Chapter 113 – A Little What!? Moment.

(MPOV)

::. You with me lassie?.:: Jetfire rumbled brightly.

::. Let's see how fast I can go!.:: I called back cheerfully.

::. Well then watch your engines and frame.:: he commanded before accelerating. I kept up with him easily, coasting along at Mach 3.

::. Blackbird, Archangel do you read me.:: Epps called over my radio.

::. Loud and clear Epps.:: I answered with a grin ::. What's up?.::

::. We've got radar blips sixty miles to your right, can you see what it is?.:: General Moreshower's voice asked in a patient tone.

::. On a schedule.:: Jetfire grumbled.

::. The rest of 'em aren't going to show up for another few hours, I'll catch you up Grandad.:: I said cheerfully, swinging west. ::. Hey, what do I look like on radar?.:: I asked curiously, scanning the air as I slowed.

::. A weird ass cross between an F-22, Jetfire, and an enormous drone, that is, whatever we can pick up.:: Epps laughed. ::. I'm out!.::

::. You're damn near invisible.:: Moreshower added wryly, taking over communications.

::. Yay, originality, alright, guide me, where am I blip-wise?.::

::. You're ten miles east of it, how high up are you?.::

::. I'm at thirty five thousand and climbing – ah hah! Found it! I mean, I have visual confirmation, it looks like some type of drone. Permission to scan it?.::

::. If you don't mind.:: Moreshower stated in a mild tone. I gave a low chuckle as I ghosted above the drone, scanning the bizarre looking thing curiously. The readings came as a complete shock.

::. What the fuck is this thing doing here!? Here, I'm sending you the schematics, please tell me this is not what I think it is.::

I compiled everything into a data packet and shot it directly to General Moreshower at the Pentagon. I ghosted above the drone for no more than five minutes. Waiting.

::. What the fuck is that thing doing in American airspace!?.:: Moreshower's voice bellowed suddenly. ::. Kae, does it have any insignias?.::

I frowned and took a dozen pictures, streaming them to the General as I lightly switched my positions around the drone.

::. Can you tell what it's carrying?.:: Chris asked me in a worried tone.

::. Um...:: I scanned it again with a frown and couldn't recognize the echos. I thought for a nanosecond and opened up the comm link to Ratchet. ::. Hey Ratch?.:: I called out curiously.

::. Are you alright Kae?.:: Ratchet's voice immediately answered.

::. I'm fine, but I don't have your databank, can you tell what this is?.:: I asked curiously, piping the data-stream to the medi-bot.

::. That's one pit of a cocktail, where'd you find that?.:: Ratchet asked with a frown.

::. What is it?.:: Moreshower asked sharply.

::. Concentrated liquid methamphetamine and a dozen extra compounds to make it particularly poisonous, I thought you were flying with Jetfire, Kae.::

::. Moreshower re-routed me to take a look at this thing, we're coming pretty friggen close to whope, now it's changing course, we're going north. What did you want me to do with this thing?.:: I asked in a mild tone.

::. Kill it!.:: a voice shouted.

::. Yeah, then what?.:: I asked patiently. ::. Did you want me to just hack this thing and bring it back so you can get a few more answers than 'that thing came here?'.::

::. That would be nice, yes.:: General Moreshower said in a weak tone.

::. Chris, you okay?.:: I asked in a sharp tone.

::. I'm fine Angel.:: Chris said in a quiet voice.

::. Okay then, well I'll hack this thing and bring it back then, did you want me to bring it to the pentagon there? I'm late for my date now, but this is a bit more important I'd think.::

::. You do that.:: another voice said in an icy tone.

::. Oh hey! Who's this?.:: I asked in a bright, cheerful tone.

::. That doesn't particularly matter. You have my drone, and if you don't do as I say your little General here dies.:: the man stated coldly.

I onlined a dozen processors and began hacking into a multitude of spots. I brought up my holoform in my cockpit and built a video feed, linking it into the screen the General was in front of and smiling.

"Well then, we have a problem, don't we?" I said in a cheerful voice, looking the man in the eye as he held a gun to the General's head.

"Not if you do as you're told little girl," the man leered at me.

"Oh yes, sir," I said in a sarcastic tone, onlining my holoform behind him. I snatched his gun and caught hold of his head, snapping and holding his neck firmly as he hit the ground on his knees.

Gun in hand I swung around to find any other armed personnel.

"Alright," I called out in a commanding tone, my voice echoing from both holoform and the speakers. "General Moreshower now has the upper hand, so if everyone loyal to him could please point out any of this man's co-conspirators it'd be appreciated. Oh, and I wouldn't struggle," I added patiently, looking at the man on the ground in front of me. "Your neck is broken, I'm holding it in place for the minute, but if you intend to leave here in anything other than a body bag, you're going to have to do as your told."

A coup quickly took over, five men were marched in front of us and pushed to their knees.

"How the hell did you get here so fast?" Chris finally asked in a shocked tone. The communications men and women were standing and smiling or had quickly returned to their computers.

"Sir! We've had a massive hack!" one shouted out.

"Yeah, that one was me," my holoform stated calmly, "I'm not going to virus you guys, I needed your cameras."

"You hacked the pentagon to gain access to the cameras?" Chris looked at me with a deep frown.

"I'm sorry General!" I said with a half glare, "I needed to see where my holoform needed to be! In fairness you do realize that I'm burning up a dozen processors to keep everything running on track? I'll accept the scolding, no worries, but let's get this guy in a neck brace, those guys in cuffs and this drone wrapped in a hazmat bag first. I want to offline this holo, two perspectives are fricken confusing!"

Chris snorted in amusement and waved his hand around.

"Those sound like some fairly decent orders, let's get to work people!" Chris barked.

"Can we cuff this guy?" a strong looking man asked calmly. I made my holoform nod.

"Carefully," I stated calmly as the man continued to quietly snarl. Paramedics rushed into the room. One immediately moved to Chris.

"Neckbrace on that guy," he ordered tersely. The medic nodded and looked at me.

"We're going to need a proper cage," I said calmly, "fracture of the C4, 5 and six if I did it properly." the medic nodded quickly and jogged back to the gurney. In moments we were working closely together, getting the man trussed up without moving his head. I carefully released him to guards and paramedics and stood, walking over to Chris.

"You good?" I asked calmly. Chris nodded and frowned at me. I looked at him with narrowed eyes for a second before standing straight. "General Moreshower I stand before yoouu... well... my holoform stands before you to freely admit that I hacked into your surveillance system. My only defence is that it was to protect good men and women. Oh. And that screen." I added quickly, pointing to the video feed.

"I didn't hear that," Chris stated urbanely, he looked at a grinning man. "Erickson, you were kind enough to open the video feed for us yes?"

"Absolutely sir," the man grinned, he turned to the computer and glanced up at me. "Grab your code?"

I grinned and piped it to his computer. He punched his hands in the air and looked back up at us. "And I'll be damned, the logs state that I did in fact bring up your video feed."

"Well would you look at that, I had to hack my own system for him to pull it off," the man sitting close by stated with a shit-eating grin, typing furiously.

"With all due respect, sir, I claim full responsibility for him hacking the system," the first stated firmly.

"No, I claim responsibility for the hack, or if you want we both can," the second snorted.

"Teamwork," the first grinned. They bumped fists and looked at General Moreshower with absolute innocence written on their faces.

"Above said actions were necessary in the line of duty, no reprimand will be necessary," Moreshwer stated urbanely. "So what are you still doing here?" Chris asked me curiously. I laughed and winked my holoform out.

"So everything's good over there now?" I demanded on the video feed, directing the drone to fly over the water beneath me.

"Yeah, we're alright," Chris stated in a calm voice, "little bit of a coup, if you could kindly land that drone on base here you still might be able to make your date."

I made my holoform grin and shut down a couple of processors as Chris cleared me for landing.

"Base this is Archangel," I called out calmly when they came in sight, "requesting permission to land the drone here and continue on."

"Archangel you are cleared to land on runway 3," a female voice called out calmly.

"Hazmat close by?" I asked curiously.

"Yes they are, Archangel," the female's voice replied with a smile.

"Excellent!" I grinned, coming in and directing the drone to land smoothly as I stalled mid-air.

"Archangel requesting you land as well, for a minute or so," the female's voice called out apologetically.

"Aw blast, I am gonna be so late," I replied, transforming mid air and landing lightly on my feet in the grass, well away from the hazmat team and firefighters.

"Don't even worry about it!" Lennox's voice called over my radio. "We've got the sit-rep Kae, you have a couple of hours still."

::. Just remember that you stand on my right Kae.:: Optimus added silently.

I smiled and looked around myself, there were a few men cautiously walking toward me. I knelt down slowly to bring my face to their level.

"We, um..." the man in front called up worriedly.

"Which one of the two of you are we bagging?" the man behind him called out curiously.

"The drone there," I replied patiently, pointing at it, "It's got a heavy payload of a liquid meth cocktail. I'm just landing for... I have no idea why."

"So the press can take a couple of pictures to feed the conspiracy freaks," Chris stated dryly over the radio.

"Oh very funny General," I stated dryly, rising carefully to my feet again. "Do you want me to pose for the camera phone now?" I re-set my wings somewhat, settling them restlessly along my back.

"Archangel you are cleared to take off in five minutes from runway seven before the media circus shows up," the female's voice called out with a small smile.

"Excellent!" I called out, walking across the grass toward the runway. I touched the pavement and transformed, taxiing along patiently. I parked and waited.

"What's your name anyway?" I asked the lady.

"I'm Jenny," the lady laughed, "and you are seriously one hell of a gorgeous plane."

"Why thank you," I giggled, "the name though, Archangel, girl to girl, what do you think? Too pompous?"

"Nah, Archangel fits perfectly," Jenny stated, "could you taxi forward like five feet, I want pictures woman! My son is going to have a fit that I got to take pictures of you."

I laughed and obeyed, slowly bringing my engines online before cutting them lightly out again. I shut down as a fuel truck roared toward me, the man jumping out and filling my tank. Nice quality fuel, too. I onlined my holoform and smiled at the harried looking driver.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. He grinned and disconnected.

"That's got to be the first time somebody thanked me for doin' my job," he laughed.

"Well, as the plane, I thank you man," I grinned, reaching out and shaking his hand. He laughed and climbed back into his truck. The lights turned on, dimmed and did nothing.

"Go ahead and swear, it's your starter solonoid," I called out. I made my holoform crawl under the truck and bang on the offending part. "Now try!" I shouted. A truck roared to life above and beside me. I shook my holoform's head, two points of view was confusing. I crawled out and shot the grinning truck driver a salute before offlining my holoform.

"Archangel you are cleared to take off, have a nice flight," Jenny called out a moment later.

"Have a nice day Jenny!" I called out with a smile, slowly taxiing down the runway until I was clear of the obstructions.

I punched it, accelerating and up in the air in what immediately came over my radio as a 'holy shit! That's a new fucking record!'

I began laughing cheerfully, getting well up into the air and accelerating until my engines began firing off pre-warnings. I checked my speed and cheered.

Mach 4.5.

"Enjoying yourself up there Angel?" Chris called over my radio in a wry tone.

"General! Mach four and a half! this is awesome!" I called back with a broad grin. I checked my coordinates and slowed down slightly.

"Just don't break the windows," Chris stated wryly.

"Aye sir," I chuckled, slowing and looking around, Jetfire was whizzing toward me. We altered our courses slightly, I slowed to Mach three and got into formation with him.

::. Breaking my records now are you granddaughter?.:: he asked in amusement.

::. Only in the loosest sense of the term.:: I laughed ::. your record is for a manned, air breathing speed. I did however kick that drone's record to scrap...::

Jetfire snorted a laugh and dipped to the left somewhat, toward the ocean.

I followed him cheerfully and began circling around the runways. Optimus rolled out of the C17 and transformed, looking up and raising one hand toward me.

::. Come down here, the both of you.:: he rumbled over the comm link.

::. Aye sir.:: Jetfire replied automatically, he stalled and dropped, transforming and landing on his feet I circled lower and came in lightly, transforming and landing on my toes. I walked forward and smiled at Optimus, my wings settling to rest lightly down my back.

"How the hell are you doing that Kae?" Will shouted up at me.

"Doing what?" I asked curiously.

"Your wings, they're resting on your back like an angel's wings, not like metal!"

I laughed and crouched down to my hands and knees, bringing myself to Will's level.

"My flesh is metal now," I said with a smile, "here, look," I extended my wing carefully, casting the grouped soldiers in shadow from the already brutal noonday sun. "Be careful though," I added thoughtfully, "the edges are razor sharp."

"You've got metal feathers, how do you control that?" Jacobs asked wonderingly.

"I have absolutely no idea," I chuckled, "I just do."

"They're so delicate," Chance murmured.

"And bulletproof to boot," Ratchet rumbled in amusement as I sat up somewhat, still angling my wing to keep the soldiers shaded. Jacobs promptly walked over and leaned against my hip.

"Enjoying yourself Kae?" he asked with a broad grin. I onlined my holoform to lean against my leg beside him.

"Immensely," I grinned.

"Kae!" Chance shouted, running forward to scoop my holoform into a hug. "We still get to have a human Kae?"

"Well, holoform, but yeah," I laughed, Optimus onlined his holo beside mine, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Splashdown is in an hour," he rumbled calmly.

"Did you want me here or scouting?" I asked calmly.

"Down here, if there's trouble I know you can get into the air in a hurry," Optimus rumbled with a small smile, his holoform kissing mine's neck.

::. Just remember, you stand between Optimus and I.:: Ratchet added quietly.

::. What!?.:: I demanded incredulously, my optics flicking to look at him.

::. You stand between Optimus and Ratchet.:: Ironhide rumbled good-naturedly 's your place in the lineup.::

::. But I'm the youngest!.:: I protested immediately.

::. You stand to the right as a Prime.:: Bee piped up immediately. ::. Age doesn't matter.::

::. And it saves me having to take the place of first lieutenant as a show of unity.:: Ironhide added with a smirk.

I glanced up at Optimus with a raised brow ridge.

::. You are my first lieutenant after all.:: he rumbled blandly.

::. How did that happen?.:: I asked with a frown.

::. Kae, you outrank the lot of us.:: Arcee told me with a low laugh.

::. Would you prefer to take the head?.:: Optimus asked earnestly ::. I would gladly serve-.::

::. For Primus sake Optimus.:: I stated irritably ::. Yours is the superior knowledge of tactics and leadership. Accident of birth doesn't negate that!.::

::. That's the same damn thing you said when Sentinel disappeared.:: Ironhide rumbled cheerfully, looking at Optimus.

::. Mark of a true leader, right there.:: Ratchet added gleefully.

::. You lot don't quit that there's gonna be a throw-down.:: I stated irritably.

::. Okay now I see why you were always threatening us with a pissed off Kae.:: Ironhide continued with a snort, grinning at Optimus.

::. For the love of-.:: I started before I caught the sound of aircraft and flicked my sensors toward it.