Transformers Prime: Convergence is a plot and character-development driven roleplay forum based upon canon material of TFP and RiD, but incorporates characters, elements, and plotlines from various other continuities to craft a unique story. Our community is welcoming, laid back, and dedicated to making each roleplay experience a good one.
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Spacewarp's new wings were still practically factory-new, something that she couldn't abide by in good conscience. She'd never let anyone call what she'd done begging, but the Seeker couldn't delude herself in that regard, either. Despite being Nyon-born, there was a mighty need in Spacewarp's spark to start burning up ozone at her earliest convenience. It wasn't a joyride, but taking charge of some of the vehicon patrols was a welcome job. Spacewarp would have settled for just flying as part of a squadron again, let alone the opportunity to lead one. How anyone could mistake her and two other vehicons for a squadron was anyone's guess, but today she was making a habit out of suspending her own disbelief.
Her only qualm about her assignment was that Silentsky was usually kept on more stealthy assignments. It was up to her big, bulky aft to keep the skies clear for Megatron.
The only valid complaint Spacewarp had with the vehicons in general were how quiet they were. The flight over Canada had been mostly silent anyway, but back home, she would have at least expected a little banter between her squadmates. The pair behind her responded quickly and properly to all of her orders, directions and commands, which was welcome again, given how Megatron tended to treat his underlings. Today was shaping up to be refreshing, albeit boring.
As if perfectly on queue, a small yellow dot began to dance around on Spacewarp's scanners.
Vector 7...
Intercept in T minus 120 seconds...
No response from their IFF...
Spacewarp banked left, taking her patrol with her. She'd never been one to dogfight with spots of dust on her scanner before, so Spacewarp planned to play it safe. She sped up, intending to catch a glance at the interloper as they passed by one another. For all intents and purposes, it was just a lost vehicon whose IFF wasn't functioning properly.
There was so much out there that Cyberwarp wanted to see on this planet, but she knew that each and every time she made a trek like this.. she was risking herself.
Herself and her newfound friendships.
The former Decepticon had been happy to at least find other neutrals, but to find that she hadn't quite escaped the war alarmed her. There were too many risks in staying on Earth, and yet.. she found herself compelled to stay. Cyclonus might not easily find her, but Megatron and the DJD were a completely different story. If so much as one Decepticon spotted her, it was game over.
Cyberwarp had taken precautions as she flew out to Canada. Just keep an optic out for any sort of activity in the skies and all would be fine. The problem with that was that humans constantly flew their aircrafts and it could be quite difficult to tell who was friend, who was foe, and who was just a random organic creature sitting in a non-sentient machine.
It was as she flew that she caught signals on her radar, and that alone was enough to make the poor femme antsy. There was no telling who it was, but Cyberwarp wasn't about to take chances just yet either. She immediately took up evasive maneuvers, trying to get whoever it was off her tail. Please oh please don't be a Decepticon..
The cold, quiet rush of air through her foils only served to sharpen Spacewarp's reflexes. Her mind subconsciously shifted, diverting all of her attention toward the instruments at her command. Whoever it was, they were dropping altitude fast; in no mood for a fight it seemed. A regular human aircraft might not have been spooked by another contact on their radar, but this one in particular was doing their best to lay low. Their behavior had shown that they weren't anticipating anything else on their own radar, not so soon at least. The patrol's arrival had in all likelihood spooked them a bit. Her best guess was that her little guest was out here doing something they shouldn't.
Spacewarp sent a nonverbal code to her accompanying patrol to break off for now, and to start combing the surrounding area as she herself went to investigate their new contact. The absolute last thing she was going to tolerate today was an ambush. Lowering her own altitude ever so slightly, Spacewarp rolled on her side to see her new friend speed by beneath her. A vibrant blue and yellow-tinted blur zipped by beneath her, in no hurry to make nice with the big scary Decepticon jet flying above them. Curious, and almost convinced that they were Cybertronian with that colorful of a paint-scheme, Spacewarp swung around to follow them.
Above all, she wanted a closer look. Spacewarp hammered her ramjets to bump up her speed, though her weapons remained on standby. Even with her relative size, flying through cozy terrain was nothing she hadn't performed before. If this little fellow wanted to play tag through the snow-capped mountains, so be it.
Whoever was this was was still on her tail, following after Cyberwarp. It made her panic internally a bit, not sure what to do outside of preforming any and all evasive maneuvers she could. If needed she could open fire, but that was the last thing she really wanted to do. She came to this planet with Wing to escape this whole thing, yet all she managed to do was bury herself further into it.
It was a miracle Megatron and the DJD hadn't come after her yet, and that was if they even knew she'd quit the Decepticons.
Somersaults and barrel rolls weren't easy by any means given her alt mode, so Cyberwarp was truly left with the option of risky evasion and dodging through any kind of terrain surrounding her. Cyberwarp continued to duck downwards, swinging around a couple of mountain peaks a bit too close for her liking but she was desperate. She didn't think she would lose them so easily, but she was trying.
These Decepticons lacked any real sort of protocol for dealing with unidentified aircraft, other than the inevitable command to shoot it down. Spacewarp liked to remind herself that she'd been given an actual military education by her universe's Decepticons, and that just throwing all the firepower she had downrange wasn't a viable solution. It was still fun though. She watched wordlessly as the hovercraft she was chasing performed its somewhat sad attempt at evasive maneuvers.
Given the disparity between their relative speeds, Spacewarp was forced to cut off her ramjets early, lest she end up colliding with her target. A good pilot could always learn about a person based on how they flew, and given that she wasn't being fired upon, Spacewarp decided to indulge herself. Like before, they hadn't turned around to engage, nor had they done the smart thing and dropped into the tree cover below. A hovering alt-mode was far better suited to sudden starts and stops than Spacewarp was.
Whoever they were, they were nervous, yet not so much that they'd strike out when cornered. By contrast, they were running at full sprint while Spacewarp herself was barely at a jog. It was understandable, at least. It was time to put a little pressure on her little friend now, something to provoke their true colors.
"Now. Hold weapons."
On her signal, both Vehicons emerged from the cloud cover ahead, now on a direct intercept course with Cyberwarp. As commanded, they held their fire for the moment. They had a choice now. Open fire or disengage. Spacewarp was eager to see which.
Wing had not expected to find the neutrals he did on Earth. Well, to be accurate, he hadn't expected to find the number of Cybertronians they had. It was a strange development, to be sure, and not a welcome one. He'd recovered from surprise quickly, knowing that his shock would do nothing to help them and that worry would only hinder them. It was best to accept the fact and move on. The war had moved to Earth, where he'd been hoping to help Cyberwarp escape it. Instead, they'd landed directly in the middle.
That was why he'd followed her soon after her departure on her exploration. He did not begrudge her the desire to observe this planet. It was strangely beautiful in its organic nature. Indeed, he quite enjoyed her inquisitive nature and the way she was willing to reach out to her surroundings. However, he did worry about her safety.
Maintaining a high altitude, nearly breaching the atmosphere, the bot followed his friend at a distance, letting her have her exploration without his interference. For the moment. If she met with trouble, he would not hesitate to intercept. He disliked conflict, but, he was aware of who it was who hunted Decepticon traitors and he would not allow them to have her easily.
For a good while, his fears seemed to be unfounded. However, what occurred next was fast enough that he was quite nearly caught off his guard. Three readings fell on Cyberwarp's position, driving her into a chase through mountainous terrain. It was only due to his training that he was able to react as quickly as he did.
From his height, Wing could see the formations of the Decepticon fliers. It was a simple pincer maneuver, set to trap the target. Fortunately, it didn't seem that he'd been spotted, else they would have gone after him too. Moving quickly and without too much thought as to what he was about to do, Wing fired his thrusters, shooting through the clouds as an uncomfortable pace. He set himself on a collision course with one of the oncoming vehicons, coming from above. Rocketing downward, gravity aiding him, Wing dropped on the Decepticon like a bird of prey. A smooth transition to his bipedal form directly preceded a momentum-powered kick to the jet's wing. It was a dangerous trick to be certain, but, if the force of his attack didn't damage the vehicon, it should throw him off course.
Falling on a different path now, his impact throwing off his direct descent, Wing would to his jet form following his strike.
Cyberwarp grew more frustrated and anxious by the second as she continued her getaway. Nothing she tried seemed to be working and they were still gaining on her! It brought her panic, something that would only make her situation worse.
That panic only grew when two more joined her chaser, the femme swinging around another peak and descending closer to the side of the mountain. It was the best she could do without opening fire, but even that was out of the question given she was outnumbered. Live and survive another day, but who knew what would happen if her pursuers caught her. So many thoughts came to Cyberwarp's processor. What if they were working directly for Megatron? What if they called the Decepticon Justice Division in? What if they took her directly to both?
What she didn't expect was for a familiar jet to drop into the fray in the most literal sense. ::Wing?!:: Her voice was filled not with frustration that he'd been following her, but relief just to see her friend. Though now that he was involved, that brought only further worries of something happened to him.
The hovercraft needed somewhere to land and quickly, preferably somewhere where she could take cover.. There was a good landing place down below, but could she make it and lose the three chasing her in the process?
The femme was just going to have to try as she quickly made a descent while dodging the various mountain cliffs in the process.
The sight of one of her squadmates being dropkicked into oblivion only occupied Spacewarp's vision for only a half second, but it was enough to let her know that she'd been tricked into an ambush. The kick-afflicted vehicon couldn't maintain control after being slammed into so quickly, so they more or less fluttered to the ground in a crash, leaving Spacewarp with one less teammate. Her military discipline was about the only thing that prevented her from letting loose with a rather long string of colorful curses over comms.
"Break off and engage the new contact, now!" she barked. On command, the second vehicon abandoned the incomplete pincer maneuver, speeding off in search of their newest interloper. Spacewarp herself remained on her original target, although her rules of engagement had been abruptly changed. Her cannons engaged, she began to light up the sky in front of her target, spewing a never-ending volley of laser fire.
Spacewarp proved her tenacity by sticking with the fleeing hovercraft even as they attempted to bob and weave through the mountains. Whoever they were, they would need to lose Spacewarp as soon as possible in order to throw her off, because now, she was pissed.
Wing pulled sharply upward, fully planning on leading his new pursuer in a merry chase. His engine roared under the strain of so many sharp maneuvers, but, he didn't slow. Now that he'd engaged, he would see this through to the end.
::I apologize for following you, my friend,:: he replied to Cyberwarp's contact, rolling to the right in an attempt to give himself a bit of room, ::I was worried.::
Without any weapons on his alt mode, Wing was left with only one option. He transformed again, this time, pulling his sword from his back. He attempted to use his own halting of movement to allow the vehicon to shoot past him, and, preferably, into the sword. He did not activate its powers with his spark, opting instead to use it only as a blade.
Even as she fled from the jets tailing after her, it still warmed Cyberwarp's spark as Wing voiced his concerns for her well being. Of course she wasn't mad in the least that he'd followed after her. If nothing else, she reasoned with herself that it was to make sure that she didn't fall back into old habits, but then again.. Wing had voiced his trust in her in more than one occasion.
::I'm not upset with you, I promise. Right now.. I'm just glad you're here.::
The femme's distress was rather apparent, especially now that they were starting to open fire. Even with just one jet on her heels, Cyberwarp was never much for dogfights as it was. She could try and dodge, but there weren't going to be any fancy barrel rolls or u-turns from her outside of novice skills in an attempt to escape.
As a shot found it's way into her left propeller, the former Decepticon cried out as she suddenly began to spiral downwards, the right unable to keep her balanced alone. Cyberwarp collided into a mound of snow, preventing her from slamming straight into the mountain's side. She transformed, reaching straight for her Lightbender in a panic and planting it onto her right pede. Even with it masking her appearance, the snow tracks would make it far too easy to spot her location until she could transform again.
The Vehicon never made a sound as they passed right by Wing, being unable to but a moment later. Cleaved neatly in half, both halves of the drone careened down to the earth below, erupting in a modest fireball upon impact. And with that, Spacewarp was alone again. This was unacceptable. She needed to make up for losing a patrol, otherwise people might start to form... opinions about her. With the tactical tunnel-vision setting in, she remained dead set on her target with no intention of letting them get away.
Spacewarp hadn't heard any weapons fire when her second squadmate's sensor contact left her scanners, so she could only make an educated guess. Either he was unarmed, or showing off; possibly both. Didn't matter to her. Spacewarp had fought her way though whole squads of enemies before, alone.
The little blue and gold speck in her sights dipped toward the ground, Spacewarp having scored a hit on their propulsion system. She accurately predicted their next move... which was to crash.
Spacewarp pulled up as soon as her target went down, transforming at the height of her climb. Though her friend had activated some sort of cloaking field to conceal their movements, they couldn't conceal their tracks. Her optics followed their pace carefully, aiming for a spot just a few meters ahead of them. Whistling through the air, Spacewarp slammed into the earth, almost on top of the cloaked enemy. With a sharp click and a hiss, her cannon detached from its mount on her back, where it was magnetically drawn toward right right forearm.
She pointed the rather robust-looking cannon dead ahead, a faint orange glow building up from within the barrel.
Despite being caught in combat, Wing's spark warmed. He still thanked Primus for finding as good a friends as he had. Surely, the great one had been smiling on him the day that they met.
He fell from his successful attack, again transforming in midair with seamless precision. Two down. Unfortunately, he suspected that he'd had the easy ones. The third stayed directly on Cyberwarp. Set on aiding his friend, he fired his thrusters, blasting through the air and angling down toward the chase.
His plating flared in sympathy as Cyberwarp was shot down. He hoped that she had not been harmed badly in the fall, but, he would not be able to reach her to check. At least, not yet. The Decepticon had deployed a rather threatening-looking cannon. A quick bit of reasoning told Wing that he wouldn't reach them in time, even at his top speed. So, he did what he could- he transformed again, drawing his sword even as his gears and plating moved and shifted in midair. Using the momentum from his transformation, combined with his flight, he hurled the sword at the Decepticon. At best, he'd hit the canon and knock the shot's trajectory awry. At worst...he refused to think about it.
Spacewarp didn't have any time to register or react to the pain shooting through her arm. The blade had cut straight through both the cannon and the limb it was attached to, although it was the former that caused more concern. Spacewarp hadn't even fired the weapon yet, but the sudden inclusion of a sword into its complicated inner workings was enough. The blasted sword had induced a feedback loop in the weapon's energy core, which meant-
SHOOM!!
Before she could blink, Spacewarp's cannon exploded in an energetic crescendo. A miniature maelstrom quickly formed and dissipated from the resulting gravitational anomaly. Loose debris and smoke swirled around the site of the explosion, although the Decepticon was nowhere to be seen...
Except she was just standing a few meters further back, now.
Her right arm having been completely atomized, Spacewarp barely stood upright at all. Her frame was littered with microfractures small and large, having seriously degraded her structural integrity. Silently and unceremoniously, she fell to her knees, before ultimately collapsing face-first in the snow. The color drained from her frame as the soft mountain wind became audible again...
*Click*
Hiss....
The plates on Spacewarp's back slid apart, ominously, letting a small plume of smoke rise from the interior...
Fwoosh!
A short, yellow and vaguely-Cybertronian frame shot forth from the wreckage, landing in the snow nearby.
Sunstr.... Spacewarp stood once more! Shorter, this time! The miniature Decepticon was absolutely furious, and somewhat puzzled, as this had never happened to her in recent memory. She was in a guarded combat pose, although she carried no weapons. She never had the chance to process her suit's latest tracking data, not that she could even access it now, so she was simply (adorably) trying to guard against all angles of attack; this only amounted to a whole lot of paranoid looks in every general direction, however.