Chapter Three: The Given Assignment

Barricade had left three orns before and the small set of rooms that they had occupied had felt far too big for just him since then. There was little to do, his work permit having technically expired even before he had gone in to sign up for the Autobots. He had already finished all of the book files that he had left after they had lost their access to any but those that resided at the public file lender, which were now also out of their reach as the fees had become outrageous. The entirety of their miniscule flat was now spotless as well and just awaited his leavetaking to be ready for another tenant. He was still waiting to be contacted by the Iaconian Training Coordinator, however. One would think that time would be of the essence with getting a new recruit placed as the battlefront was in dire need of more mecha, as Prowl well knew from his research.

He was searching through his compacted, portable subspace compartment, looking for a couple of small tools that he would need if he was to do some crystal work, when his comm unit pinged him with a notice. A new message had arrived and the only one that he was expecting was from the Autobots. Without delay, he opened the message, barely glancing at the sender except to verify that it was who he thought it would be.

Greetings Recruit Prowl,

It is with light spark that we welcome you to the Autobots. Your arrival is greatly anticipated and is expected within the next three orn. You are to report to the Iacon Autobot Training Academy and, from there, to the Iaconian Training Coordinator where you will be assigned to a frontline training unit. If you require any assistance, please contact your closest recruitment center. Again, we welcome you to the Autobots.

The Autobot High Council Training Coordinator

Verify

That was very professional of them, something he had not been expecting from the faction, though the signature provided the reason for the difference. He hummed thoughtfully, repacking what he had removed from the subspace compartment so that he could leave the small flat. The owner would appreciate the vacancy to offer and he could, soon enough, have his basic needs met by the army instead of through his own stock of credits.

The extra, external, subspace compartment was compacted back down and slipped into one of his smaller subspaces, which opened on his hip. He took one last look around to be sure that everything had been removed before he stepped out of the front room and sent a short message to the owner of the flat to inform the femme that he was finally moved out and to advise her that, since he had not met all the terms of the lease, she was to keep the entirety of the credit deposit they had put down so long ago on the flat. Even as he folded down into his alt mode, a very sporty model that appeared quite predatory with the sharp angles and sleek design, he received a ping back from the femme accepting the information and wishing him well.

Many mecha swept out of his way as he raced through Altihex and along the throughway to Iacon. The Enforcers that sent identification pings his way quickly backed off after receiving the information contained within, knowing that he had been trained for maneuvering at the speeds he was traveling at. Once away from the city, he transformed and stretched his wings to their full length before pulling them in close to launch his frame into the air, mag levs in his feet engaging to propel him a bit further into the air before his wings snapped open and down to take him higher. Switching his mag levs off, he rose higher into the atmosphere with deep down strokes of his wings. One of the higher winds finally caught him and propelled his frame towards the far city of Iacon. It would take the same amount of time for him to fly the majority of the way as it would take for him to drive it, but he preferred to take to the air as he was unlikely to be able to for a long while. Most mecha did not consider that his frame was fully flight capable nor believe that he could suffer from the same sky craving that Seekers did. It came from no one having any information about his frame type outside of a few old studies and the oral stories that were passed down about the nomads that lived in the mountains outside of Praxus.

Several joors - and much sightseeing - later, he landed beside the throughway and stretched, his need for flight satisfied for the time being. Prowl took the time to resettle his feathers before he pulled his wings close and went through his transformation down into his vehicle mode. The rest of his drive went quickly. The route between the two cities was close to straight and did not have many hills, nothing like any of the roads leading into the city of Praxus. Nearing the gates, he transformed back, shook out his wings, and stepped into the queue.

Iacon was a popular city and, with the Autobots using it as their main base of operation, many mecha were passing in and out of the gates. From what he had read, the city of Iacon had been forced to hire more mecha to man the checkpoints and grant entrance. It had helped to solve their unemployment problem. Prowl did not see the appeal. The city itself was quite flat and far too ordered, the exact opposite of Praxus and its surrounding countryside.

The wait to enter the city took even longer than the drive and flight there did, giving him far too much time to mull over his decisions and find faults that truly were not there. In the meantime, he had gone over the plans again with Barricade over a secure comm line and then settled down to wait, returning to the game that he had downloaded several orn before at the recruitment center in Kalis.

Finally, he reached the beginning of the line and was admitted into the city after a short bit of paperwork was completed. With the map given him by the mech that had allowed his entrance, he found where the Autobot Training Academy was located and set off in that direction at a fast walking pace. It would be better to familiarize himself with the area before he was stuck within walls for an unknown amount of time. The brightness of the artist district was quite welcoming, even though the smells, fields, and sights were unfamiliar. Everyone was more absorbed in their own lives here than in Praxus, few greetings called out between friends and no small booths lining the roadways in an attempt to draw in customers that otherwise would not even know that the shop was there.

"Designation?" he was asked as he took the steps up to the entrance to the Autobot Training Academy and was stopped by a navy and cream femme that was stationed there.

"Prowl."

She scanned a list internally, her optics dimming slightly. "Greetings. You will go inside and to the left at the end of the hall. From there, it will be the third door on the right. That will take you to the Coordinator's office, where you will receive your training assignment."

"Thank you," he stated with a short nod and dip of his wings before he stepped inside and followed her directions. Again, he had to wait to be admitted as there were enough recruits coming in that the office employees were all pressed into helping to get them all processed through. After the number of joors he had already been standing, he was looking forward to the dark cycles and being able to be able to even take a seat.

Eventually, it was his turn. He stepped forward and was greeted by a hulking orange mech with small black details that would have seemed to be more at home on the battlefield than in an office. Perhaps they were truly desperate.

"Heavylif' at yer service. May I get yer des'nation?" the mech asked, pulling out a new datapad even before he looked up to take stock of the mech standing before him.

"My designation is Prowl," he answered.

"A'ight," he said, pulling up the mech's public records that had been submitted from the recruitment center he had signed up in. "Says 'ere that yer gon' be par' of tha frontliners. Int'restin'. Yer trainin' off'cer's Mismatch. She's won'erful wit' mos' e'ery'un tha's in 'er unit an' she gets mos' of tha spec'lized trainin' fer tha fron'liners." He punched in a few fields just by looking at the new recruit standing before him before giving the mech the information he would need for the dark cycles. "Yer room's gon' be down tha hall further and the last door on tha lef'. I's a larg' room tha' 'ouses yer 'ntire unit. Go down ta tha nex' 'allway an' down to the righ'. It'll open up ta tha dispens'ry. Ya'll ge' yer rations 'ere at tha beginnin' of tha firs' ligh' cycle and tha firs' dar' cycle. Any ques'ions?"

"No questions," Prowl replied, taking the datapad handed him by the mech.

"I rec'men' tha' ya go get settled 'en. If ya nee' any rations, ya still 'ave time ta pick some up. I'd do tha' anyway. Officer Mismatch'll pick up yer unit from tha room yer stayin' in 'bout a joor af'er tha b'ginnin' of tha firs' ligh' cycle."

Prowl thanked the mech before leaving the office and heading to the dispensary to pick up his ration. There were only a few breems before it was time to get a ration in any case, being the last joor of the last dark cycle by the time he had finally made it through all of the lines and traffic that had plagued him all orn. Perhaps Heavylift had meant that he was to begin training the next orn, but he had no intention of waiting that long if he was not required to. There was little point in putting it off as he was confident in his ability to keep up with whatever the unit was to be doing.

He took his time in consuming his ration, brushing affection across the spark bond with his quadmate and sharing his impatience as well. It was not something he was willing to outwardly show in anything other than his wing movements, which were sharp twitches of the long feathers at the tips of his wings. Barricade soothed his impatience softly, pushing calm back at him along with his own affection. His wings slowly settled closer to his back, though his feathers still twitched every so often. A joor for energy consumption seemed to be excessive to him, especially if there was not a long line like there seemed to be for almost everything he had so far done in Iacon.

Not much later, he stood outside of the room that he had been directed towards, having already stepped inside and looked around. It was empty except for a couple of recharging mechs on two of the far berths.

The blue and cream femme that had greeted him at the entrance sauntered towards him, her optics tracing over his frame lightly. It was an assessing look instead of an interested one despite how she had gone about it.

"Prowl," she greeted, coming to a stop on the opposite side of the door frame from him. "Welcome to the Autobots. I am Mismatch and you are one of my new recruits. Is there anything that I should know about you or your frame before we begin training?"

Straight and to the point. It was something that he could appreciate from the femme.

"There is little about my frame or myself that is not included in the report from the recruitment center, Officer. Is there anything that you wish to ask of me?"

She hummed, but did not ask any questions. "You are my only recruit this session. How would you like to go about this? From what Vicegrip shared, you do not truly need any training in weaponry or in hand-to-hand and most everyone could stand to take a few lessons from you. Personally, I would have put you through officer training, whether for a specialty or just for a frontline unit. Since you are just to be a frontliner, however, we will have to do some physical training as well as some tactical training. We will start with the former."

It was good that his plating did not puff up in pride nor that he showed any objections. Considering what he was able to do, per his evaluation, it was a miracle that he was not as conceited as he had the right to be. She had never had any dealings with mecha that did not act as if they deserved everything they had if they had the skills he did. As long as he continued the way he was and showed the same degree of competence as he had at evaluation, he would be moving on to the frontlines in short order. In fact, if she could have, she would have had his training skipped and had him assigned directly to the frontlines. The only thing that had stopped her were the regulations that required any mecha that was not military caste of some type go through training.

As it was, she spent several orns with him, mainly working with him as far as she could on tactics. He showed a surprising aptitude for them, which she was sure the base he would be assigned to would use to their advantage. They sparred some as well, though she learned quickly that he had no need for instruction in the weapons she kept in her training room. She enjoyed that time instead, thankful that she was not trying to instruct a scientist in the every orn use of a blaster that resembled the model that she had learned how to shoot when she was still in her youngling frames. Mismatch was almost sad to see him leave after she cleared him for active duty.

At the ceremony, he was given the Autobot brand and his assignment with little fanfare. The lack of over-formality suited him, for all that he spoke as if he was reading out of a textbook instead of like he had learned anything from his Creator or Sire.

"Where are you headed?" she asked as the ceremony concluded and they were again allowed to mingle as they felt.

"It appears that I am to be assigned to Slaughter City. Do you know much about the area?" he asked, going over the orders that had been both handed to him as well as databurst. "Or any of the mecha that are stationed there?"

Mismatch hummed quietly, contemplating what she could share with a mech that would be entering as a newly trained recruit. "It's in the thick of it," she advised. "They're down a fair number of mecha due to an unfortunate transfer that left them low just when they should not be. They're holding up well despite that. As for the mecha stationed there, you'll have to become quite comfortable around femmes. The base is about half mech and half femme in composition. And don't let yourself get turned around by the frames of them either. There are several mechs with very slim builds just as there is at least one femme stationed there that is one of the biggest tanks we have in that area."

"Are there any quirks about the landscape?"

"It's an industrial area. About the most landscape you'll get are some rolling hills outside of the city. The mecha who built the cities decided to put all industry on land that is more flat, with the exclusion of Tagan Heights, which was built there because of the proximity to resources. The rest of the industrial cities all require that the resources be shipped to them. Other than that, I know that it is close to the Badlands, so you will probably have to deal with some of the nomadic mecha there and the few predators that can survive there." She paused to think if there was anything else that she could add, but did not have any further information, having never been there herself. "Do you need any help getting out there or do you need to pick up anything before you do?"

"As long as the Autobots are sending a transport out there, I believe that I should be okay getting out there, but I would not mind going out into Iacon for a little while to pick up a few things to take with me." He looked at her in question, wings angling to add the question to the statement as he was unsure if he was allowed out of the training complex.

"You won't have the time to go out there. The transport leaves in less than a joor and with the traffic out in Iacon you wouldn't make it back in time. If it's really important, I can pick whatever you wanted up and send it out on the next transport for you."

His wings drooped minutely. That was disappointing, but what he had expected. "If you find anything interesting in regards to crystal growing or manipulation, I would be grateful to receive anything. As well, if you find any exotic spices or flavorings to be used in either cooking or confectionary preparation, that would be appreciated as well."

"Spices, flavorings, and crystals," she stated in summary. "Got it. I'll take a look and see if there is anything. You find any good music files or small, exotic instruments out there, see if you can send them back to me. I'm always looking for things like that."