[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Making an Impression [Closed]

[Jazz]

     There was something there between Carbine and Rain and not in that typical way that he was used to with the mech. There wasn't the usual flirting that he was used to, but something else that made him rather uncomfortable. Personally, he was just glad that he was going to be getting out for a bit, if just to take in some other sights. Even if it wasn't really a place he would recommend sight-seeing to, it was still better than the four walls they were all getting cabin fever over. He was getting ready to plug in the coordinates when he heard another voice pop up that he recognized. Looking over his shoulder to Prowl, he turned his frame slightly so he could look at the Enforcer.

     "Aha! Prowl. We got a new arrival that Carbine and I are gonna dip out and retrieve. Rain's gonna operate the controls so we can get back once we get everythin' cleared. Sorry that we ain't got time ta catch up, but I promise that when I get back we'll have a long chat, okay?" He finished imputing the coordinates into the system and made sure Rain was watching him when he pressed the control panel then pulled down the lever.

     "That's all ya need to do when we call. No codes to fumble with, nothin' like that. If ya have a problem, just poke Prowl and have him help ya, okay? Don't be intimidated by him. He's mostly harmless."

     When the green vortex lit up, Jazz offered a half-assed salute and made his way through, listening tot he sounds of Carbine's footfalls behind him.

------

     While Carbine fidgeted, Jazz bused himself with other things. He had found a piece of deteriorated wall to sit down on and sorted through some of the music he had on him, as well as some old junk  files that he put in their proper places. He didn't say anything during this time, and just seemed like he was staring off into space as he viewed the overlay on his visor. His processor was elsewhere, doing multiple things at once. While Jazz made sure to keep at least part of it keeping his scanners on the area, the rest of it was busying itself with other thoughts. 

     It didn't take long, at least to him, for the Commander's comm to reach him. She was close. He stood up from his spot and looked over to his rendezvous partner, who had taken to leaning against a poor little tree that seemed to have already had more than its fair share of bad luck, only to be degraded by being used as a leaning pole by Carbine. He half expected the mech to snap it in half, but it seemed to hold on. When the next comm came through, Jazz went to respond but paused when he spotted the chopper transforming. A small smirk came to him when he realized Carbine must have still been a little nervous that the commander would knock him ten ways from Sunday.

     ::Calm your rotors, Carbine. It was just a two hour drive. I figured the drive would give her enough time to cool down so she doesn't still wanna knock your noggin' off your shoulders by the time she met up with us.::

     When Avalanche reached where they were, Carbine was already airborne. 

     "Aha! Ya made it. Hope ya didn't mind the little sight-seein' but we can't be too careful. As I said, we got hostels on our hands and... as ya saw from your arrival point- the natives tend to densely populate a plot of the areas on this planet." He jammed his thumb over his shoulder in Carbine's direction. "That's Carbine, our resident Casanova. He's just up there scannin' the location for trouble, but he'll come down once we're ready to head to base. Not that he would telll her his suspicions about why he was ACTUALLY keeping himself airborne.

     "I'm Jazz. Normally we'd stand around and socialize but with things as tense as they have been, it's probably best to get to base and brief ya there."

[Deleted]

When Carbine sharply turned his face back to hers, she knew she had fragged up with her offhanded easier-than-falling comment. So there it was honestly out in the open, the mech did have an issue with flying. Rain knew she was going to have to apologise as soon as she could get Carbine in private, away from any audience. The last thing she wanted to do was antagonise another 'Bot. So much for a good first impression, have to make a better second one. 

Trying to shrink herself down as much as possible while still acting professional, Rain made her way over to the ground bridge controls to watch exactly what Jazz was showing her. Pulling a lever was easy enough but her mind was already racing over the other controls, eager to learn and be useful. 

And then there was one more. This meeting was getting busy. While she did not recognise the individual, she recognised his type. Like Carbine, another cop, this one a smaller grounder build. With everyone hustling and a bustling to go retrieve Commande Avalanche, Rain took her place at the controls and pulled up a 3D map of the destination. She'd study her maps until the call came through for the next pull of the lever.

[Avalanche]

Contact.

A Cybertronian stepped out into her field of view; a white-painted mech with blue and grey detailing, and an indefinable air of good-natured humour. Even before he said a word, she was sure that this was the mech she'd spoken to on the radio.

Or rather, she mech that she'd usefully spoken to on the radio.

"I didn't mind the road trip," Avalanche replied truthfully, her avatar fizzling out of existence to leave her cab empty. "The places I've come from, it's a holiday to have a straight stretch of road and no one dropping bombs while I'm on it."

It was good to see another Autobot after all of the mindless native mechanisms she'd encountered back in the city. All the same, her field took on an annoyed note as she registered that the rude and unhelpful mech, Carbine, had come along for the trip as well.

Taking it slow, she engaged her transformation sequence; the first time with her newly reconfigured chassis. Her cab folded downwards, pressing the armour-glass beneath sliding steel panels that made up her midrift. Her front tyres jutted from the panel work that made up her broad shoulder guards, while triple wheels studded the back of the pleated boot-like armour that made up her pedes. She straightened up as her sequence completed, flexing her arms to shake the subtle tingle of unfamiliarity out of them.

Avalanche was tall, nudging the height of Optimus Prime, her joints simple in construction and densely armour plated. Twin smoke stacks jutted over her shoulders, just one of the many changes her new alt-mode had wrought on her frame. Gleaming pistons were visible within her forearms, lending a brooding weight to her heavy hands and spiked knuckle guards. Behind her, the bed of her truck mode folded into a layered sheet of shield armour, hooked onto her back.

If there was one thing etched into her features above all else, it was a blunt determination, an impression that was eased but not erased as she grinned at Jazz, then looked up into the sky, picking out the spidery blackness of the rotorcraft overhead.

"Nice to meet you, Jazz. Appreciate you coming out here to check I am who I say I am. Figure you've seen enough of me to be convinced. And impressed," she added, her grin widening for a moment. "Alright, let's get moving. Sooner we hit your garrison, the sooner I can get a handle on what kind of operation you're running here."

::Carbine? Unless you can see any incoming threats, get your aft down here so we can get going. I'm not planning to tear off any limbs today::

Lowering her gaze, she added aloud to Jazz, "At least, not while we're out here in the open." The subtle, instinctual flex of her hands hinted that the threat, while playful, was not to be totally underestimated. "Take the lead, and I'll be right behind you."

She wasn't entirely certain why they required Carbine to come down to them before they got going again; she couldn't see any hint of a base in the flat, featureless landscape, so it was either very well disguised, or they still had some driving to do. Perhaps the flyer was going to adopt some kind of wheeled transport mode to keep a lower profile; triple changers were mostly aftholes, so he certainly met the requirements. She figured she'd see, soon enough.

[Prowl]

Prowl just nodded as Jazz and the bot he pegged for an enforcer headed through the ground bridge vortex.

He took up position between the bot that was left behind at the base and the ground bridge tunnel, shifting the servos on his right hand into a blaster and extending his pointer and middle fingers on his left hand, letting a surge of electricity spark between the two of them.

He kept both weapons pointed at the floor but was ready to bring them up at a moment notice.

A new arrival…Red Alert is going to have fun with this…

And this was going to add a new variable to his strategies and calculations…

The one who stayed behind seemed to be…embarrassed about something regarding the enforcer. It caused him to arch an eye ridge behind his visor, but he said nothing. He was never good at conversation or making small talk, and empathy was something he had not felt in over four million years.

[Carbine]

For many flyers, if not the vast majority, flying was simply a natural part of them. Feel with wind beneath wings or rotors, feel freedom to move in any direction they want unhindered by roads and terrain. They could generally soar so much faster than ground vehicles, and that ability was a blessing to be cherished. Except, Carbine wasn't a flyer by nature, and he was NOT appreciating this nonsense. He could hover, he could maneuver, he remained stationary in the air watching carefully... to an outside perspective he looked perfectly fine, but as much as he looked ahead at the newcomer, he looked at the ground to make certain he wasn’t drifting since he had no real gauges to look at.

Carbine may play the fool at times, ((and other times he simply WAS a fool)), but he was taking a very calculated approach when it came to a Commander figurehead as she neared. Earlier over the Comms, he tested her personality a bit. Got a feel of just what type of a leader she would be from the safety of countless miles between them. He looked for clues, looked for tells in her words and responses, things that could tell him if she was an exploitable soft heart who just got thrown into the job, or if she was a calculatingly scary individual that had fierce fire and intelligence behind her. This cursory pass painted a specific picture however, and said picture could veer completely off kilter when taking actual builds into account.

Giant friendly Commander? They will probably just brute push you into a job and make weaseling out of the chore impossible, but there would be no REAL consequences for acting out of line. Super hostile aggressive but tiny Commander? Can lay a sharp strike to slam people in line, but they aren't going to be able to do as much damage as a larger counterpart without weapons drawn... The femme's appearance would add another layer to this situation, and as such unseen eyes peered down upon the vehicle as it grew larger during its approach.

Then larger.

...

Uh oh.

Ok so, the so called Avalanche appeared rather large. This meant she was not only the more rage inclined individual snarling with anger, but she had real power to put behind it. While it didn't scare him as much as a similar sized individual who had that deadly soft and horrifyingly calm aggressive standing, it still wasn't the most ideal and he would need to return to Thunder with a stressed snitch that things were probably going to get a lot worse real fast if she were to keep her standing and rank. That said, there was PERHAPS a bit of 'sexism' in play though, for if she was a Mech he probably would have had an added edge of wariness, only... the fact she was a tall shapely lady it threw a lot of logic out the window and he folded back into typical ways.

::Too b-bad, I guess ̵we ͢will have to ha͠ve ͘fu͜n at ̢a la͘t͘er date then yes?::

Purred out, flowing back into familiar territory, his voice holding ample amusement as if he was truly looking forward to such an adventure. After these words, the helicopter would start to lower down in altitude, before Carbine tried to pretend to be a normal rotary. He didn't want to carefully wobble land on his wheels to transform, so he tried to judge height and what the FURTHEST he felt comfortable falling from without hurting himself. Once he got to said height? He transformed.

A hurried scrabble of transformation, a snarled clunk of systems ratcheting around and splitting into place. Panels flipped about to hide the 'Police' and other patterns and words on his exterior inward, before he slammed upon his feet with a splayed stance to not only keep his balance but try to absorb the impact with slightly bent knees. He was mostly formed as he landed, his rotors simply locking fully stationary before the post ripped into two and the panels of metal folded back to drape behind him at either side.

Carbine had landed the land! Which made him proud, having done so reasonably close so he didn't need to travel too far. Now that he was on the ground however, he saw just how tall Avalanche was, and he let out a near inaudible 'hmm' as he weighed the pros and cons, before he decided to fold into his typical greeting.

A couple loping strides, long legs cutting forward with care... once within reasonable range, Carbine would crook at the waist into a sort of bow, left arm folding back to rest at his lower spine, while right held out palm up as if offering to take her hand for a more 'proper' greeting.

"Nice to ͠m͞ee̡t ̧y͞ou! As you know, I am͡ ͠C̷arb͢ìne."

Cheerful. He seemed narrow minded in the moment, but he was trying to watch her expressions carefully, feeling things out a bit more while trying to keep a bead on Jazz. He wasn't REALLY acknowledging the other mech, but it is his presence that reassured him that he won't be absolutely mauled and left for scrap out in this boring as heck location. So he was a great buffer, one Carbine counted on greatly.

[Jazz]

     Jazz could definitely relate to the bomb dropping scenario. Compared to those, yeah, a little road trip on the open road with the wind whipping around you was a welcomed change. That is, as long as MECH or the Decepticons didn't track you down, as was the case here. Then sure, it was a walk in the park. Once you knew you had to be aware of everyone around you it was a lot more tedious than just looking out for faction symbols.

     "Impressed?" Jazz gave a shrug at the suggestion. "I mean, I've been'round the block enough times that it takes a lot to impress me, so I can't say that I am. Not to mention that mechs like me don't exactly have a height advantage with a lot'a ya. We gotta walk around cranin' our necks upwards to make optic contact- anyone shorter than me ain't gonna have the greatest view starin' straight ahead. So that alone makes me even less impressed than I guess ya think I should be." There was a sassed smirk offered at his own words, then he placed his servos on his hips as he watched Carbine. 

     Well, he was happy that the mech was able to land and stay in one piece- literally ONE piece instead of several. He was even more pleased that he seemed to be behaving himself for the most part. He was being courteous in Carbine standards at least, and he still managed to keep his helm correctly positioned on his shoulders thus far. While Carbine was busy working his moves with the Commander, he was raising his left digits to his audial so he could contact base to let them know they were ready. Surely Carbine wasn't going to get himself run over in the few kliks that would take, right?

     So far, so good.

     :: Prowl, Rain? This is Jazz. The Commander found us and we're clear to go. Track my coordinates and send a ground bridge to my location. And try not to open it on Carbine. ::

     He took another look between the two, then to Avalanche again, and finally just straight ahead as he waited on their ground bridge to arrive to take them home.

     "And a word of advice? Carbine's a pain in the aft, but he's OUR pain, so don't take what he says to spark. He's harmless and he's still a valuable member of the team. So you'll just have to bury your hatchet and learn to get along and work with'im. Though I'm sure you don't need an ol' rookie like me tellin' ya that, right Commander?"

[Deleted]

[Radio message should have been one post earlier just after Jazz and Carbine left]

Rain looked to Prowl to make sure she was doing everything correctly. Picking up the general base comm, she dialed in Red Alert’s personal frequency.

::Good day Red Alert Sir! We have had a Commander Avalanche touch down on Earth and Smooth Jazz and Carbine have gone via the groundbridge to intercept her. Current estimated time of arrival is approximately two hours. Over.::

That was Rain’s understanding of proper protocol, since she herself had been interviewed by Red Alert.

…

An hour or two passed and Rain studied the maps of Earth. The natural landscape was unnatural to her current sensibilities but understandable given the organic nature of the planet. The road mostly seemed slapped on haphazardly which made her wonder about the human race. All things she hoped she would understand more fully as she spent more time on Earth. Her musing was interrupted, as expected, by the radio from Jazz.

::Copy that sir!::

And then she pulled the lever to the technomagic portal. Rain stood up ready to greet Commander Avalanche.

[Avalanche]

Avalanche cocked her helm at Jazz as the shorter mech proclaimed himself entirely unimpressed with her, but with enough humour in his tone to quell her instinctive tendency to bristle. "Is that so? Just wait until we hit combat. That's when you get the measure of a mecha."

A distinct flash of annoyance lit her field at Carbine's flippant reply from above, one that intensified at Jazz's no doubt well-meaning piece of advice on how to deal with the errant mech. Folding her heavy arms across her chestplate, she watched the helicopter descend, transforming as he approached the ground. She'd have hardly called it the snappiest landing she'd ever seen, but it did the job. A mass-produced enforcer type; she'd seen the chassis model before. Not much shorter than she was. Definitely not a triple-changer, then.

As far as she was concerned, Carbine had a lot of options at that moment: choices that would shape how she reacted, choices to set the tone of their whole relationship. He chose to bow before her, extending one hand to take hers in a courtly gesture old even before the war had begun.

She grinned; a slow, mirthless grin. Reached out to take his hand in her heavy, reinforced grip.

Then she twisted his hand back hard, forcing him to drop to avoid bending his wrist struts.

"Hello, Carbine. As you know, I am Commander Avalanche," she said pleasantly. "Do I look like some feeble, pampered Towerling femme? The correct answer is, 'No, Commander'. Do you greet senior officers like this? Once again, the answer is, 'No, Commander'. Have you forgotten that you're a soldier in an army? Don't bother to answer that one. Your opinion doesn't matter. Now then.

"Jazz tells me that you're a useful asset. Until I get to know you better, it seems I'll have to take his word for it. So here's what we're going to do. You and me, we're going to get along fine." Her hand twisted, driving the black and white mech to his knees with the dull groan of stressed metal. "Either you're going to shape up and act with a damn sight more discipline on comms and in the field, or you can explore all the ways I can make your life nastier than it already is. Either way, that's fine with me. I will take a shot for you. I will have your back under fire. You damn well better have mine."

She released his hand with a jerk. "Nice to meet you."

The dull boom-roar of reality twisting open took her completely by surprise; she twisted towards it, narrowing her hot orange optics. They had a functioning space bridge? Where in the rusting hells had they dug one of those up? That changed a lot of things, especially when it came to battle tactics. Hiding her shock, she confined her reaction to a grunt of approval, she leant forward and strode into the teal-white maelstrom.

The swirling light parted like a curtain rising on a play. Her pedes hit solid ground again; hard, unyielding concrete. A decently large space stretched out before her, taller than it was wide, with two mecha waiting her arrival. Her gaze flicked from one to the other, the rapid assessment that every long-term soldier learns.

One was another enforcer, though of a different chassis type than Carbine, weapons bared and ready. Sensible precaution; it'd be best not to startle him until he adapted to the new situation. The other, at the space bridge controls.... well, the frame type was one she didn't recognise at all, even before the damage empurta had done to the femme's helm. Her lack of faceplate was a visible reminder of the cruelties of a long-dead regime, one that spurred an echo of old anger at the injustice once meted out.

Nodding at the empurta victim first, then the enforcer, she kept her hands by her sides. "Commander Avalanche. There are no hostiles back at the rendezvous." Implication: lower the damn blaster. An unspoken suggestion, not an order; she didn't yet know where these mecha fit into the hierarchy, and until she did, it was best to treat them as equals.

((Permission given from Zercon to manhandle Carbine a bit!))

[Prowl]

Prowl kept his eyes forward the whole time, staring at the vortex from behind his golden visor as the new arrival stepped through into the control room.

Their new arrival was taller than him and more solidly built. A brawler, most likely pre-war laborer…possibly construction based on her apparent earth vehicle form. His old cop senses logged a note in his processor that she might be trouble, possibly worth a note to Red Alert…

“Commander Avalanche, there are no hostiles at the rendezvous.”

A moment’s pause on his part as he eyed her from behind his visor, his mouth twisted slightly before shifting his right arm back into his hand.

He kept them pointed at the floor but spread his pointer and middle fingers on both his hands to full extension. If he needed to, he could aim and fire the taser probes located in the first knuckles of both fingers within a half a second, incapacitating his target.

"My designation is Prowl."

He spoke in a clipped, professional tone of voice as he introduced himself, keeping his eyes on her as he addressed his next words at Rain.

“Are Jazz and the other one coming through?"

[Carbine]

Well, things couldn't be too bad if this Commander was going to let him go through his typical song and dance he did for femmes. She could have easily just glared down and him and ignored the action, or even slap his hand away with an annoyed comment. Instead, it seemed he would get to continue his game! That is until his hand was grabbed onto. The second this happened Carbine's helm snapped down to look at his hand rather than her face, trying to process that yes, he was grabbed onto, and also process how large her hand was verses other femmes he interacted with here on Earth. This would be expected, but he didn't have a chance to mill through this train of thought before his palm was wrenched backwards.

"H͡G̸͡N̴͘̕!"

A grunted pop of static shorted out, a half aborted noise of surprise and alarm. Carbine moved before he really had a bead what was happening here, stance widening, peds clunking further apart so that he could bend his knees and lower his frame... Something... ANYTHING to let his arm dip down and crook back further so the wrist joint didn’t hyper extend, or the back of his hand didn’t crush into his forearm flaring. If this were an actual fight he would acquaint her with his taser, try to deploy it right into her knuckles, but he didn't have that option, so his free hand swung around to clap over hers, white fingertips scrabbling for a handhold while she spoke.

Whelp.

This was a bad type of Commander.

At her first question there was a short popped sound of static that flickered a moment, as if he was going to respond, before she cut him off and continued. At the second question there was a similar noise, Carbine trying to get a word in edgewise before that was stopped too. At the third question his left hand actually held up a bit, pointer extended in a sort of request to give him a second so he COULD respond, paired with another jittered noise, before she instantly shut him down further. This spurred an awkward movement to seek relief, his right leg twisting and shimmy scooting to the side a bit further, trying to widen his stance to readjust his frame while she continued.

His attempts to gain bearings were shut down.

Another garbled noise formed then, though this time it was more along the line of a squawk as his hand was twisted further, the back of it grinding into his forearm flaring that stopped it from going any further. This just pushed the twisting movement into his arm, and with a puff of dust he rammed down onto his knees in front of the femme, his left arm held aloft as if he wasn't sure if he should even TRY to grapple with her hand again, eyes wide and round looking up at her.

Another grunt, another pop... He listened in silence without a single word. The second he was finally released however he pulled his limb back to hold it near his chest, his helm crooked up high as he heard the Ground Bridge roar into life. Carbine said nothing in the aftermath, watching as the Femme Commander took herself out of the area to return to the base without giving him a second thought or even a glance over her shoulder. It was then and only then, Carbine's attention snapped over to Jazz, his eyes wide and round, rotors quirked up high as he looked like a spooked deer in the headlights.

"T̡h́a͘t ͏ẃa͡s ho̷t͘!"

[Jazz]

     Jazz figured that the kids would be fine for the short time that it took for him to contact base to get them a ground bridge. He would call home, they would be beamed back, everything would be fine. He'd thought they would behave for just those few seconds, especially after having given Avalanche the run down to show some respect for Carbine, so he'd turned his back to make contact.

     That apparently had been a mistake.

     He caught the tail end of what had happened, and he looked at Carbine as he stared, offering a glance to Avalanche as she just wandered her way on through the ground bridge without waiting on them. Well, Prowl was on the other side so he'd give her the proper welcoming- he hoped. Seemed nothing else was going his way today. He put a servo on his hip and slapped the palm of his other servo to his forhelm after Carbine's verbal reaction to what happened hit his audials.

     "Carbine, ma'mech... if I didn't think ya were a masochist before, I definitely do now."

     There was a rolling vent that rumbled from the base of his throat, deep within his chassis. He was starting to understand why Optimus always seemed so tired. It was a wonder their patient leader hadn't hurled himself right off the cliffside yet. "Come'on, you. Lets get ya home and get ya to medical so that servo can be looked at. Gotta make sure nothin' got shaken loose. Better safe than sorry an' all that." Normally he would have shrugged something like that off and told them to get it looked at some point before Ratchet or Patch found out, but these days they couldn't risk delaying having stuff like this checked over. One never knew when you would need to have all your digits operational and suddenly something decided to fail. 

     He knew Carbine didn't need help up so he just made his way to the ground bridge, though he didn't go through. Even though the other mech was an adult and Jazz respected him enough to not make him feel unable to handle himself in this situation, he still didn't feel like leaving him behind. So he would wait by the entrance of the ground bridge and looked back at the other, waiting for him to gather himself up and get it together enough to walk on through and brush it all off as Jazz figured he would. Of course, he would go through first once Carbine was close enough, as it seemed that made him more comfortable. 

     "Come on. Lets get home."

     And he would have a thing or two to say to Avalanche when they got back, that was for sure. Primus, he hated to have to seem like the mech who didn't know how to cut loose, but things like what Avalanche did? He had to let her know that they wouldn't be tolerated- and it would be best if she were corrected and reminded to mind herself before Optimus had to.

[Deleted]

Rain bowed her head and dimmed her optic in respect. “Commander Avalanche! Welcome to Omega Outpost. I am Rain.” She briefly in just half a second looked the new commander up and down, impressed with the sheer physical presence the other femme conveyed. If Rain was being honest with herself, she was also slightly intimidated. In that brief glance, she noted the heavy shield stowed on the Commander’s back but a lack of any other visible weaponry aside from spiked knuckles. The femme’s paint also suggested a person who led from the front, a good trait to have to have in a commanding officer, or so Rain thought.

With all the formalities out of the way, Rain put a hand down on the lever, turned to face the portal and waited for Jazz and Carbine to come through. As soon as they appeared she would pull the lever to shut down the Ground Bridge. To Prowl, she simply held up one digit so signify just a second or two of patience for the last two members of the away team. She was absolutely certain they would be right behind Avalanche, but she had no way to tell, or at least didn't know yet how to read the ground bridge sensor suite.

[Avalanche]

"Prowl, huh?" Avalanche nodded to him once. "I've heard of you."

While the black and white mech's frame wasn't familiar, the name rang a bell. A strategist, if she remembered rightly. One of the Prime's former adjutants, she hadn't heard he'd reached Earth; presumably he'd taken up his old post. Highly intelligent, cold, and accordingly the mecha she'd talked to went, not well liked. Of course, there'd be plenty who'd run up against her that'd be badmouthing her across the quadrant, so that didn't have to mean anything...

Still. Her own instincts were telling her that here was a mech not to waste pleasantries on.

Stepping away from the still-open portal to make room for Carbine and Jazz, the heavily-armoured femme strolled over to Rain's side, casting a cursory glance over the monitors and controls. The complexities of them were relatively meaningless to her, as expected, though she could at least recognise standard comms controls built into the panel. Turning her orange optics away from the controls, she focused on the small digitigrade femme instead.

"Nice to meet you, Rain," she offered with a smile. "So this is where your local forces are based. Not a lot of information out there about your situation down here."

Omega. Her translation library dug for context on the unfamiliar word, and returned a definition. It was from a different language, but usually meant 'the last' or 'the end' in the language she was speaking. The Last Outpost? The name might be meaningless, but if it'd have been chosen by the Prime, that did not bode well. Small gantries and tiny furniture sized for the local natives didn't seem disused or covered in dust, either...

She frowned. "Was this a native facility? It looks like some still use this place." Sure, it wouldn't be the first time Autobot forces had made alliances with other species, but it had been a long time since it had last happened - at least, in the region she'd come from. Other races had a bad habit of getting pulped in the crossfire.

Damn, but she hated moving to new commands. She didn't know the rules of this place, she didn't have a single mecha she knew serving under her, and she didn't know the engagements she'd be fighting. Then there was the fact the Prime was walking these halls somewhere...

Solus guide me. Reaching for the totemic mental image of the long-ago Prime, Avalanche pushed aside her uncertainty. "So. What happens now?"

[Prowl]

So, she had heard of him. Then she likely understood her position in his plans.

Everyone was a highly valued expendable asset, with their value determined by relevant criteria such as position and skill set.

“Have you now?”

The question was mostly rhetorical, he didn’t give a damn what most other mecha thought of him. The only opinion he really cared about hearing was Optimus’, and he disregarded that maybe twenty five percent of the time. Maybe more when the Prime was being too high ground moral stance at the cost of victory.

Of course, Avalanche would be curious about their new surroundings, and he stood aside to allow her to take a look around. As he had when he’d arrived, she seemed to focus briefly on the human sized accommodations located around the control room, from the gantries to the small rec area.

“Apparently it was formerly a base for the local military to house a weapon of mass destruction. Optimus Prime has informed me that there are native lifeforms who are aware of our existence and tend to visit from time to time. Caution is advised in their presence.”

Having been around for a few days, Prowl learned one of the reasons why Prime was sticking to this planet instead of lifting off. The supply of raw energon on this planet was enormous, bigger than he’d seen in centuries according to estimates. That made the planet a prime target for Decepticons.

And everyone knew Optimus Prime was all about protecting the weak and defenseless from Megatron. Even when it would cloud typical military judgement. A source of friction between the Prime and his chief strategist at times.

“You’d be best advised to get a medical check from either of our medics, and to see our head of security, Red Alert.”

[Carbine]

The sharp clap of hand against forehead caused the bottom edge of Carbine's eyes to crook up some in amusement, his stance not changing at all while he remained kneeling on the ground. He liked being funny to some, a pain to others... that sort of disbelieving motion simply entertaining him on a great level. It only caused the makeshift smile to grow even broader after Jazz spoke, his yellow eyes mere slits against the vacant black faceplate.

"Takes th͏e r̵i͢ghţ kind of gal' and y-you'd be ga̵m͠e͏ f͢or it too!"

He teased this back happily, before his left 'non twisted' hand planted down onto the ground, his weight rocking forward upon it so he could try to get his legs under him. A heaved snort later, and the black and white mech would stand fully upright, his palms swiping down against his armor in a futile motion. It was almost a habitual action, despite the fact the dusty earth basically coated his lower limbs and were plain as day against the stark black finish. While he did this pointless motion, he turned to look over at Jazz with his following statements.

"Aww, look ̸àt ́y̷o͟u caring a-about me, I didn't think yǫu̶ we̸re the type."

Carbine said this with a higher inflection, the words followed by a chuckle before he gently rubbed at his twisted wrist. Nothing felt like it was bent or out of line, the hinge seemed smooth and normal, and cable ligaments within his fingers felt the same, not stretched out or anything... If he were to squint maybe there were scuffs on the back of his hand from his forearm guard, but he didn’t know if that was from this incident, or something else. While nothing was broken it was protesting with a sort of soreness, though nothing he would consider problematic.

"Ye͜a̷ḩ y̸e͢a̢h..."

There would be no way he would admit as much, but Carbine appreciated that Jazz seemed to pick up on the idea he liked to move last through the Ground Bridge. On one hand he hated that weakness being known, but on the other it was a bit of grief he got spared in the grand scheme of things that didn't really inconvenience others. With this, he would ease into a walk, following close behind so that the portal could readily close in his wake... Preserving fuel and all that yeah?...

The second Carbine got through the vortex and it closed behind him, he would veer off to the side, staying close to the left wall for a few paces. He walked with a sort of nonchalance, as if he didn't just get dropped to the ground by the massive Femme who was now socializing with others from the outpost. Yellow eyes watched her as he walked, a sort of side eye scan across her frame once more, evaluating the shield that he could better see now that her back was somewhat turned in his direction. Carbine instantly felt like he wanted something like that, whap it over his back to protect him and Bolo, but he also knew it would weigh him down too much even if it were scaled to his build. Whatever the case, he swung around once far enough, leaning the triangular ridge along his spine upon the wall right next to the driving exit.

A place to scuttle through if the brute bitch babe tried to haul ass after him.

"You won't have͡ t͟o ͢sęek Red Alert out, h-he will pr-pr-obably ma̵teri͢a͝l̶iz͝e like the litt̨le pa͜rano̡id goblin he is least you̡ k͏k̛rrz̷z̕tt ̷w͘hen expect k̸z͏kk̀ it."

Carbine chuckled this out the second after Prowl mentioned the Security Director's name, the laugh jittered with his glitching crackle. While he did so, he flicked his gaze and crooked his helm some up towards what he THOUGHT was a security camera, but it was likely one of countless that were squired all over for the spazz. Whatever the case, his attention slipped back, clunky forearms loosely folding across one another as a white fingertip snagged along his armor to hold it in place.

For now, Carbine watched, to see the dynamic some. Three of the four individuals were new as slag compared to him, while the fourth wasn't in the slightest, but was not seen super often around. This was a good moment to try to learn dynamics of the unfamiliar.