Nexus. The canyons. Tracer meets 'Destruction'.
((written for April tfmech_exchange challenge))
One moment Tracer was walking down the corridor of the base, her blue eyes absent as she mused over the day's rescues. The next she'd stepped through a door and come out into a sun-baked red-rock canyon with convoluted walls and patches of blooming prickly pear.
"The slag...." She frowned and looked around, sensors suddenly on full alert as she shrank toward the tall rock next to her. It didn't escape her notice that there was no trace of the base anywhere.
And no trace of much else of anything else, either. A few birds and other small flying creatures up in cracks higher up the canyon walls, and the flowering cacti. There was a sandy spot a few meters ahead of her, some deposit left by the river when it moved on to other digs, no doubt.
Tracer scowled and muttered curses, scanning again at her highest settings, and then stopped and frowned as she thought she caught a faint echo of presence. Focused now, she concentrated and caught it again, but it slipped away from her. Was there some sort of dampener? Part of her absently wondered if this was an elaborate prank such as she'd seen some of the guys at the volcano base pull. But this definitely wasn't the desert around the base; the rock was wrong, and so was the sunlight... if that was sunlight.
Scowling, she focused everything she had on the reading and frowned as she realized that it was coming from the sand. And that, though it was definitely Cybertronian... she couldn't tell if it were Decepticon or Autobot.
Her scowl deepened as she faded behind a rock and settled down to watch the spot.
Later
Tracer's scowl had gotten thunderous by now. The strange reading had become easier for her to trace once she knew where it was, and there was no doubt that it was a life sign. There was someone down there under that sand, but they hadn't so much as twitched for five slagging hours! She'd been unable to raise the base in all that time, and there were no other traces of non-organic life that she could sense anywhere near.
It was time for desperate measures.
Her gun gripped firmly, she aimed toward the edge of the sand and let off a quick shot.
And nothing happened.
Tracer boggled. Whoever it was down there seemed to be healthy... but what healthy mech would sit through being shot at? Her scowl returning, she settled down to wait again.
It was another whole three hours before she snapped and jumped up with a growl. "Slagging #$%$##@$#, I'll make you come out of there! Nobody kidnaps me and then sits there and laughs at me!"
There was silence for several minutes as she landed with both feet in the middle of the sand.
And then it burst upward as a red-orange being like nothing she'd ever seen before erupted from it with a cheery laugh. "I wins, b'y! Gots ye!"
"Ack!" Tracer struggled as her arms were pinned by the stranger, her startled blue optics meeting the other's laughing yellow ones. And then she blinked as she realized how young the voice sounded. "What...? Who...?"
She was released, and the other femme tilted her head and whistle-beeped cheerfully. "Me name's Hormah, b'y. 'N I's a Decepticon."
"Decipti...!" Tracer's gun flashed up.
Hormah looked at it. "Won't work here. We's got an Anti-Violence feild."
Tracer tried it anyway. Hormah was right. It didn't work.
The youngster laughed, the sound holding no mockery. "Toldja."
The Minibot grumbled and scowled. "What the slag kind of name is 'Hormah' anyway?"
"Means 'destruction'." The other shrugged. "I likes it."
Tracer frowned, trying to get her head around the fact that she was standing in a canyon, talking to a rookie Decepticon that reminded her oddly of Bumblebee in the good-nature department. "Uh... does your superior know you talk to Autobots?"
"Sure, b'y. She's does it too."
Silent boggling. "So you're some kind of traitor?"
A shrug. "This's neutral ground, 'n we's likin' it that way."
"Oh... uh. Okay. Do you know how I could get back to Earth?" asked Tracer slowly.
Hormah popped open a storage compartment on the side of her chest and rummaged through it, then fiddled with two small bits of electronics before stowing one and tossing the other to Tracer, who darted away from it as though it were a bomb. "Hey! That ain't gonna blow up, ye afthat. It's a teleporter fer bringin' ye home. I's already set it."
Tracer scowled blackly as she came back to examine the thing, knowing that the young 'Con was laughing at her now. Then she picked it up and looked it over. "Press the green button?"
"No #@$%#$%#, Sherlock."
Maybe not so much like Bumblebee. She didn't think she'd heard him ever say anything stronger than 'darn'. "Alright. Uh... thanks."
"Don' mention it, me son."
Where had this kid learned to talk? Tracer shook her head and looked at the teleporter again, her attention distracted just long enough as she pressed the button for Hormah to dart forward and send a small jolt of energy through her arm. The blue and silver femme shouted with angry surprise, but when she suddenly found herself in the middle of a howling firefight right outside the Ark she was very glad for the sudden temporary upgrade to her power level and weaponry.
One moment Tracer was walking down the corridor of the base, her blue eyes absent as she mused over the day's rescues. The next she'd stepped through a door and come out into a sun-baked red-rock canyon with convoluted walls and patches of blooming prickly pear.
"The slag...." She frowned and looked around, sensors suddenly on full alert as she shrank toward the tall rock next to her. It didn't escape her notice that there was no trace of the base anywhere.
And no trace of much else of anything else, either. A few birds and other small flying creatures up in cracks higher up the canyon walls, and the flowering cacti. There was a sandy spot a few meters ahead of her, some deposit left by the river when it moved on to other digs, no doubt.
Tracer scowled and muttered curses, scanning again at her highest settings, and then stopped and frowned as she thought she caught a faint echo of presence. Focused now, she concentrated and caught it again, but it slipped away from her. Was there some sort of dampener? Part of her absently wondered if this was an elaborate prank such as she'd seen some of the guys at the volcano base pull. But this definitely wasn't the desert around the base; the rock was wrong, and so was the sunlight... if that was sunlight.
Scowling, she focused everything she had on the reading and frowned as she realized that it was coming from the sand. And that, though it was definitely Cybertronian... she couldn't tell if it were Decepticon or Autobot.
Her scowl deepened as she faded behind a rock and settled down to watch the spot.
Later
Tracer's scowl had gotten thunderous by now. The strange reading had become easier for her to trace once she knew where it was, and there was no doubt that it was a life sign. There was someone down there under that sand, but they hadn't so much as twitched for five slagging hours! She'd been unable to raise the base in all that time, and there were no other traces of non-organic life that she could sense anywhere near.
It was time for desperate measures.
Her gun gripped firmly, she aimed toward the edge of the sand and let off a quick shot.
And nothing happened.
Tracer boggled. Whoever it was down there seemed to be healthy... but what healthy mech would sit through being shot at? Her scowl returning, she settled down to wait again.
It was another whole three hours before she snapped and jumped up with a growl. "Slagging #$%$##@$#, I'll make you come out of there! Nobody kidnaps me and then sits there and laughs at me!"
There was silence for several minutes as she landed with both feet in the middle of the sand.
And then it burst upward as a red-orange being like nothing she'd ever seen before erupted from it with a cheery laugh. "I wins, b'y! Gots ye!"
"Ack!" Tracer struggled as her arms were pinned by the stranger, her startled blue optics meeting the other's laughing yellow ones. And then she blinked as she realized how young the voice sounded. "What...? Who...?"
She was released, and the other femme tilted her head and whistle-beeped cheerfully. "Me name's Hormah, b'y. 'N I's a Decepticon."
"Decipti...!" Tracer's gun flashed up.
Hormah looked at it. "Won't work here. We's got an Anti-Violence feild."
Tracer tried it anyway. Hormah was right. It didn't work.
The youngster laughed, the sound holding no mockery. "Toldja."
The Minibot grumbled and scowled. "What the slag kind of name is 'Hormah' anyway?"
"Means 'destruction'." The other shrugged. "I likes it."
Tracer frowned, trying to get her head around the fact that she was standing in a canyon, talking to a rookie Decepticon that reminded her oddly of Bumblebee in the good-nature department. "Uh... does your superior know you talk to Autobots?"
"Sure, b'y. She's does it too."
Silent boggling. "So you're some kind of traitor?"
A shrug. "This's neutral ground, 'n we's likin' it that way."
"Oh... uh. Okay. Do you know how I could get back to Earth?" asked Tracer slowly.
Hormah popped open a storage compartment on the side of her chest and rummaged through it, then fiddled with two small bits of electronics before stowing one and tossing the other to Tracer, who darted away from it as though it were a bomb. "Hey! That ain't gonna blow up, ye afthat. It's a teleporter fer bringin' ye home. I's already set it."
Tracer scowled blackly as she came back to examine the thing, knowing that the young 'Con was laughing at her now. Then she picked it up and looked it over. "Press the green button?"
"No #@$%#$%#, Sherlock."
Maybe not so much like Bumblebee. She didn't think she'd heard him ever say anything stronger than 'darn'. "Alright. Uh... thanks."
"Don' mention it, me son."
Where had this kid learned to talk? Tracer shook her head and looked at the teleporter again, her attention distracted just long enough as she pressed the button for Hormah to dart forward and send a small jolt of energy through her arm. The blue and silver femme shouted with angry surprise, but when she suddenly found herself in the middle of a howling firefight right outside the Ark she was very glad for the sudden temporary upgrade to her power level and weaponry.