A Very Sandy Adventure

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That settled it. This was officially the coolest thing that had ever happened to her. And now that she was firmly strapped in and her body temperature was going back to normal, she could really enjoy it. She'd always been a fan of anything with wings, and this took the cake. Fantastic.

"Mach 8?" She let off a shrill whistle, indicating she was impressed. "Fastest thing a standard fighter jet can do is a 5, depending on the model. That's some serious speed you have going for you."

She tipped her head, not really sure where to look when she was talking to this sentient jet, but aiming for the HUD after a minute of looking around the cockpit. "Space flight sounds amazing." She passed a hand through her hair finally, taking down and redoing her military bun so she'd hopefully cool down faster.

As he told his story she stopped moving entirely, listening. "So there's two factions, and you choose which side to join up with." She nodded once. "A city made entirely of fliers sounds like my version of heaven, and I'm sorry to hear that its gone." She sighed, tipping her head back so that she was resting against the seat and watching the sky while they were flying.

"I've had wings since I was ten years old. Dad taught me on a prop plane, wasn't supposed to, but he did and I was in love. Nothing beat flying, having the sky all around as far as you could see and being far above the concerns of those left on the ground. Its freedom." She sat back up, grinning again. "Give me something with wings over wheels any day."

She'd said it because she felt like, somehow, he'd understand. He was a living jet, after all, or at least his kind of alien had wings. When he said there weren't many like him she had to frown. "So the Decepticons have a better air force. The point isn't in numbers, but how those numbers are trained. You are an Air Commander, you said? That means you have to be good at what you do. Long as those under your command fly better than those trained by whoever commands the Decepticons' Air Force then I think it balances out."

[Jetfire]

Alongside discussions of scientific theory, tactics was a personal favorite topic of Jetfire's. His internals blinked along with the tune of his voice, in unison, "The Decepticons mostly field short-range strike units, drones mostly. They rely on numbers to win most engagements, numbers we'll never have. To put that in literal terms, the maximum number of craft that the Autobots can field is around only five, on a good day no less."

The flat tops of the plateau overlooking Omega-1 could be seen coming into view as Jetfire descended through the clouds to meet them, continuing to engage his passenger in conversation. "Oh I make sure our air units are thoroughly trained, I can assure you. No amount of training can help you take on fifty, or one hundred enemy craft however. Which is why I make it a hobby to cook up tech that can take out a hundred enemy aircraft."

Jetfire passed through what appeared to be a rock-solid cliff face, only to reveal itself as a holographic projection concealing the inner workings of Omega-1. He decelerated with an unnaturally graceful stop, popping his landing gear. The cockpit slid open, prompting Jetfire to ask, "Madam, if you would be so kind?"

[Deleted]

Her lips compressed into a thin line as she realized exactly how screwed these Autobots were. Well, at least they hadn't given up yet. And if she could manage it, she'd help them. Anything to get back at the one that killed her friends. If she helped even in a small way, that would be enough. A thought occurred to her then. "If they're drones, then does that mean they don't have advanced thought and action? I mean, are they smart like you or just sort of point and shoot? Cause if something or someone else controls them, wouldn't something jamming up their signals help out?" She had no idea how it all worked, she just wanted to help.

Aurelie saw the Outpost and dismissed it in favor of her conversation. At least at first. "Nothing beats outsmarting your enemy." She flashed a grin at the HUD again, taking a deep breath as her body temperature returned to something resembling normal. And then she realized they weren't slowing down as they approached a solid rock cliff-side. She clutched the seat hard and almost cursed at the sentient jet before whatever it was fell away.

She did smack the cockpit over her head. "Thanks for the warning! You scared the ever living crap out of me!" Her heart was still in her eyeballs when they made a safe landing, and she scrambled out of the jet as soon as she could. Not that she was scared of him, she was just angry and it was hard to bitch at someone from inside them. Which was another weird thing to say too.

[Jetfire]

"When I say drones, I mean dumb and numerous. We don't actually know if they're all controlled by a single machine, but evidence is leading me to doubt it. I can work with numbers problems, though." Even though she was still completely new to this 'world', Jetfire was still happy to see Aurelie trying her hand at helping, even if it was just speculative. He flashed a smiling emoticon back at the pilot from his heads up display, just for good measure.

Jetfire felt the pap on his cockpit, indicative that the human hadn't taken too kindly to not being informed he was flying through solid matter. "Don't be cross with me now, it's not my fault you humans don't have a sensory organ that can tell the difference between a hologram and solid matter." It wasn't Jetfire's fault either, because he didn't have an organ that could do that too.

Once Aurelie was out of the cockpit it came time to show her that there was more than meets the eye, so to speak. Jetfire wasn't sure why that was the phrase they used when revealing themselves to organics; bit too cliche for his tastes. Several of the aircraft's 'panels' shifted apart, undoing the lock on its alt-mode. Jetfire transformed, pushing himself to his full substantial height overlooking the hangar bay. He stretched his wings out to full span, flashing his Autobot badges proudly, before tucking the both of them behind his back once again.

"Hello there," the Autobot said, now greeting the human in his true form.

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"Like you do?" She snarked back, hands on her hips as she stepped back a little more so that she didn't feel as though she were in firing range of jet engines.

And then she forgot what she was angry about as the jet before her suddenly started to change. Her mouth hung agape, eyes going large as the color drained from her face. To anyone looking at her now they might think she was about to start screaming at the massive mechanical being now standing in front of her. She even thought about doing just that, and then decided she wasn't really scared so much as startled.

"Holy hell..." There was only so much being in the military could prepare a person for. Giant alien robots certainly wasn't anywhere on that list. She thought she was coping pretty well so far, all things considered.

She blinked, shook her head, and the spell was broken. "You are freaking massive! Can you still fly like that?" She paced back and forth in front of him, examining the new form with a critical eye. "I mean it certainly isn't nearly as aerodynamic but you have wings so clearly it could be a thing?" She took a breath and covered her mouth, stopping the word vomit mid-thought before she said something potentially squish worthy. And he certainly could squash her like a bug.

If he could catch her. Aurelie took another breath and calmed herself down slowly, hands going to her sides. "Well this is certainly the most amazing thing to happen to me." Another shake of her head. "Wow, just wow." She was suitably impressed, but not afraid.

[Jetfire]

Could he still fly like that. "Of course I can, though it's more akin to flying with a jetpack instead of as an aircraft." Just because one is a little big doesn't mean the laws of aerodynamics no longer apply. Jetfire could already start predicting the barrage of questions Aurelie had about Cybertronians, and was preparing answers to most of them in the meantime. In return, he had a few statements and conditions he felt needed to be addressed as well.

"Now I know you've never encountered a friendly talking robot before, but we've come across our share of nosy humans, somehow..." Jetfire started, moving over to the flight terminal to log his report. "So when this sort of thing happens, command asks us to watch over them, in a sense. To the Decepticons, a human with the knowledge of an Autobot base is a much easier target than an Autobot with knowledge of an Autobot base, yeah? Now it's my job to make sure nothing terrible happens to you."

The Autobot switched off the terminal once he'd concluded his report, logging yet another human who'd come across their 'secure' facility. "You no longer have a functioning aircraft, so I suppose that takes care of my role in all of this," he continued, implying that Aurelie would be riding an alien for her own safety for the foreseeable future.

[Deleted]

"This a military base, isn't it?" She was wondering about that, but given that Jetfire was obviously some advanced fighter jet she felt she was on the right track. She nodded when he mentioned the dangers of knowing about the Autobots and their base. "And the more people that know about you being here the worse it is, cause your enemies can find the base and exploit those under your protection to get what they want." It really made her realize the precarious position she'd found herself in.

"It may not amount to much in this war your faction is in, but at least I'm military. I can't imagine being a civilian tossed into the middle of all this." Her green eyes went hard. "I understand I'm in some real danger here, and I appreciate you rescuing me. If I could forget I would, just to make sure I couldn't be used as an asset against the good guys." Aurelie sighed and stood down, letting him finish what he was saying.

His mentioning of her jet made her wince. "Yeah I'm going to be hearing it for wrecking that thing. Those birds are expensive. Should probably go get it at some point, its got live missiles on it that I'd rather not someone accidentally set off. I'd be in trouble if one of those things exploded a civilian." Not to mention the potential for some less than legal persons to scrap the jet and steal its armament.

She was still wrapping her brain around how big Jetfire was, she had a million questions about how well he could maneuver like that in the air since he'd said he could still fly. But those questions went out of her head when he mentioned his role in her protection.

"Wait a second...are you seriously suggesting that I get to ride with you again? As in not when I'm in imminent danger of heat stroke?" She had to restrain herself from jumping up and down like an excited Chihuahua. She could be professional about this. "Not that I'm complaining, but why would you do that for me? I'm sure you have better things to do than look after me."

[Jetfire]

Jetfire bent his arms together across his chest, nodding at Aurelie's initial assessment. They would indeed be riding together again, at least until the whole 'Earth situation' cooled down substantially. "You'd better not be complaining," he quipped with a wink of his optic. "And you're right, I have tons of better things to be doing than babysitting a human. Like inventing more of this." Jetfire paused, casting his arms out wide as his form's colors abruptly changed. The red, white and blue color palette that had adorned his body a moment ago washed away, being replaced with a mixture of darker, stealthier colors. Just as quickly as they'd rolled in, the colors receded to leave his original pigmentation present. The wonders of stealth paint.

"However, nobody ordered me to come scoop you up, and I am not the kind of person to pass off my responsibilities to another; especially not ones I chose to take. But don't feel bad. You're stuck with a high-tech, high-performance sky-shredder like me; I'm loads better than a jet that can't talk, anyways."

[Deleted]

"Hell no I'm not complaining." She shot back, a big grin on her face. Eyes went wide at the shifting colors on his frame before she assessed it the way she'd been taught. Military strategy and applications obviously came to mind, but mostly she thought of how useful it would be in hiding escaping civilians caught in a battle zone. Even though flying had always been her dream, and she was dedicated to career military as a profession, she still felt like it was her duty to look after the ones that couldn't protect themselves in a combat situation. Not that she was saying that.

"That is extremely cool, Jetfire." As he told her that he did indeed have better things to do but that he'd chosen to look after her despite everything he had to have to do with his position she could only grin the big, crazy looking grin that made some of her fellow pilots back away from her. She had always loved pushing the limits, and this was one heck of a way to push it.

"It isn't 'stuck' at all. I love flying, and at the speeds you go I can't wait to have the chance to fly with you again." She wondered if he'd help her track down the jerk that shot down her friends, and also how they'd handle the jet she'd left behind. But one step at a time.

[Jetfire]

Jetfire returned her grin, infectious as it was. Even he enjoyed the thought of getting to ride around in a jet like himself, oddly enough. "I'm flattered, or, maybe you're inflating my ego. Because after all, I am the fastest Autobot in the skies. Last I checked."

Boasting wasn't something Jetfire was known for. It was more often than not the praise of some of the younger troops giving him praise for his abilities. However, once in a blue Luna 1 he'd been known to acknowledge his prowess to the general public. All the improvements to his body that enabled him to outperform his enemies had come from his own mind and steel, so a few pats on the back were as much of a praise for his wings as they were his mind. Jetfire liked it either way.

"Not sure when we'll clear you to leave. It's not like we're holding you here, but these things you know, they take time. Feels like every week we've got another human being brought back here. All that being said, I would love to get myself airborne again, so the sooner the better."