He saluted them goodbye, like the good little soldier he was. He wanted to speak, to say some words of comfort, honor.. just something, but nothing could come to mind. Everything was so frantic, and time was short. The Decepticons were attacking the Autobot base, their Earth Home, and the current orders were to evacuate, and wait for further instruction about regrouping.
Smokescreen hated the idea of running away, not from the fight but from each other. The rookie accepted that they had lost this battle. The Decepticons had built their land base just outside of Jasper, just outside of the Autobot base, and were closing in on their base with the Nemesis. Running was the only option left if they were going to survive long enough to come up with an actual plan to save Jasper, Nevada, and save Earth from Megatron's tyranny. But he didn't trust the idea of the Autobots splitting from each other. If they were going to do this, if they were really going to save Earth, they needed to be together, not separated.
But this was was just his opinion, one he would hold quietly for the time being. Optimus gave the Autobots an order, and like a good little soldier, Smokescreen would follow that order. He had to follow it. Optimus was a Prime, and being a Prime gave him the collected wisdom of his predecessors, wisdom none of them could ever hope to achieve on their own. Whatever the plan was, it was well thought out and carefully considered by their leader. So, despite not knowing it, Smokescreen accepted Optimus' plan.
Smokescreen took one last final look at the remaining Autobots, the medic and the leader. Ratchet seemed to be distraught, both from the assault and the news of the Omega Lock being destroyed, while Optimus stood idly by, his face locked in an emotionless expression that he couldn't read. Smokescreen wished he had more time to study the Prime's face so he could gather some sort of reading. But something in his spark told Smokescreen that he would never be able to read that face, not even if he had all the time in the universe at his disposal.
Time had ticked on long enough, and Smokescreen lowered his servo from his head. He turned to face the glowing space bridge, transformed to his vehicle mode, and sped through the portal to his unknown destination.
He reappeared in the world... somewhere, still speeding away, which quickly became a very bad decision as nothing but a steep hill laid in front of the McLaren F1. As the bridge closed behind the Autobot rookie, Smokescreen clamped down on his brakes, sliding to a stop that would have jerked any human passengers forward and most likely cause them to smack their head against whatever was in front of them.
After letting out a small sigh, relieved he had managed to stop before launching himself up and over the hill, Smokescreen started to check his surroundings. He was in some sort of small clearing – a parking lot, or something like one, if he remembered that name correctly – and the ground was covered with small rocks, which weren't all that uncomfortable beneath him. To his right was a... Lake? Yeah, that's what it was. A lake. Not a very big one, but a lake none the less. The young soldier looked around a bit more, finding the parking lot was surrounded by the hill he almost sped in to, almost tricking him in to the idea that he had been trapped in this small parking lot until he saw a bumpy dirt trail that cut in to the hill, leading away up somewhere. Without a second thought, he gently rolled to the rough and bumpy path and followed the trail, hoping it would take him to a nice, smooth, paved road.
Smokescreen was curious about where he was. It seemed to be such a strange place. Everywhere he looked he could only see dried grass, brush, that lake, and mountains that rose high in the sky and enclosed the whole area in a valley, giving off a slight feeling of being trapped. Given the circumstances and situation back at base, however, there had been no time for anyone to ask where Ratchet and Optimus were sending them. The Autobots just went through the bridge, one by one, to their unknown destinations with the simple tasks to find safe shelter, and avoid Decepticon attention.
At least the others had the kids to help them through this plan, and keep them company. Sure, the others were experienced in earthly laws and customs and could manage just fine on their own. But nothing beats having a personal guide along in your journey in unknown territory, to say yay or nay to your decisions so you don't break cover, and to – perhaps most importantly – occupy the driver's seat of your vehicle mode. Nothing was worse than having that one driver who actually looked around their surroundings in traffic, and saw that the car next to them had no visible human driver.
Smokescreen found himself regretting that he never got the chance to tint his windows. At least then it'd be impossible to look inside and see he was empty on the inside.
Practically speaking anyway. He definitely wasn't empty on the inside. Nope, no way. He had a beating spark, flowing energon, and healthy organs functioning inside his body. And he definitely wasn't empty in a metaphorical sense either. Nope.
And yet... His spark pulsed with a sense of sadness at the last thought. He had no reason to be upset though. Sure, he was away from his squad mates at the moment, and left to face a new world all on his own, but that was no reason to feel sad! Smokescreen is a big, strong mech, who can take down anything that challenges him, and look damn good doing it too.
But that sadness in his spark remained, it's hold on him unshaken. And it started to eat away at him, taking the rookie's attention away from his surroundings as he began to ponder on this negative emotion.
He was big enough to admit that there was maybe a valid reason for him to feel sad.
Things were looking pretty bad back at base. The Decepticons established a foot hold on Earth right outside the Autobot base, and they knew it too. And like the creeps they were, they started attacking. So his base, a place that was suppose to bring him safety, was being destroyed – if not already destroyed by now.
There's one reason.
The team was also, temporarily, disassembled. It was part of their safety and survival, so the Decepticons wouldn't find them all in one group and kill every one of them in one single attack, but separation always hurts.
That made two reasons to be sad.
So much for the maybe part.
A car horn started blaring, interrupting the thoughts of the young mech. Smokescreen had reached the end of the trail, and was now coming out on to the road right in front of a pickup truck, who was making no effort to slow down as they went down the road.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Smokescreen cried out, panic washing over him. When did he reach the road? Just a minute ago he was driving slowly along a trail that had deep bits and high rocks, all of it threatening to bump and batter his body from below. He didn't know what to do: drive forward or go in reverse? The pickup was closing the distance between the two vehicles, but the enraged driver had already swerved themself in to the other lane, moving around Smokescreen, the horn still going while they expressed just how upset they were with the sporty car by showing off their right middle finger.
His spark was pulsing hard. Not even five minutes in this new location and Smokescreen almost landed himself in some serious trouble. Had that human hit him... Primus, saying it would have been a complete disaster was putting it rather mildly.
His optics scanned the road. There was nobody else coming or going, save that disgruntled pickup driver, and there didn't seem to be much sign of civilization with the exception of a few houses that were built on the mountains, tucked away and isolated. It was so weird, seeing so very little human influence upon the earth. Based off of previous experience, an area either had a ton of human buildings or none at all.
And speaking of human influence and civilization, Smokescreen needed to find some, fast. Primus only knows how soon it would be before the Decepticons began tracking down the scattered Autobots, if they already hadn't started searching. Optimus' warning of how they were robots in disguise echoed in the back of Smokescreen's processor, which the young Autobot took as reassurance that his idea to find a human city was a correct method of hiding from 'Cons.
But... Which way was town? There wasn't exactly a sign clearly stating which way one was suppose to go. He was just left with two choices: left or right?
"Um." Had there not been a threat of death looming over the Autobots, and Smokescreen was blessed with company, his confusion and slowness to decide could have been humorous.
"...Right!" The driverless vehicle suddenly announced aloud. The McLaren F1 pulled on to the empty road, wasting no time in letting the speedometer quickly climb up the numbers written. Smokescreen grinned internally at the sound and feel of his engine humming so smoothly and beautifully.
Smokescreen chuckled. That driver from earlier was going this way. How long would it be before he caught up to them?