This drive, this calling, it wouldn't stop, it was like a beacon to the decepticon, calling her, pulling her this way. Stormflux was following that feeling that had taunted her for months, she was getting closer, she could feel it, whatever it was that was calling her was near, maybe she would find peace soon. She drove, tearing down the road at breakneck speeds, no city traffic to slow her down, it was so close and the feeling had only grown stronger. She had made it into California, near the coast at this point, this feeling in her spark was her fuel, her guide.
The road turned but she didn't follow, she just kept going straight, whatever it was that she had come for was ahead, there was no mistaking it now. She made her way over the terrain, she could see a slightly worn path across this stretch of land, someone traveled here frequently she was sure of it! She began to follow the worn path, turning as it did, veering into an opening in the trees, she looked ahead, able to see a small beach ahead as she quieted her engines, she felt her spark grow warmer as she approached, but it did not pain her this time, she could sense a bonded spark nearby and suddenly she knew what had lead her here.
Suddenly she stopped, she had seen movement, the femme found a small opening in the trees she could hide herself in, she was the predator here, if her prey was ahead she did not want it to know she was coming. Once she had gotten deep enough into the overgrown nook in the tree line she cut off her engines, her holoform activating. That was one thing she had to admit about the holoform, it's small size made sneaking about much easier for her. Her holoform made it's way through the overgrowth quickly, staying among the trees as she made her way towards the beach. She didn't know if her prey could feel her presence as she could feel it's but her holoform didn't sustain injury at least and her real form was far enough to give her at least something of a head start if they weren't alone.
She made her way to the edge of the trees, she could see the beach clearly now as well as see those who were on it. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the bright red hair she noticed immediately, next to the redhead was a dark haired man who had his arm wrapped around the human. Stormflux could see the familiar topkick with the autobot insignia proudly displayed on the tailgate parked next to the rock the two were sitting on. ~So it was her, that disgusting human did survive!~ the femme thought to herself, so her prey wasn't alone. The decepticon assumed the male was the autobot's holoform. Stormflux couldn't resist the grin that came to her holoform's face, all of the decepticons knew that the human once had the allspark fragment in her throat but none of them mentioned this. The affection was obvious in the two's actions, they were holding each other as they spoke, it was sickening! A cybertronian taking a human mate? What a disgrace!
Stormflux watched them for a bit, she couldn't attack, sure, the human was lightly armed, the energon sword she had seen the girl use in the battle was visible as was a smaller weapon strapped to the redhead's thigh. but that wasn't what she was worried about, if she attacked now that autobot would put her into stasis lock without a second thought, the femme had seen how ruthless the autobot weapons specialist could be, she did not want to chance that right now. Though there was more than one means of achieving an end, her alternative form was well out of view, if things got bad she would be able to flee and she hadn't used her holoform around either of these two before, just maybe it was worth a shot, deception had its uses after all.
The holoform closed her eyes for a moment as sunglasses formed over her eyes to hide their crimson color from view, the decepticon insignia on her shirt fading from the garment, she had to be careful if she was going to do this. She then began to move forward, at the very least she had to find out why she was being drawn to this pathetic human, she could always plan an attack later when she wasn't being guarded by an autobot.
They had retreated to that hidden beach to escape the chaos that was Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's most recent prank, it was great to see those two were having so much fun but after a week of it both she and Ironhide needed a little peace and quiet, the redhead had been content just leaning against Ironhide's holoform, an arm around her as she rested her feeling arm around his back. Before this beach had just been an escape for her but now it had become a retreat for both of them, the other autobots knew the location of this little getaway now but none of them dared to disturb them when they came here, they had made it clear that this was their hiding spot for a reason and when they were here they did not want to be bothered unless there was a damned good reason for it.
It wasn't until Ironhide looked behind them that Victoria's attention was drawn from the breaking waves, she looked back as well to see a woman on the beach, long blue hair with purple streaks and a tan, and in Victoria's opinion, overly revealing outfit, dark sunglasses perched on the woman's nose, this was the first time in all the years the redhead had visited this beach that anyone had shown up but she figured it wasn't impossible, after all, she had found this spot by simply exploring, someone else finding it in the same way wouldn't really be too surprising.
"Can we help ya?" Vic asked the woman, her tone wasn't abrasive or anything, after all, why should she be upset at someone who had simply happened onto the area much as she had a few years back.
"I'm not disturbing you am I? Just figured I would come down here and watch the tide come in for a bit." the woman said, giving a bit of a smile, Victoria tilted her head a bit, something about the woman's voice was vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
Victoria looked towards Ironhide for a moment, she opened a com connection with him //"Never had anyone jus' show up out here, we can move locations if ya want."\\ she sent.
//"Vic, that girl ain't human, I never saw Stormflux's holoform in person but NEST had captured video surveillance when she activated it to attack them. That's her."\\ Ironhide sent back.
//"Oh, well that's jus' fucking great. I wonder where her alt mode is, can't be too far. So, what do we do? She ain't attacking yet but I don't wanna take the chance of her friends showing up and us ending up outnumbered."\\ she sent to Ironhide as she watched the decepticon's holoform approach, she noticed that her spark was feeling a bit warmer now but no pain came //"Babe, my spark's reacting to her being so close, this is starting to freak me out a bit, to be hones'\\ she added.
//"That shouldn't be happenin', we need to get you out of here."\\ Ironhide sent before he spoke to the decepticon's holoform, not letting on that he knew what she was. "Don't worry bout it, we were just bout to leave." he said as he and Victoria moved to stand.
"No reason to leave on my account, you two looked pretty comfortable when I walked up." Stormflux said, yes, that was certainly Stormflux's voice, Victoria recognized it now.
"Nah, we should head out, got things to do." the redhead stated as she began to move towards Ironhide's topkick form, his holoform following right behind her, both of them keeping their eyes on the decepticon's representation before they saw it dash forward to stand in front of them.
"No, really, I insist." Stormflux said with a grin "No reason to play games is there? Your reactions said it all, but I'm not here to attack, if I was you would have known it by now."
Ironhide's holoform disengaged as he transformed, a cannon coming online to point at the holoform as Victoria brought her hand to the energon sword's hilt at her hip, it was a holoform which could be deactivated at any time and she knew it but she still didn't want to be unprepared if it did try to attack. "What the fuck do you want deceptibitch? Ya kind ain't exactly known for dropping in for a friendly chat." Victoria said as she saw the holoform remove it's sunglasses, letting them drop to the ground before they simply vanished.
"Who said I was with them anymore? Did you stop to think that maybe I changed my mind?" Stormflux asked.
"I ain't buyin' it, considerin' your little act a moment ago." Ironhide said as he kept the cannon aimed at the holoform.
"Why should we believe ya? Sorry if I sound skeptic but ya were being jus' a lil' too sneaky for my tastes." the redhead said as she kept her gaze on the holoform, she didn't like this "How the fuck did you find us?" she asked.
"I couldn't just walk up and announce myself, where would be the sense in that, trigger happy here would have blown me to bits." Stormflux said pointing over her shoulder to Ironhide "Don't tell me you haven't felt it, I could feel your presence from half way across the country, you have a spark now, what are the chances? I just happened to be unfortunate enough to be the one it was created from."
"You're lying. I am not connected to you." Victoria said as her eyes narrowed, she began to pull the blade from it's sheath when she heard it.
::"Don't act so shocked, I was the only one near you when that device activated, you are a part of me human.":: Stormflux sent to the redhead without even opening a com connection. Victoria narrowed her eyes, she was furious at this situation. She pulled the blade from it's sheath fully and lowered her stance.
"Stay the fuck out of my head bitch." she warned, the anger clear in the redhead's voice. She did not like being sent any kind of message by a decepticon, especially without her having a choice about it.
//"Calm down Vic, we gotta figure this out."\\ Ironhide sent her before speaking "So, you wanna talk, start talkin' but you do not wanna provoke us." the weapons specialist stated, his tone making it clear he was not messing around.
Stormflux grinned a bit "Wouldn't dream of it." she said, the sarcasm obvious in her voice. She looked towards the redhead for a moment, she seemed to be hesitating, after a few seconds the decepticon finally spoke once more "Not sure what you know about bonds, but this feels like a creation bond, technically, by cybertronian standards, I'm your mother." the decepticon stated, a smirk coming across the holoform's lips.
The redhead's eyes narrowed, that statement just struck a nerve, how dare that bitch even speak that word? "My mother died a long time ago." Victoria said as she charged forward at the holoform, bringing the energon blade up for a strike, how could she stay calm with that? The decepticon had no right! Victoria's mother was dead and gone, buried in a graveyard in Texas, no one had any right to claim her place, especially not a decepticon!
//"Vic, stop."\\ Ironhide sent her as she brought the blade down towards the holoform, Stormflux dodged to the side as Ironhide's words were ignored, the redhead was pissed right now, her reasoning, her logic, it was gone, Stormflux had crossed the line with her statement and Victoria wanted nothing more than to tear into her.
Victoria lunged forward towards where Stormflux had leapt to, the sword up, ready to strike before she felt Ironhide's hand around her, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her back from her target, "I guess you don't want to talk then." Stormflux said as her holoform flickered, fading from existence.
Victoria looked towards Ironhide, pushing his hand away from her "Why did you stop me?" she near yelled at him.
"Because it won't do any good fightin' her holoform, you can be injured, it can't. You wanted to know why those spark pains were happenin' didn't you? Talkin' to 'er might of offered some answers!" he said, his voice returning the abrasive tone.
"She had no fucking right to say what she did!" Victoria said as a sound nearby drew her attention, what she saw caused her to raise her blade once more as Ironhide raised his cannons to aim, it seemed Stormflux had decided to show her true form. "Back for another fucking round bitch?" Victoria said as she kept her eyes on the decepticon, seeing the femme had her weapon raised as well.
"You know, I was going to try just talking, but perhaps a more forceful approach is needed." the decepticon said.
Ironhide stepped in front of Victoria upon seeing the decepticon's aim was on the redhead, his cannons humming, a clear sign he was not messing around "You ain't touchin' 'er." Ironhide said.
Victoria really wished she had her cannon with her at this point but she hadn't had a reason to carry it around as of late. //"We can't go back home until she's dealt with, if she found me through that damned bond then it'll lead her right to the base, and ya know well as I do she'll call her buddies with the location."\\ Victoria sent to him as she lowered her stance, yes, he was guarding her, she disliked it but she understood it, however if a fight did break out she was going to be ready to for it.
Sure enough, the redhead was not disappointed, Stormflux opened fire, Ironhide took the missile blast before his cannons flared to life ::"I'm coming for you fleshling.":: she heard Stormflux send to her through that accursed bond, she would curse her luck for ending up in any way bonded with a decepticon, but right now was not the time.
"Stay out of my fucking head!" Victoria shouted since she didn't know how to respond via the bond. Ironhide had begun firing already but Stormflux was as fast as ever, she ducked and weaved, avoiding the incoming cannon fire, the decepticon firing back, Victoria made a dash towards the rock she normally sat on, ducking behind it for cover as a missile impacted the ground not far from her, kicking up sand and smaller rocks in the area, she pulled the sensor disruptor from it's holster at her thigh, her sword kept in her left hand as she held the defensive gun in her right. She looked over the boulder, taking aim at the femme and opening fire, Stormflux dodged the disruptor blast but ended up in the path of one of Ironhide's shots in the process, the blast from his cannon meeting with the decepticon's shoulder and pushing her slender frame back before she brought her missile launcher to aim at the weapons specialist, Stormflux rushed forward, that speed boost she had shown to have kicking in as she ended up right in front of Ironhide, she leapt as she came upon him and landed a kick to his chest with both feet.
Ironhide stumbled back a bit before right out grabbing at the femme, he was larger and stronger, Victoria couldn't imagine what Stormflux was thinking when she decided to get that close but it gave Ironhide an advantage. Ironhide grabbed Stromflux's arm and flung her to the side, discharging a cannon after her, the decepticon landed and sprung to her feet, barely avoiding the blast.
"This is getting us nowhere." Stormflux stated before she transformed into her alternative form and fled, Ironhide fired a few shots after the femme before he powered down his cannons and looked back towards Victoria as she sheathed the energon blade and holstered the disruptor.
"This is jus' fuckin' great," the redhead said as Ironhide walked up to her and leaned down to be nearer eyelevel.
"What were you thinkin'? She wasn't attackin' until you took the offensive." Ironhide asked her, he still sounded slightly agitated.
"She had no damned right to force a damned message to me, she also had no right to even fucking suggest being anything like a damned mother. OK, so maybe attacking her holoform was a bit stupid, but ya know what? She kinda struck a nerve! Besides, she's a damned decepticon, you've said yaself that the truth was in the name." she said, her eyes meeting Ironhide's intense gaze.
"Yea it is, but you put yourself in danger!" he stated.
"Yea, like she was jus' gonna hang 'round and chat, lemme tell ya."
"We could of at least got a few answers first."
"We got enough answers, I have some kinda bond to a damned deceptibitch and had no choice in the matter, and she followed the bond here. Meaning she's going to know where the base is and put everyone at risk."
"We've been fightin' 'em for a long time Vic, if they come we'll handle 'em."
"GAH! Ya don't get it do ya? If what she said is true I'm a fucking beacon to her, that base is our home, we can't jus' lead her and her decepticon buddies to it!"
"I get it, trust me." Ironhide said before standing fully once more, he gave a sigh as if he was trying to calm down so he didn't add fuel to the fire, if it was one thing both of them had learned by now it was that their arguments could spiral out of control quickly if one of them didn't calm down, normally it was Ironhide who had the sense to calm the situation first because Victoria was simply unreasonable when she was mad. The weapons specialist looked down at the redhead "We'll figure it out, we gotta let the others know." he said.
"Yea, heh, ain't they jus' gonna have a field day findin' this shit out! This is jus' fucked on so many levels." Victoria said as she leaned against the rock she had taken cover behind moments ago.
"You can cut her from findin' you through it, you just have to learn how." Ironhide said.
"Yea, easy for you to say, it's instinctual for ya, for me, it's still pretty damned new." Victoria responded with, she heard another sigh come from Ironhide.
"Vic, just calm down alright, you bein' mad ain't gonna help matters any." he stated.
Victoria lowered her gaze, shaking her head slightly, he was right and she knew it, she couldn't think worth a damned when she was angry and she really did have a habit of just making things worse when she didn't calm down. She stood silent for a moment before giving a heavy sigh of her own and looking back up towards Ironhide "A'right, so, how do I do it? How do I cut off contact with 'er? Cause I'd rather not risk going back to the base until I can be sure she can't follow us there." she said.
"It's gonna take time Vic, let's move, she might have already sent this location to the others, don't wanna risk an ambush with you around." Ironhide stated as he stepped back and transformed into his alternative mode, his driver side door opening.
"Yea, good point, probably better if ya let the others know, to be hones', I'm still a bit too pissed to explain it." the redhead said as she moved to climb into the driver's seat. They drove off as Ironhide opened a com to Optimus to explain, he sent the connection to Victoria as well but she opted to remain silent and just listen, right now, anything she would say would likely come off offensive and she knew it, it was better not to chance it.
She lost the argument, again, Ironhide had even needed to calm her down once again when she started yelling, the redhead's temper truly was beginning to get out of hand. They had returned to the Tranquility base and informed those who needed to know about the occurrence before Victoria retreated to one of the rooftops to just think. She needed space right now, time to work everything out in her mind, her being here was like giving the decepticons the exact coordinates of their home, if Stormflux could sense her then It was basically an open invitation for attack.
Perhaps taking the offensive against Stormflux had been a stupid move, maybe she really was there just to talk but what the femme had said, comparing herself in any way to the mother Victoria had lost it, even suggesting anyone at all could ever claim such a title, is was simply infuriating. The redhead had a feeling she had given the decepticon exactly what she wanted, a reaction. Why had she let herself be so easily provoked? She should have more sense than that, lashing out in anger without thinking was the kind of thing that got people killed, sure she had always been a risk taker but she normally thought out those risks before charging forth.
Victoria gave a heavy sigh, looking up towards the sky as dark clouds began to roll in "Heh, how suiting." she commented to herself as she watched the nearby trees begin to sway in the breeze.
//"Vic, a storm's comin', you better get down from there."\\ she received the communication from Ironhide before she stood.
//"Yea, I'm coming."\\ she sent back as she took a last glance towards the incoming clouds before moving to climb down the pipe along the side of the building, sliding down it to the ground before making her way towards the lounge area, it had been where she last saw Ironhide so she figured, if a thunderstorm was rolling in, she had better get to him.
As she walked in she saw Ironhide standing there talking to Ratchet, she walked up to his side and placed a hand on the weapons specialist's lower leg, normally she would climb up to his shoulder but right now she simply wasn't in a playful mood, she could have gone without the thoughts that had cropped up and the anger that she was still trying to push down.
Ironhide looked down feeling her hand on his leg "Feelin' any better?" he asked.
"I'll get back to ya on that one." the redhead replied as Ironhide brought his hand down to lift her from the ground, right now emotions where a bit tense, they had gotten into a pretty major argument once they had gotten back to the base earlier, Victoria had become rather abrasive and, with how she and Ironhide were, they had gained the attention of half the autobots before they stopped yelling, it was then that she had retreated to the rooftop. She didn't know if he was still upset with her but she had a feeling he as at the least still a bit agitated, even though he lifted her to his shoulder his mannerism was slightly different towards her right now, then again she couldn't exactly blame him, she had been well out of line with her temper.
The redhead settled on the weapons specialist's shoulder before he returned to talking to Ratchet. "Are you sure bout that Ratch?" Ironhide asked the medic.
"Yes, Bumblebee has picked up activity in the area. He doesn't know who yet but they are certainly moving." Ratchet answered. Victoria tilted her head slightly, it wasn't hard to guess what kind of activity he was talking about and if that was the case then it was only a matter of time.
"I need to know how to block her from the bond." the redhead interjected "If I don't then Stormflux will follow it right to our front door."
Ironhide looked over to her a moment but didn't say anything, she figured he must still be mad at her by that reaction, she would have to apologize to him after this chat was done, she had been in the wrong after all.
"You will need to learn how to access the bond first, but considering that you managed to learn how to use internal communications, you should be able to do it. With time of course." Ratchet stated.
"How many of 'em has Bumblebee picked up?" Ironhide inquired.
"Only three, so far, it is safe to assume one is Stormflux, the other two however, we have no way of knowing until they show themselves." the medic replied.
"Or if we find 'em first." the weapons specialist said.
"Now Ironhide, you know as well as I do that trying to hunt them down without knowing exactly where they are never ends well." Ratchet reminded him, this getting a huff from the black mech.
"It's better then sittin' round and waitin' for 'em to come knockin'." came Ironhide's retort, the redhead on his shoulder sighed, shaking her head a bit.
"If I can jus' block 'er from the bond before she can pinpoint the base it'll give us more time, if she ain't already figured out the location. Then again, knowing my damned luck. . ." Victoria began before she heard the first thunder crash from the storm that had been moving in, she tensed when she heard it, clinging onto Ironhide's shoulder with a death grip. "Fuckin' thunder. . ." she said under her breath.
"It will take time Victoria, but I'll offer any help I can. Since you have no experience with bonds it will be more difficult." Ratchet said.
"Time we might not have." Victoria responded before hearing the thunder again and hunching down a bit where she sat. She never had gotten over her fear of thunderstorms. After a moment Ironhide brought his hand up to where she was on his shoulder, placing his large fingers on her arm, she looked over to him before sighing, moving to place her hand on the horn like part on his head as she opened up a connection to the weapons specialist //"Sorry bout earlier, by the way."\\ she sent him.
//"It's alright, just don't make it a habit. I like fightin' but not like that"\\ Ironhide sent back.
//"Ya know I can't make any promises, but I'll try."\\ she responded.
//"That's all I'm askin'"\\ he sent before Ratchet pulled their attention once more.
"If that's the case, the we'll just have to be ready, Bumblebee is keeping an eye on the situation, he'll report any developments to Optimus." the medic said.
"Good, if they think they can catch us off guard then they got another thing commin'." Ironhide said as he moved to lift Victoria from his shoulder when another roll of thunder shook the walls, he brought her to his chest where she immediately clung as he held her there.
"I am inclined to agree." Ratchet said as he watched Ironhide and the currently scared redhead, the medic just shook his head "You have no problems when it comes to attacking a decepticon yet you become a quivering ball when you hear thunder. I give up trying to understand you Victoria." the medic stated.
"Shuddup, I jus' don't like thunderstorms." the redhead said as she held onto Ironhide's chest plates, she knew he was just giving her a hard time but it still didn't remove the fact she completely hated weather like this.
//"I'll try to help you understand how the bond works Vic, but I can only help so much."\\ Ironhide sent to her through the still open connection as she felt him run a finger down her back, a gesture that normally helped her calm down during storms.
//"Thanks babe, I jus' don't want to be the reason our home is found."\\ she responded.
//"You won't be, even if that decepticon does use the bond to find us, it ain't your fault, you didn't want to have a creation bond with that femme."\\ Ironhide sent back, Victoria just sighed as she closed her eyes.
//"I know, still hate it though."\\ she replied as another crash of thunder caused her to tighten her grip on Ironhide's chest, he simply held her there, this storm was only temporary after all and she was both glad and thankful he wasn't too upset with her to provide the comfort she wanted right now.
Would this storm ever end? Three hours and the lightning still kept lighting up the converted warehouse, the electricity had cut out and Victoria was wishing more than anything that the storm would pass. Ironhide had transformed into his topkick form some time ago, his holoform active and they had been sitting on the sofa, Victoria hated that the thunder scared her so but she was glad he was there for her. It truly was such an irrational fear, but was it really the thunder itself she feared or the memories that it brought to her mind?
She pulled closer to the holoform, her arms wrapped around him as she sat nearly on his lap, he had been holding her for at least a half hour now. She felt his hand slide down over her hair once more as she rested her head against his shoulder, burying her face in the crook of his neck to at least not see the flashes of lightning, though there was no way to block out the noise.
"You got to stop doin' this." She heard Ironhide say as he tightened his grip around her "I ain't bout to argue with a reason to hold you but you're a wreak when there's a storm."
Victoria couldn't help but give just a slight smile "I know, wish I could jus'. . ." she paused a moment, tensing slightly as another roll of thunder echoed throughout the room ". . .jus' get over it but it's not that easy." she finished.
"Why not?" Ironhide asked.
"I a'ready told ya, PTSD, the storms, they trigger it." she said as she seemed to be trying to get as close to his holoform as possible.
"There won't be any tornadoes here Vic, you ain't gotta worry bout that."
"I know that. But I can't help it, it's easier said than done."
Ironhide gave a sigh at that, moving his hand to rest at her back "Slaggin' human disorders." he muttered.
"Heh, tell me bout it, it's a pain in my ass." the redhead said before holding him tighter for a moment as thunder rolled once more.
Then, as luck and bad timing would have it, a communication to all the autobots came through from Bumblebee //"Guys we have a problem, I have Stormflux on my tail, there's one of them in the air too but not sure who, a little help would be nice!"\\
//"Transmit your location to us Bumblebee, Prowl, Sideswipe, Ironhide, meet up with him and provide backup. Bumblebee, is Sam with you?"\\ Optimus's voice came over the connection.
//"Yes, him and Mikaela, I'm trying to outrun the decepticons but Stormflux is fast."\\ Bumblebee responded.
//"She got speed boosters Bumblebee, be careful."\\ Ironhide warned //"We're on our way."\\
Victoria looked right to Ironhide as she heard the message "I'll get my cannon." she said before moving to rush towards the smaller weapons locker, pulling it open and reaching for the launcher styled photon pulse cannon and her smaller side arms as she saw Ironhide's holoform deactivate. Ironhide had transformed to open the warehouse door as she followed him out into the rain, the downpour was torrential right now, wind howling through the nearby trees, Victoria once more mentally cursed the bad timing as Ironhide folded into his alternative mode once more and opened the driver door. Victoria got in, more or less jumping when lightning lit up the now night time sky.
She saw Prowl, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker ready to go as well, she would have figured Sunstreaker would go with his twin, him and Sideswipe had been inseparable since he arrived, where Sideswipe went, he went much like how where Ironhide went, Victoria did also. Ironhide joined the group and they began towards where Bumblebee's current location was, the rain pounding down on Ironhide's windshield as every time lightning lit up the sky Victoria tensed. Perhaps going towards a battle when she kept jumping at every lightning strike or sound of thunder wasn't the best of ideas but she was not going to stay behind while Ironhide was fighting.
It wasn't long until they met up with Bumblebee, the yellow autobot was fleeing full speed from the blue femme that pursued him. Prowl, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker transformed while moving, Sideswipe's blades came out instantly, Sunstreaker's doing the same right after as they lunged at the ground based decepticon, she transformed right before they collided with her and jumped back, barely avoiding two blades.
Prowl soon had a decepticon to deal with himself as Skywarp swooped down from above, the tactical officer ducked as he raised his weapon to be ready to deal with the attacker. Ironhide came to a stop as Bumblebee skidded to a halt besides him. Victoria didn't need to be told to get out and give Ironhide space, she knew the routine by now and exited his cab, moving back as the weapons specialist transformed into his true form, his cannons coming online instantly as Bumblebee transformed next to him, Sam and Mikaela ran to join the redhead where she stood.
"Vic, stay with 'em, we'll deal with the decepticons." Ironhide told Victoria as he and Bumblebee moved to help Prowl fight off Skywarp.
"If your aft so much as gets knocked down I'm opening fire, jus' so ya know!" Victoria called to Ironhide before turning to Sam and Mikaela as she adjusted the cannon that was slung over her shoulder "Jus' stay behind me and be ready to run." she told them as she pulled the cannon down onto her shoulder so she could be ready to fire at a moments notice if needed.
"What do you think they're after this time?" Mikaela asked.
"Yea, they have to be after something, right?" Sam also inquired.
"Well 'ell if I know, ya guess is good as mine. Revenge maybe?" Victoria said as she watched the battle taking place, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker made a damned good pair in battle, then again she supposed that shouldn't be surprising even if Stormflux was faster then they were, together they were holding their own against the femme pretty well despite her speed boosters and larger size. Prowl, Bumblebee and Ironhide were doing rather well against Skywarp as well, even though all of them were slipping due to the wet ground, the rain beating down on them mercilessly, lightning lit up the darkened sky once more, the redhead actually flinched as the thunder was heard, she was very thankful that she was keeping her finger off the trigger right now, she would be very prone to a misfire if she hadn't.
"Stormflux say anything before chasing y'all or what?" Victoria asked, her voice was shaky right now as she tried to keep herself calm considering the weather conditions.
"No, we were heading home and she just started chasing us." Mikaela answered.
"We have got to. . ." Victoria began before she saw a missile coming towards them from the side, she spun around and aimed her cannon at the incoming projectile, opening fire and hitting her mark, the explosive detonating before it got too close. Through the sheets of rain she could barely see the outline of a black decepticon against the night landscape, lightning flashed once more, causing Victoria to tense again, her hands shaking just slightly but it gave her a chance to see the black femme who had her weapon aimed at them, she stood only about 9 feet tall. "Sam, Mikaela, find cover!" she shouted back to the two behind her.
"What about you?" Sam asked.
"Don't worry bout me, jus' go damnit!" she shouted back, not once did she take her eyes off of the new opponent, it wasn't too big so, if she played her cards right, she might be able to at least hold the new femme off. Victoria barely heard the footsteps as Sam and Mikaela ran for the only thing that even resembled cover right now, the redhead watched the new femme for a moment and for just that moment it simply stood there, looking right back at her.
The sounds of the nearby battles nearly blended in with the next crash of thunder, Victoria tensed once more, her aim compromised for just a moment, and it was that moment the new enemy made it's move. The dark decepticon rushed forward, firing another missile towards Victoria, the redhead leapt to the side, rolling across the muddy ground before landing on one knee, she aimed at the small femme and opened fire, the blasts from the photon cannon lighting the ground beneath them as they sailed through the air, the femme dodged two of the blasts, the third catching the missile launcher and ripping it from the decepticon's hand but this served to be no deterrent.
The femme rushed right at Victoria, the redhead barely had time to get to her feet, leaping back to avoid a strike as she took quick aim and fired her photon cannon at the femme, it only hit the attacker's shoulder but it was enough to at least push the decepticon back. Victoria pushed her cannon into it's slung position as she went for the energon sword at her hip "Ya wanna go melee? I can do that!" she said as she slashed at the decepticon's incoming hand, the blade cutting into the enemy's palm before Vic ducked a second attempted swipe, she jumped forward, bringing the energon blade over her head with both hands before sending it down towards the decepticon's abdominal region, the black femme jumped back to avoid the blade, the tip catching the hip joint of the black decepticon in the process.
The dark femme gave a hiss at the injury as Victoria lunged forward once more, aiming a horizontal slash at the nine foot tall decepticon's legs, the femme took a quick step back before bringing a leg around for a kick, Victoria lowered her stance quickly to duck the blow before she charged at the leg the femme had all her weight on, bringing the blade to bare as she swung for the limb. The femme growled as the sword bit into metal, causing a decent sized gash to form, sparks from the contact flying only to meet the heavy rain and be extinguished.
Lightning lit up the sky once more, Victoria jumping from the flash, a reflex for her which soon proved to be a grand mistake as the femme make another strike towards the redhead, Victoria tried to dodge by leaping to the side but she wasn't fast enough, her moment of reacting to the lightning had proven a larger issue than one would think. The redhead barely had time to bring her left arm up to take the brunt of the strike as the metal of the femme's forearm made contact, sending the much lighter human flying back.
She landed on the ground heavily, the breath being knocked out of her as the energon blade fell from her hand, sliding a few feet away from her. Mud covered her clothes, face, hair, you name it but right now getting dirty was the least of her worries. "OK, that hurt." she said as she moved to try and sit up, she was certainly going to feel that in the morning. The femme had wasted no time, she was upon the redhead before Victoria knew it, the redhead tried to grab for her energon blade, reaching for where it had landed, she had just barely gotten her hand on it's hilt when the femme's foot came down on her left arm, at this moment Victoria was rather glad the metal covered arm had no feeling because if it did, that would have just hurt like hell.
"Not so fast little one." the decepticon said as Victoria tried to pull her arm free.
"Get the fuck offa me glitch!" Victoria shouted before rolling over the best she could with her arm pinned as it was and reaching for the sensor disruptor with her free hand, she moved to aim it at the femme before the decepticon simply knocked the weapon from her hand, Victoria gave a growl in a mixture and pain and anger as the force behind the hit to her arm bruised the tissue. The femme began to reach down, her foot still trapping the redhead's left arm and keeping her from using her blade.
"I'm not done with you yet human." the decepticon said.
"Oh yes you are!" came Sunstreaker's voice from the side, the decepticon looked up just as the yellow mech swung one of his arm mounted swords at her, the femme jumped back to avoid the attack, Sunstreaker's blade cutting into her shoulder as the other autobots made their way towards them. Victoria grabbed her sword now that her arm had been freed and hurried to her feet, sheathing the sword and pulling her cannon down onto her shoulder as Sideswipe, Prowl and Ironhide came to stand behind where she and Sideswipe were. A look of realization came across the decepticon's face for just a moment before she began to run, dodging weapons fire from Ironhide, Prowl and Victoria before she transformed into her vehicle form, a black sports bike, and took off. Victoria kept firing for a bit before finally ceasing fire and switching off her weapon, pushing it back into it's slung position and moving to pick up her sensor disruptor from where it fell, holstering it.
"Welp, we know who the other two were now, well, who one of 'em is least, I ain't got a clue who that bitch was." Victoria said before looking at her left arm, the skin was a good bit torn up and the metal infused with her flesh showed a few deeper scratches but the damage could have been a lot worse, the moist and thus softer ground had saved the limb from major damage.
"I know who she is, her name is Flamewar, she is small but do not underestimate her ability." Prowl said.
"Well, maybe you can fill us in once we. . ." Victoria jumped once more as another bolt of lightning cut through the sky ". . .Once we get the fuck outta this damned storm." she finished her statement as Bumblebee joined them with Sam and Mikaela in his hands.
"Are you two alright?" Sideswipe asked Bumblebee's charge.
"We're good, we weren't fighting." Sam said before he looked towards Victoria "Are you OK Vic? I saw you get thrown."
"I'll heal, jus' a few more scars for the collection, not like they'll be noticeable." The redhead said before she looked to Ironhide "Hate to say it, but ya seats are going to get a bit muddy on the way home." Vic said as she flung a bit of mud off her arm, she was filthy right now, her hair was plastered to her face from the rain and the mud that was clung to it, her clothes were soaked with the stuff, she looked like she just crawled out of a mud pit.
"Long as you help clean it, you're a mess." Ironhide said.
"Geeze, thanks, love ya too babe." she said, Ironhide gave a small chuckle as he transformed into his topkick form, opening his door for her "Come on, lets get you out this weather." he said, Victoria gave a small nod, moving to get in as the others also transformed, Bumblebee setting down Sam and Mikaela before making the change for them to get in. Victoria tried not to get mud all over inside Ironhide's cab but that was proving difficult, she was covered in the stuff right now. She began to inspect the damage to her arm a bit more closely as they began on their way home, Bumblebee following them with Sam and Mikaela, it was likely better that they stayed at the base tonight, at least there would be no shortage of backup there though Victoria couldn't help but wonder just why the decepticons attacked them tonight, she figured it was simply for revenge, but why wait so long?
Author's note:
OK, so this update took me a bit longer than I planned, sorry bout that, but hey, least it was still near the week mark eh?
Yea, Vic's in a bit of a messed up situation here, dude, I do not envy her at all, having that kind of link to a decepticon, man that sucks! Also the newly brought in character, Flamewar, she's not a highly known character, she is a canon however (From the Transformers: Timelines comic) so just thought I'd let ya'll know she's not an OC, she's just not too well know.
Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter and til next time ya'll!
