Behind him, Crossfire had taken Drag over to one side, towering over the small Autobot as he obviously tried to set him straight. Traction and Pulse have moved over to the open hanger door and were looking out, while Jak held a one sided conversation with Reaper, who was nodding every so often.
"You think the human will be ok?" Traction was asking Pulse as they stared into the open desert.
Pulse shrugged, "He doesn't seem scared, just confused. I don't think he's having an easy time seeing what he's believing. Humans are narrow-minded when it comes to the possibility of other life forms. Time will tell, although he really has no other option than to stay with at least one of us all the time."
"We can't force him though," Traction shook his head, "Crossfire would never allow us to use force. I wouldn't want to use force myself. This is the human's planet, not ours. We're merely visitors helping out."
Pulse nodded in agreement, "That's true. The humans need to make decisions for themselves, without us interfering too much."
"Even if it means Alex dying at the hands of the Decepticons, like others before him," Traction muttered.
"Even that I suppose," Pulse sighed, "We can't win. The humans have been brought into a fight that was never theirs. But on their planet, we can't tell them what to do," he turned his eyes skyward, "I wonder if this war will ever end. If we'll ever go home or achieve peace. This can't go on forever can it? So many dying. There must be a…" Pulse trailed off, still staring at the sky.
"What is it?" Traction looked up too to see a fairly large, what looked a little like a meteor, was streaking through the sky, its burning tail leaving a think blazing trail of smoke behind it.
"It's a protoform," Pulse muttered, "Looks like he's been knocked off course. He's heading north west of here, not too far either."
"Got good taste," Jak commented as he came up behind them.
"Or just wants to make a mess," Traction muttered.
"We need to get to him before the Decepticons do," Pulse turned away, stepping over Jak carefully as he headed towards Crossfire who looked like he'd finished with Drag who was now talking to Reaper.
Crossfire looked up at his approach, giving him a questioning glance, "Was that what I thought it was?"
Pulse nodded, "He's going to land close to here."
Crossfire inclined his head in acknowledgment, "We'll go to meet him. Take him away before the Decepticons get here. They might be in the area for all we know, especially since Spectre appears when we think it's usually safe."
Traction moved over to them too, "What about Alex?"
"The human will have to go with us. We want to keep him safe but if Decepticons are waiting for us, or we cross pats, then we're flaunting him. But still, it's the only way," Crossfire glanced at Alex who was still running his hands over his face, on the floor.
"At least we can be prepared. Reaper can look after him, so long as Spectre is kept on the ground," Pulse shrugged.
"Reaper is a valuable fighter though," Crossfire looked a little torn.
"We can cope," Traction flexed his hands.
Crossfire looked at Alex again before turning towards Reaper, heading over to him with a sigh, briefly chucking over his shoulder, "Talk to the human, Jak."
Jak bobbed up and down, "Sure thing," he began to roll towards Alex casually, squeezing between Traction's legs on the way.
Alex heard him approaching and looked up, now appearing to be at least a little more composed, but still a bit frazzled.
"Hey bud," Jak came to a stop beside him.
"You sound overly cheerful, even for you," Alex glanced at him, still not quiet sure where he should be looking. The hood? The windshield? "What's going on now?" he asked.
Jak flashed his blinkers, which Alex guessed might be him rolling his eyes, "There's a protoform coming down north of here and we need to talk to him before the Decepticons get to him."
Alex blinked, "In American please?"
"A robot is falling from space and is going to land in Las Vegas. We need to beat the bad guys to him," Jak repeated.
"Oh… Right…" Alex nodded before pausing for a beat, "Las Vegas?"
"Around there," Jak shrugged, "Pulse is the one who knows about this sort of thing, ask him for more precise stuff."
"So I'm just going to hop in you and we drive off?" Alex asked.
Jak hesitated, "I'd like to take you, but Crossfire thinks you'd be best off with Reaper. Safer."
"The great conversationalist?" Alex frowned.
"He's cool, really good listener," Jak nodded.
"I'll poor my heart out to him," Alex sighed, looking over to where Reaper was now standing on his own, arms folded across his chest, looking much like an abstract statue.
"Lol," Jak snorted quietly, lights flashing on briefly.
Alex stared at him, "Did you just say lol? Chat speak lol?"
"I pick things up off the Interwebs," he shrugged casually.
"Interwebs?" Alex blinked, once again confused by Jak's speech.
"Yeah. I can say cool stuff, like you guys, right? Anyways, who knows, Reaper might speak to you, get going," Jak nudged him gently before turning away and moved over to where the others were already reforming into their various vehicles, obviously getting ready to move out.
Alex hesitated slightly before making his way over to where Reaper was twisting the last of his blades into place, once again looking like the classic dark grey Black Hawk.
He was just about to hover around uncertainly, eyeing up the large helicopter warily, having never been in one before, when the side door slid open, allowing him access to the interior. Alex supposed that meant get in, yet he still faltered. It was sure going to be hard to understand the body language of a helicopter.
"Yo, Alex, get in," Jak yelled at him from the other side of the hanger, "He won't eat you."
Alex grunted quietly and clambered into the chopper quickly, now unable to stop wondering what the Autobots, if they did at all. They weren't exactly living and breathing, just living. And for Alex, to whom human biology was still a mystery, these aliens were totally mind-boggling.
The door slid shut behind him, sealing him inside the rather roomy middle part of the Black Hawk, and after a quick look around, he squeezed through into the smaller cockpit and eased himself into one of the seats, beginning to buckle himself in. All around him were small flashing lights, switches, levers and buttons, many of which had no instructions beside them. Alex felt very glad that he didn't have to fly the chopper himself as he realised he'd have no idea where to begin if he was suddenly thrust into one and told to fly for his life. He also realised that these vehicles were highly realistic and were entirely functional, so much so that he supposed they could quite easily blend into daily life and be undiscovered. Drag had been posing as his brother's car after all. Maybe all vehicles in the world were aliens? Alex wasn't sure if he liked that idea or not; it was slightly creepy to think you might be driving around in something that wasn't the nice little Toyota Aygo that you recently purchased, instead it being some huge alien robot that might kill you at any moment.
Alex gave an involuntary shiver and tried to relax as much as he could as he felt Reaper lurch suddenly before he began to slowly move after the others as they filed out of the hanger.
"Uh…" he cleared his throat anxiously, "Just in case… You don't happen to carry any airsickness bags in here do you?" he asked, looking around him for any sign of an answer.
There was a pause before Alex noticed a little screen in front of him had the single word 'Negative' flashing on it repeatedly.
"Oh, great," he muttered, "If I hurl, you're getting it all over your pretty flashy lights."
The word on the screen changed fairly quickly, being replaced by 'Don't you dare'.
Alex snorted slightly in amusement, relaxing considerably, "So you do communicate in some fashion?"
'In some fashion,' Reaper's screen flashed up, echoing Alex in agreement.
"At least this flight won't be totally boring then," Alex sighed.
'So long as you don't throw up,' the screen blinked at him again.
"I'll try my best, just for you," Alex patted a random patch of flashing lights, then realised how weird that might be for the Autobot; being patted from the inside. He cringed slightly and pulled his hand away, quickly shoving them in his lap so that he wasn't tempted to touch anything again, turning his attention to what was happening out in front of them, where the others had come to a halt just before the track started which would lead them to the road, obviously waiting for something.
Alex looked around expectantly, but he only just realised what when he heard the sound of an engine starting up and a brief glance upwards told him that the chopper blades had began to rotate. He supposed the others would wait for Reaper to be up in the air first so that he could follow them above the roads. Although the helicopter would be quicker, it seemed they'd stick together, in case anything happened and either they or Reaper were intercepted.
Unconsciously, Alex clenched his hands into fist, watching as the stick thing to his left, the collective, began to raise, and left pedal by his foot appeared to be under some force, it slowly being pressed downwards. The other stick thing (Alex knew nothing about the workings of a helicopter so everything was just a flashy light or a stick), the cyclic, moved in front of him ever so slightly as he felt the chopper slowly lifting off the ground. He also felt his stomach lurch involuntarily, and he quickly closed his eyes, praying it got better; otherwise he'd have an angry robot alien chasing after him for dirtying his insides. Whichever insides the cockpit may be for Reaper.
Alex's stomach lurched again, and this time not because of the sensation of flying. He really needed to stop over thinking things. He was sure Jak would enlighten him sometime about the ins and outs of -. Ok. He was stopping now.
He opened his eyes and quickly had to shove a hand over his mouth as he looked down at the desert below them, not realising they were so high up. His attention was diverted from the scenery in front of them once again by the flashing panel and he looked down, glad to pretend they weren't flying.
'The best bit is still to come,' it read.
"What? The landing?" Alex shifted uncomfortably.
'No.'
Although it was just one word, Alex could have sworn there was a smug undertone there somewhere, and he suddenly dreaded what might come. He swallowed loudly, "Oh? No?" he tried to sound casual.
'Just wait.'
"Oh, I'm eagerly awaiting what you have in store for me," Alex gave a nervous laugh, running a hand over his face in exasperation, telling himself to just sit back and relax. If they were south of Las Vegas in the southern tip of Nevada, they'd no doubt take the ninety-five north, straight to the centre of town, then go from there. He guessed they were around Searchlight area, so that might take the Autobots below about forty minutes to get there. Reaper would easily get their faster, but if he stayed above them at all times, then Alex would just have to endure forty minutes of stomach churning hell. With a side order of Reaper fun, whatever that may be.
Directly below them, Crossfire at the head, the other Autobots began to file their way along the dirt track, heading for the main road, maintaining perfect gaps between them as they drove at the exact same speed, heading for the bright lights of Las Vegas and wherever the protoform had had the misfortune of landing.