Chapter Three
11th December, 2005
"Hey, Sunny, Sides lock you out again?"
The yellow twin opened his optics and stared up at the mech who stood over him.
"What the Pit do you want, Jazz?"
"Don't want nuffin, dude, just thought I'd tell ya Kup and Magnus are on the loose and are hitting out at anyone who's not behaving themselves, keeping the place clean or adhering to military etiquette, and recharging in the armoury is probably not going to be on their list of "things allowed". Well, catch ya later, man, cos I certainly don't want to be seen as an accomplice".
Jazz chuckled and left through one of the side doors. The twin groaned and sat up, he hadn't recharged well, he wasn't sure if it was the cold hard floor of the ammunition store or if it was whatever was keeping him online in his own quarter.
He became aware of something watching him again, he stood and activated his sensors to their most acute, he turned left, then spun right, trying to see who could be there.
"Jazz? If you're still here I'll hammer your aft into sheet metal!"
Nothing.
"Sides… what's the matter? Minute see you're all shine and went off with a real mech?"
Silence.
Something whacked him on the head.
"What the?"
He looked at what it was, it was small and had just landed on the floor at his feet. A shell casing. He picked it up and examined it. Probably just rolled off the shelf.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
Three more shell casings and they all seemed to land smack back on the top of his head. That was weird, but not impossible. He turned to the shelf to see if he could find the open box that the shells were obviously coming from… but why someone would put a box of spent shells back in the armoury he didn't know why… of course, this new city commander, Magnus, apparently he was quite prim, proper and pedantic and so wanted empty casings back for some kind of inventory. He climbed up onto the shelving and looked on the top. There was no empty box, or any box for that matter, not even a shell, just a slightly dusty shelf.
He then felt two firm hands on his shoulders and next thing he knew he was falling backwards.
--
"Hello, Sunstreaker, its me, First Aid, can you hear me? You're in the repair bay, you had a little… mishap. You're okay now though so don't worry, alright, now I'm going…"
"Out of the way, geek wad! Hey, bro! BRO! Wake up bro! Slag!"
"Maaaan… Sides? That you bro?"
"Yeah, bro, its me!"
"Holy slag, what hit me, how the pit did I end up here?"
"Ah… a big shelf of ammo and weapons landed on you".
"Oh yeah, that's right… some bastard pulled me… I fell back… guess I went into statis for a few cycles".
"Yeah, you've been out for 12 hours!"
"Someone pulled you from the shelving?"
Sunstreaker heard a gruff voice and he sat up slowly on the medical berth. His twin was standing next to him, the medic was just to the side of him fussing with one of his machines, Kup was standing at the end of the bed with Ultra Magnus.
"Well, lad?"
"Well, what?"
"I asked if someone really pulled you from the shelving?"
Magnus added, irritation in his voice evident.
"Yeah, I was up on the shelving when I felt someone's hands on my shoulders and yanked me backwards".
"Why were you climbing on the shelves that hold ammunition?"
"Ah, some empty casings fell on my head, I was sure they came from the top of the shelf so I had a look…, but there was nothing there, I guess it was just a few empty casings".
"And this was in ammunition store 54-BY-2?"
"Yeah".
"Why would there be empty shells on top of a shelf in 54-BY-2?"
"I dunno. But there were, and they fell on me".
"I'm more concerned with who would pull you off the shelving".
Kup replied.
"I didn't see anyone, but I was sure someone was watching me for a moment".
"Well, if you think of anything else, let us know. We will let you rest, but be assured, Sunstreaker, we will be having a conversation as to the reason you in an ammunition store without authorisation".
Magnus growled. The two then walked out.
"Wow, what a total prick".
Sideswipe grumbled.
First Aid gasped.
"Its almost like he didn't believe me!"
"Yeah, well, you gotta admit, bro, it's a bit far fetched, and what were you doing in an ammo store?"
--
"Something about that mech doesn't sit right, Kup".
"You're right about that lad, Perceptor worked up some specs, there's no way Sunstreaker could have pulled the shelving down with him, it was bolted to the wall with such force that Omega Supreme would work up a sweat just moving a bolt. But not only did he manage to hold on, he managed to yank the shelving off the wall when he came down".
"Which means that whoever pulled him off was so powerful and large that it'd be hard for Sunstreaker not to have noticed".
"Pretty much sums it up lad".
"What do the personal files say about this mech? Could he have some enemy within our ranks?"
"Personal files are somewhat fragmented from the attack on the city and the damage to the Arc, but from what we can gather from the former security officer's personal files, he's a bit of a prankster and he's known to bother others for a cheap laugh. Of a perhaps more vindictive reporting nature, its been mentioned that Sunstreaker is possibly suffering from a form of post traumatic stress syndrome caused by his missions, and in particular a rather vain streak which has caused on occasion serious interference with missions".
"Hmm, so a trouble maker with a short fuse, it appears".
"Apparently so, Magnus".
"Keep an eye on things here, Kup, I need to check on Rodimus".
--