Ep0.5 - "Rules Going Forward" - Closed

[Deleted]

“Okay,” said Sideswipe, his clean, Iacon-built face all lit up with glee that did not quite reach the Autobot blue of his optics. “Rules going forward.”

They were standing on the ground-bridge control deck, all three of the once Kaon-crime element mechs, the twins facing Jazz who was even now gearing up to get gone while the pair of spark-splits put out enough ‘blasé’ to fill a room… or at the very least that’s what Sideswipe was doing. Because Primus-forbid he let on exactly what kind of collateral might be done here in the next ten minutes. The red-plated guard-build was leaning heavily on his brother, one elbow braced on his shoulder, the tip of one pede set against the floor, crossed at the ankle rotors.

“Because there are only a few things you can do that will make us choke you…” He stopped, glanced at Sunny who was looking sidelong at him. “Hmm…” Sides looked back to Jazz and raised a hand, wobbling it back and forth in a ‘so-so’ manner. “Okay, so more than a few things,” he admitted, then held up a finger. “One of those more than a few things that will get you choked is telling the fraggin’ Bots that we’re out here. We like our KIA status. So let’s keep it that way. Saavy? Secondly, you will get choked for not answering if we do hit you up on the comm line we gave you. Thirdly, you will get choked if we find out you let some Con blow you up. Fourthly –”

Sides might have gone on but Sunstreaker punched him in the sideseam so he stopped listing numbers. His smile was unaffected, however. “All that copacetic?”

[sunstreaker]

Refolding his arms across his chassis, Sunstreaker turned blue-white optics back to Jazz who was taking Sideswipe’s bitching in stride with that same unflappable attitude that allowed him to be friends with the golden twin as well. For as upset as he’d been over the bot’s initial appearance, as out of the blue as he’d ever popped in, Sunny was finding himself not quite eager to see the mech leave. It had been nice having a bit of company, and Sides had been beside himself with sheer glee.

“The second and third ones most especially, Jazz. We don’t tolerate letting the Cons get one up on any of us,” Sunny chimed in with a grin, his EMF putting off the same nonchalance as his brother’s. His was perhaps a bit more genuine though. There wasn’t any worry in him for his friend. Jazz could take care of himself quite handily. The Cons needed more worry than that mech ever would.

Standing tall and ramrod straight as Siders leaned too casually against him, Sunny grinned at his longtime friend, one of a very small handful of bots in the ‘verse to carry that distinction. “Where are we dropping you, mech?” Like they couldn’t be rid of him fast enough.

[Deleted]

"Well, according to the internet--which we all know is ALWAYS right--most of the strange robotic sightings are in the southwestern US. So...somewhere in Arizona? Out in the middle of the desert. Perfect. Best way to break in the new alt: get sand EVERYWHERE."

Jazz finished settling the last of his newly-repaired blades in their assorted homes and shrugged his plating into place. The new alt, despite their workout the other day, still felt tight and unfamiliar. As much as he wasn't looking forward to the sand, he had to admit that some nice long drives to shake the tightness out of his joins would be welcome.

He steeled himself and turned to look up at his friends, keeping a tight filter on his field.

He really didn't want to leave. Really kind of a LOT. A handful of cycles of friends and warmth after the long cold black had helped, but not enough to take the ragged edge off. And here he was, leaving.

His processor knew he had to. He couldn't just stay here. First of all, the twins would get tired of him and probably try and kill him out of sheer self-defense, eventually. Second, he had a duty to a big, idealistic mech hanging out in the American West.

It was time to go. Before inertia caught him and he really couldn't.

All right, Jazz, short and sweet. Minimum of mush. This is the twins we're dealing with here.

He nodded. "No givin' you away, pick up the phone when you call, don't get killed. Got it." He stopped in front of them, close enough to overlap both of their fields. "Same goes for you. Watch your afts out here, and you need backup, you know where to find me."

[Deleted]

“Kay then.” Sides pushed off Sunstreaker. “Let’s do this thing.

He moved to the ground bridge control, bracing black-armored hands against the edge of the panel before keying in a series of GPS coordinates. The systems drew a bead on a nice quiet nick of the desert where a ground bridge would go unnoticed, but not so far away that a highway into the heart of the country was not nearby. A couple kilometers and the saboteur would be enroute to weed out the position of the Autobot band hiding out from the Cons. With any luck, he’d meet up with Team Prime and network himself into their ranks like he did everywhere and that third option would become less of a concern for all of them.

“System locking on now,” said Sideswipe, optics flicking up from the keys to the bridge arc which had already begun to hum, warming, air ionizing. He turned around, leaning against the panel as the bridge started the auto count to launch, grin still in place though somewhat fixed. “Keep an eye out for us. We’re out there if you know what to look for.” He smirked. “Though you gotta look hard.”

[Deleted]

Jazz grinned as Sides turned away to deal with the bridge controls. He turned to Sunstreaker, thumping a fist (not hard enough to scratch either of their Sunstreaker-grade finishes) in farewell against the frontliner's shoulder. Thanks, his field said, slipping in a bit of gratitude-friendship-care just to be annoying.

Jazz went to stand in front of Sideswipe. "Hey, you know me. Got my optics on everythin' in sight."

The bridge flared into being, spiraling out in a whirl of light and quantum mechanics to connect him with a patch of sandy dirt halfway across the world. The green glow turned Sideswipe a really unfortunate shade of brown.

"Take care. And I'm serious. You need, you COMM. I will find a way." Jazz bumped his field against Sideswipe's, friendly and sincere and followed up by an old, Kaon-inflected glyph denoting not your friends, not your cohort, but as important as both: your crew, your gang, the mechs you ran with, the ones who always had your back.

[Deleted]

Don’t mention it… seriously. Don’t was the cantankerous hum off sunstreaker, but with not nearly enough plate-splitting viciousness to meet the gold-mech’s usual rigorous standard for cold. The frigid neon blue of his optics tracked Jazz’s every movement though as he crossed the room to stand before the ground bridge. Sides grinned crooked at usual at the mech and felt Sunstreaker move to his more than he hear or saw him.

The red twin smirked at Jazz, pulsed the sentiment right back. His EM field caught the edge of Jazz’s own and for that astro-kilk of contact, the spark-link between the Twins fell open and the sentiment was shared. Sunstreaker’s expression remained exactly as coolly terse as before. Sideswipe was beaming like he could will Jazz to just get what they – in their two-brained, spark-split dialect – were saying. That there weren't many fixed points in the chaotic pitch and keep of their lives but if there was at least one steady on... it was Jazz.

They hoped he got it, because Jazz spoke a bit of Twin. But fluency was impossible.

“See ya!” said Sides. Then to his surprise, Sunny added, quietly, watching the light of the groundbridge pulse, “See ya.”

Fin?

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<Fin. >