Chapter One- Ever Growing and Infinite.
Writer: Left_eye_better
Rating: PG
Chapter Summary: Bluestreak is found and stolen by Barricade, and the Autobots begin what is likely to be a lengthy search.
Warning: Unbeta'd
Chapter Word Count: 2617
Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro/Takara
Author Note: I really do like this idea. I don't have much of a drive to work on it and am hoping by posting the first of a few chapters I have created that the reviews and hits will bolster my want to continue this. Please check tops of each chapter for rating, I'll update the rating on the story to keep it current with the highest rated chapter.
Chapter One- Ever Growing and Infinite.
The earth exploded. Dirt, stone, and smoldering shrubbery rained for under a minute then all that could be heard was the hum of a well tuned engine, and the soft pinging of cooling metal. Soon added to these two soft sounds was a third, the crunch of newly raised ground under tires.
He'd tracked the signal, as weak as it was and he had to move his prize before its friends arrived. The term 'friends' rolled over his processor like molasses, disgustingly sweet, and equally as slow. The sound of shifting plates signaled his transformation from innocent enough looking patrol car to menacing robot with red optics and a glint of claws. He lowered himself into the crater, and widened the radius of the device he used to hide his signal to also encompass the diminutive signal projected by the Autobot protoform.
Days ago when he had first snatched the signal from the heavens the interceptor had paired it with a designation. That designation belonged to that of a young gunner, known for his capability to shoot astonishingly accurate from a long distance. An Earthian term for the skill was "designated marksman" or more commonly "sniper." Many a seeker hit Cybertronian ground due to this gunner shooting their wings off them midflight. At that time he had been amused by picturing an organic bird falling from the sky with its wings ablaze.
He dragged the red, gray, and black form from the crater, and trudged for the road. He had purchased the service of a tow truck and a driver from a shady little corner of a nearby city. It had been an easy matter, with the internet and all. The way the organics of this planet threw around their currency on it only helped matters. The simple taking of a number, and he had been able to order the truck to meet him at the location needed. It was so clean. He almost had to wonder if the humans had mastered this type of crime yet.
The protoform jostled as it was dragged over uneven ground, bit of the rocky planetary entry shell falling from it. As much as the Decepticon hated, no- loathed was the better term, to admit it; he needed that form. He needed a partner. He needed someone that he'd be able to ally with, to plot with, to warp, and to twist. He chuckled darkly at the last one and tightened his claws around the Autobot's plate that was currently in his grip, liking the feeling of the dagger-like tips digging into the metal. Such soft plates this one has. It was in need of repairs. He'd worry about that when they had gotten to a place far enough away that he didn't have to worry about any disturbances of the potentially cannon wielding kind.
They reached the road. He knelt and rolled the Autobot onto its stomach so that the data ports on the back of the mech's neck were easily accessible. He drew a line from his arm and connected it. The protoform shuddered as the alt-mode data was forcibly uploaded but the mech's subroutines soon decided that the alt-mode was acceptable. The form shuddered briefly. Plates warped and shifted, energon spilt across the ground, and hues shifted to that of more standard automobile colors. A malicious grin worked its way through Barricade's sharp teeth.
The Autobot had taken the form of a Shelby GT Mustang with a super charger on its black hood, similar in color to roof and trunk, while red streaks ran down the elegant sides, and the rest of the body was a deep rich gun metal gray. The windows had tinting that was borderline illegal in many of the political regions of the country they were currently residing in, but rarely had he ever found that it was enforced. The Autobot had the privilege to have a similar alt-mode to that of his.
Whether he had done it out of pride of his own design, or for the tactical advantage that that could be provided to him if a battle was to occur between him and this one's friends he was unsure of, but having an expendable factor that could confuse the enemy for even a mere click could serve him well. Even if they managed to recover their comrade it still would cause confusion in later battles.
His scanners picked up the tow truck coming down the road. His own form shifted back to that of the police cruiser. Headlights crested over the hill, and then pulled off to the side of the road next to the waiting police car. The window of the vehicle rolled down, and the driver leaned across the seats. A cigar stub was pushed to the far corner of his mouth in an effort to make him easier to understand. "Hey, Officer! You the one that called about needing a tow?"
Barricade's holoform flickered on as his window sunk into the door. "Actually, a motorist had called the precinct saying their car was acting up, and they had hit a guardrail. Turns out they were intoxicated and another cruiser took them in already. We need to have their vehicle towed off the side of the road, and to the impound lot so it can be recovered by a sober relative." The current feeling he had could be described as victorious. The weaving of lies was a specialty of his. This was the first taste of the particular lie's sweet wine, and he had a whole bottle being chilled for him.
The human nodded and got out of his truck, shutting the door rather hard. He carried his long metal flashlight, and made his way to the only other vehicle around. The man whistled as his light went up and down the body of the car, admiring the form and the custom paint job. The driver hadn't noticed the lack of license plates, most likely due to the darkness that night had provided. It was a short process, since the Autobot had been in a position that the tow truck could easily maneuver to hook up.
In watching the human load his prize onto the flat bed tow unit he realized he had probably over ordered the towing service but at least this way the mech had no way of escape if he happened to online while strapped to the flat bed of transport unit. The driver came over to Decepticon after loading was complete. He never understood the human compulsion to mindless chatter at each other, but of course Frenzy, before he joined the well of all sparks, had the same compulsion.
This one wished to discuss the weather, and sporting event called 'hockey' which the internet had provided him several examples each involved these organics attaching blades to footwear, wielding sticks, and dressed in armor on a field of ice, fighting over a small black disk. He had long ago stopped being surprised by the seemingly endless amount of human stupidity, and had started to believe it, similar to the universe, was ever growing and infinite.
The human had finally gotten back into the tow truck and put it in gear. He motioned for Barricade to lead. The Decepticon would have preferred to follow behind, but it seemed to be another custom of the organics; they preferred their law enforcement where they could see them. His tires bit into the gravel shoulder, and he took the lead.
Looking back at the towing rig, he allowed his holoform to mimic the pleased expression of what it had been designed after. "Recharge well, Designation Bluestreak. When you online you'll find out how cruel of a world you've landed on."
-Impact site- 45 minutes later
Hound knelt, placing a four-fingered hand down on dragline leading out of the crater. "It don't make any sense, Optimus." He paused looking up to his magnanimous leader. "There's no sign of a struggle. It looks more like a body was dragged away, but…" The forest green mech rose to his full height and followed the line of footprints leaving ones of his one on the newly raised earth. "I'll sniff him out." He stated confidently pausing in his pursuit a moment.
Prime patted the tracker on the shoulder. "I'm sure you will. Can you give us any leads?" His hand squeezed lightly on Hound's shoulder. It was a quiet sign that any information was welcomed even if it was bad.
"Well, the first mech drove up." The olive green mech pointed to the tracks that led to the crater. "Then transformed, with a push up type," He made the motion with his arms before actually pointing to he spot. "You can tell by the wide marks on either side of the stopping point, judging by the size and depth of the print, and medium sized mech, around Bumblebee's build. They went into the impact site and dragged what I would venture to say was Blue out of there then-"
Moving, and thus causing Prime's hand to fall from his shoulder, Hound followed the tracks once more until he was faced with the shoulder of the road. Nest had already taken the measures of closing the stretch of road for several miles in an effort to keep the Autobots secret from the masses.
The green mech paused and knelt again. His fingers went to the ground, and ran across it. "Energon." He lifted his hand to show the slight blue shimmer of the lifeblood of their race. "They had stopped dragging him, and another vehicle showed up but… There's been too much activity that tracks are muddled."
Optimus nodded, and looked down at the tracks. They no longer had the numbers that would have made this a simple matter of radioing base and having them search for a signal. Blaster, the mech that had the communication knowledge to easily track their missing companion was MIA, and the next soldier capable was currently laying in Ratchet's medbay, sparkless, and slowly being put back in one piece for at least a proper send off.
Bumblebee pulled up, allowing Sam to get his feet on the pavement before, transforming to stand next to the two other bots. "Any clue what happened to him?" The yellow bot spoke freely no longer bond to what lyrical verses could portray.
The teenager looked up at the Autobots. Dressed in a zip up sweatshirt, jeans, he placed his hands in his pockets to protect them from the cold of the season. It wasn't terribly cold but the season had just turned to winter and in the higher altitudes it was felt. The boy's hand wrapped around his cell phone. He knew Lennox was waiting for an answer. Well, as much as an someone with that much riding on him can wait up, seeing that it's the middle of the night.
The leader cycled air through his system and let it out. "We are unsure of his location at this time but we have Hound working on it. It appears he was taken from the scene by another Cybertronian, possibly two." Optimus had made a statement, and the effect was almost instant on his troops. Hound transformed and generated his holoform. He pulled around to face the direction he would start his search in. While Bumblebee just looked to his leader with a curious expression, that was cause by something not adding up correctly.
"Sir?" The yellow scout shift as he asked for attention. He reran the simple question through his processor to make sure it was something worthy to ask the Prime. He had never been yelled at for asking a question, but that wasn't for the fact he hadn't asked dumb questions before. It was because of Prime's enormous amount of patience.
"Yes, Bumblebee, you have a question?" He turned his attention from Hound, who sat waiting for a command, to start his search to the young scout. The scout started his question only to get interrupted by Sam.
"How do you just haul around a giant robot alien without people noticing?" A nervous finger glided over the edge of his Motorola cell phone. "I mean," He looked up to Bumblebee. "I hate to remind you of this, but how did the government get you to Sector 7 without people freaking out?"
Optimus looked to Bumblebee; the human had a point. If the abductor didn't have a proper plan then his plan would end once they arrived at a city. The scout shifted again. He had rarely accessed those files, knowing that the humans were only trying to defend themselves through a good offense. Pausing he thought about how humans and Ironhide were alike. "They used a flatbed truck and a tarp."
"That sounds like a lead to me. Good job Sam." The tracker revved his engine, and accessed the internet to find twenty-four hours tow companies that have listing for flatbed trucks.
Bee had quickly noticed the problem with that plan. "But that would mean that humans had assisted and they would have contacted law enforcement." He looked down to his human companion to make sure that this was an accurate assessment of human nature.
Sam paused before answering, and sheepishly looked down. "Some people aren't that…" Heavy footsteps from the impact site saved the teen from having to state an obvious fact humanity. Ratchet joined the group tapping his arm unit and muttering quiet curses in Cybertronian under his breath.
"I've finished scanning the impact site. Trace amount of energon, and other fluids are scattered around but it also appears I need to recalibrate my field scanner." The medic stood next to Prime, and looked up from his scanner. "It's in no amount that would prove fatal. Blue probably is in need of getting some lines patched from a rough landing. He never was good at making planet fall."
Hound was still silent in his search. The only one he found in the area hadn't responded to his telephone call. He decided that would probably be the best place to check and the sooner he could get on the scent the better. "Not all of us can be gifted Ratchet." The army green Jeep chuckled. "I found a shop that has one and it's not answering."
Prime nodded. "Good. Set out and if you find anything report back, and we'll send back up." He turned to the Medical Officer. "Is there anything else you have before Hound rolls out?" The medic shook his head. "Bumblebee?" His focus shifted to he scout.
"You mentioned possibly two Sir?" Bumblebee had let the question slide to the back burner when Sam had interrupted but now it was back in the front. "Last we knew, Barricade and a few drones were the only two on the north American continent." He looked down to the still waiting Hound with an apologetic look. He really didn't mean to hold him up, particularly when Bluestreak maybe in trouble.
The wiser mech gave a nod to Bumblebee's question. "We always have to keep the possibility open that more of them have made planet fall as well. We have the aid of our human allies and they are tracking all incoming stellar objects, but we have to be alert." He looked back at the tracker. "I stress to you, if you do get a lead, radio us for back up."
"Will do, Prime." If Hound were a member of the United States army the snap of a salute would have been heard the sound of his tires gaining purchase on the gravel of the shoulder.