Ep. 1.5 - Live Spitfire - (Closed)

[Deleted]

Set in Week 1, Day 5!

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Almost immediately, Fortress Maximus was wary.

"Why me?" he said.

Standing at his usual daytime post at the monitors, Ratchet let out an aggrieved sigh.

"Because Agent Fowler has put in the request for one of our Autobots to test out the new mechanized infantry live fire range just north of Area 12," he said testily. "And since I don't see any other tanks on the base, that means you. Besides, he is aware that you don't get out as often as the others do owing to your alternate mode being as conspicuous as it is. Take this opportunity for what it is: a chance to leave the base for a few hours and blast some inoffensive targets."

And not some offensive Autobots, was Maximus' dour response. But even though he knew they were both thinking it, he didn't say it aloud.

The big mech scrubbed one hand down his face. He dug his thumb and forefinger into his optics and shut them. He was tired. He had been tired all week, and he knew exactly the reason why. It frayed at him. Recent events had not helped. But the medic was right. Getting off the base and into the dusty, empty hills to the north would be a welcome change of pace.

Ratchet was watching him closely. Maximus let his hand drop.

"All right," he said wearily. "You're right. It doesn't sound so bad. I'll do it. Alone?"

Ratchet shrugged.

"I haven't exactly had anyone leap up to volunteer to go with you, so it would appear so," he said. "You'll be fine."

[Deleted]

Amazingly, Miko had found something as boring as Red Alert. And that new evil was pre-calculus. Numbers were boring. Yeah, she wasn't stupid enough to think numbers were useless but she didn't have to like them. They weren't exciting. She didn't get a geeky, little thrill from pi. It was a stupid name and a stupid number that didn't end. Like her homework. There was no end in sight. Which was why she'd fallen asleep on the textbook in a completely impossible face down position.

Up on the raised platform, out from under the Bot's feet, the children were relatively eye level and easy to keep an eye on. If they were noisy. When they were quiet, and say napping the evening away, they were mostly forgotten. Raf had abandoned Miko to her boneless sprawl on the couch and there she'd stayed until the murmur of Ratchet had slowly lulled her awake.

She was content to ignore the annoying chatter and roll over into the pillows when the magic words were spoken: blast some inoffensive targets. The only important word there was blast, as in explode, as in detonate, as in oh em gee, I want a part of that! Miko sat up so fast she gave herself mild whiplash and grabbed the back of her neck. Gods about, how could something like that hurt so much?!

"I'll go!" She winced and stumbled off of the couch, still rubbing at her neck and trying to stop the twitching muscle from doing the merengue. "I wanna go! I can help!" She wasn't even sure what she was volunteering for but she was game. Let's do this.

[Deleted]

Startled by her immediate show of exuberance, Ratchet turned on her.

"You?" he said. He snorted, his fists planted on his hips. "Ha! I hardly think a firing range is an appropriate place for children to visit. And don't you already have homework you need to complete, young lady?"

Meanwhile, Maximus studied the girl in silence.

He knew little about any of the children. They were tiny, fragile creatures who filled the control room with noise and life when they were there. They watched television on the large monitor, they draped themselves on the couches, they played video games and typed on their laptops and spoke with the other Autobots as friends. Some of their attachments ran deep. Arcee and Jack spoke quietly and seriously about topics that ranged from school to certain missions. The quiet, shy Raf understood Bumblebee better than half of the Autobots on the base did.

And Miko...

Bulkhead spoke warmly of her. A Wrecker at heart, he had declared proudly. Even Wheeljack had echoed that sentiment. Maximus did not care for children. His grasp on human culture was weak at best. And from her music to her cell phone, Miko walked to her own beat. Jumped, cartwheeled, and air guitared to it. She was as inscrutable to him as the moon.

But he did know a little about Wreckers.

Maximus cleared his throat.

"She can come," he said.

[Deleted]

"My homework is right here!" It was true, she had the book and notebook laid out. She'd even managed to finish two equations before the Sandman had zonked her out. So she wasn't outright lying. She never said she'd finished it and he'd never asked. Irritably, she gave one last rub at her neck and braced her hands on the rail.

She had just begun to size up the other mech when he spoke. Miko was expecting a 'no' or a 'you can't' from him because everyone said that to her, no matter if they were Bot or human. She expected a no so much that when he said she could go, she just stared at him a moment, completely boggled by the words.

Can go? Not no? Is can go? Master has given Dobby a sock!

Abruptly she danced in place, bouncing on the tips of her toes and pointed at Ratchet. "Ha! See? See? I can go! I do belong on a firing range! Can I shoot something??"

[Deleted]

Maximus turned to look down at her. His red optics studied her quietly.

"Why not," he said.

Ratchet exploded.

"Why not?" he said. He threw his hands up into the air in exasperation. "Why not?! Are you mad? Because she is a child! And because even my limited knowledge of the rearing of human offspring tells me that a firing range is no place for a human child! And as for allowing Miko to shoot a firearm, let me list the reasons why I would consider that a cosmically bad idea. First of all-"

His mouth twitching, Maximus calmly lifted his own hands to ward off the incoming rant.

"It's a highly regulated environment," he said. "Strict life-fire protocol would be enforced at all times. And she would be with me, and I don't think it's all that inaccurate to I say I would be the most protected form of shelter she could ask for. The worst thing she would be exposed to would be a bit of loud noise. If she wants to come along, it's fine with me. I'll keep her safe."

Ratchet let out a snort.

"Fine!" he said. "You'd best do exactly that, Maximus. And you!"

He poked a finger at Miko and narrowed one optic.

"No shooting! No explosions! No - Wrecking! Just be good!"

[Deleted]

Miko was used to Ratchet's ideas about what was right or wrong. It echoed June so closely, she could swear they had secret meetings when no one was watching. Which was a creepy thought. The two of them roomed up together, talking about raising "the children." Somehow, Raf didn't get nearly as many of these lectures as she did and he watched more tv! Wasn't that harmful or something??

She watched the conversation, head moving back and forth to watch them, like her own personal tennis match. Ratchet was right, but she'd never admit it. Yeah, a firing range was dangerous. Dangerous to someone other than her. She knew which end of the gun went boom! It wasn't like she was going to run out in the middle of the practice to try and straighten up the target or something. He could at least pretend she had some sense!

"I'll go get some ear plugs to protect my precious hearing." That the loud music hadn't destroyed by some miracle. "It'll be cool, Ratchet. I'll get to learn something! You adults like that, right? Me learning something."

[Deleted]

Even Maximus seemed to be getting in on it now.

"That's right, Ratchet," he said in a deadpan. "Like azimuth and elevation angles, firing trajectories, laser range finders, control and situational awareness, the operation of the CITV to provide maximum hunter killer capabilities-"

Ratchet shuddered and held up one hand to cut him off.

"Ah-bup!" he said. "I don't want to hear any more of it. I'm already regretting bringing up this conversation in the first place. She can go. But bring her back before four o'clock! Intact, please! And you, young lady - behave!"

Grumbling, Ratchet threw back the ground bridge lever. A portal blossomed open, spilling green light across the control room.

Maximus instinctively stepped towards it. Then he paused.

He looked back at Miko, standing on the platform.

Hesitantly, like he was unsure of himself and what he was doing, the big mech looked down at one armoured hand. He flexed it. Then he extended it towards her and slowly uncurled the fingers, holding it out flat for the young girl to step on so that she could be safely lowered to the ground.

[Deleted]

For the record: Hunter Killer Capabilities would make a bitchin band name. I gotta remember that.

Miko just beamed at Ratchet as he did That Thing he always did. Usually in response to something he deemed a waste of time. Which was a lot of things that involved Miko. She squinted at him at that mental revelation. Heeey, did he think she was a waste of time? ...Rude.

"Yes, momma Ratchet. We'll be back in time for dinner." She stepped up on the bottom runge of the guard rail and leaned over, precariously far over, to watch him open the ground bridge. Before she could step down, Fort Max was already turning for the bridge but stopped and turned to her.

She honestly hadn't expected him to offer her a lift. Mostly because she didn't really know him all that well. Which didn't stop her from just butting into everything like the nosy teenager she was. But there was a certain wariness that Miko kept around her with the new mechs until she could figure them out. A bit like a cat meeting new people. After she judged them, it was usually hell to keep her off their laps.

"Hey, thanks!" she chirped and flung herself over the rail with the limp grace every teenager possessed until puberty stopped. She rolled onto the offered hand and landed in a kneeling position, one foot nearly slipping off the side. "Ha..that would have been a short fall."

[Deleted]

Maximus’ spark gave a lurch when her foot slipped. He shot a glance at Ratchet but the medic was looking at the ground bridge and had not noticed.

He looked back at Miko and jerked his head in Ratchet’s direction.

“Still too much of a fall for some, I think,” he murmured.

Moving gingerly, with greater care than he was accustomed to using, Maximus lowered her to the floor. He was so tall he needed to kneel to complete the gesture, and when he rose back to his feet again his knee joint whirred in protest. The big mech straightened and looked to the ground bridge just as Ratchet turned to face them.

“Well, the coordinates are set,” he said gruffly. “I’m sure they’re ready for you at the other end. Comm me when you require a bridge back. Be careful. Don’t pester the army while you’re there.”

The last one was directed with a glower at Miko.

“We’ll manage,” said Maximus, and saluted the medic to placate his surly temper.

Again Maximus set out towards the waiting portal; again he remembered the smaller strides of the tiny girl at his side, and awkwardly waited for her to take the lead through the ground bridge so that he could pace himself behind her. His heavy footsteps shook the floor beneath her feet, until the portal swept the control room away and –

– deposited them both upon the side of a sandy hill overlooking a great desert valley littered from horizon to horizon with scrubby brush, stunted juniper trees, and long, winding trails full of flying dust.

And tanks.

[Deleted]

Actually, it was definitely more than a "short fall" to the floor below from his hand. She didn't want to think about how much that would hurt if she had actually slid off. Not only would Ratchet have yelled at her, she wouldn't have been able to go to the range. And who wanted to spend their evening in a ER?

"Yeah, let's not do that," Miko muttered quietly for the both of them and held still while he lowered her to the floor. Not quite an elevator but it wasn't such a bad way to travel. She grinned as she hopped off of him and flashed him a thumbs up. How cool! Maybe if she asked him nicely he'd hold her up to his full height so she could see what that would be like. But later, after they were away from Mister Fretting Mother Hen.

She barely gave a wave to the medic as she jogged for the ground bridge. There was absolutely no medium between the two of them. One step of Fort Max's tread would leave her running to keep up. Which was fine, she liked to be the one in front anyway. If she kept ten steps ahead, the bots generally had little trouble keeping pace with her.

Through the tunnel, across the distance and Miko's feet sank into the soft sand as she paused and looked around. It was...not quite what she was expecting. "Dude, where are we??"

[Deleted]

In front of Miko was a broad valley, perhaps a thousand feet deep and over twenty miles from end to end. It curved, following the wash of the rocky hills and gorges that stretched across the landscape from one horizon to the other. Scattered trees and dark green brush grew sparsely along the basin, crushed and trampled where the tracks of heavy vehicles had cut winding paths down the length of the valley.

Sand lay thick on the slopes. It hazed in the air, making it difficult to see much further than a few miles. It shifted under Miko's shoes, warmed by the desert sun. It was easy to see what had disturbed all of the flying dust: already a small handful of military vehicles were moving slowly up and down the valley, following the sandy trails. Dark green jeeps and mottled tanks stood out far below, as small as toys on the distant hills.

Behind her, the ground bridge shrank to a dot and vanished.

Maximus raised one hand to shield his optics from the sun.

"This is a classified location far north of the base," he said. "There's a military base not far from here, where tank training is conducted. I visited it once with Agent Fowler, back when I needed to scan a vehicle mode that would suit my size-class."

The big mech spoke with confidence, as if he were standing on familiar ground. It was quite possibly the most words he had said to any of the children since he had arrived.

"So far as I know, this is a new live fire range for their tank crews to train on. Easier and cheaper than sending them abroad, I suppose. See that down there?"

Maximus pointed down at a grey speck on a faraway hill. If Miko looked closely she would be able to make out what looked like a crude reinforced concrete bunker standing amid a pit of sand dug into the side of the hill.

"You follow a course and fire on the targets as you pass them, without stopping. Good practice for firing on a distant object while under motion."

He transformed.

His heavy tank mode thundered into the ground an instant later, throwing up a cloud of dust. The turret rotated, pointing towards the head of the trail they were currently standing on. A hatch at the top creaked and gonged as it was unlatched, then swung open.

Maximus' deep voice reverberated from somewhere inside.

"Climb in," he said. "Go down, then straight ahead to the gunner's seat. I know we told Ratchet you wouldn't fire anything, but... Ratchet isn't here right now."

[Deleted]

The sun was downright brutal compared to the more mellow confines of the base. Miko squinted and held up her hand to block out the sun. Sand, sun, and scrubs. She was starting to think that should have been Nevada's slogan. That and "lose your expectations because we built on a pack of lies!" Followed by a cutesy smiley face.

As her eyesight adjusted, she looked around with eyes wider than safely advised for a desert. Holy crap! So this is what a firing range looked like....like absolutely nothing she had ever imagined. There wasn't one explosion to be seen. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not. No, definitely disappointed.

With a questionable purse of her lips, Miko turned as Fort Max and watched him fold himself down and land with enough impact she felt the impact in her knees. Just how heavy was he?! And how high could he jump? She'd have to remember to ask that one later if she remembered. Gravity had to be a cruel joke to him on this planet.

"Climb in," he said. "Go down, then straight ahead to the gunner's seat. I know we told Ratchet you wouldn't fire anything, but... Ratchet isn't here right now."

"Really?!" Miko gaped at him long enough to give an errant fly time to try and make a dive inside. She sputtered and swatted at the bug before jogging over to the tank. The sand kicked up behind her in little puffs and slipped right into her shoes, because of course it did. As she climbed up the side, she cat-kicked with each step, trying to dislodge the offending silt. Stupid sand! She couldn't track it inside him!

Wait, he's gotta have it all inside of him after doing the puzzle jig.

With a shrug, she clung to the top of the tank with dear life and stuck her head inside the entrance. From anyone outside of the scene, she'd look like a very deranged human trying to emulate an ostrich. "So this is what a tank inside looks like!" She jerked back at the echo and nearly slid off the top. "Does that feel as weird as it sounds?"

Without waiting for an answer she scurried inside with the fleet footed grace of a chipmunk on crank. There were entirely too many things to look at.

[Deleted]

Her voice echoed around the belly of the tank.

"It is... a little strange, yes," the tank admitted.

Inside the top of the turret was a roughly circular space, metal and lit by narrow slits that offered Miko visibility over the terrain. Periscopes, thermal imaging screens, and laser range finders sat in a cluster in front of her, with other glowing green and black displays providing monitoring information on the machine's various internal systems.

Below that, within the main hull of the tank itself, was a dark and claustrophobic area crowded with more displays, cherry-lit with mysterious buttons. More switches and gauges lined the armoured walls. To the left was the loading station, where rounds could be pulled from the ammunition compartment and loaded into the main gun. To the right was a narrow seat surrounded by a tangle of cords, display screens, and instrument panels. There was a stabilized eyepiece she could press her eye against, giving her a thermal view over the field. In front of the seat was a steerable yolk with thumb buttons on it.

And trigger buttons.

Electronics softly hummed within the war machine's walls: a computer within an armoured box.

Once Miko's feet hit the floor the top hatch closed again, sealing shut with a clang.

"Very strange," said the tank. It sounded a little uncomfortable, but spoke with a sort of brisk military patience. "All right. That seat in front of you is yours. I'll handle steering. You can aim on targets with the yolk. The eyepiece and the display screen directly in front of you will let you see out over the firing range. I'll take us to the first target and you can aim and fire. Got it?"

[Deleted]

Claustrophobia wasn't a problem for Miko. If it had been, she would have never had been able to slip into Bulk while he went into battle. Not that she planned on doing that again! Anytime soon, at least. She had learned her lesson! Next time she'd just hide in Wheeljack. He never fussed.

Inside of the tank was crowded but too cool. There were toggles and buttons everywhere. She was sort of afraid to move about too much; fearing she'd kick something vital and do...something. But man, did she ever feel safe at the moment. So this is what a tank felt like!

Do most of those buttons have a function? Does he really need to be able to adjust his seats? Oh heck with it, I'm asking! I might not get the chance to later!

"Can you move anything in here? And can you feel me moving around?" She slipped into the seat he had mentioned with the stealth of a ferret slipping through a foam maze. She only managed to bump into everything along the way. "Do these buttons have a purpose? If they do, why? What's the point? Why do you need buttons inside to work?" Only then did she remember to breath.

[Deleted]

For his part, Maximus was reflecting on the oddness of the situation himself. He had barely kept company with the humans before this, preferring to avoid them. Now one of the Jasper children was rooting around inside him. The feeling was distinctly unsettling.

He winced when one of her feet clanged off the loader, and made the silent resolution to endure the peculiar situation as stoically as he could.

“The buttons are there merely to complete the disguise,” he said. His voice rumbled through the hull. “They all work, though the systems they are connected to are currently under my control. In the event my neural net were compromised, or permission was given, I could turn over all of their functions to an independent driver. Such as yourself.”

He paused, as if realising the danger in that statement.

“I... don’t advise trying to push too many of them. An... interruption in my concentration could result.”

The tank fired its engine.

The roar of the powertrain echoed through the hull, muffled by layers of sheet armour. Miko would feel it rumble through the seat beneath her, which was narrow and worn, but padded enough as to not be too uncomfortable. Luckily she had a skinny butt.

The small screen above the eyepiece directly in front of her showed an orange and brown thermal display of the firing range ahead. She would be able to make out the shape of the surrounding terrain, including the distant hills and the winding path ahead. A few hot white blips rolled across the landscape – the warm shapes of other vehicles.

The tank jerked, then began to crawl forward. It bumped over the rough earth, its track system absorbing the worst of the shocks.

“Look through the eyepiece, or watch that monitor in front of you,” said Maximus. “If you steer with the yolk you can adjust where the camera is pointing and have a look around the firing range. I’m currently heading towards the first target.”