Disclaimer: I do not own transformers, I probably never will, and this was merely written for entertainment.
"Check her out," Skids murmured to his twin after arriving at NEST headquarters in Diego Garcia. All around, they could see the curious squishy organic organisms scurrying around... but that was not what had interested the young cybertronian. No, it was a member of their own species that had attracted his attention: a femme. An actual, living femme standing right before their optics. She was tall-much taller than them-and heavily armoured, black wings swept back along her dorsal side.
"Yous don't stand a chance wit her bro." Came Mudflap's reply, optics trained on her lithe form. She was walking away from a bulkier silver mech that they recognized as Sideswipe. The twins weren't particularly bright, but they prided themselves on their ability to pick out a face in the crowd. The femme turned around, brow plates furrowed with frustration as her optics clouded over with an emotion the twins didn't seem to catch. "Look at that aft! Damn!"
"An' dem wings." He nudged his twin, brows wiggling mischievously. "You know what dey say 'bout seekers."
"Aw hell yiss." A wide grin crossed the small mech's face. "Bro, bro, play it cool she's comin' dis way."
She cast a glance at the twins, the corners of her mouth curling down into a dark frown. The looks that they had given her were not difficult to decode; for the femme or Sideswipe. The larger silver mech shot them a heated glare as he followed her, "Back off." His tone left no room for interpretation.
"Please take your own advice, Sideswipe." The femme's voice was soft, deep, bitter.
His optics widened, a smug look plastering itself on his features. "That's completely different. I mean you and I are spark-mates."
He placed a hand on her shoulder only for her to recoil sharply as if the mere touch had burned her. Her wings flared slightly, and she backed away from him, fangs bared. "We most certainly are not."
In a second she had folded herself into sleek Dodge Viper, making her way quickly to another area of the base. The twins stood there confusion overtaking them for a moment, "But she got wings..." Skids said after a klick.
"Triple changer." Rumbled Sideswipe as if it had been the most obvious conclusion, fingers balling into a fist at his side.
"I think you jus' got burned, dude." Mudflap commented, and Sideswipe glowered at them. The blades on his arms glistened menacingly as they retracted from their sheaths in his arms. Words weren't necessary to convey his obvious contempt for the much smaller Cybertronians. They watched him warily, wondering if the silver mech truly would harm them. Finally he receded slowly, folding himself into a Stingray.
"I'll be watching you."
Mudflap let out an uncomfortable shiver, "Dat is one mean mofo..."
"Man, dis sucks!"
"Can't even enjoy workin' with da first femme we see in a vorn!"
"... Dis is stupid. We can't even get a femme wit our stupid alt."
"Stupid fancy pretty boy car."
"Absolute dick hole." Agreed Skids.
"Hello, Ratchet." Said the black femme, parking beside the older cybertronian.
He looked down from logging the heap of raw materials to acknowledge the Viper, "Vertigo."
She was silent for a long while, and Ratchet returned his attention to the materials at hand. "Why does he insist on pestering me?" The question slipped from under her hood.
"Sideswipe is about as thick headed as they come." He replied, tapping away at his datapad. "But, he'll get it eventually."
Vertigo let out a vague humming sound, "I wish he would just... stop."
"He has taken a liking to you, and we haven't been able to reach his twin. Give it some time... Or beat it out of the slaghead." The Autobot medic told her gruffly. She remained silent, contemplative, reviewing her own thoughts while analysing the databursts that were being broadcasted from their leader about his current meeting with the heads of NEST. Changing the subject, Ratchet commented on the information, "What do think we should do about finding Starscream?"
"Oh..." The question caught her off guard, and her spark sank. Vertigo hesitated before responding with a timid, "I-I am not sure..."
Ratchet eyed her with concern.
When Optimus Prime himself commented on her reply from the meeting, Vertigo realized that Ratchet must have relayed what she had said directly to him. "We need this information, Virigo."
"I know," She yielded. "He might not even be on Earth right now. He could have gone back to either this planet's moon or to Mars. If I knew where he was I could help out a little more..." Her mirrors twitched anxiously. "I am sorry... I really wish I could be of more help on the matter, truly I do. But unless I know his coordinates, I do not know what he would be plotting..."
"I understand." The leader responded deliberately. "Your input is welcomed."
Vertigo reverted back to her bipedal form. "I am sorry..." She repeated. For a moment it was silent, except for the noise of the humans conferencing. They were all such short lived creatures... so full of life and bliss. The femme was envious... life was too long. She shoved it down, doing her best to keep her head clear of it all. A shudder went through her body, purging the doubt the crept into her mind. "I think I will go ask Ironhide to train with me." Said the triple changer suddenly, sending a silent transmission over to the weapons specialist.
"Hand to hand or aerial?" Came a likewise silent response.
"Aerial. If that is not too much to ask." She waved to Ratchet before leaving the hangar, transforming into her terrestrial alt-mode. Vertigo sped up, approaching the drop-off into the ocean. Going at maximum speed she went over the edge, staying true to her name, she transformed once more; this time into an F-22 Raptor. Executing a clean barrel roll, she did a quick turn around.
A projectile shot past her cockpit. "No readiness check?" She asked, amusement tinting her voice.
"The 'Cons sure as hell won't." Replied Ironhide gruffly. "But you would know that, wouldn't you?"
"More than you could ever imagine." She did a half turn, flying sideways to avoid a stream of bullets. She looped around, heading back for a retaliation strike. Using a lightweight machine gun she peppered the ground with fire that glanced off of the dark outer armor of the older cybertronian.
The femme performed a complex series of loops as Ironhide shot a missile at her, but t continued its pursuit, staying right on her tail. She went into a steep climb, cutting her engines once she felt she had reached an appropriate altitude. Plummeting to Earth her engines roared to life once more as slugs came in for the kill. She rolled, dived and shot across the ocean's surface like a speeding arrow, wing tip skimming the water.
Vertigo loved flying, there was no feeling quite like it. The wind whistling past her, the freedom it presented, the thrill of higher speeds than any ground vehicle could attain. The femme spun around, headed directly for Ironhide, pulling up barely ten feet from where he was standing.
This process of dodging and retaliation lasted for a long while. Until Ironhide unleashed the last of his practice rounds at once. A barrel roll reversing itself midway through, a diagonal loop, a steep climb followed by an even steeper corckscrew dive only to pull up at the last possible moment, tail fin partially submerged told her that nearly all of the old mech's arsenal had been dodged. Another barrel roll and a loop around showed her that unless she wanted to deal with lethal rounds, her training run was done for now.
"That was an impressive show of skill." Came a voice from inside her head; a transmission from her leader. "On both of your parts."
"Thank you." She replied, all doubts purged from her cranial processor as she twirled through the air, savouring the feel of the air flowing over her wings.
It was then that she noticed a small audience had gathered near the entrance to the hangar; Most of them drawn there by the sound of explosions. She transformed in mid-air, landing on the paved strip, wings erect to steady herself. She raised a shy hand to pick nervously at her right shoulder which bore heavy scarring and damage. The femme hadn't wanted it repaired. The Autobot symbol stood boldly out on her other shoulder plate, gold contrasting nicely with her matte black finish. Her blue optics watched the small crowd recede back into the confines of the shelter. As she turned to face a large semi that seemed to watch her, her antennae twitched.
"It would be best for you to stay in an alt-mode outside of the hangar. I have told you this before, Virigo." The large peterbuilt reprimanded her lightly.
"O-of course, Optimus Prime," the female responded quickly, transforming into her Viper alt.
He chuckled, "Your passion is a welcome sight."
Vertigo would have beamed if he could have seen her face, but she merely hummed happy to be accepted. "It is time again, you know."
The truck was silent for a moment, "then recharge, you may leave in the morning."
She chose not to question why Optimus specified the morning when she was just as capable at night. Now was not the time for vocally questioning her leader. That could come with time, but not yet. She didn't feel that she had earned that privilege. Vertigo complied and went back in the hangar, entering stasis until the morning.
I hope that you enjoyed it, the writing and plot gets better as the story goes on, but I do hope to redo the first few chapters over the next week and a half or so.