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Rodimus smiled to himself as he observed the big blue marble of a planet that was steadily growing larger in his view screen. He was excited, he was almost there. No clue why he wanted to be but he knew Optimus Prime and several other Autobots were dirt-side and that got his servos twitchy just thinking about it. Decepticons, fighting that old foe once again by the side of the leader of the Autobots was almost like one of the old stories. Old stories that he was increasingly part of as the solar cycles moved by, he mused to himself. But the thing that got him the most excited was that the planet itself had yet to turn into a blasted wasteland from pole to pole. Cybertron was one thing, but Earth was very much alive.
He was on the night side of the planet, by that point, and so he eyed what he could see. There, in the middle of one of their continents was a beacon of light. It stood out for being relatively alone, unlike the coastlines of the landmass, and yet shining brightly as if a major population center. He set his vector to put him just a few miles away from it, in the darkness that surrounded that spot. His computers started scanning the transmissions from that location and very quickly determined it to be named Las Vegas. "This is Rodimus, calling any Autobot forces in the vicinity of a Earth location known as Las Vegas. I am landing at the following coordinates imminently. Request rendezvous for debriefing."
Though he'd just said everything that needed saying Rodimus couldn't help but feel fair warning was appropriate. He had no intention of sitting in the desert twiddling his thumbs while a Earth settlement was so close to hand, and he would need a local vehicle scan so that he could blend in. "I won't wander too far while I wait." He closed the channel and set the Rodpod down in the desert...
It was quiet ground side. Yet that didn't excuse anyone from listening in for any trace signals on the comms array. It was Optimus' turn this time as he stood at the panel with an Energon cube to sip at during the late hours of the night. It was a quiet and relaxing night at the moment before he got a signal ping. There goes his evening as he focused the systems onto this oncoming Cybertronian.
"Rodimus, this is Optimus Prime leader of the Autobots. I will converge at your location immediately. Just hang tight." He peeled away from his console and gathered the last gulp of his Energon before he hears the warning. That set his engine revving to hit the ground rolling. He quickly typed in the coordinates for the groundbridge before activating it to go through.
A green portal exploded with life in a deserted desert road in the middle of the night. A semi rig rolled through swiftly and the gate closed behind it. The lights aboard switched on and now the semi started it's search for Rodimus. He does remember someone mentioning a Rodpod in relation to Rodimus. That was a clue for Optimus to figure out his personality. Yet he will have to figure out the true Rodimus back at base while he started an open communications channel, "Rodimus, I am in the general area and on the move. Be wary of a red and blue truck." With that being said, he focused on his driving to avoid any potholes or rough road to keep his momentum going.
Rodimus hadn't sat idle, he hadn't waited for the big bot to come find him. Instead, he'd nestled the Rodpod in a sandy depression where it looked almost like a giant bot had sunk into the sand up to its neck. Then he'd gone exploring. Up to the top of a nearby rise where he could survey his surroundings using a magnification monocular. There, to the West, was the city of Las Vegas. So tantalizingly close and bright. He knew none of them had witnessed the Rodpod coming down, light pollution in that city probably made it impossible to even see the stars in the otherwise crystal clear sky for anyone standing within its limits.
Then he spotted something closer, heard the sound of a million horsepower being opened up all at once drawing his eyes a bit to the Northwest where there was another set of lights. Fewer, but all seemingly focused on something in their midst. Rodimus grinned at what he immediately recognized as an in use racetrack arena, transformed into his heavy and massive Cybertronian car form, and raced off through the desert on the powerful chassis.
He'd found the stadium seating didn't completely surround the interior, so he was laying along the back of a hill that formed one side of the structure and watching what appeared to be the cabs of 18-wheelers that had been heavily modified for racing do exactly that. They powered around the curves of the oval track and blasted down the straight aways with the most incredible noise. Rodimus loved it. That was when he got the next call from Optimus Prime. He sent his new coordinates with a grin. "I think you're gonna fit right in, big bot. Wait until you see this. We might both end up with new forms tonight." And there he waited, watching the powerful semis drag race and endurance race around the track. Waiting to see which was the fastest.
If only Optimus knew what Rodimus brought along to Earth. He kept driving and keeping an eye out for the illusive man. He could only hope that Rodimus had planted his vessel in a decent enough hiding spot. Though he did activate a scanner to see if he could locate any trace Cybertronian signals. All that came up was the Rodpod for a moment. Now to make his way through this oddly lit desert.
The next signal he got was a communication and a set of coordinates. He had to figure out a landmark to orientate himself before following the instructions. Though they were sound enough for him to bypass the Rodpod and make his way to a stadium. Yet he stuck to the roads of which and soon found them leading to a particular area of the stadium.
Rodimus' side of the hill was rather lonely while the Prime accidentally drove into the backlot of where the racers were. He scanned the vehicles for any form of the Autobot. Yet he came to a halt while a staff member came up to the big rig asking for Optimus to roll down the window. It rolled down and a hologram of Denny Clay to stand in. Yet the voice was still Optimus, "What can I do for you sir?" Beneath that hood, the engine coolant was set to high to keep his wits going.
The staff member was not pleased that this big rig was not in the starting gate right now! Optimus... Denny said he wasn't going to race yet the Staff member soon had a red and blue semi rig lining up with the others. Optimus could only keep his hologram active inside the cab but not out of it. So it was either freaking a human out with a vanishing act or have the number 17 painted onto his side.
Rodimus had been contenting himself with watching the races, the set up, the clearing of the track every time there was a bang up, the show vehicles in the middle of the track's infield, and all the people in the stands. He hadn't even begun to worry about what was taking Optimus, so it caught him by complete surprise when he looked over to where they were putting trucks in line for another race on the track and found a very curious looking red cab looking back at him. Rodimus had to slap his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from exclaiming in awe at the hilarity of the situation. Optimus must have approached 'the right way' and been mistaken for a competitor. With his stylized shape that wasn't really a surprise, but that he'd gone along with it definitely was.
He opened a comm channel and spoke to Optimus over it. "You know, Boss Bot, I always took you for more of a number 24 than a 17. Didn't they offer you a selection?" Rodimus was chuckling the whole way through, obviously making light of Optimus' predicament. "I don't think you've got the oomph to pull out the victory on this one. You're built too heavy and all of these guys look like they're running NOS on top of being stripped down... oooooo, look at that flame painted one at the end. That's got to be a custom build from the ground up..." Rodimus had spotted a form that was just right for him. Sleek, laid back, bulky enough to cover his form but still built for speed. Oh yeah, he was gonna find it's pit and scan that.
And then the green flag was dropping and Rodimus was refocusing on Optimus.
Denny gripped the steering wheel with wide eyes and an old World War helmet strapped to his head. Inadvertently Optimus had his actions going through the hologram while he lined up with the other more menacing racers. Though he was still looking for Rodimus before hearing him over the comms. Which only made him panic a little when he learned that Rodimus viewed him as a 24.
"This is no time for jokes and I am trapped. Do you really think that... Wait, you're insinuating that these vehicles are faster than Cybertronians?" He could only look around to see all the other racers. Short pipes that sputtered flames, huge engines left bare, powerful looking tires, minimal weight, flame paint jobs. His spark pulsed with excitement before he tuned back into Rodimus, remembering what he said about his weight. True, Optimus was no lightweight and his size somewhat dwarfed the others. He could only hope to keep up with these adrenaline junkies.
The green flag was flown and the racers were off! Optimus mumbled to himself, "Oh Primus give me strength!" as he raced down the track. Surprisingly he kept pace with the racers. He just had to overclock his alt mode systems to give him a boost in this race. To his surprise he was finding other racers with less tuned semi's that kept with him. Yeah, maybe he can stay with this group assuming they bit off more than they could chew.
What came next made him panic a little more. The last in the race began to pull ahead with their nitrous oxide boosters kicking in. "They're pulling ahead Rodimus. I think they're more attuned to straight ways. You think I can manage them in the corners?" The track he was in had a turn coming up fast and his processors started to work and add differentials to the wheels below. Yet he added in an extra with power to each wheel than just free spinning. The other racers started to slow down and take wider turns and that had Optimus to believe that they didn't have all wheel steering. He hugged the corner as tight as possible while having some minor transformation in his wheels to allow them to turn. Turning on a dime? Nah, he could turn on a pin!
All the other racers had wider turns and now Optimus was in the lead. Perhaps he could win the corner game of this race! "Rodimus, I am in the lead. Proceeding to tear up the track." He went silent on his end after saying that while letting his words mull over in his head. Did he really get competitive here? Of all places???
Another turn came and his mind went blank while his competitive edge kicked in. All the other racers were smaller in a way while he still had his size. Which he used to his advantage while he used his all wheel drive to have him practically crab walking or driving sideways along this corner. To get past this big rig would be challenge. To the crowd, they thought he was drifting and went absolutely crazy with their cheers and woots! Was that a popcorn bag sailing through the air?
"To be fair, Optimus, they are purpose built. You're a combination of urban camouflage, heavy lifter, and combat unit. They've been stripped down, tuned up, and some built from the ground up for nothing but racing." It came as no surprise that, playing fair, Optimus was falling back in the pack. He -was- a little surprised that Optimus let his competitive streak get the best of him. No surprise that Big Bot had one, you couldn't be a warrior and survive if you didn't have that desire to come out on top every single time. But Optimus usually didn't let the mere existence of a challenge control his decisions. Rodimus also hadn't expected Optimus to use his unfair advantages to not just stay in the game but to pull out ahead.
He could hear the excitement in Optimus' voice when he exclaimed that he was back in the lead. "I see that, you're really hauling alloy out there. Only that custom job is keeping up with you. But... just one question. You do realize that if you win, they're gonna expect your 'driver' to get out and accept a trophy... right?" That was the rub. Optimus' 'driver' couldn't get out. Any more than the holographic driver of any Autobot could get out. Well, except for Mirage's but that was a different situation entirely. There was a squeal of tires and a roar as an engine suddenly jumped to an RPM that wasn't possible usually. Somebody had turned on their NOS and it took only a moment to see it was the red custom job that Rodimus had been thinking to copy for his own use. The fact that it began pulling past Optimus just further affirmed Rodimus' decision.
What Optimus would do about that would say a lot about the bot.
17 stayed in first as he came out of a corner. So he had to straighten up as driving in a straight line in this way was fairly awkward. This opened up the track all around him for those speedsters to pull out ahead of him. One of which zipped by the large bot, flabbergasted by this he didn't notice he went from first to about sixth place.
All those big rigs taught him that they had plenty of speed in straightways. He was back with the slower ones that revved their engines in gear shiftings. "Purpose built to race and outrun me easy. Only way I can keep ahead is hitting those corners fast and hard then using my girth to keep them behind." He called his vehicle form wide and now he was noticing his strategies to keep in his new positions. He began to take note of the turns and how he could move up in ranks.
His prerace mindset was a mess yet when he was in it he could figure out who to keep ahead of and what to watch out for from behind them. Their quirks and their habits started to show. Was this his war self telling him who to watch and how to defeat them or something else.
"The driver has to get out and claim the trophy? I thought was a... What place can I be not to get a trophy or something Rodimus?" He began to predict how the races went in terms of rewarding those. Of course first was a given and second and third. Yet he was unclear of how Earth handled it's fourth, fifth, and so on. Another corner and he dug his way into fifth place before shifting his size to stay in this spot. He began to wonder if everyone in the race got something for participating even if they weren't first.
Rodimus used his magnifiers, watching the race take shape. The slick custom truck was really putting in the work, the others were using drafting and bump drafting to catch up with Optimus and the real champ. Rodimus nodded to himself and scanned the infield with the magnifiers. "That's one way to win, technically. But you'd look awfully silly wallowing up and down the track. And it would actually make you slower to boot."
He finally found what he was looking for, the winner's circle. There were spaces for another three full trucks and Rodimus checked about a bit more until he found the podium. "Alright, found what we are looking for. Appears that if you come in 4th or worse you don't have to even worry about the celebration. Worse case scenario, a couple of folks pat you on the side as you pull back out of the track and tell you good effort. Pulling the lead like you did was probably pretty novel. You'll have mechanics all over the state trying to reproduce what you did in that first turn for years." He checked back with the current standings of the race. "Block the green one, he's driving like a jerk, let the white one with the purple stripe and the gray one go by."
"Having a goal and achieving it is a great victory in of itself. If I were to set my goals to be in first place, then there are no greater goals than that. Stealing away a sense of victory." The pedals in his cab shifted, slammed hard and his rig move on up in the race track. His rear wheels locked into position while he subtly move to and fro to keep the racers behind him. His foothold in fifth place remained before he listened to Rodimus once more.
4th would be his goal. A small smile came to his hologram driver before he swerved a bit to keep the green one in check. Yet this gave the white with purple and grey stripes pass him up. Which landed Prime in sixth place. No good, he will have to be a lot more active in the corners to get to fourth place. "These humans are easily amused by great technology. Yet I do not blame them. I too have a great sense for it too seeing as I had to learn what the Cons may come up with. Their persistence in the technological race is admirable." Another corner and soon he dug in deep to the inside before unlocking his rear wheels so his huge body can swing.
He didn't take up the entire track corner as he wanted only to have the green racer locked behind him while keeping a closing gap for that fifth place. His position was still sixth out of eight contestants here. Yet he knocked off the top three so that lands him in the middle of the pack. Not too good nor too bad.
He however found that his fancy turning skills were not appreciated by the green racer who bumped into him several times to show his attitude and to force Optimus out of the way. Minor dents here and there as Optimus lurched every so often, yet he refused to back down from this position.
"I tell myself that all the time," Rodimus grumbled to himself but over the open comm line where Optimus could hear it if he wanted to listen. Life, up until landing on this particular ball of mud, had been a long series of 'win or lose at least we gave it our all' speeches. Really, if it wasn't for the fact that as a faction the Autobots won way more than they lost he wasn't sure they would go on. Seriously, how did the Decepticons manage to keep morale up taking it to the skid plate nine times out of every ten? Optimus was being very inspirational, or trying to justify wanting to beat a bunch of primitive life forms in a competition they didn't know they were having. Rodimus wasn't sure.
He snorted in amusement. "Well, maybe it's the tech. But in my experience everybody wants to be the best at something, so they follow their talent and hope it's greater than the next bot." Hot Rod had been one of the fastest bots on Cybertron, that was gone for the moment but who knew... maybe one day he'd be the greatest at something else. He just had to keep an eye out for his talent and the opportunity to present it. "Watch the green one, he's going to try a pit stop maneuver on you. I guess you've got him frustrated." And then the green truck was attempting to push Optimus' rear tires up the track so that the tractor trailer truck would jack knife and fall out of the race.
A few laps already and the massive rig was having trouble keeping his positioning when the other racers started to figure out how to get around him. He traded places with others and took them back before advancing into a new position. This tactic was surprisingly fun as he got to do this. It is not often you can have as much fun in war than before it. Though he will be careful next time he is anywhere near a track to avoid being roped in like this once more.
"Having talent and following your dreams is a worthwhile cause. One of which I can only wish you luck in." He grunted through the comms when the green truck pushed into his backside, making Optimus swerve a bit. He had only heard the warning a bit late in his regards as he had thoughts filling his head. "Frustrated or not... He shouldn't behave like this and get away with it." These primitive life forms had plenty of emotions to surge through their bodies at times and it gave Optimus plenty of opportunity to witness of even experience it. He has met some Cybertronians like that and had to keep his cool around them. That patricular green racer soon found out his position in the race... right behind this big tractor trailer truck. Which moved and bobbed to keep this racer in the backs.
"You ever think about writing pamphlets? You know, to hand out to the troops and new recruits on the rare occasion that sort of thing happens. Maybe a special one we throw at the Decepticons, all about honor and how they should consider doing the right thing by switching sides. I imagine half of them just want to be on the winning team." Okay, so Rodimus wasn't really the type to receive pep-talks. Even from the Prime himself. But to be fair he'd been through a lot and even vaguely recalled Optimus quitting for a time though his mind immediately swerved away from that as hard as Wheeljack swerved away from after action reports. Which was hard.
"Fair enough, but as the saying goes: Rubbin's racin'. You should have your driver wave apologetically to him in the side view mirrors, that should help." It would likely infuriate the other driver terribly, Rodimus had used the tactic several times back in his training days to encourage other bots to lose their tempers. To get them to make mistakes. He liked to play at the idea that he was in their way by accident, trying to clear the way, but too inept to do anything but stay in the way. It had shut down the processors of smarter bots than the guy driving the green truck.
He listened to the humor that Rodimus gave. Something of it helped him enjoy a time that he thought was nearly lost during the war. A sly smile came to his hologram now as he imagined some things, be it actually tossing pamphlets at the Decepticons or writing some phrases in his spare time. He will have to find something quiet in his spare time to entertain himself... Maybe racing the races instead of being in them perhaps?
"Rubbin's racin'?" He was confused at a term he has never heard before, yet he knows he will have to learn it if it entails more racing. Taking heed of Rodimus' words, the window to his cab rolled down and his hologram stuck an arm out to wave during a turn. Optimus kept his sideways drifting before pulling his hologram's arm back in to roll the window up. Yet in the back of his processor, he prepared himself for a frustrated driver. The next set of turns had Optimus silently growing more tense with that green racer behind him.
Shoutbox
Please respect the space and don't hesitate to ask questions!
altria : please dont be dead?
Jun 14, 2023 22:40:34 GMT
Partia: Is this still alive?
Dec 17, 2022 6:02:02 GMT
Partia: Is this still alive?
Dec 17, 2022 6:01:34 GMT
Aug 13, 2020 16:26:13 GMT
Sept 14, 2019 18:53:42 GMT
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