Work Text:
Knightflyer had spent the last few days setting up her little “fort”. She couldn’t come up with a better description, as it was only meant to be temporary. Although there was access to power and a water source the feme had spent several nights salvaging electronics, machinery, and anything that might be useful. As she slapped together a computer station of sorts, she surprised herself, discovering she actually had a slight competency. That was her main project, at the moment. Knightflyer knew she’d have to keep a low public profile in order to stay uninvolved with any of the faction’s activities. However, doing so might make her go stir crazy and bored. She could secure an internet connection easy enough and bounce around to various VPN’s undetected. Having a means of gathering information and possibly entertainment was a no brainer!
After finally finishing her custom PC set up, she decided to reward herself with dinner and a movie. She drove to a small forest area, close to the mountains, where she found some game. After her meal, she tried her best to erase any evidence of her being there before hitting the road back to the outskirts of Jasper. She had seen a billboard advertising a showing of “Alien”. She hoped it was similar to the classic she was familiar with as she pulled up to the drive-in theatre.
She snuck around the fence, to the rear of the parking area. There were about twenty vehicles, spread out in the theatre space. She had just found an inconspicuous spot as the screen came to life with 80’s style pre-show instructions and announcements. As she tuned into the speaker system, she noticed another vehicle do as she did before, quietly cruising in, finding an isolated place to park.
“Well, I did the same thing…” she sighed to herself, feeling mildly guilty for committing a small felony. Upon closer inspection, she noted the make and model were somewhat out of place for this desert community. A cherry red Aston Martin stood out like a sore thumb. “Must be from out of town,” she reasoned. The other vehicles, mostly pick up trucks and earlier model domestic cars, were spaced out just so… “A hundred bucks says most of these people didn’t come here for the show, “she sniggered. As the opening title card started, she settled in to enjoy some good sci-fi horror but for some reason kept being drawn to the sports car close by. Something about it seemed off. She couldn’t see a Decepticon emblem on its body from her vantage point. It wasn’t until a swift breeze came from its direction that she smelled it…Energon!
Other pov
Knockout had snuck into this theater so many times by now that he didn’t pay any mind to the other vehicles that might be present. That was until he saw a sleek, dark car parked where he usually did. Because of his striking finish, it offered the best place to remain undetected. Annoyed he slipped to a place opposite of it and cut his engine. Coming to this place after a street race had become a ritual. Partially to reward himself for yet another flawless victory of speed and also to prolong returning to the Nemesis. Despite being the only medic aboard the warship he was still treated like any other soldier, potential cannon fodder. That and it was terribly dull. His long-time friend, Breakdown was there, but that only postponed his restlessness for so long.
He had spent the day patching up Vehicons and various seeker drones without so much as a thank you and decided to get some air. He had started to gain an appreciation for human film making, especially the horror genre. However, this time, he found his attention drawn to his neighbor in the back of the rows. The car was black, with accents of gunmetal grey and navy blue. The design was similar to a Lamborghini but the back spoiler was all wrong. It was larger and almost resembled a set of grey bat wings.
‘Must be some kind of custom job,’ he thought to himself. As he scanned the sleek lines and low-profile wheels, he smiled to himself. ‘Impressive,’ he thought to himself. That was until he spied a garish crimson emblem on the bottom corner of the driver’s side door. ‘Autobot!’ he sat stunned, mortified he hadn’t noticed the blaring red flag in full view.
Knightflyer’s pov
The feme's mind raced as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She remembered that she’d been told all the bots at the base were all the Autobots on earth at the time. She also knew she had met all of them except for one but his description didn’t match this crimson stranger. The only possible answer left was Decepticon! She sat frozen, anticipating that at any moment they might strike. Scanning the surrounding vehicles, she realized if there were a fight people could get hurt. Painfully slow minutes passed without the other car making a move. That was odd.
‘What’s going on here…?’ she wondered. ‘Decepticons don’t care where they fight when humans are concerned. Why aren’t they coming after me?’ she got more and more unnerved by the moment. She thought about radioing Prime but remembered her promise, even if it was more for her comfort. ‘Maybe they haven’t noticed me. Yeah, let's go with that for now.’ Despite how stupid a decision it was she tried not to focus on the ‘Con across from her and tried to watch the movie instead. ‘Thanks for ruining my movie night, dude!’ she cursed his way silently.
Knockout pov
‘What’s an Autobot doing here?!’ he sputtered in his processor. He knew every time he snuck off the ship, he had the risk of running into one but for some reason, this one had him unsettled. He knew the Autobots that were based on this planet and knew their abilities fairly well. This newcomer was a whole new ball game, as the humans said. He debated calling for a ground bridge or back up but knew there would be hell to pay if he was caught skiving off again. For now, he knew he was in the clear. He knew with the humans present, the Autobot wouldn’t start anything that might cause casualties. With an uneasy sigh, he decided to stay put until the movie was over. Once he started actually paying attention to the screen, he found he might have missed about half the film worrying.
‘I was actually looking forward to this one, too…’
Sometime later…
Both vehicles remained in a silent unofficial stalemate for the next hour. Neither moved or made a sound. The surrounding vehicles that slightly rocked with fogged up windows were a different story. Knightflyer tried her best to concentrate on the film, practically counting the seconds as Ripley’s escape scene commenced. She took cold comfort in that she had knowledge of the movie’s length and might be able to time out her escape with it.
Her attention darted between the heroine strapping into her spacesuit preparing to jettison the xenomorph and the silent Decepticon next to her. She struggled against firing her engine, trying not to give away her strategy. Every joint was tensed as she took a long intake, waiting. As Ripley began to enter her log entry the feme couldn’t stand it anymore! Her engine roared as she surged in reverse, barely avoiding the fence as she sped backward, away from the theater. Another engine roared to life, reversing and drifting into a 180 turn instantaneously.
“Finally!” knockout cheered out as he sped up to catch his quarry. The Autobot was running! It was either doing it out of fear or an attempt to avoid people getting involved but he didn’t care which. The last hour his Energon had been boiling in anticipation. He was going to get two good races in tonight by the looks of it. The dark car sped down the road ahead of him at speeds that even impressed him.
“Where are you going, Autobot? Don’t you wanna play?!” he jeered at the other vehicle. They reached the openness of the desert at the city limits but the other car didn’t stop to face him or give any verbal acknowledgment. “Need me to set the rules of the game?” he snarled. “Fine! There are none!” he shouted as he armed his laser weapon. As he fired the other deftly avoided every blast without so much as a response. The dark car kept ahead of him as he fired. His speed was maxed and the other was still avoiding him. His frustration built as the miles sped by and he barely noticed his surroundings change as he pushed his engine to the limit.
“When I get my hands on you, you’re gonna wish you’d faced me!” he roared as he perused his silent opponent. The dark Lambo veered off the now winding road, up an ascending hill of dirt and dust. Knockout snarled as he followed, dreading what the rock and sand would do to his finish. Any other day he’d consider allowing the Bot to escape, but his pride as the fastest on wheels was at stake. His headlights did nothing for his vision through the dust but he could make out the other’s tail lights so he continued.
The dust cleared suddenly as the leader of the pursuit hit a flat rocky surface. For a moment, the Aston Martin had hoped he’d catch them. That was until he saw the other car vault clear off the edge of what he now saw was a cliff. It took his processor a fraction of a second to realize what had just happened and it proved a fraction too long as he too soared into the air.
Many things happened in the next few seconds for Knockout. The first was the dreadful realization that he’d driven off the edge of a canyon. A sickeningly deep canyon! His memory banks confirmed he knew it and that the fall would most likely be fatal! Panicked, he transformed as his frame flailed through the air. He soon knew being in root mode wouldn’t save him as he wouldn’t clear the gap. The nauseating feeling of gravity taking over soon had him and he screamed. He had no time to call for a ground bridge as the ground below grew ever so closer by the millisecond.
‘I’m dead! I’m dead! I’m going to die!’ were the only thoughts he could comprehend. Even if he did survive somehow, he was sure it wouldn’t be for long. The damage he’d sustain would be too much for anyone on the Nemesis to correct to stabilize him if they even bothered to try. That thought caused coolant to stream from his sockets as he closed his optics to brace for oblivion.
A violent jerk to one of his legs shocked a startled cry from him. He opened his optics to see the ground now getting farther away… disorientated he whipped his helm around wildly trying to figure out what just happened. He looked up, toward the pede he now felt was being grasped tightly. He gasped in awe as he saw he was being carried, flown upward, toward the top of the cliff. Before he could find his voice, he was being dropped on the rocky ledge, a few feet from the chasm. Closing his optics, he took a few steadying intakes before he looked for his rescuer. His spark froze in his chassis.
Standing on the lip of the cliff was a feme. Her frame was black and navy blue. She looked like a seeker but strangely organic. Her pedes were shaped strangely, tipped with three claws each. She had long slender legs that met a tapered waist which expanded into an elegant feminine torso. Her arms were equally slender with clawed servos. Her helm was simple but sleek, almost aerodynamic. However, something seemed to wave on it with the wind, like the follicles most humans had on their helms. His optics bulged as he focused on her wings. They were gunmetal grey, spread wide like the planet’s avian mammals.
‘The Autobot, it’s… her!?’ his mind reeled at the revelation. ‘She can fly in root mode...?’ It made no sense. Even Starscream couldn’t fly in his root mode despite him taking a flying form. And her alt mode was a ground vehicle! Despite the absurdity, he forced his processor to assess the situation. She had saved him and now she was just standing there. ‘is she going to attack me now…?’ giving her lethal features another glance he fought to suppress a shudder. With the night sky behind her, she was haunting and terrifying as she remained silent. Her deep azure optics met his and he froze again. Without a word, she turned as if to take off and Knockout stammered.
“th…thank you…” he ignored how pathetic his voice sounded as he stood up on shaking legs. She turned back to him as if deciding something before she nodded.
“you’re welcome,” she said softly and took off from the ledge and glided across the canyon into the sky.
The red mech collapsed to the ground as the entirety of the shock hit him like a typhoon. He broke down in tears realizing he had almost died because of his pride. If it hadn’t been for the feme, he’d be dead. Laying in ruins at the bottom of the canyon, forgotten and alone. It took several minutes for him to calm down. He sat staring into the sky, in the direction she had flown off into. Other than the fact she had saved him he had no idea what to think about the whole situation. She had done her damndest to avoid fighting him despite it appearing that she was more than capable. He sat trying to wrap his mind around it all. Her frame type, her alt mode, her behavior. None of it made sense! His comlink chirping almost made him shriek from fright.
“Knockout?” Breakdown’s voice rang throughout. “you better get back here soon. Megatron was looking for you.” With a heavy sigh, the red mech stood as he cleared his voice.
“Thanks for the heads up, Breakdown.” He gazed across the canyon once more before sighing. “Send a bridge to my location. I think I’ve had my fill of racing for a while.”