

Did she just 'squee', too? He definitely heard that. The fact they were alone in a desert meant even the tiniest of noises were easily heard.

He couldn't linger on it for long, though, as the codes were transmitted a split second later. He was quiet a moment, no doubt sending said codes back to base to be verified, before speaking once more. 

--Lookin' good here! Codes check out. Nice to meet ya, uuh.. Sparklight! An Energon scout, hey? Nice! And yup, I'm Bumblebee!-- He'd raise a servo to give an awkward wave, before rubbing the back of his neck. --Ya don't hafta call me 'Sir' by the way, Bee is fine!--

He honestly had no idea that she knew about him and the things he'd done on Cybertron - unaware of the broadcasts that'd been sent to the pods that'd left their home planet. So her reaction was puzzling to him, and he was more than a little curious to find out more about what she knew exactly, and why she had called him 'Sir'. Although that could probably wait. They had more important things to do! Like getting her to the Omega Base, and they should probably look into dismantling her makeshift base incase someone found it. In the middle of the desert. 

He really did have to lighten up sometimes. It was nice to be out and away from the base! Plus there really was no hurry in getting back - it wasn't like she was injured, or that he and Carbine had anything better to do. 

His field betrayed him some however, that slight amused tone he had? Rippled slightly with one of inquisitiveness and more than a little curiosity as he peered at her for a little longer than he probably should've. Her codes had also revealed that she was a last-sparked. Like him. That in itself was amazing, and he was excited to find another - just to have someone around his age-group that he could possibly hang out with at the base. He had a feeling they'd get along just fine, and that was only going off the AWESOME nickname she'd given the Decepticons. 

He had so many questions. When did she land here? Why did she address him as 'Sir'? What did she think of Earth so far? Why did she address him as 'Sir'? Where'd she learn to turn her shuttle into such a cool little makeshift base? WHY DID SHE ADDRESS HIM AS 'SIR'?

But he would remain strangely quiet, glancing at Carbine once more as if he somehow had all the answers.

It was probably a good thing that he hadn't worked it out yet. While he wasn't exactly a braggart, nor did he really like talking about his encounter with Megatron (even though it was a cool story and one he should be proud of!), he was a showoff and a bit of an arrogant brat at times - so the story about the jail and retaking Decagon? He could talk about those for days! 

He'd lower his servo before turning to the side and taking a small step back, so Carbine was on his left, Sparklight on his right. His gaze still lingering on the crouched-over-but-yet-still-tall helicopter mech, waiting for him to explain his silly intimidation points - if they were even a thing. And hopefully introduce himself, as Bee wasn't doing everything here! 

[Carbine]

While Carbine didn't show it ((other than relaxing a bit)), he truly did appreciate and take note of the fact Bumblebee took into consideration his personal dislikes, and gave him an even distance to move over to his side. It was a small thing in the grand scheme of the world, but it meant a lot to him, and he filed that little bit of information away in his processor to be addressed later if a situation where to arise. While he wouldn't have attacked the scout if he were to break this personal taboo, Carbine would have been unhappy and would have just moved a bit to the side to make sure they were both within line of sight.

Either way, what followed next was just a series of confusing bumbles along the path of trying to get this femme verified, and then integrated into the Autobot team. The first stumble was Bumblebee absolutely loving the childish nickname the girl had said. Carbine was used to feeling like an odd-man-out, mostly due to his sketchy ways, but this was a new feeling that was weird. He felt suddenly really old, like he was out of touch with the world and... and damn. That was a weird thing to have to experience when he thought of himself as being on the younger side mentally. Least his overall immaturity kept him on that side of the fence.

The second stumble was when Bumblebee decided to poke at the fact that he requested the femme send the codes to the scout rather than to him. Really quickly after Bee had stated this, Carbine interjected a fast comment of his own under his breath. It was a muttered 'Choice has nothing to do with it buddy' that was more mumble than actual statement, the words saturated in forced pleasantries.

Luckily Carbine didn’t have to dwell and get mopey about this, for the third stumble flopped into place, and he was met with the femme suddenly acting scared or amazed or startled or something! Carbine rocked his weight back somewhat, the sand beneath his peds crackling as he returned Bumblebees confused look. He paired it with a subtle rise and fall of his shoulders, not really knowing what had gone wrong until the girl called Bee 'sir' and everything clicked into place.

Primus. She thought he was some hero!

Ok no... Carbine was an aft, but he really honestly did know that Bumblebee was a notable name. Something something stories and tales he didn't really recall... the details were muddled and he never really took the time to commit them to a dedicated file in his processor, the passing commentary from many years ago long lost. He knew Bee tagged along Optimus' side a long time, maybe that was it? Maybe this girl was just psyched that she was going to get to meet their Prime and Bumblebee was the proof of this?

Sure... Close enough...

Drumming his fingertips down over the cap of his knees a moment, Carbine noticed Bee was looking his way, and he was being tasked to speak next. With an awkward grunt of thought, he pushed off of his knees and arched upright once again, rolling a shoulder joint back in its socket. If Bumblebee wasn't going to take charge? Than that was just an opening for him to do so!

"Stick by my side and ͏I͝ ́w̵i͟l͟l teach yah all you need t-to know!"

He mused boldly to Sparklight, cutting back into the conversation. He spoke with confidence and pride, to try to make himself sound like he was higher ranking than he actually was.

"Lots of weird cra̢p o̢n͠ this planet, lot to catch up on a-and learn. But first we got to get your base dism̢a͜ntled or hidden."

He started, raising a hand to motion over at the shuttle turned shelter. All he knew was that they shouldn’t leave this thing, or a human could possibly end up stumbling across it to make problems. MECH could also be an issue, maybe even already having a bead on it whenever it broke the atmosphere. But, being what appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, there was no knowing how far or close that MECH was. Carbine had no way to know if they were truly isolated, or if this was just a sandy portion of Nevada... Bee had shoved him out here blind.

"Names Carbine, care to show mę ̸w̧ha̷t yah put together over there?"

And... there was the Carbine everyone knew and no one loved.

Now that the danger was mostly gone, and the situation deflated down to idle chitchat, he tried to shoehorn forward to focus on the fact that this was a pretty little femme, and while ignorant as heck, she was still a femme and... and... he was trash...

He was total trash...

[Deleted]

The femme remained still, humming a quiet tune to herself as the duo shuffled about, albeit she didn't pick up on that. By now it might have become clear that Sparklight would never win an award for the longest attention span, or even come close by some of the widest of margins. Despite this fact however, Sparklight's optics never seemed to leave Bumblebee's frame, even if she had started to sway side to side to her own melody by this point.

Sparklight seemed to snap out of yet another of her 'boredom-induced trances' when Bumblebee began to address her. Whilst it was evident he was unaware of where this status come from, the femme didn't pick up on that either, among many, many other things. What she did pick out however was the fact that Bumblebee seemed to like her little comment about 'Deceptiscum', even though something was pulling at the back of her mind along the lines of the fact the other mech didn't reciprocate either Bumblebee's or her own admiration for the term.

A few moments passed, and this time it didn't seem like Sparklight had attempted to occupy herself with well, anything. Well that was a small lie, as she was kind of staring off into space, but not so much that it was noticeable. As Bumblebee began to speak again, her head jerked towards his direction slightly with a small 'hmmm?'. "Really? Well okay then Bee! Nice to meet you! I'm Sparklight!" The femme exclaimed excitedly, planting her hands on her hips as she ignored the fact the mech already knew and had declared her designation.

Sparklight's servos moved back down to her sides after the passage of a few seconds as she returned to her casual resting stance, eyeing her blade on the floor. Reaching out for it with her right arm, she jerked said arm upwards despite the blade being a couple of metres away from her digits, yet rose up from the floor with ease, following her servo. Said servo rotated 360 degrees as the arm reached it's highest point, spinning the blade in the air in a similar fashion before Sparklight lowered her arm down to her side, the sword shifting it's angle so that it hovered a few feet away from her (And off the ground), running parallel to her body.

What she had just done was quite out of the ordinary, but she didn't seem to think so, as given her limited contact with other cybertronians (This pair being her first), she had been led to believe that all of her species were imbued with this ability. The femme's head jerked in Carbine's direction as he cut into the conversation, looking at him curiously. "All I need to know? Like how to get intimidation points?" Sparklight asked with an enthusiastic tone of voice, remembering his earlier mention of said points, yet forgetting the hostility he had once displayed to her.

"Huh?" Came her inquisitive response to his next statement about her base, a dumb-founded look painted across her faceplate. Said expression last a few moments longer before the mech continued to speak, and it was then that Sparklight began to focus again as she realized that she meant the remains of her pod. "Sure!"

Sparklight didn't give any kind of interval between her reply and zooming across the roughly 10 metre gap between the party and the base, the latter of which was aided by her wheel-legged form, using it to turn suddenly in a full 360 degrees as she reached it. Similarly to how she hadn't granted any time between moving to the makeshift base, the femme neglected to give the duo time to reach herself before she began to explain what she was showing them.

"This is the energon processor, and that's the communications array, that's the programming module, and that's some scrap, and that's some more scrap!" The femme explained enthusiastically, rapidly pointing to each of the objects as she mentioned them, before punctuating the end of her sentence with another twirl on the spot.

It then came to Sparklight that Carbine wanted her to dis-mantle the base, and she was all too eager, kicking one of the pieces of aforementioned scrap out of the ground, suddenly spinning yet again whilst twirling her blade in the air, using it's sharpness and gathered momentum to slice off part of the communications console, ignoring the fact that perhaps Carbine was trying to hit on her.

[Bumblebee]

Bumblebee didn't think of himself as some 'hero'. Sure the young Scout liked to brag and show off about things he did sometimes, but those past events? Those were just him doing his job. Granted his refusal to speak to Megatron had probably changed a lot of the outcome in the war, they might not even be stood here today if he'd passed on the information! But Bee didn't, and wouldn't see himself as a hero. At least not one worthy of being called 'Sir'.

That was why he didn't get Sparklight's excitement at seeing him. It did raise a lot of questions, though, which hopefully he'd get the answers to later - such as how much did she know of him? While he would refuse to think of himself as some hero, if others looked up to him? He would be okay with that! He hoped to have a positive influence on those at the base, and this was a good start.

His thoughts would linger on the word 'Sir' still, watching with mild amusement as the femme swayed gently and seemed to space out. She was kinda weird, and he liked it! His optics would whir slightly in confusion as she repeated her designation to him, but he wouldn't reply to her – just gave a cheery thumbs up. His gaze would shift to the blade as she somehow pulled it to herself without even touching it. How did she do that?

He was about to ask, as that was WAY cool and WAY more interesting right now than why she'd called him Sir - when Carbine decided to... Do his thing.

Oh Carbine. It hadn't even been ten minutes.

He found himself zoning out some, folding his arms across his chassis as he listened to the pair talk. Maybe he shouldn't have given Carbine the chance to speak, but then again, Bee was curious about her little base and what everything was. He was actually legit impressed that she'd made it out of the remains of her ship, and was thankful that things seemed to be in working order still – as noted by the fact she'd managed to send out multiple long range distress calls and survive in this environment by herself. The Omega Base didn't have a lot of supplies or equipment, so any salvage they could get from ships that crashed to Earth would help immensely.

Which was why when she eagerly kicked one of the pieces out of the ground, and began to spin with her blade pulled? He quickly snapped out of his daydream, dropping his arms to his sides. Carbine had the same idea, it seemed, and they both yelped out in panicked unison at what they were seeing.

--NO!--
“NO!”

He watched in horror. Both mechs lunging forwards toward her in an attempt to stop her doing more damage. Carbine's rotors hiked up in alarm, and he reached out as if trying to stop her. Bee's own door-wings perked up. Bee moved faster than the helicopter mech, scrambling forwards over the sand, his own arms out reaching out as if it'd get him there faster – but she'd already spun, twirling that really­-cool-blade-thing and sliced through part of the communications console.

--Wait wait! Don't!! We could really use that stuff back at base!!-- He beeped quickly, rushing to Spark's side, trying to get between her and the makeshift base. A stupid move, all things considered; she could do that twirly-blade-thing again and slice into Bumblebee without realizing - but it'd be a tiny price to pay for some decent working equipment!

[Carbine]

Ok yeah no, that wasn't normal.

Looking across the sands and blaring sun, the details of her weapon were lost to Carbine. He could make assumptions, educated guesses based around what he had seen through thousands of years of an active serving cop, and through the time he has served in war, but what he saw now didn't make any sense. It wasn't a pale colored handle that blended in to the surroundings, and it wasn't a cassette or drone object of some kind that could maneuver and fly on its own power. Instead, it was what appeared to be a solid weapon that hovered up on its own accord.

Carbine's posture shifted at this, his helm rising up along with his frame rocking back onto his heel a bit. There was a soft clicking sound, inaudible to the others, while his optics zeroed in upon the weapon and he tried to calculate with more precision or see the trick himself. His riot armor was still up, more just because he had been too lazy to retract it before, but now the tension and confusion in his frame caused it to lock down in place soundly.

Through all of his life, from patrolling the streets, to Garrus, and then the battlefield, the 'unknown' element was a real thrill and danger. A criminal holds up a weapon you don't understand? You try to shoot their arm off before they can kill you. A prisoner tries to stand beside you for no reason? You move before you get a shiv lodged in your side. A foe is tangling with what appears to be some box? You kept your distance because chances are it was a bomb. Being tuned in to dangers meant survival, and understanding what was around you was a big part of this.

Oh... no... he did understand it. Cybertron and plenty of objects suspended in magnetic fields as art forms, and some of it was done in larger machineries to serve a task. A clunky wearable version was seen rarely before the war, external armaments and a large power source that was made as a show of technological advancement, showed off as some means to move heavy machinery or parts without needing to rely upon those that were gifted larger frames. Of course, the practices that could actually NEED such stuff, could never afford it, and it was more display than function... After the war there were Polarity Gauntlets... Even more rare. Notable. The technology to make them birthed and lost within a tiny blip of time within the war at Decepticon hands. Carbine had never seen one, but he heard about them, and Sparklight neither had the rough novelty armor that was strapped to mid sized mech's back in the day, nor what rumors said the gauntlet looked like ((Carbine banked on it being a... surprise... gauntlet...)).

Overall, he was so dumbfounded by this that he didn't really even catch up to what she had said until after the fact, watching her reel about to start buzzing over to the shuttle like the small sprite she was. She was talking, trying to introduce something, probably trying to brag, Carbine was paying about as much attention as Bumblebee, which meant they both got wrenched unceremoniously from their inner thoughts when she took said weird weapon of conflict and hacked into something very useful.

Before the blade hit the object, Carbine was wrenching forward with Bumblebee, his arm holding out in a vain attempt to magically grab her from such a long distance. His rotors hiked up even further at this, clinking into their highest setting in which the bladed bands folded out from one another, splaying at either side not unlike dragonfly wings. This was all futile however, neither having the skills she had to try to just grab her from a range and launch her back into the sands. Unlike Carbine though, Bumblebee recovered faster and got across the distance to get between her and the other chunks of valuable technology.

While Bee threw his body into the mix as some idiot shield to the devices, Carbine started to stride forward, relying on his significantly longer limbs to get him there quickly rather than bothering to run or pick up his gait at all. While he cut forward, his rotors were still up and out, the fanned panels flared on either side in long arches that created a decorative splay out from his back. Refraction danced and emitted off of his black armor, his plating baking in the sun while vents flared to keep his internals within working temperatures. While he wasn't in any danger, it didn't mean he liked being here.

"Ok darling... Preci̵ou͝s̀ ̡lit͞tĺe̛ wierdo... I love me a gal th-̵that can rush ahea͜d ͝to ͠get̷ stuff done, but I need a timeout here."

Speaking calmly, Carbine clapped his hands up in front of him, slamming his open palm down atop the fingers of his opposite hand to make a large 'T'. His right hand then pulled back to peel a white fingertip up to count along with his next words.

"Ok first off... What?̧ S̢e̛co̧nd͝... The. And th-third... Frag!"

Carbine barked this out as an alarmed squawk. Why was Bumblebee not appear to notice this? Why did Bee not care? Why was he the odd man out here that wasn't meshing into this little trio dynamic they had to endure at the moment? So many questions were swarming. Was it because the scout took him here with no time to process? No... he has been thrown into situations blind plenty of times...

"I am drawi̸ng͜ an͡ ̢e͢mpty ͠on how you h-have an inbuilt polarity gauntlet here, and frankly it scares me th-that Scoutarino here doesn't think to ͜k̛z̨zt ͡seem it's weird also!"

His voice chittered and bounced with his confusion. Words flicked about, things swapped, he wasn't doing very well at surprising his issues at the moment. It wasn’t a surprise though, considering his mind was racing with other things, including explaining how they had a perfectly functional communications array and lost it.

"ALSO... also... so.̡.͡.al... Bumblebee is right."