Temerity
Part 14-Veracity
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. They belong to Hasbro and Takara. I am merely taking them for a short spin.
"Sometimes solutions aren't so simple,
Sometimes good bye's the only way."
--Shadow of the Day, Linkin Park
Temerity-Unreasonable contempt of danger; extreme venturesomeness; rashness.
Kup sat in his office, going over data pads. So much work to do, and not enough supplies to complete what needed done. And a lot to think about. He knew Hot Rod was sneaking off, alone, into the desert at night. It infuriated the ancient mech, but at the same time, he could understand his need to get away. Disobeying orders was second nature for Hot Rod. Flaunting the rules in the face of authority was not. It was like he wanted to get caught. If Hot Rod did get caught, he wasn't going to defend him. No, Hot Rod could face Prime himself. And it was crazy and downright damn stupid Hot Rod would even do it, considering how patient Prime was being with him. Then again, Optimus was always a patient mech. Sometimes not. He'd seen Prime lose his temper more than once and it was a sight to behold. Put fear and respect into more than one mech, including himself. But he'd known Optimus a very long time, had gone from being protector to teacher, advisor and friend. Prime trusted him like he trusted no other, respected his judgment.
Once, Megatron had trusted him like that too, but that was in the past. The past. He snorted. The past wasn't far enough in the past for his comfort. If he ever got his hands on Ultra Magnus. . .
Kup threw down his data pad in frustration. Magnus. He'd always been a stickler for detail. Protocol. By the book. And the one time he decides to throw protocol out the window it's to save his own neck, Kup reflected. They'd never seen eye to eye. And that one instance caused him to lose all respect for Magnus. Even Ironhide walked away. But it still didn't explain what Magnus was doing in command of the Vector and what happened to her. Probably nothing would, unless Hot Rod regained his memory of it.
Another mystery, that. Kup suspected Hot Rod wasn't telling the whole truth, but giving him his space for the time being was more important. Hot Rod was doing better, but not much. Kup hated seeing him volatile, depressed and without purpose. But his hands were tied.
-----
Two bogeys on radar. Not unusual. But their speed and altitude was unexpected. The two F-22 Raptors broke off from one another after making one pass, circled around, opening fire on the Autobot base.
:INCOMING:
Prowl's warning sent everyone available outside. Prime, Prowl, Jazz and Kup took up a defensive position using Kup's dismantled shuttle as cover. The twins disobeyed orders, taking off after the two Decepticons hoping to practice their favorite sport. Lennox, Epps and the rest of their unit, who had finally arrived in Tranquility, joined the Autobots under the only available cover.
"So what do we do?" Lennox asked, looking up at Prime.
"Hope one of us hits them?" Kup offered helpfully.
"That's a plan?" Lennox asked.
Prime looked down. "They're fast, and if you haven't noticed, none of us can fly, with the exception of Springer," he said. "And he hasn't yet found an acceptable Earth mode that can fly."
"Now you know why Frenzy calls us 'groundpounders'" Prowl said, taking a shot at Skywarp. He clipped the Decepticon, who rolled, then wagged his wings, mocking. The Seeker came back around for another pass. Prime waited, lining up a shot on the Decepticon, hitting him before he could teleport away.
"The twins are tracking him," Prowl said, optics dimmed, listening to the twins over his internal comm. "They're going to try and take him down."
Prime sighed. He didn't want to know how they were going to do it, if it involved their usual antics, which would probably find them in the repair bay before the day was out.
Prowl suddenly snapped back. "Something broke my connection Sunstreaker," he said. "I'm being jammed."
Prime tried contacting the twins with his internal comm, then Prowl. "Nothing," he said. "Frenzy?"
"Ratchet put dampers on Frenzy so he can't," Prowl said.
"Then who else?"
"A third Decepticon?"
--
There was a third Decepticon inside, in ops. Rumble, Frenzy's twin, four feet of gunmetal grey, happily jacked into the main computer, using it to amplify his damping field, disabling the Autobots' communication capabilities. At the same time, he was helping himself to any interesting or potentially useful information encrypted in its databanks. And if he reached just a little harder, while tapping into the nearby power lines for a boost, he could possibly uplink with one of their ships. . .he dove deeper, pushing himself, drawing on the electricity.
And suddenly, the transformers on base blew, taking out power at the base and in town, offlining Rumble with the backlash.
--
Bluestreak waited patiently, tracking Skywarp through his scope. He watched as the Decepticon teleported from point to point, evading the twins, getting closer to his location. He didn't speak, didn't budge, instead keeping up a running dialogue in his head as he waited to take his shot. The words to the newest song he liked, every line from the movie that he watched with Bumblebee, Mikaela and Sam, Kup's story about the Chaos-bringer, the one that still scared the twins even now and there Skywarp was in his crosshairs. . .silence. Bluestreak squeezed the trigger and the world slowed and everything stopped until he saw the bolt connect with the Decepticon.
As one of Skywarp's engines blew and the Decepticon transformed, bringing himself to the ground, Bluestreak started thinking again, this time, taking the time to listen to the twins as Sideswipe caught up with their target.
--
Hot Rod sped into the open, transformed, waiting. Thundercracker dove, weapons blazing, missing on purpose, trying to scare the Autobot but he didn't budge. Nor did he bring his own weapons online. The Decepticon pulled up, climbed, rolled, turned around for another pass. He let fly with a missile, not noticing the grim smile on the Autobot's face. Hot Rod waited until the Decepticon pulled away again, looking for another target. He took his time accessing the missile's system, turning it back on the Decepticon.
"Uh oh," was all Thundercracker could muster as he tracked his own missile coming after him.
Hot Rod turned, watching as the missile hit Thundercracker, exploding into a ball of fire. The form of the broken Raptor emerged, tried to right itself, floundered, arcing toward the ground. Hot Rod grinned as the Decepticon plowed into the ground.
-----
Ratchet's emotions went past annoyed, headed straight for homicidal. He had a med bay full of Decepticons. Barricade was in *his* quarters, on his berth, Frenzy still contentedly at his side. Rumble, Frenzy's twin, was laid out on his desk, offlined for the moment. Skywarp was online, in stasis cuffs, vocalizer turned off to shut him up while Thundercracker was offline from the hit he took from his own missile. Inventive young warriors they had on their side, Ratchet reflected. Not a scratch on Hot Rod or Bluestreak; Prime, Prowl, Kup, Jazz and the humans suffered no lingering injuries. The rest of the Autobots had either been on patrol or were now out scouting for more Decepticon activity.
All that were left were the twins. And if they didn't show up soon, Ratchet was going to turn his patients over the the tender mercies of Wheeljack and Perceptor, which come to think of it, probably wasn't a bad idea. He commed the engineer and scientist, who dropped what they were doing.
"You want us to what?" Wheeljack asked.
"You heard me," Ratchet said. "Fix them. But take your time. I'll be back later."
Satisfied the med bay was in good hands, he decided to go look for Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. If they were badly injured, or even just playing hooky because they were pleased with themselves, they would soon find themselves with new Earth modes befitting their jackass behavior. Something like a Smart Car and Mini Cooper would work.
Ratchet found himself smiling at that thought as he headed outside. But he didn't have far to go. He spied the twins coming down the corridor, Sideswipe with his arm thrown across Sunstreaker's shoulders. Both were grinning wickedly.
"You coming to look for us Hatchet?" Sideswipe asked. "Does this mean you care?"
Ratchet glared back, evaluating their condition at the same time. Sideswipe had a gouge in the armor of his right arm, a dent in his left thigh. Sunstreaker had an optic offline and was generally scraped up. And there was energon leaking from both.
"Med bay. You have 30 seconds," Ratchet said.
The twins glanced at each other, then at Ratchet, began hobbling their way toward the med bay. Ratchet followed. Some days. . .and some things never changed.
-----
"What were you thinking? Clearly you were not," Prime said. "Are you stupid or do you have a death wish? Hot Rod, though I'm glad to see you did not end up in the med bay. . ."
Prime sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I'm very disappointed. You disobeyed orders, again."
Prime took a long, hard look at the young Autobot, who stood at attention, hands behind his back, optics fixed on a point somewhere over Prime's shoulder.
"You put yourself in danger again," Prime said.
"I'm well aware of the trouble I caused," Hot Rod said.
"Did I give you permission to speak?"
Hot Rod didn't move.
"The question is, what are you going to do to rectify this sort of behavior?" Prime said. "Ratchet recommended counseling, but I'm not sure such a benign method will work. Confinement has failed, so what other options are we left with?"
No answer.
"Any suggestions?" Prime said.
Hot Rod kept staring at the wall.
"You start on perimeter patrol with Jazz tomorrow morning," Prime said. "Any questions?"
"No sir," Hot Rod said, finally meeting Prime's gaze.
"Dismissed."
Not the outcome Hot Rod expected. Not even close. He breathed a sigh of relief, headed for the rec room, looking for Springer
The green mech, upon seeing him, turned him around, looking up and down before letting Hot Rod go.
"What are you doing?" Hot Rod asked.
"Looking to see if your aft is still intact, or if you got it handed to you," Springer said.
"I thought I was going to," Hot Rod said. "He was pouring it on with the protocol, though."
"Well, what's the verdict?" Springer said, pulling out a crate to sit on.
"He's put me on the duty roster, starting tomorrow morning," Hot Rod said.
Springer snorted.
"What?"
"I'm surprised, is all," Springer said.
-----
Ratchet would probably remove his head with his bare hands when he found out about Hot Rod, with assistance from SecDef Keller. A long day already gone, with an even longer night facing him. Prime knew Lennox's report was already on Keller's desk, and his own would soon follow. Ratchet he could deal with, possibly, if he could get over the fact he had a med bay full of Decepticons. Humorous, that, the irony. Although Perceptor and Wheeljack dealt with the brunt of the repairs to the two flyers, and Rumble's systems were already repairing themselves.
He also already knew how the three Decepticons happened to find the base. Frenzy was in constant contact with his brother, who neglected to mention to Skywarp and Thundercracker that he and Barricade were indeed not prisoners. And the twins were now experiencing Ratchet's not-so-tender ministrations as he saw to their repairs. That was the easy part.
Explaining why he needed Hot Rod's weapons systems onlined would not be simple, and could possibly be done by Perceptor, if he was approached the right way. Dangling the right research opportunities in front of the scientist would probably work, and if he could do it while Ratchet was busy in the med bay, so much the better. Although it would mean offering the same concessions to Wheeljack, just to be fair. His mind made up, Prime went in search of the scientist.
-----
Hot Rod lay in his berth. It was late, and he was tired. Perceptor, with Prime's permission, and more than likely against Ratchet's wishes, onlined his weapons systems, which were now fully repaired. He was nervous about starting active duty, but relieved at the same time. He wasn't some raw new recruit. Though he was young, he was a seasoned veteran who was used to the rigors of command, but this was a new planet, new game. And a lot was riding this assignment. His trust in himself, Prime's faith in him and not to mention how the others viewed him. But they really didn't matter. Never had, and he'd be damned, as the humans said, if he let what others thought rule his own thinking, although what Prime thought carried a great deal of weight. It always had, and he'd never admitted it to anyone, although Kup guessed and had brought it up a few times.
The door chimed, but he didn't sit up, didn't ask who it was. He recognized the sound of the footsteps.
"I'm sorry."
Hot Rod didn't move, just continued staring at the wall, keeping his back to Springer.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Springer said.
"Go away," Hot Rod said.
Springer grabbed him by the arm, hauling him off the berth, dumping him on the ground.
"We're not sparklings," Springer said. "Although you're doing a pretty good job acting like one."
Hot Rod stood, frowning.
"I told you to leave."
"I'm not leaving until you accept my apology. I'm sorry. I really am. I should respect your privacy. I never should've pried. It's just that it surprised me. . .about you. . .and Ultra Magnus," Springer said.
"And I told you, it's not what you think," Hot Rod said.
"Let me finish, OK?" Springer said. "Look, I can understand now why you never talked about it. . .considering how Ironhide's acting now. Does he know? Of course not. You're standing here so. . ."
"Springer, shut up while you still can," Hot Rod said.
"You really don't want to talk about this anymore, do you?"
"No. And I'm only going to tell you this one more time--it wasn't what you're implying. Get that through your processor," Hot Rod said, rapping his fist on Springer's helm. "If bring this up one more time. . ."
"Got it," Springer said. "Not as implied. But. . ."
"Spring. . ."
"But you need to get this out of your system," Springer said. "He's gone."
"I know. And you can stop bringing it up," Hot Rod said. "Do I need to throw you out again?"
"No, but if you need to talk. . ." Springer said. "I know it was a dark time. . ."
"Like I said, it's over and done," Hot Rod answered. "And it wasn't how everyone thinks. In the end, he tried. . .he tried to make things right."
"How can you stand there and defend him after everything he put you through? Everyone knows he backed out of the mission to save his own skin. Even Ironhide," Springer said.
"You have it all wrong," Hot Rod said.
"And there were rumors he was trying to replace Prime," Springer said.
"Again, you don't know what you're talking about. You weren't around, so you don't know what was going on," Hot Rod said.
"Well, if you know the truth, why don't you set me straight?" Springer asked.
Hot Rod didn't say anything. Springer noticed he was staring at the floor.
"Rodi, it's all right. I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't keep pressing the issue. Can you forgive me? Please. . .I won't bring it up again. When you're ready to talk, I'll listen," Springer said, sitting down by his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It's all right, Spring. Really. Apology accepted," Hot Rod said, forcing a smile.
"Good," Springer said, smiling back. "I'll leave you to your rest. See you in the morning."