Title: What Goes Well Ends Well ...Right?

Challenge Set: 1

Challenge: loyalty

Rating: G

Word Count: 2691

Pairings: none

time frame: canon to an in-progress ficseries, mid-ficseries, actually. canon G1, before the Kintari (Jade's group) join the Autobots. Takes place right before "Plan B: Catchpoint"

summary: The group tries to raid a Gasoline Shipping and storage plant for energon cubes. Unfortunately, the Autobots always arrive just in the nick of time.

Characters

Windstriker (purple and tan A-10 thunderbolt. Alt mode the same type of plane as Powerglide)

Needle (Black, Blue and Green Ford F-150 pickup truck. Not sure what order those colors go in. I think it's black front, blue midsection, green back end. Or is it green midsection, blue back end? meh. anyway.)

Mic (white and grey Camaro Z-28)

Dusk (pink ,red, and blue Cybertronian (old style, jetlike) flier)

Syus (green iridescent American dragon (metallic with blue and yellow hues and black wings)

Jade (F-15E Eagle, muave (rose) and blue in color)

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It was about 5:30 Pm., when the white camaro Z-28 roared down I-75 southbound, weaving and bobbing between cars, their honking echoing after him. A green, blue and black Ford F150 roared after him, trying desperately to miss the cars and other vehicles in his path, but still somehow keeping up with the camaro.

"Okay guys, you know what you have to do. Windy and I'll be up here." a female voice said across the stereo.

The two reduced their speed slightly and switched lanes. A red toyota honked as the white camaro cut him off, with the F150 behind him. "Come on slowpoke." Mic (the camaro) jibed. "Even that Toyota's faster than you." he let out a half-chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah." the F150 replied, sounding not-so-thrilled. "I'm behind you."

The two paused at the offramp light, then started to turn left onto Needmore road. Needle, the pickup truck, waited for his moment, starting to turn normally, then swerved past the Toyota and zoomed past Mic and through the next stoplight as it turned turned yellow.

"Hey!"

"See ya! who's the slowpoke now?" Needle cackled as he flew down the road. Mic agitatedly revved his engine. The light turned green, and the white Camaro did a peelout and shot down the road. He got to the green light at the next road, but there was no sign of the pickup truck transformer anywhere.

"Where'd he go?" Mic wondered aloud. Then he checked his rearview. The truck had been waiting for him at the entrance to the gas station on the corner. The big pickup roared up behind the camaro and came about 2 inches from his back bumper and beeped.

"mroop, mroop!"

"ha ha." Mic deadpanned, and tapped his brakes.

"SkRRRRT!"

The comlink came on. "Quit playing around you two!" the agitated voice came across.

"You're gonna get the cops on your tails!"

"aww, you're no fun Jade." Needle teased.

He recieved a razzberry across the comm, and it clicked of with a snicker.

The two came to the corner of Needmore and Brandt and waited patiently to turn the corner. Well, patient if you count Mic was revving his engine again. Bullet revved his back and crept up on the camaro's back bumper.

"rrRRMMmm..." "rrRRRRrmmmmRRRrmmmm."

"Brum-brum-brum-brum-grRRRrrr."

the light turned green and Mic did a peelout. Needle accelerated, waiting until they were almost to where the two lanes merged into one. The pickup truck swerved around Mic at the last second, honked once, and roared down the road...

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The two slowed to a measurable pace by the time they had reached the apartments across from the BP plant, and turned nonchalantly onto the road running beside it. They pulled up on the next street over, and parked. Jade cruised down, shutting of her engines so as not to be too loud, and glided to the ground. "Windy, stay in the air for now, and keep a lookout for Autobots." Jade radioed.

"Gotchya." came the reply. The purple A-10 thunderbolt glided higher in the air, and circled around.

The trio crept out into the field beside the gasoline storage/shipping plant, ignoring the suprised cry of the humans in the nearby houses. "They won't be able to call the Autobots in time." Jade smirked.

"No, but Wright Patterson Airforce base is, like, ten miles away." Mic hurriedly fetched the fuel siphoning equipment and opened the square metal plate that led to the underground fuel tanks. Jade silently eeped, and brought out the cube-making machine. Everything was hooked up and started to create small, glowing yellowish energon cubes.

"Windy, how's it look?" she radioed

"Just fine, from up here."

"Well, keep an eye out for jets. There's an Airforce base nearby here." Mic added.

Windstriker circled again, spotting a group of cars racing down the road running paralell to Brandt Pike.

"Jade, there's a bunch of cars and a semi coming down Old Troy Pike." she radioed.

"Just a few more, and we'll be outta here." Jade glanced at her coworkers, and started loading the cubes into Needle's truck bed.

The red and blue semi turned and roared down Stanley avenue, his friends right behind him.

"They're here." Windstriker radioed, noticing the man at the security gaurd's station by the front gate watching the trio.

"Let's go, come on, move!" Mic started pulling up the fuel siphon tubes from the underground gas tanks.

Ironhide, Prime, and Brawn pulled into the front of the shipping plant. Needle looked up as Windstriker swooped down, hovering over the gaurd's building. The security gaurd yelled something, and pointed at the trio, then fled across the street, dissapearing in-between the apartment buildings.

"How many cubes?" Jade started shoving as many as possible in Mic's trunk, shutting the glass hatch-trunk lid.

"We'll count them later." Mic started his engine and revved it slightly, anxious to leave. Jade shoved a couple cubes in her storage compartments, and put the rest in Needle's truck bed, making sure they were secure.

"Go!" she said, and took off to help Windstriker distract the Autobots. The muave and blue jet swooped down towards where the purple A-10 was leaning casually against the gaurd building, and the Autobots walked up.

"Where are the others?" Prime asked. "

What othes?" Windstriker replied innocently, optics flitting over the tall, masculine build of the Autobot leader. She realised she was staring about the same time Jade did.

"Windy!" Jade snapped. "Get your head out of the clouds!"

The F-15 fired off a row of shots at the autobots. Brawn and Ironhide fired back, but missed. the purple femmeseeker did a barrel roll, and circled again, landing atop one of the huge cylindrical above-ground fuel tanks.

"Neener neener neener!" she called.

Brawn raised his gun to fire, but Prime stopped him. "No." he signaled for them to hold their fire, and glanced back at Windstriker. the purple and tan plane smiled, and took off, flying up to perch beside Jade atop the fuel tank.

"That's what they want us to do. Those tanks are filled with fuel. The explosion would destroy everything in the area." Prime explained.

Meanwhile, the black, green, and blue pickup truck and white Camaro Z-28 had reached the offramp, and sped down the highway headed north. the two radioed the pair of perching femmes.

"We're on the road." Needle reported.

The two excellerated from 80 to 90 miles per hour, weaving and bobbing around traffic.

Windstriker took off, and Jade hovered a few meters over the storage tank.

"How about a little something to keep our auto-friends busy?" the jet aimed an armcannon at the fuel tank below her.

"Jade, don't!" windstriker glanced at the Autobot leader again, and a smile flickered across her lip components. She turned back to Jade with a scowl. "There's humans nearby. The explosion would injure, if not kill who-knows how many." she stated.

Jade glanced at her with a shocked look. "I wasn't... I mean... " she glanced at the Autobots.

"Fine."

She fired a parting shot at the trio of autobots before flying away.

Meanwhile, Mic and Needle swerved in-between the cars, trucks, and sometimes using the emergency lane to avoid the mid-evening traffic.They cleared the traffic and had some open road, so they swerved back and forth in a sort of highway hopscotch, first Mic in the lead, then Needle would accelerate and get in front of him.

They were so busy trying to cut each other off, they didn't notice the two low-slung sportscars as they came roaring up. The two Lamborginis, one red, one yellow, zoomed past and accelerated, kicking up a cloud of dust in Mic's headlights.

"Oh, they think they're so fast, huh?" Mic snorted, gunning his engine, and accelerating to catch up.

"C'mon, Sunny, let's show these jokers what we can really do." the red Lamborgini said, acellerating just a little more, but not enought to lose their followers.

The white camaro sped up to 120 miles per hour. Needle sped up behind him slightly, but let him go. "This isn't going to end well." he muttered.

The black F-150 pickup accelerated to the edge of 100mph to catch up before something really bad happened.

The red and yellow sportscars zipped around a blue car, eliciting an angry honk.

"Humans." Sunstreaker muttered.

"They just don't kow how to drive, do they?" the yellow sportscar swerved around a minivan, his low-slung road-hugging design allowing him to maneuver more easily than the Camaro that was straining to catch up.

"Slow down bro. Or he's never gonna catch up." Sideswipe joked. Sunstreaker slowed slightly, and caught a glimpse of the white car in his rearview sensor. A few more cars, and the highway was open again.

"Thought you could lose me, huh? well here I am!" Mic gunned huis engine again, R.P.M.s screaming around his frame as he strained to catch up.

The Lamborginis sped up again, and zoomed down the highway, out of sight. Mic growled something and slowed to let Needle catch up. The two sped along at 80 miles per hour, Mic still fuming silently.

Jade and Windstriker appeared from over the trees to the left,

"Exit, now!" Jade snapped. Needle slammed on his brakes and swerved sharply right, wheels striking up gravel as he almost missed the onramp.

Mic kept going.

"Mic, those Lamborginis you're chasing are Autobots." Jade added, voice tense. The white Camaro slammed on his brakes.

Sure enough, a hundred meters away were the two Lamborginis, parked in the middle of the highway facing each other. the front end of the yellow one was slightly in front of the red one.

And they were backed by a firetruck-transformer, a Highway Patrol Car-former, a black jeeplike 'former, and a grey and white Autobot who looked almost like an identical twin of the highway patrol car-former.

Mic swore and swerved off the road, transforming as he went.

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Inferno, Trailbreaker, Prowl, and Bluestreak." Jade informed him as she and Windstriker landed beside him.

"You could have told me earlier, you know." Mic said, glancing at her nervously. Jade looked at windstriker, then back at Mic. "I think we can carry him, don't you? make for a quick getaway?" she said.

"What!? no, you'll drop me!" Mic protested.

"Cover fire." Windstriker pointed out.

"Drat." Jade replied.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had transformed and started towards them, guns drawn. "I'll give you coverfire, get out of here." Jade fired off a rapid string of shots at the opposition, and mic ran up the nearby exit, transforming and engine gunning before his wheels hit the pavement.

Trailbreaker activated his forcefield, blocking the weaponfire Jade fired at the group. Windstriker joined Jade, firing off row after row of shots...

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Syus turned around as the foursome entered the main cavern. Needle drove over to a corner and transformed, haphazardly dumping his load of cubes in a pile, and hurried back to help Jade and Mic, who were dragging a heavily-damaged Windstriker between them.

One wing dangled by a couple wires, and her chest and midsection armor was blackened and burned in places, and had a few holes blasted in it in places that were throwing sparks.

The purple Thunderbolt held one foot slightly off the floor, trying not to bump her damaged ankle. Her head was down, and the bearely-concious plane's optics flickered. She didn't look up, but it was obvious she was upset, and in pain.

the green winged dragon rushed over to hep the two lay the purple plane on the rock flooring. Windstriker whimpered softly, but didn't say anything.

"What. happenned." Syus demanded, voice full of cold fury. He glanced up, amber eyes flashing yellow angrily.

"the... Autobots." Windstriker managed. Needle ran out of the cavern to go fetch his tools. Dusk came over carrying a few tools to work on what she could while Needle was getting his. The pink and red flier knelt beside the plane.

"You see.. they don't care who you are. So long as you are their enemy, and trying to get energy from this planet, that is so full of it. They want it all for themselves, and the humans. If you are even trying to get energy to survive with, they think of you as their enemy." she said softly. She fetched a small scanner from her toolbox and started going over the worst of the damaged exometal.

"If you are their enemy, they would rather shoot you then ask questions and try to come to a peacefull resolution. They claim they are defenders of peace. This world has energy enough for all of us. Why should we have to ask their permission to have what we have to have for survival?" the jetlike flier shook her head. "That is like a human asking someone if they can breathe their air." She took out another tool, and started to mend the sparking wires.

"But..." Windstriker started, optics flickering again.

"Shhhh." Dusk soothed. "It'll be okay. you'll be fine with a few repairs." she added, sealing the worst set of sparking wires, and pulled out a small hypo. The green dragon, Syus, glanced at her. "It's just a painkiller. It willl take the edge off." the green mech nodded. There was a small hiss, and Windstriker relaxed slightly, her optics dimming as she went to sleep.

Syus stared off into space for a second, and his expression hardened. "I want to know what happened. Jade?" he turned his scrutinizing look on the seekerfemme.

Said jet glanced at Mic."The Autobots intercepted us on the highway. I don't know how they anticipated what route we were going to take, unless they had both the highways covered." she looked worried for a second. "They may be more organized than we thought they were." she looked at Syus, who nodded.

"Mic." he turned to the white Camaro next. Mic looked at Windstriker with an almost guilty expression.

"The Autobots cut us off. They barracaded the highway. Windstriker and Jade tried to give me coverfire so I could get away." he looked at the floorpanels.

"And where was Needle?" Syus asked. Jade interrupted. "They split up. So our cargo would make it back safely. We had every intention of getting back intact. We.. didn't know they had a forcefield shield device." she stated. she glanced at Mic, knowing she'd just lied for him. He had disobeyed her order to exit the highway, which was what had gotten them into the fight. Needle came running in, and knelt across from Dusk with his toolbox.

"So they started it?" Syus asked in a softer voive, glancing at where Dusk and needle were working dutifully to repair Windstriker."Uh, depends on what you mean." mic glanced away, suddenly finding the lines and shadows of the wall to his left quite interesting.

"On the highway." Syus clarified.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. they did."

Syus lifted an optic ridge in question. after a second, Mic noticed the expression on the green leader's face.

"They tried to run me off the road!" he added. "Didn't they?" he looked at Needle, who looked up and nodded. After a moment of studying the wall across from him, Mic finally said "This is war, Syus, it's not shoot at them a few times and run away. Unless we can find a way home..."

Syus cut him off, optics flaring dark yellow. "I know, John. Next time, we will have to move faster, be more accurate." the green dragon looked around at each of his warriors. His eyes fell on Windstriker, and his face darkened angrily. he looked up at his group.

"The Autobots will pay for what they have done. For nearly killing one of us for doing no more than trying to get energy to survive with." He turned back to the computer, catching the reflection in the screen.

"that, I make my oath." His optics flashed bright yellow, then dimmed back to their normal amber color.

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Just so you know, John is Mic. the group sometimes call one another by their other (human) names. Yeah, I know. I'll try to stop doin that. It usually only happens when one of them are really upset about something.

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And if there's a fanchar you want to see more of (or the other way around), please let me know.