Nature of the Beast
One-Shot Series: First Star I See Tonight
Part 2: Hunting For a Shooting Star
*Fair warning: Zodiac's got a bit of a dirty mouth on her. So does Lattice. Foxbear pointed out that "frack" is pretty much the equivalent of the F word. x3 I should up the rating for language, but no human bad words aside from "damn" are actually said sooo...o-o *shrugs* She may be shy but she's really a loud-mouthed tomboy once that shyness goes away.
*Also, it's my personal head-cannon that the Elite Guard has more than one Commander to help ease the pressure the heads face ordering around thousands of troops. And each of those Commanders has one or two lieutenants. My logical brain just sees that as more efficient than having just two 'Bots in charge of the whole fleet.
Outside, the sun had sunk below the horizon and the twin moons were just starting to peek out of hiding in the west. A few bright stars slowly twinkled to life above. Activity in the streets below was winding down as workers drove home from the city in the near distance. Everywhere, lights were coming on to ignite the darkness of nightfall. Lattice was just beginning to settle in for the evening when the latch for the window unlocked itself by remote command and a midnight blue, star-studded blur shot in like some cosmic bullet, slamming into her and knocking her on her backstrut. For a klik or two she lay there dazed and wondering what in the name of the Primes had just hit her, vision fritzing all the while. When her optics re-calibrated she found herself faceplate-to-faceplate with a mechanical hawk that looked as though it had just been given a shot of Red Energon. It seemed to just barely be resisting the urge to spontaneously combust.
"'Zee? What in the Pit! Give me some warning before you go barreling into me! I'm gonna start deadlocking that damned window if you keep this up!"
In reply, the mechanical hawk lightly bumped her beak against her in apology. Quickly she removed herself and let the alchemist get back to her pedes, hovering above her as the diodes covering her body flashed like firecrackers. Never, never had Lattice ever seen Zodiac this hyped up and energetic. She was always cheerier when coming back from the CERF meetings but what she was seeing right now was outright ecstasy – she was behaving as if she had just been promoted or given an award or something. Then the hawk transformed...and promptly began shrieking like an over-excited sparkling:
"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Lattice you're not gonna believe it! Neutrino asked me to be navigator for the Intervention's mission into the Hydrax Nebula!" she squealed.
The alchemist had the grace to let her jaw drop even as a smile formed. "Get outta here! Seriously?! The Intervention, one of the most famous ships in the entire fleet, captained by one of the best particle physicists ever sparked, crewed by the finest in their respective fields – we are talkin' about the same ship here right? This isn't some newbie knockoff needing a dry run?"
Zodiac shook her helm vehemently. "No! It's THE Intervention! Can you believe it?! And he asked me to be navigator!" she squealed again in delight.
"What the scrap happened to his regular? He get sick or something?"
Her expression became more thoughtful as the original excitement died down somewhat. She landed on the back of a lounge chair, tapping her chin as she said:
"Got cold pedes for one reason or another. Refused to go. Dunno why. Was never really explained. I'll have to ask. I mean, should I though? That might be nosing into something that's not my business. What if by asking Neutrino decided not to have me on the crew? What if Corvus finds out about my snooping and never goes to find that data pad I lost in the plaza? What if –?"
Lattice lightly bopped a hand on her helm. "Think positive, femme. I kinda doubt you asking why exactly you were offered this position is gonna result in some social apocalypse of your own making. And what's this about a missing d-pad?"
Rather hesitantly, Zodiac explained. When she finished it was clear the alchemist was resisting the urge to laugh. As it was, she managed a stifled snicker that made the little astronomer glare at her in amused annoyance. It was pretty clear she was blaming her for the accident and the lost data pad and not some vague force like fate or even Primus deciding to have a little laugh at her expense. The guy was a bit of a joker in Lattice's opinion, and he definitely wouldn't be above screwing around with someone like Zodiac just to see her react in the "oh-scrap-something-out-of-my-control-happened-and-now-the-world's-gonna-go-up-in-flames" melodramatic way she did.
"'Zee, seriously. It's just a d-pad. They can be replaced easy. And from the way he acted around you, he seemed like a pretty decent guy. Maybe he can help you find it if you ask him?"
"That's just it, Latti! I don't know the guy! I don't know where he lives, I don't know his name, I don't know what he's like. All I know is that he's Elite Guard. That's it! That is literally all I've got to work on. Do you have any idea how many Elite Guard members there are? Thousands! That's...that's like trying to triangulate your position with only one reference angle! It doesn't work like that..." she tapped two digits together shyly, "and you know how nervous I get around strangers."
Lattice snorted, "Obviously, seeing as you grabbed your book bag filled with d-pads, that he thoughtfully helped gather up after you nearly took his helm off mind you, and zipped away without so much as a thank you tossed his way. You really need to work on your people skills, 'Zee. That was rude. I know you were scared and in a hurry but still. Least you could've done was display some sort of gratitude through your field. It's not like you had to verbally say anything, y'know. Glyphs work just as well. And take note that he was trying to not to make any abrupt movements 'cept for that last one."
The astronomer hung her helm, fully aware of her blunder. She knew that, but it was much easier said than done. Around her little close-knit group of friends, acquaintances and co-workers she did just fine. Toss a stranger into the equation and any social skills she had displayed beforehand went flying out the nearest airlock screaming bloody murder. It was just part of who she was – encoded into her personality. She could help it – but only just.
She looked up when Lattice placed a hand on her small shoulders. "I was about to turn in. You should probably do the same. We'll get this schemozzle sorted out come tomorrow. But it might take a bit."
Zodiac nodded, admitting that a solid joor or so of power down sounded pretty good to her even if she really wanted to do some stargazing tonight – no clouds, and there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. Of course, there was still the issue of the moons producing an annoying amount of light, but that could be worked around with her optic modifications.
"I'll finish up in here. You go on. Skedaddle. Get some rest. After that little crash, you probably need it, huh?" said Lattice.
When Zodiac's helm tilted to the side she knew well enough what the Avioid was thinking: shouldn't she help? Lattice thus shooed her off her perch with a stern look in her optics, convincing her flat-mate to dart back to her room. A keen of acceptance was shot in her direction about an astrosecond or two before the door into her room hissed shut. Lattice smirked and shook her helm. This femme had the oddest personality she'd ever come across. Lucky for her she had rammed into someone so decent. Most 'Bots might have been more than a little irate at such a crash, but this one had done nothing but be kind to Zodiac. She could only imagine the Avioid's confusion at such a reaction, the questions that were undoubtedly rapid-firing through her clever little processor.
Zodiac, rather than heed her flat-mate's advice to power down for the night, chose to go out onto the tiny balcony that overlooked the Outer Ring. A cool breeze swept past her as she stepped out, whistling through her metallic feathers. For a moment or two she shuttered her optics and simply enjoyed the sensation of the wind and the soft songs of the stars above. She was an introvert like none other, but she enjoyed being outside. The star songs were easier to hear. That meteor shower wasn't supposed to happen until around 3200, but staying online through the night wasn't unheard of. Listening to the star songs was at once knowledge and leisure to her. For lack of a better description, the stars seemed to "speak" to her in an odd sort of code only she could understand.
But the sense was different now on this night. Something in their song had changed.
She perched herself precariously on the railing and watched as the twin moons slowly rose higher and higher. Idly she began re-calibrating her optics to filter the unwanted light out, performing this easy task as a means of passing the time and readying for the coming cosmic downpour. Once the annoying glare light had been dimmed to her liking, she began to let her mind wander alongside her optics. Her thoughts went back to the incident in the plaza of their own accord. It was strange. Normally she was quite certain as to why she ran from specific 'Bots. She just got a certain...vibe around others, good or bad, like an energy field. If the vibe was good, there was a slight chance she'd stick around simply to satisfy her curiosity. If bad, she typically got the heck out of dodge before the other 'Bot could so much as half shutter their optics. The mech she'd rammed into hadn't given her a bad vibe at all. And yet she'd booked it out of there as if he had.
Lattice was right. That had been rude of her.
The logical part of her processor started to hum to life, playing back the whole scenario and analytically picking it apart. True that she mayn't have gotten a bad vibe from him, and he'd seemed friendly enough, but that movement of his – reaching for something – had made her incredibly nervous. He could've been reaching for anything from a gun to a knife to who knew what. Or...wait a klik...
"Oh slag me..." she groaned in realization, "he had the missing d-pad, didn't he? Aww, c'mon!" her shout echoed into the night.
That movement hadn't been him reaching for something dangerous. It had been him attempting to hand her data pad back. He'd probably had the thing land quite close to him after the crash and he'd taken it for safe-keeping. And she hadn't bothered to stick around to accept it back from him! Stupid, stupid! Why was it that she just couldn't interact normally with others?
Her royal blue optics darted down from the skies to glare piercingly at the ground below. She snapped, "Oi! You! Stop screwing with me for giggles! You are making fun of my social anxiety and it's not funny! You hear me?! Not funny!"
No verbal answer came, only the slow, steady chugging of Cybertron's inner workings. But she could've sworn that the steady sound had a sudden pattern to it and that the volume of it increased almost imperceptibly. In spite of the annoyance bubbling in her spark, a smirk of a smile soon formed. She stuck out her glossa childishly at the ground, subconsciously knowing the ancient entity could see her do so.
He wanted to screw with her, did he? Fine. She'd screw right back.
She re-positioned herself on the railing, leaning against the side of the building where the railing ended. One leg dangled off while the other arched up on the rail's top to keep her balanced. For a moment or so she listened to see if the chugging pattern would return. Sure enough, it seemed to. Lattice's opinion of him was right. The guy really was a little pranker who loved a good joke. She looked back down at the planet's surface below, the smirking smile broadening.
"Frack you."
With a sigh she looked back up, patiently waiting for the time to tick by and the show above to commence.
In Iacon's city center, a lone mech stood on a balcony near the top of the Hall of Records looking out over the bustling metropolis. Smokescreen was restless and dissatisfied. His processor was so active that he had a dozen trains of thought going at once.
Before heading for the barracks for the night he'd thought that maybe stopping by the massive archival building might provide some leads he could follow come morning. After all, almost every piece of information was stored there or passed through their servers. Much to his annoyance, all the archivists had been able to provide was that the data pad with the elegant monogram had never come their way. They weren't able to gain access to its contents either – it was too heavily encrypted by security protocols – protocols, moreover, that were obviously homemade. That was why the couldn't break in they had said. Those protocols didn't fit any of the decryption algorithms they had.
That in itself had gotten him curious. A data pad with data that had yet to pass through the Hall's servers, protected by complicated security protocols...was the femme a researcher? Her star-studded appearance might indicate she worked in one of the space-based branches, but that might be the wrong assumption to make. He knew more than a few 'Bots whose appearance seemed to contrast with their chosen careers. Slag, she might just have a like of looking that way. A kind of fashion statement. He frowned then. She'd seemed so scared of him, too, like she was afraid he'd up and start shooting her or something. Did she have no idea who he was? Or was the femme just naturally skittish around others? Sure seemed that way, but he had the odd sense that there might be more to in than that. And that speed of hers when she'd run from him...there was no doubt in his mind she was a speed-gifted. There weren't many of those, so that narrowed the field further. Sighing softly, he leaned against the railings and tried in vain to piece all the information together. His tired processor refused to cooperate and soon his thoughts had gone down less strenuous lines. At least now he had a starting point to work off. That was better than working blind. The femme was almost certainly a scientist of some type. He was hesitant to jump to any conclusions other than that. Both Optimus and Alpha Trion had taught him to only conclude when he had enough data to do so. Right now, he just didn't have enough to go any further.
'Come on, Optimus. Can't you give me a little help here? Even just a hint or, I dunno, maybe a sign? I'll be happy with either. Just gimme something more to work with here.'
A streak of pale silver fire shot across the darkened sky, bright enough to force him to lift his gaze upwards. Within moments another flash of silver illuminated the sky. By the time a breem had passed the night sky was positively ignited with silver streaks of light raining down like cosmic raindrops. Not even the strong light of the twin moons could dim the beautiful display by much. He allowed his jaw to drop at the breathtaking spectacle. He hadn't been aware there was a meteor shower tonight, and this one was incredible. Each streak was a bright flash of ghost-like silver that was devoured by the darkness – there and then gone. Kind of like that little femme from earlier today...
His thoughts wandered back to the question at hand. How was he ever going to find her? She seemed to have vanished. Just like the falling meteors above seemed to vanish. There and then gone. There and then gone.
The question was: How did you catch a shooting star?
Smokescreen watched as a particularly bright meteor flashed in the skies. It streaked clear over the Hall as it punched through the atmosphere and arced off towards the wilderness outside the city. A heavy impact could be faintly discerned, followed by a small but powerful flash of flame-colored light. Barely visible against the dark sky was a thin column of smoke rising. Moments later a black chrome and cobalt Seeker shot by in a scream of its engine as if mad, flying close enough to the balcony to cause a great rush of wind to buffet him. He didn't recognize the aircraft as anyone he knew personally but it didn't take much to guess it was part of the space-based branches. Why else would it be in such a rush to go find a piece of space rock? Only space-geeks flipped out like that jet had, and that color scheme was kind of a dead give away, too.
Wait a klik...
A sudden smile formed. He glanced up.
"Okay. I can take a hint. In the morning though. I gotta go report in before Magnus sends the whole fragging Guard after me. Psh. And that's even if I have the time to look around or if she's even still in the city. Do you have any idea how busy he keeps me? It's gonna take forever with how little free time I have now. Ugh. I swear he wants to run me into the ground some days," He konked his helm crest against the banister out of comical exasperation. "You don't know the craziness I have to deal with...I'm tellin' you, I need one of those little targets the humans have that says 'Bang Head Here!' That's how crazy some cycles get."
He looked back up then, curiosity glittering in his optics. "Or do you? Do you understand the craziness? I mean, we didn't give you that much trouble, did we? Well, actually, maybe me and Miko and Wheeljack did, but not everybody else. You know what? Not even counting 'Jackie. That slagger's legit crazy."
Unless he was hearing things he swore his audials picked up a faint, deep-toned chuckle on the warm night wind. He looked back up at the skies, smiled, and laughed back.
"Night, Optimus. Talk to you later."
On the other side of the city, Zodiac too saw the meteor fall from the heavens and land somewhere outside Iacon's walls. She too saw some of her fellow astronomers both grounder and flier begin a mad rush to get to the crash site for analysis. She noted more than a few flashes of pale turquoise light that signified groundbridges being used. In an eerie coincidence her sharp optics spotted the same black chrome and cobalt Seeker that Smokescreen had observed. Unlike Smokescreen she knew the Seeker. That's to say, she knew his name and job and nothing more: Coma. He worked in the space-environment branch of the CERF as a specialist on small solar system bodies. But unlike her associates busy scrambling about she remained where she was. Meteors weren't her specialty. All the astronomers currently rushing out in the dead of night held some degree of specialization when it came to the small, wandering bodies. She was more interested in being out traipsing around the galaxy looking for planets or cosmic oddities like magnetars or pulsars or black holes. It was the "weird" stuff in astronomy that fascinated her. Hunks of space rock? Not so much. That's not to say she wasn't interested in them at all, she just didn't get quite the same thrill from examining them.
And with the shower nearing its end, she had no true reason to stay out here. With a nod to the skies as if in thanks, she slid off the rails and made her way back inside. She flew up to a thick bar of metal the protruded out of the wall on the far side of the room, wrapped her talons around it, and quickly nodded off.
Tomorrow would be a busy day. She would find that data pad if it was the last thing she did. She would not let all her hard word go down the drain.
IACON STAR-SHIP DOCKING BAYS
CERF INTERVENTION
0900 HOURS
Earlier that same morning, Zodiac had recieved a transmission from Neutrino. Normally a passionate hater of mornings, the little Avioid had jumped to full alertness on receiving it. The call had been to inform her that a fly date had been set for the next solar cycle and that he needed her to come to the ship and run some diagnostics on the tracking and navigation systems. And so she had gone straight away without any hesitation. It had been all she could do to keep from squealing and waking Lattice. She'd seen the Intervention before, of course. Many was the time she had gawked at the massive yet streamlined silver and dark green cruiser from afar. Compared to her small but speedy ship the thing was a space-faring ocean liner. But to actually be able to see the ship from the inside and mess around on the command deck with all its systems? Now she could fully appreciate how bewildering and even intimidating the vessel was in size. Honestly, she wasn't used to having so much space but Primus was it awesome.
And so, at a time she was usually still in power down, the astronomer busily worked away on the navigation consoles, fiddling with the calibrations until she was satisfied with the parameters. Going into a nebula usually wasn't incredibly dangerous, but the Hydrax was immensely active and filled with young stars pumping out absurd amounts of radiation that could fry a star-ship's systems in a spark pulse, and littered with debris from formation and collisions. Active nebulae themselves also tended to interfere with space-bridges due to the varying frequencies emitted by the protostars. Make a mistake in a place that crazy and they'd be stranded out there for Primus knew how long.
The Avioid turned on hearing pedefalls. She was expecting Neutrino. The burnt orange and amber mech standing just on the bridge's threshold awoke no chord of recognition.
"So you're who the Captain picked as a replacement for Corvus, huh? No offense, I was expecting someone a little...taller."
She stared silently at him, royal blue optics round in apprehension.
"Zodiac, right? I'm Neutrino's SIC. Name's Sunflare. Radiation specialist."
More silent staring.
Sunflare's marigold optics blinked once as his helm tilted to one side. "Uh...you okay?"
She continued to stare, mirroring his tilted helm. He seemed the friendly sort even if he seemed a little bit meek and shy and frankly confused. That last bit she couldn't blame him for. The number of 'bots who didn't find her at all strange could be counted on one hand, and due to her limited outside connections she wasn't exactly well-known either despite her accomplishments in her particular field. She liked her little bubble of friends, the bubble itself only expanding when she was certain it was safe to expand it.
"Um...alright," said Sunflare slowly, "I'll just, uh, let you go back to what you were doing and, um, yeah. Just...let me know if you need anything. Neutrino's not aboard, so I'm kind of in charge of things right now. 'Kay?"
Finished with his announcement, Sunflare ducked out of the bridge.
Letting a faint sigh escape her vocalizer, Zodiac set back to work, listening to the faint ambient noise of the ship, the crew, and the dimmed cacophony of the outside world. Every couple of breems after that the friendly yet awkwardly shy Sunflare would pop in to the bridge, check on her, and leave. Each time she grew less and less nervous around him until, at the 1100 mark when he showed up next, she managed a meek smile at him.
And Sunflare returned it.
Author's Note: Hehehe. This is the 5th chapter I've managed to get out this break. Go me! :D
