[ti]Ep 2.5[/ti]Stranger in a Strange Land - Closed for now

[Deleted]

Week 2, Day 4

7:30 pm

Jasper

The town of Jasper was starting to wind down for the day.  People still came and went, cars still moved on the busy streets, people still visiting friends, going to the movies, or shopping. But in general, the daily rush was settling down. Work was over for a lot of people, school was out.  Kids were inside working on homework for the next day.  It was growing calm, peaceful, and quiet.

Near the outskirts of Jasper, as the houses grew farther and farther apart, then stopped altogether to be replaced by industrial buildings and businesses.  Here, parking lots were bigger, more room to move.

As one followed the main road from Jasper, leaving behind the commercial area, and entered the more industrial, one would pass an abandoned building.  It was rectangular in shape, squat and looking somewhat forlorn.  The windows had been covered with dust and time.  A one-time used car lot, this abandoned building boasted a large parking area.  The asphalt was worn, weeds and grass poking up through cracks and holes.  Here and there old oil stains could still be seen.

Although the building was abandoned, the parking lot wasn't.

This evening, the sun starting to lower in the sky, the parking lot was filled with cars.  Cars of every shape, color and hue.  Huge monstrosities, tiny single seaters. Cars with six wheels, and cars with three. Doors were opened to allow a better view inside some of the vehicles.

There were people everywhere.  Some carried soft drinks in their hands, or held hands with others.  Here and there a child rode on a parent's shoulders.  Small knots gathered around some of the more exotic-looking vehicles.

Signs leaned against piles of tires, both on the parking lot, and on the main road before the turn in.

THREE DAYS ONLY!  COME SEE CARS OF THE WORLD!  CLASSIC CARS, NEW CARS, CARS FROM MOVIES!  WE HAVE THE BATMOBILE!  WE HAVE JAMES BOND'S CAR!  EUROPEAN CARS! AMERICAN CARS!  $5 ENTRY FEE  $7 FAMILY   HOT DOGS AND SODA!

Back from the gathering of cars, from the gathering of people, back behind the abandoned white building, where the asphalt ended and weeds and grass began, down in a ditch cluttered with old wrappers and empty soda cans...a blue light appeared.

With a  quavering tone, the blue light rippled, seeming to expand in a concentric circle.  It almost seemed to hover there, in place, a few centimeters off the ground.  Had anyone been nearby, they would have felt a strange sensation from the light - foreign smells, odd temperature fluctuations.

The light rippled, and then, suddenly vanished, leaving behind no odd light, no sound, nothing at all to give proof it had ever been there in the first place....

...save for the single individual it had left behind.

[Deleted]

As the light faded, a primarily white and red mechanical being was left in its place. Bright blue optics shuttered a few times as he attempted to reboot them, taking in the sights of his new surroundings. The sky above was clear, stars easily visible with the lack of clouds. It seemed to be.. in the middle of no where.. There was a glowing mass of some sort of town in the distance, but it was too far away for the mech to get a good look at it. That's when he heard it- shouting and the revving of engines suddenly hit his audial receptors as he turned around and noticed the old building behind him.

Crouching down, he placed a servo on each of his sword's hilts and slowly wandered closer, crushing the cans and trash under his pedes as he did so. Once he was close enough, he peeked just a tiny bit around the building in an attempt to see more of what was going on. Organic creatures were huddled around a multitude of strange and interesting vehicles. Some were huge, others were sleek... some, it was hard to tell if they would be street legal.

'Humans', he told himself. He had heard about them before, but he had never had the chance to properly meet one. Now however, would not be the time to come strolling in. Meetings with smaller beings had to always be taken with care, and Drift understood that there was some kind of Autobot base stationed on this planet. He wasn't sure what their relation to the indigenous species was just yet... better to play it safe for now.

Ducking back behind his safe little building, he took notice of a small group of vehicles that appeared to be leaving the gathering. There were 5 in total, each looked more detailed than the last. Quietly, he observed them as they suddenly stopped in a line. A slender human female got out of the passenger side of a red sports car as she took her place in front of the line. She began to shout something, holding up a flag.

As the cars were stopped, the Cybertronian took his chance and scanned the vehicle that was closest to himself. Just as he finished, the woman lowered the flag and the 5 racers squealed off down the road. In the midst of the loud tires, the swordsmech transformed into his new alt mode. It was all angles, sleek clean lines, and unbeknownst to him- quite impractical for the everyday driver. A Quimera AEDC.. a concept car that few had access to just yet. Regardless, he flicked on his head lights and slowly rolled out from behind the building. Sitting at the edge of the road, he looked in the direction that the racers had taken off in. It was dark, lit only by the singular moon above.

This left him with two choices, head off into the unknown in search of some kind of hailing frequency, or try his luck in the nearest town. There was however... another option. A small indulgence, one might say. Join the race? It has been a while since he had done anything that was simply for the pleasure of doing so.

[Javelin]

Javelin loved this time of day.

The sun setting overhead turned the sky into a beautiful shade of lavender, and the land around her black. It was like an oil painting she had seen online once, and wanted so badly. The contrast of the colors were breathtaking.

Just outside of Jasper, there were a few stars starting to appear, not yet drowned out by the lights of the city.

She was enjoying the hum of her tires on the road, when her com sparked to life.

::Hey Javelin, you’re just outside Jasper, right?::

::Uh..that’s right, Bulkhead, what’s up?::

::Uh...we just got a ping on the map here. Right in Jasper. A big one.::

There was a pause for a second as the femme waited for Bulkhead to continue. When it became obvious he assumed she knew what that meant, she spoke again.

:And....what does that mean, exactly?::

::Oh, sorry! It means some sorta Bridge opened up there.::

Javelin’s tires swerved slightly for a second. A Decepticon, appearing right in the human city?

::Oh scrap. A Con, there?::

::Well...we don’t think it’s a Con. I mean, it might not be a Con, but it might.::

::Bulk, you have to-::

::Ok, listen. We can’t just pick up Bridges opening all over the place. So for this one to just randomly appear on our maps? It’s powerful. Meaning it couldn’t have come from the Nemesis...::

::But from space. Aww double scrap. Ok, I’ll check it out, send me the co-ords. I’ll be in contact ASAP.::

::Thanks. And Good luck. Just because it’s from space doesn’t mean it’s friendly. If you need backup, yell.::

::Gotcha.::

The blue vehicle increased it’s speed, flashing towards the outskirts of the human city as the coordinates of the Bridge were sent to her processor. Overlaying it on a metal map of the area, Javelin cursed silently. The Bridge had opened on the other end of Jasper from where she was from.

The last thing we need right now is to have a Cybertronian – Con OR Bot, just walk out into the middle of the street.

Forced to slow as she moved into the start of Jasper, Javelin flicked her holoform into place, and turned onto the main street, that would take her through the town.
Still too far away yet to broadcast on an open line, all she could do was keep moving towards the coordinates Bulkhead had given her.