Fandom: Transformers Bayverse/SWAT Kats
Author: Gatekat and Karl Wolfemann
Pairing: Jake Clawson/Chance Furlong
Rating: PG-13
Codes: Crossover, Furry, Slash
Summary: Hard Drive thinks he's scored in stealing the Enforcer's newest tank. He has no idea he's about to tick off someone older than his species.
Notes: klik = 1 minute, breem = 8.3 minutes; joor = 1.2 hours; orn = day/32 joor; metacycle = 6 (5.9285) years; vorn = 83 years/14 metacycle
"text" translated Cybertronian.
'text' thought
"text" organic languages
~text~ bond/hardline talk
::text:: comm/radio chatter
Allsparked Aristal 7: To the Rescue
Chance was changing Wheeljack's oil when he heard the klaxon go off.
"Damn - gonna have to wait, buddy, duty calls."
"I understand, Chance, go," Wheeljack told him. "Reports say that Hard Drive has stolen the Enforcer's new prototype tank," he added after a moment to check the airwaves.
"So what else is new?" Chance muttered, running off to get changed into his flightsuit.
"New day, new variant, same old story," Jake chuckled as he suited up and both kats bolted for their jet. "Ready to fly, Stormshock?" he purred in excitement.
"Ready as always," she purred right back, her engines flaring to life as they were lifted into the tunnel.
"So, Razor, what do we know about the Commander's new toy?" T-Bone asked as he throttled up for takeoff.
"It's not the Commander's anymore," he replied cheekily before turning serious. "Relatively light armor, two missile batteries, main energy cannon, six machine guns, and it's fast. Anti-grav drive lets it hover about four feet off the ground and move like nobody's business."
"Psh - if tanks were meant to fly, they'd have been built with wings," Stormshock snorted.
"You're just jealous that the Enforcers finally have something that flies straight," T-Bone smirked. "C'mon, let's prove we're still the hottest thing in the air."
"As if that is going to be hard," she growled, excitement and anticipation clear in her voice as the engines got a little more power, hurtling them towards the sector of town where the tank was located according to the Enforcer radio traffic.
"Let me know when we're in the thing's range, Razor," T-Bone grinned himself, settling in for the flight, anticipation of the fight to come almost as intoxicating as the trip there. There was never enough flight time as far as he was concerned. It was probably what he agreed with most with the jet. He still wasn't happy that she was now changing her name at will, but he had to admit she had pretty good taste in them. Stormshock was a good name, he had to admit it.
"Target acquired," Stormshock cheered gleefully all too soon.
"So, want to give him a chance to surrender, or see if we can just short that sucker out before he does any more harm?" T-Bone asked Razor with a grin as the Enforcers came into view, trying to keep Hard Drive from making his way out of Pumadyne's testing facilities while also avoiding being blown out of the sky.
"Fry it," Stormshock voted gleefully, angling in for the attack.
"You heard the lady," Razor chuckled, pulling up a scrambler missile. As the missile slid into the rack, the tank noticed them, bringing its main cannon to bear on the black and red jet. A massive energy blast belched forth, but T-Bone managed to dodge out of the way at the last second.
"Take him down fast, Razor. His aim's almost as fast as yours," the tabby observed.
"Happens with a direct neural link," Razor quipped, the sudden movement not throwing his targeting in the least before he fired.
"Which means Hard Drive should be getting a bad cast of electroshock therapy right about now," T-Bone grinned as the missile impacted the jet's force field. It discharged its electrical payload into it - and then fell harmlessly to the ground, not having done any apparent damage. "Crud!"
"The Enforcers are finally learning their lessons, SWAT Kats!" Hard Drive called out over the comm. "They've improved the insulation! And built in a couple other new toys too..."
Stormshock suddenly jerked in the air, her vocal unit producing a horrid shriek as she began to fall, her engines flaming out.
"Blackie?" Razor whispered, his tone a mixture of horror and terror that had nothing to do with his own predicament. He worked frantically to block the outside controller trying to take out the jet.
"Jake, drop the firewalls," Wheeljack said, an edge of panic to his voice as T-Bone hauled back on the stick to try keeping them in the air a bit longer.
"If we don't do something, we'll be a smear in no time!" T-Bone told him, trying to get the engines back online with sputtering results.
"But..." Razor began to object, only to be overridden when Stormshock gave Wheeljack full access.
::Fix,:: she whined at him, desperate, afraid, in pain and so trusting.
'Still such a sparkling,' the mech thought painfully at the reaction of the sparked soldier. She'd had no choice in her function, perhaps even less than his own kind did as pre-programmed mechs.
Her 'mental landscape' had a bare minimum amount of form; just enough for him to recognize the parts of her system that were for the most critical systems. Given what he knew about what was happening, he headed for her engine control systems first, quickly satisfied that he was going the right way when he heard Hard Drive cackling. That was when Hard Drive noticed him.
::What's this?:: Hard Drive laughed. ::Another little SWAT Pet for me to play with?::
'If you can get into my systems, you deserve whatever you can get!' Wheeljack thought to himself.
::Why don't you come and find out?:: Wheeljack demanded, full of bravado and feigned youth, careful to keep his digital avatar matching what Hard Drive would expect - an advanced vehicle. ::Leave her alone, and come get me!::
::I think I've played with her enough,:: Hard Drive chuckled, appearing in front of Wheeljack in a flash of lightning. Wheeljack gunned his 'engine' and charged at him, his defenses down, the move completely amateur. Hard Drive returned to the surge of electrical impulses that actually made up his body, and arced into Wheeljack's digital body.
Exactly what the mech had been counting on him doing.
::Get your engines going, I'll fix what I can,:: he promised Stormshock, transforming into his mechanical form with Hard Drive safely locked away between two layers of firewalls, left to 'play' with ages-old defenses honed against the likes of Soundwave and other Decepticon crackers. As Wheeljack got to work on the repairs, he tuned out the mental screaming echoing along his code; Hard Drive wouldn't be a problem for anybody for a long time, he was sure.
He felt Stormshock send a wordless impulse that came across as something between 'thanks' and affection, and her focus turned to getting her engines to fire.
Wheeljack knew when she did, the relief that flooded every particle of her processor-scape. Like a typical newly sparked warrior, her attention and mood shifted almost immediately back to excitement and eagerness to get back in the fight.
::If you're okay, I'll get out,:: he offered, starting to pull out of her processors, almost sorry for how little fight would actually be left without Hard Drive actually in the tank to operate it right now.
"Razor, we've got engines back online, how's fire control?" T-Bone asked as he pulled out of the near-crash. "You all right, Blackie?"
"Yes, I'm good," she replied, her voice steady and eager as ever. "Jackie helped kick him out."
"Jackie, huh?" T-Bone raised an eyebrow. "Well, glad you're okay. What's going on out there?" He asked, bringing the jet around for another pass.
"Tank's still but powered, Hard Drive is ... not there. Not in me either. Not sure what Jackie did, but Hard Drive is gone." Stormshock reported.
"That sums it up, buddy," Razor added from the back seat. "Don't know where he went, but he's not in the tank."
"Let's let the Enforcers take care of it then; I want to get Blackie back under cover and checked out to make sure there's no damage," T-Bone said, turning to head back for the Yard.
Wheeljack transformed as he arrived at the excavation site in the badlands where they were building 'Dr. Greenbox's' secret laboratory. It was making good progress; well engineered, well equipped... everything to make Perceptor's arrival seem believable.
That gave him a little time to sort out the other new wrinkles that were developing. He set up a secure comm frequency, then pinged Jazz in Sayden Bay.
::Wheeljack to Jazz. We have a potential complication over here on the sparkling front.::
::I'm here, what's up?:: Jazz responded immediately.
::Two things. First, I had to go into her processors to clear out a hacker. I've got him in cold storage at the moment, going to give him the usual choice between working with me or getting to run the gauntlet in a little bit. She wasn't hurt, but she saw that I can do multiple forms inside her head, and that I can handle hackers in ways she hasn't thought of yet. Since I'm supposed to be younger than her, she might start asking questions. Second, I think she's starting to get a crush on me. Probably just that I'm the only other spark she knows.::
::Then do your best to build a rapport with her, court her, do whatever you need to so she's loyal enough to you to not blab to her creators,:: Jazz replied quickly. ::A crush can be very useful. She'll be less vulnerable to Seeker attention if she already has a lover.::
::I'll have to be careful about it, but I don't think we'll ever get her to the point where she won't tell them if she finds out I'm an alien,:: Wheeljack warned him. ::She's very loyal, it's one of her greatest strengths and probably why she is sparked. I'll see what I can do though. It's a little awkward, courting somebody that young. I assume I've got clearance to do anything Prime won't have me slagged over with our hacker friend? He could prove a handy distraction against the 'Cons.::
::You've got my clearance to do anything to the hacker, or Stormshock, that you can make a cover Prime won't slag you over,:: Jazz said firmly. ::I'll back you, but you know the report has to fly when the big guy reads it.::
::I know, Jazz,:: Wheeljack reassured him. ::This isn't my first time handling this sort of thing either. Besides, we'll be ready to get Perceptor brought in pretty soon, that might actually help to take care of Stormshock without either of us having to blow our covers. I'll keep us out of trouble; this guy's good enough that I can always self-defend him until he's not a problem anymore.::
::Good,:: Jazz's tone relaxed. ::I know ya can do your job, Jack. Prime's just been on my aft lately over how different my SOP are from his. I can't protect us from as much as I could a few vorns ago.::
::Remember who you're talking to, Jazz. You know I don't like going that much farther than Prime does, that's why I went into tech. Unless Hard Drive's a lot more hard-core than his profile suggests, he'll play along. No worries then.::
A low, rueful chuckle echoed over the comm. ::I'm just glad I can still pull you for missions. Have fun with HD, and with your sparkling,:: he teased playfully. ::Time for my daily wash and wax,:: he purred in anticipation.
::Have fun taking it easy,:: Wheeljack teased, sending a closing ping before he carefully opened up one of the firewalls that was keeping Hard Drive locked inside his processors.
::Having fun in there?:: He broadcast, not manifesting himself just yet. He wanted to make sure that Hard Drive was paying attention before he did anything too showy.
::Where the hell is this? What are you?:: the enraged, frustrated kat snarled back.
::Where it is, is inside cyberspace. You recognize it, don't you? Or maybe you're just not used to cyberspace being able to fight back? Doesn't feel very nice, does it?:: Wheeljack asked, sending a weak EM pulse through that he knew wouldn't be that harmful to the collection of electrons that was Hard Drive, but that would certainly make his point.
The kat shrieked in outrage and pain and tried to follow the path the attack came from to its source.
::You're in over your head, Hard Drive,:: Wheeljack taunted him. ::I could keep you here until you lost your charge. Or shuffle you off to a spare RAM processor and wipe it clean. Or take off the firewalls that are keeping you alive, if I really wanted to. Or, you could try being useful to me.::
::What?:: That kat screeched, comprehension sinking in, but only just. The list of options was enough to make a part of him pause, simply for the fact that this creation knew to list them. ::What are you?::
::I'm what you would call a digital sentience, only I'm several times older than your species, and I've been playing your game since shortly after I was sparked. The short of it is that I know all your tricks, and figured out why they don't work before the first kat-ancestors crawled out of a tidepool. Now, do you want to find out what that means I can do when I get creative? Or would you like to hear my offer?::
The energy ball that was a kat stilled as much as energy was able, thinking about what was said and what he'd seen. ::Why haven't you killed all the SWAT Kat's enemies yet, if you're so advanced?::
It was question and challenge all in one.
::Because I have rules. Just like you do. Why don't you take control of one of Dark Kat's dreadnoughts and take over the world? Because you don't want to piss off somebody like Dark Kat. I don't rig his showers to spray molecular acid because I don't want to piss off my own bosses. On the other hand, you and I have different rules. There are others like me, who will be coming eventually. Ones we're fighting, who'd turn this world into a smoking cinder in space without a qualm. I want you to help fight them, with the appropriate training and equipment so that you actually stand a chance against them. There will be benefits, of course. Among them, not ending up in my security grid.:: He gave Hard Drive a glimpse of what that meant, in terms the kat could understand.
Infiltrating Dark Kat's lair blindfolded and naked would be more enjoyable.
::What benefits?:: Hard Drive asked quietly, even though he'd already decided he'd go along with what this DS wanted, at least until he escaped its grasp.
::Access to technology literally unlike anything you've seen before. A certain amount of money, you might consider it a retainer fee. However, you would have to refrain from criminal activities. Of course, once you have access to our computer tech, there wouldn't be any challenge left in it for you. In the jobs I have for you though... well, you'll have all the adrenaline you want from that.::
Wheeljack could feel the kat process that, easily read the chaotic thinking process as the kat worked through his options, or lack of them. Benefits and risks. Dealt with the reflexive rebellion at being tied down by a contract. The odds of getting out of the contract alive once he was free.
And came back to the one thing he couldn't calculate himself.
::What kind of jobs will you have for me?::
::System infiltration, data retrieval, the occasional cracking or viral insertion... very much what you're doing now, only against a much more skilled set of opponents. On rare occasion, you may be asked to handle system interference in an emergency... much like what you tried to do with the Turbokat, to interfere in a combat situation. But that will be a 'dire emergency' sort of situation, not something that's asked of you often.::
::All right. You have a deal. What do I call you?::
::Wheeljack. And I will expect you to accept the fact that there will be monitoring software making sure you do refrain from illegal activities while you're on the payroll. If they're authorized, it's one thing, but we don't want to see our toys put to extracurricular use in clearing the charitable funds for the Saydan Bay Orphans Fund out of Pumadyne mid-transfer,:: he said pointedly.
::Right, no jobs you don't sign off on,:: Hard Drive squirmed slightly at the reminder of a lucrative heist, but one he wasn't at all proud of. ::How do I contact you?::
::When you log in next, you'll receive an address. I'll change it periodically, but let you know when I do. You can contact me through that. If you ever receive a message from me that doesn't include this designation,:: he transmitted his name in Cybertronian, knowing it would translate into code in a way that would be almost impossible to generate randomly, ::you should contact me immediately, and then log off until you've been contacted in the real world. It means that one of our enemies has discovered you, and is trying to get through.::
Hard Drive took a moment to absorb all that. ::What do you look like in the real world?::
Wheeljack took the chance to manifest himself - making sure that he had a reasonable representation of the actual scale between the two of them.
::This is one of my forms. My other options are assorted vehicles, but I don't think you want to take the time to see them all before I let you back into the real world.::
::As long as this is the one I'll see if you're going to come collect me in person,:: the kat said dryly. ::What about your boss?::
::If I have to come collect you in person, I'll be letting you know by broadcast,:: Wheeljack told him. ::And if you meet either of my bosses, it'll be with me there to introduce you. And some time off. I'm going to run a scan, to see how intact you'll be when I let you go,:: he warned him, before running the low-level scan that he was sure Hard Drive could feel passing through his electronic form.
The kat shuddered, cowed as he had been for a while, but putting on a brave face that Wheeljack saw through too easily.
The mech was less than pleased with his findings. Despite keeping things tame, Hard Drive had damaged himself quite noticeably. Not life threatening, thankfully, but he would definitely need medical attention to recover quickly.
::I can repair the worst of it, but I would recommend a stay in a hospital. A likely scenario would be being lost out here, and suffering from exposure; you've been missing long enough that it would answer any questions that people in your regular life would have as well. If you're willing to wait while help arrives, I can arrange for it. They won't realize that they should put you in prison.::
The kat jerked in surprise as it hit that Wheeljack knew about him without his serge suit, knew about his real life, his real name, his mate, his girlfriend ... everything.
::All right,:: Hard Drive whispered miserably.
::Don't worry. I've done this type of repair more often than you might imagine,:: Wheeljack reassured him, trying to get into his field-medic mindset again as he set to work fixing the damage he'd done.
