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It had not been his most graceful move ever, but at least nobody had been around to see him revert himself to his protoform, make a wildly miscalculated entry into the alien planet's atmosphere, miss the lake by far too marrow a margin for comfort, ricochet off the ground, and embed himself into the the cut-away cliff face.
Those reports weren't joking when they said this planet's magnetic field really fragged with one's telemetry.
He pulled himself out of the rocky outcrop, all too aware that his rough arrival had left him with deep injuries. The hand he held to his side came away glowing blue with leaked energon.
Not good.
And if what he was picking up on his sensors meant anything, his situation was about to get much worse.
He had to get to safety, and fast. But to do that he needed to get himself repaired. And in order to do that, he needed to access his equipment, which in turn required him to find something to imprint onto his protoform.
The native species of this planet was supposed to have suitable mechanical forms Cybertronians could assume. Just his luck, then, that he had apparently landed in the middle of slagging nowhere.
He'd have to figure something out. He couldn't waste any more time here.
Tilting his head slightly to the side, he tapped his sensors into the data streams that crisscrossed the planet, bouncing from satellites to ground stations, back and forth and all about. There had to be something in there he could use.
He did find a promising vehicle within all that information, one that would be fast enough, and didn't look half bad, and, despite knowing full well that imprinting on something he hadn't personally scanned was risky at best, he let the data slip in.
His protoform responded instantly.
He gave a small cry of pain as his injuries were shifted, pulled this way or that, and the energon no longer simply oozed from them, but freely dripped.
After standing there for a moment, quieting his processor as it settled into the sensations of his new form, he once again touched a hand to the worst wound in his torso. Oh, it was so much worse now. Idiot.
His fingers twitched, readying to reform into one of his medical tools, when his sensors pinged again. Slag it, there was no time. He needed to get moving, put some space between himself and the ones who were now approaching. Take a few moments when he could to do some repairs, then move along again. Fix himself a little at a time until he was whole enough to risk making a break for it.
This was going to be a long and very annoying night.
The humans had far more experience with training armies than Cybertronians did, and they were a far more adaptable species. It was a good thing indeed that the ones here had elected to be friendly to Optimus and his fellow Autobots; their ability to invent weaponry and techniques to take down members of a race that was otherwise far superior technologically completely defied reason. To Optimus and the other Autobots, it was like watching glitch-mice evolve from mindless wildlife to a spacefaring race in the blink of an eye. A spacefaring race that could kill them.
The humans were far more comfortable with this than the Cybertronians were.
The human government said the continued military training missions were to make sure their soldiers knew how to work with an alien species, and would be comfortable allying with them on and off the battlefield. Optimus would never tell them, but he agreed specifically for that same reason, the hope that constant exposure to these terrifying robot-murdering glitch-mice would help his own Autobots be less afraid of them. There was a good chance they'd be stuck on this planet for a long, long time, and the last thing he needed was to be fighting both Decepticons and humans at the same time. Especially seeing as, truth be told, the humans didn't really need the Autobots' help in defending themselves any more, but they insisted on it as part of the pact their leaders had made with Optimus, a condition of the Cybertronians' continued acceptance as refugees on this planet.
Truth also be told, many of the humans considered them to be friends now, and Primus knew humans enjoyed including 'friends' in any activities they did.
Optimus, admittedly, felt the same towards many of them, much to the chagrin of Red Alert, who had arrived with Hound and Mirage only relatively recently, and who saw humans as nothing more than one giant security breech, and who was definitely going to need a lot of exposure therapy to accept the organic glitch-mice as 'safe'. When a nighttime training session was scheduled with Lennox and his crew, Optimus had politely ignored Red's tirade about putting himself at risk, and rolled out with the humans to the designated coordinates. Once he and the human unit had made it into the rocky, forested hills miles away from base, Optimus pointedly told Red to maintain comm silence, and then he may or may not have muted his comm line entirely.
Lennox had smirked at that, giving him a knowing wink before setting the training objectives before the unit.
There was not supposed to be any Cybertronian activity other than his own anywhere near this area, or in the whole state, and yet not even fifteen minutes later, a pod-formed protoform came streaking through the sky to land disturbingly nearby. Inwardly cursing himself, Optimus quickly opened his comm line again, to Red Alert's less silent swearing. Any attempts to calm Red failed. Yes, they knew someone had just arrived, they were right here, they saw it. No, Optimus didn't know who it was, they were not sending out any identifying signals. Yes, if Red couldn't get more information on the arrival with the Terran equipment he had managed to jury-rig together, they would have to go find the mech.
It was dangerous, approaching an unknown Cybertronian. Even if it was an Autobot, it may be upset by the humans so brazenly approaching it and would respond better to Optimus alone. A Decepticon would likely not hesitate to kill anyone who came near, especially the Autobot leader, but being newly arrived, it would not be prepared for what the humans could do to contain or destroy it--it wouldn't know that their group was only training right now, and not fully equipped for a true confrontation, but Optimus had seen the humans bluff rather effectively before.
Optimus had looked to Lennox for his decision. He would not risk his friends' lives without their consent.
Lennox nodded once. His unit suddenly became all seriousness, fanning out into the dark forest, to either side and slightly behind Optimus. They carefully, quietly picked their way around the rocks and trees as Optimus set off towards the assumed trajectory of the protoform.
Burke was the first to notice it, and Optimus crouched closer to confirm. Tiny splatters of energon life-blood on the ground, giving off just enough glow for it to be seen among the dry underbrush. This Cybertronian was close. And it was injured.
The trail continued for quite a long way, the slow, zig-zagging path of someone who was trying to hide their movements as they searched for an escape route. A mech in their protoform was vulnerable, an easy target for enemies. Easy for the humans to subdue.
Optimus dared to send out a call in the general direction of the newcomer, trying to assure them that there was no rush to find an alt mode to hide in, the humans with him would not harm him.
There was no reply. The trail turned west.
There was a road a few miles to the west, where the newcomer wouldn't have long to wait to scan a suitable alt mode. And once they had an alt mode...
"They're going for the road," Optimus commented, as softly as he could. With a few words between the soldiers, the humans suddenly picked up speed. They could easily outflank an injured protoform on even terrain and in the daylight. Doing so at night and in this hilly, rocky forest would be more difficult. There was no more time to waste.
-Any ID yet?- Red Alert hissed through the comm line.
-No.-
-NEST is sending reinforcements.-
Optimus paused, frowning. -We don't know who this is or what reinforcements we might need. If they pick up anyone else approaching, they might get spooked, and we will lose our chance at ending this with minimal conflict.-
-Optimus, this is not the time for pacifism-- -
"We've got this, Red," Lennox cut into the line, then he tapped his ear piece, muting his feed of the comm line, taking a brief moment to smirk up at Optimus.
They got another half-mile behind them before Optimus was finally able to pick up the newcomer on his own sensors. They continued to not identify themselves or even respond to his hail, and were purposely trying to obscure their presence. Optimus still held out a small hope that this was a badly injured Autobot, too scared to show itself, but the closer they got, the further away that hope felt. The humans around him seemed to pick up on his unease, shifting their grips on their weapons as they continued following the trail of energon through the forest.
The trail disappeared partway up a hill.
Optimus and the soldiers stopped, looking about tensely. There was no evidence this Cybertronian had suddenly found an alt mode and had taken off, no noise or engine exhaust or tire tracks or any traces of an aerial departure. Their surroundings were undisturbed and silent. Either this newcomer had run out of energon to spill and had crawled off into a hole to die, or it had repaired itself.
To repair itself, it had to have somehow taken on an alt mode. Perhaps it had been so desperate as to try remotely formatting itself. And if it had managed that...
...it could also access its weapons.
There was movement at the corner of his vision. He spun to face it, his sword sliding out from his forearm, but something struck him hard in his helm. Staggering, his foot hit a large boulder, and he fell. Then there was jolting, shocking pain, and nothing.
Whatever it was came on Optimus too quickly for anyone to react. There was a whoosh, and the next thing Will saw was a dark Cybertronian form come flying down from a higher point on the hill, landing a spinning drop kick on the Prime's head so hard and in just the right place that the massive mech was sent falling backwards.
The Decepticon--it was a Decepticon, right?--wasted no time. He had some sort of staff in his hands, and he jammed its pronged head down around Optimus' neck. It sparked blue with electricity; Optimus spasmed, then was still.
Someone shouted, and then they all opened fire. But it was difficult to make out the alien in the darkness, and with how close he was to Optimus, the soldiers had to run about to find better positions so they wouldn't hit the Prime or one another instead. The Decepticon was able to roll away, but he came up unexpectedly short, as if confused or in pain, pushing himself to his hands and knees. He raised his forearm to block the shots that were aimed at his face, and the bullets pinged off his armor, deflecting into the trees. Then the Decepticon lowered his arm slightly, glaring at them with darkly-glowing red eyes, before slinging his metal arm down and away from his head, as if dislodging something distasteful from himself.
Sparks leapt like lightning down the armor of his arm, scattering across the ground towards the soldiers. Will and his comrades were forced to leap back and aside to avoid getting fried. The brightness dazzled his night-accustomed eyes, and Dundee gave a shout of pain, ripping his night vision goggles off. Will could see only brilliant flashes across his vision for the next several seconds, but he clearly heard the Decepticon transform, and the roar of an engine sounded through the hills as the creature sped off to the nearest road.
Epps was screaming into his comm link, telling base to get the damn reinforcements out here, stat. Groaning as his eyes continued to feel like they were exploding in his head, Will turned his own ear piece back on, immediately regretting it as his hearing was suddenly assaulted as harshly as his vision.
-Leave him,- Optimus said into the comm as he came to then, his voice quieting all the multiple voices shouting at them from the other end of the line. He slowly pushed himself up to sit on the ground.
"He just took you out!" Will yelled up to him. "We can't let him escape!" Even as he said it, he knew it was too late to give chase. Nobody's vision had totally recovered yet, his included. It was like fireworks were exploding non-stop on his retinas. They were clearly woefully unprepared for this Decepticon--they were training, not geared up for actual combat, and their own transport was at least five miles away across rough terrain in the opposite direction from where the 'Con had run off. And without having any idea what this 'Con even looked like, or what vehicular mode he had managed to somehow magically procure way out here in the middle of nowhere...they had no way to track him down.
Optimus had finally gotten himself to his feet again, stumbling slightly. "We must, for now," he said, rubbing at his neck, echoing Will's fears. "He's not an easy one to keep hold of."
Will frowned slightly, in the direction he thought Optimus was speaking from. "You know who this is, don't you?"
"We have crossed paths before, yes." There was a story behind those words that Will would be sure to ask about once they were in a safer location. The Prime looked out through the forest, though Will doubted he could see any further through the trees than the rest of them. "Let's return to base. We at least know he's here on Earth now. We'll keep watch for him."
-I told you!- Red Alert was screaming through the line. -But does anyone ever listen to me? No!-
-Is anyone injured?- That was Ratchet, sounding just as exasperated as Red, but decidedly less hysterical.
After waiting for his men to sound off, Will replied, "No, we're fine. Except my damn eyeballs are still exploding."
-You'll live,- Ratchet said shortly. -Now may I remind you, yet again, that Cybertronians do not ascribe to any of your conventions that prohibit medics from participating in combat as combatants.-
"Yeah, we've all seen you in action," Will said, rubbing at his eyes as a new round of sparkles danced through his vision. "You're a regular badass. And?"
"He wasn't talking about himself," Optimus muttered.
"You're saying we just got our asses jumped by a doctor?" said Epps from somewhere behind Will.
-Yes,- said Ratchet. -Please tell me one of you has a camera, I need to see how embarrassed Optimus is right now.-
Knock Out wasn't sure how far he had gone on this road, or for how long. He eventually stopped and transformed to climb down a hill, getting himself away from the road, and settled under a rocky overhang.
The Prime. Of all mechs to cross paths with, on this stupid tiny far-away planet.
'Should have killed him while I had the chance. Idiot.' He picked at the armor on his side, lifting it to expose the damage beneath, and grimaced at the sight. 'Should have killed him. Why didn't I just kill him?' His long, clawed fingers found the tear that had been reopened by his escape. The rushed emergency repairs had not held at all. It was going to take a bit to get used to dealing with his body's new form.
Had those humans not been there, and been so clearly used to the idea of attacking Cybertronians who were many hundreds of times their size, he would have been able to finish off the Prime. Him! But the humans had been there, and had he stayed any longer, they would have found a way to kill him, he was sure of it. There was no point in killing the Prime if he wouldn't live to tell anyone about it.
His hopes of slipping unnoticed into the Decepticons here on this planet was shot. The Autobots and their native allies would surely be coming after him again in short order. He'd take them on mech-to-mech, but he wasn't stupid, he knew he'd be slagged if more than one Autobot confronted him at the same time. Or, Primus forbid, if those humans found him. They were armed, they were prepared, and they were many. He was in danger if he stayed alone.
After he finished repairing himself, again, to a more satisfactory level this time, and pondering his next move, he linked to the human's electronic information network once more, digging for the files the scouts had pointed out as things to keep tabs on. No hints of Breakdown, yet, but there were certainly several mentions of a certain Seeker second-in-command...