First contact, second mistake (w/ Miko) [EP 2.5]

[Deleted]

week 2, day 5.
Miko Nakadai

Entering the atmosphere, Covershot clutched her controls as she tried to stabilize her descent to the planet's surface. Cursing the cheap Adraxian slags for giving her the absolute minimal requirements, to return to Cybetron. Unfortunately, Covershot did not plan for this detour, nor it's strong atmosphere as one by one, systems were burning out and failing. Her sensor got fried before she could aim towards an Autobot's signal as she could only guess where she was going as she saw a barren mountain area.  

"Deja vu. Except this time no 'Cons."

Piloting the shuttlecraft towards the side of a mountain base, Covershot attempted what could put her offline, her path of flight was parallel to the mountain base until she reached a lower height, and then turned into the mountain, crashing into the side as the shuttle torn apart while barely chafing the mountain. This continued until it started to rip into the side, decreasing in speed and eventually half the shuttle was embedded \into the mountain, breaking the right wings, and the entire plating on the right side. On the impact on the ground the window followed by Covershot where sent flying foward a few feet, Covershot not exactly silent with complaints as she bounced off the ground several times.

"Slag, Scrap, Frack, Scraplets!"

Falling flat on her face upon the broken reinforced glass groaning, she slowly stood back up, using the back of her right hand to wipe the spilled energon off her mouth as she turned to face what remained of her shuttlecraft after her, landing. Limping on her right leg, she cursed her skills as a pilot and engineer, only taking solace in the fact that she didn't suffer as much damage as she did with the Adraxis landing. When she reached the left side of the shuttle, she flexed each one of her fingers before they retracted into her hand and a needle emerged. With one swift motion, she struck damaged plating covering the auxiliary power conduits before igniting the sparks.

"I really hate politicians sometimes, especially for things like this, 'no trace back to us'."

Removing her arm from the shuttlecraft, she soon jumped backwards and crashed on her back before the ship exploded, sending traces of technology scattered around. Covershot soon found herself in an awkward position, on her back, she knew her new form would take time, the claws and hooks on her back as well as her shoulder pads made laying down an awkward experience as she felt her torso arced. Letting out a sigh, Covershot tried to reach for her communicator, hoping that it would pick up a local autobot signal, but she recalled that got destroyed, on Adraxis.

Closing her eyes to the world, she hoped this barren environment would give her peace for a few nanocycles, hoping she wouldn't be disturbed for the short while.

[Miko Nakadai]

Flying around in a helicopter was way cooler than Miko could've ever imagined!

Of course she'd traveled by plane before, having flown to America from Japan. But there was something about being in a helicopter by herself and not having to worry about anything that was just so awesome! She didn't have to worry about other people, or her luggage or missing her plane. It was just her, Carbine, and the freedom of the sky! The view from here compared to that tiny lame airplane window? A million times better!

Carbine had been a good sport about it all, all things considered. Whether he'd agreed due to some mild guilt at disappointing Miko at not flying her around a few days earlier, or simply taking this as a chance to escape the dreary mood of the Omega Base for a moment, Miko's puppy dog eyes and whines of 'pleeeeeeease' eventually worked – and he'd agreed to take her for a fly around. Just a short one, they were conserving fuel after all which meant that fun activities like this were rare and very far between.

Takeoff had been a little rough, but they'd been flying around for ten or so minutes now without much issue. They were a little lower than she'd have liked, wanting to go up waaaay further than they currently were – but that was probably due to Carbine playing it safe. If Miko wasn't returned in one piece? Bulkhead would punch his spark out! Not to mention the extra trouble he'd be in from Optimus at leaving without a buddy and having something happen! Then again it wasn't like they were going to get shot out of the sky...

She was being careful not to touch anything – helicopter interiors, as she found out, were super crazy looking. There were dials and so many buttons that she couldn't even count them all, let alone work out what they all did! Her feet were firmly on the floor, although her torso was twisted so she could mush her face up against the window for a better view of the ground below.

Every so often there would be the sound of a camera clicking, and she'd hold her phone up to take pictures of the scenery below. She just had to show Jack and Raf these later!

“Dude, can't we go up any higher?” Her tone wasn't whiny, more like egging him on - she couldn't help but yell as she spoke. The dumb headphones she'd been made to wear to counter for the almost deafening whir of the rotors made it so she couldn't hear herself think! She was used to loud noise, but Carbine had insisted she wear them - she'd put them on, if only to not get nagged.

She'd honestly been hesitating in asking to begin with, but enough was enough – if they were going to be out, they might as well have fun while doing so before they had to go back! It'd make all the trouble they were going to be in when they got back that much more worth it, too!

Somewhere to their left in the distance – although she hadn't seen it yet – black smoke would begin to curl up into the sky.

[Carbine]

This was great!

But also awful...

He was getting practice in!

But possibly endangering a human...

Miko was having fun!

That didn’t matter...

This was a mixed bag of emotions.

It didn't matter how good of a day this had turned out to be. It didn’t matter how earlier he laughed and had a lot of fun, it didn’t matter how things were on an upswing, because on the other side of that he had a feeling that trouble was looming just over the horizon due to events the last couple weeks. It smoldered like a distant fire, creeping steadily closer on the horizon... but... he managed to avoid it as long as he had thus far, and he planned to continue to do it as long as possible.

This outing was just one more act of avoidance.

--

The Eurocopter was not a silent alt-mode in the slightest, its engines roared, the rotors hacked noisily through the air... it announced itself plainly, and that was putting it lightly. But despite this noise, despite the rumbled growl, Miko would be able to experience a one of a kind flight as it ripped over the desert landscape at about a hundred or so miles per hour. On paper it sounded like a lot, but when they were up above the ground, things seemed to slow down. Whatever the case, it was really good practice, and would steadily work to boost the mech's confidence in his flying abilities, especially since he was pushing himself a bit to show off to his passenger.

It was weird having a human inside your interior. Anyone can somewhat imagine it; they can try to envision just what it has to feel like, or the weirdness that it can create, but in the end? There was nothing that quite encapsulated just how bizarre it was to have something living inside of an Alt-mode form. Carbine couldn't even compare it to his Cassette. It didn’t matter that he could feel the canine's forelegs as they latched deep into his back panels, or all the connectors and attachments that fused their frame together... it didn’t even compare to the dog wiggling, wanting out of his dock. NOPE. Miko squirming around was truly alien and he didn't know how he felt about it yet.

Carbine's Holoform was sitting beside Miko in the main seat, having learned that lesson not long ago about having one always present, even if you didn't think someone should be able to see them. The human's shape however, was not actively controlling the helicopter, but was instead leaning as far back in the chair as he could, one leg lazily propped up so that a heel clipped onto the edge of his chair. His arms were loosely crossed over his chest, while a black visored pilot's helmet crooked to look over at her lazily from the corner of his gaze.

"Uh, perhaps a bit. Rem̸em͘b̕er̵ ̕t́hóug̨h̶,̶ I̸ am practicing some. I was a hover car b-back on Cybertron, I don't reall̴y̢ ̢do flying"

The man's voice glitched and popped while he curled his gloved hands a bit at this, adding in a sort of 'EHHhh' at the end there to emphasized his wariness while he shouted back his reply. To be honest, flying higher shouldn’t change much of anything right? Unless he hit some higher altitude wind currents, it should be the same all things considered. It would only seem a bit scary because he was further off the ground.

The engine within the large piece of machinery, whirled as an additional mechanism activated, rotors changing their tilt just enough to start to give them additional lift. To pair up with this, he started to angle slightly to the side, so that they could start to bank and head back loosely where they had came from, so they didn't stray too far.

As they turned gradually, Carbine's attention was caught by the plume of black smoke that seemed to break through the environment as clear as day. It curled idly into the sky, slicing through the sea of blue to create a notable flag. The sight seemed to catch the mech's interest then, his leg lowering back down, while he eased forward a bit to glare pointedly out the window, the two of them angling now to face it directly.

"Huh... th-tha͢t̸ ͜i͟s weird..."

The words muttered somewhat, but were still loud enough that Miko could probably pick up on it over the scream of his engines. Carbine really didn't know what to make of it, as it seemed to be a good distance away from the Omega Outpost at the side of one of the numerous plateaus in the region. Even though it was miles off from where their home was tucked away, it was still painfully too close for comfort as far as he was concerned, and it brought up some anxiety even though there was a truce that was currently in play.

"Think i͘t’s̀ a ͞bush fire?"

He didn't think it was. It was too collected; too dense... it had to be a burning object of some kind, not a broad swath of flame that was trying to eat up shrubbery...

[Deleted]

Hearing the sound of some sort of engine, Covershot opened her eyes as she hated when she was wrong. She thought life let alone sentient life of organic nature couldn't survive in this climate given what she knew, but clearly she didn't know enough. Instinctively she rolled over unto her front, getting onto her knee, she jumped backwards, slamming her feet on the ground as she slid back a bit, eventually leaning against the side of the mountain... next to the smoking engine block.

Turning towards the engine block, she tried to wonder if she had some sort of neural fragmentation for hiding next to what was potentially drawing attention. Feeling time not exactly on her side, she decided one course of action was appropriate after her previous encounters with other sentient species. Covershot jumped as she contorted her body for her back to face the ground as the four claws got into mounting position, which started lowering the platform. Her head and and limbs folded in as the sides of the canon connected, completing her transformation. 

Covershot remained still as she waited for whatever it was approaching to pass, hoping that she wouldn't interfere with more than one species.


"Well, I really should've just gone back to Cybertron."

[Miko Nakadai]

“Whoa, really? Well you're doing great!!” She beamed, turning to look at his Holoform and giving him a cheery thumbs-up, just on the offchance he didn't hear what she said over the loud whir of the engines and rotors. She made a mental note to ask him what being a hover car was like once they were back at base and could talk easily without the noise. Hover cars weren't really a thing here on Earth - unless you counted those weird bumper cars at fairgrounds – and even then they weren't really hovering, but it was kinnnda close in a way. Then again, she was sure Carbine had many awesome stories about things in general from Cybertron! He'd been a cop - which meant he'd fought all kinds of bad guys, and Miko was nothing but a sucker for a good story about kicking copious amounts of ass.

As they lifted higher, she'd again swivel back to plant her face against the window. For someone who 'didn't really do flying' he was doing perfectly fine – he was managing to stay in the air, which was basically the main part of flying, right? Sure the takeoff had been a little awkward and for a second there she didn't think they'd make it off the ground, but now they were up here? Nothing was stopping them!

Although she wasn't looking forward to landing – but she just had to trust him and not show concern. As long as they didn't crash from way up here they'd be totally fine, she figured. She felt safe, and he didn't sound like he was stressing out or worried about anything – and so she would continue to relax and enjoy the sights.

As they turned slightly to head back, the black smoke was now easily in view.

“Uh oh...” It was weird indeed – and a quick scrambled look around to get her bearings and she realized that okay, no... it wasn't the Omega Base that was on fire. Nor was it her school – ugh! Then again they were a ways out from the town of Jasper itself – whiiiich meant they'd probably be the first responder to it – if they went at all.

Which they probably should.

White smoke was due to moisture, stuff like clouds and steam. She may have spaced out during science class usually, but she took some stuff in! Black smoke meant something noxious... Was that the right word? Oil, fuel... Did someone crash out there? They were so far out the way... There was no way anyone could help them if they had – at least, not easily! The ambulance service around here didn't have the vehicles to drive over that terrain!

“Nuh huh.. No way. That's something big!” She sat up straight then, leaning forward as if it'd help her see whatever was causing the fire. “We should go check it out though – someone might be hurt!”

Not that she knew what they'd do if they found someone out there but... Black smoke wasn't good.

[Carbine]

Should he take Miko with him?...

Or should he drop her off?...

Logic dictates that he should drop the human off at the Outpost, before going over to see what was happening. He should probably tell someone else about it, and bring a friend just to make sure it is safe, and isn't MECH trying to lure them out or something. Logically, he should do these things, and be responsible to not get in trouble again and to keep himself and the human safe... but he also knew that if someone WAS in danger and hurt over there, that any sort of delay could be the end of them, if they weren’t dead already.

Carbine didn't want to cross lines, but he knew that he should probably see and at least look at the site of the fire first. If it was a human crash of some kind, and someone was in trouble? He could try to help, even if public service wasn't a job requirement for him anymore. If it was Cybertronian, or something else that was a bit too dangerous for Miko to be around? He could fly back to base and drop her off. Well... it isn't like she can open his side door and jump out to go run at danger herself like she had done to Xero. The girl would be forced to abide and be left behind!

The man sitting beside Miko seemed to think hard for those few moments, helm lifting up, warily looking at the black smoke that rolled across the sky as higher winds caught hold, dispersing it into a darker haze. He reached his right hand up, nervously hooking his fingertips behind his neck to let the arm hang. This silence lasted only a couple moments, before he let out a huff.

"Ok yeah let's̨ ļook ͟ińt͡o it."

Without another word, the entire helicopter seemed to cant forward at a sharper angle, while a whir signaled that the rotors had changed pitch once again. This abrupt tilt, dipped the nose of the copter down abruptly, before it started to roar forward at a faster clip. The holoform that had been in a relaxed posture, gradually sat upright and in a more 'idle' position, arms moving down to fall flat on either side, while helm was angled forward in a static position. It easily fell into the uncanny valley at that point, Carbine's focus on flying and not so much making the projection realistic. This meant the man was not breathing, and did not 'bow' or 'bob' under the rougher patches where he should move. It had as much animation as a mannequin.

It did not take them long to come across the crash.

Ash, smoldering bits of shrapnel, some kind of rough exploded out shape of an object... whatever had been there, was not anymore, its shape blasted out and mangled beyond any sort of recognizable level, at least at this altitude. About the only thing that wasn't flaming and roughed up, was a cannon like thing that was sitting independent from the rest of the structure, either having been placed there before or after things were ugly or it was knocked off and miraculously landed upright.

Carbine didn't believe in miracles.

Now, Carbine didn't know too much about human technology... namely researching far more crass things when he had the chance because it made him laugh and was full of a lot of humor he appreciated, but he didn't think what he was looking at was local tech. It had different lines to it, wasn't as boxy and squared off, and it just seemed... kinda' alien... well. To be honest, humans were all 'alien' to him, so all of it looked wrong, but this was that added layer of wrong that made him think that it wasn't exactly something that was formed here on earth.

"I'm going to go out on a ̧l͠i̶mb h͟ere and say th͝-t͝ha̕t͡ ͠i͟sn't Fowler's type of stuff."

He said this flatly, keeping high in the air so that he had a bit of reaction time available if someone were to take a shot at him. He couldn't see anyone else however, it all just... stuff...