A/N: Hello again! Sorry that these chapters are a bit short; they should get longer later when the plot thickens.
3. Hunt
Earth hadn't changed much since we'd gone. It was still green and blue, still messy with dirt and rain, and still positively crawling with organics. I hadn't expected much of a change; we'd only been absent for six Earth years. But it was long enough for the Autobots' human pet to grow into adolescence and just long enough that Lockdown and I were unsure which Cybertronians currently populated this miserable planet. In our caution we landed the still-cloaked ship on the outskirts of our target's home city, a small town even by Earth standards located in the sector called "Oregon." It was a mountainous, forested region which, while appealing to the optic sensors, was certain to provide endless opportunities for mud, rust, and foliage lodged between plating. I hoped that the human wouldn't have the sense to run into the trees—the undergrowth looked thick enough that we couldn't follow. Of course, we could always set the forest ablaze, but that filthy organic smoke was incredibly damaging to my delicate vents.
The human could hide, but she couldn't run. Lockdown was fast enough, for a groundpounder, and I was without a doubt the swiftest of our kind even out of my altmode.
Lockdown cruised the city in his altmode, being relatively less noticeable than I. It was an unfortunate thing about Earth—while the Autobots had chosen altmodes as common as turborabbits, the Decepticons' usually flight-capable forms called for altmodes that would be noticeable in a normal human environment. With this in mind, I circled high above the city, making a wide sweep of the region but remaining close enough to reach Lockdown quickly once he located the human.
I detected no Autobot signals from below, which struck me as odd. If this "Alexis" creature were important enough to warrant Megatron's attention, surely the Autobots would guard her. His apparent slack in security did nothing to ease my processor… if anything, it put up both on guard, sensors on high alert.
//There are echoes of an energy signature,// I commed to my partner. //One has been here.//
//One of the Autobots?//
//It doesn't match any of the Earth-bound 'bots that we know of,// I answered, scanning my databanks for a match, //and none of the Decepticons, either.//
//Must be a new one.//
Still, the energy signature seemed strangely familiar, though it didn't match anyone in my recent records. I had no time to wonder further, however, for presently Lockdown's signal snapped across my comm.
//I've sighted the target, and there's an Autobot here too. They've been blocking their energy signatures. Finally caught on to Sumdac's signal dampers.//
//I'm on my way,// I answered, coming about in a neat turn.
//Make it snappy… I'm going for it.//
I honed in on Lockdown's signal and picked up the two mechs before seeing them. I had wondered when I saw who had distracted him… my partner had an unhealthy obsession with the solitary ninja-bot. I growled angrily and dove lower, searching for the human. She could have run, but her human curiosity might have kept her in the area, watching the fierce battle between Lockdown and Prowl.
Sure enough, the human was huddled behind a building, engrossed with the sight. She hadn't expected that Lockdown wasn't working alone, and when I transformed and landed before her eyes, she shouted and tried to run.
"Foolish human!" I laughed, blocking her way in one short leap. "You think you can outrun me?"
It was then that I heard engines and detected the mysterious signal coming in from behind and above me… coming in fast. Impossible! The Autobots didn't have any fliers! There hadn't been flight-capable Autobots since the outbreak of the war!
The approaching threat was more pressing than the girl. I spun to face the incoming mech… and stared, systems stalling. I could have sworn my energon pump skipped. Sunlight flashed blindingly bright off of snow-white plating as the huge form bore down on me. My Spark gave a horrible lurch, feeling suddenly cold, cold as ice.
It… it couldn't be.
He slammed into me full force, sending both of us tumbling helms over thrusters across the ground. There was enough time for me to realize that this was a bad situation to be in, definitely, because I was being crushed under a far greater body mass than mine, and this was not going to end well for me, if the alerts flashing across my vision were any indication. But all of this passed through my processor in a muddled flash, leaving only one stunned word stuttering through my vocal processors as I stared into optics as blue as Earth's sky.
"Skyfire?"
And then everything went black.
A/N: The plot thickens.