Transformers: Steel Reign

[B4UTRUST]

"Yes, sir," Slipstream replied. Internally he groused. He always hated being placed under the command of ground pounders. They so rarely had any idea about aerial tactics and combat. At least Prime was a more then capable leader and tactican. Most of the others couldn't find a pitot-static indicator with a service manual and a diagram. This was not going to be fun, he figured.

He walked out of the briefing room and went off to try to find his new commander. He didn't put a request in to Teletran-1 for the information nor did he bother to ask anyone he passed if they had seen the 'bot in question. He took his time on this one.

[frigidmagi]

Hornet ran off before I could answer. I am going to have to sit down and have a talk with him, if nothing else to make sure he doesn't do anything insane and hurt himself trying to prove himself a big bot.

Wheeljack clicked his radio on. "Wheeljack to Breakout," he said. "Someone mentioned you were looking for me?"

"Yes, we need to talk, may I met you in your lab?" I answer.

[General Havoc]

"Feel free to stop by if you wish," said Wheeljack. "I'm simply cleaning up some code..."

There was only the most fractional hesitation in WHeeljack's voice as he said that.

[frigidmagi]

I head over to Wheeljack's lab. This is going to be a long day, I can feel it. I knock on the frame of the entrance.

"Hello Wheeljack. I have news. I have been prompted to squad leader and Hornet has been placed in my unit for the time being. I felt I should talk with you to get a sense of Hornet's abilities and weakness, so I can better keep an eye on him." I declare.

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack only hesitated for the briefest of moments. "You're Hornet's new squad leader?" he asked, almost as though considering whether or not to pour the poor bot a shot of energon for his upcoming troubles.

"I'd er... be happy to assist any way I can. Before we begin though, you do realize that you'll likely have your hands full with him, yes? Hornet is not a normal bot."

[frigidmagi]

"I am aware yes. I am told you are attempting to recreate Terran style childhoods as best you can?" I ask.

[General Havoc]

"The operative words being 'as best I can'," said Wheeljack. "Hornet is the fruits of that effort. He is the closest approximation we so far have to a child, and unfortunately from your perspective, his programming mandates are root-level and below. He cannot 'snap out' of acting as he does any more than Ironhide can cheer up or Perceptor can speak quickly. Every element of his design was created with this goal in mind."

Wheeljack sighed, though it wasn't clear why. "Hornet is rooted in a series of fractal algorithms that are designed to allow him to develop on a wholly fundamental level, much as organic humans do. They may or may not work. The jury is still out on that much. What they DO cause is behavior that we would call strange. I don't simply mean his personality. He is emotional and caring and easily scared and very eager to be part of the team. I'm talking about audiovisual hallucinations, and rather odd pronouncements he comes up with from time to time. I'd suggest, unless there's a reason to suspect a problem, you simply humor him in those things."

"What specifically did you want to know about? His mental capacities? Or his physical construction?"

[frigidmagi]

I nod, taking note of that. Hornet will have to be partnered with someone if he experiences hallucinations. Could be worse.

"A bit of both. I will not lie to you Wheeljack, I will have to take him out to the field of battle more often then not, there is not much choice in that. My observations led me to believe even if I tried to hide him in the Ark he would attempt to follow us anyways. I need as much information has I can get so I can keep him alive and make some use of him at the same time." I reply.

[General Havoc]

Wheeljack sighed. "I know that there's a great deal of combat in his future, and you're right in that he would likely seek you out with or without orders. I suppose there's no helping it."

He punched up Hornet's blueprints and schematics on a screen.

"He's classified officially as "Light Reconnaissance". Due to his size, armored protection was largely out of the question. Durasteel would have been far too heavy. I decided to emphasize speed and maneuverability instead. He's got a top speed of Mach 3.65, a full sized afterburner, and his design is based on the human FA/18 and MiG-29, both highly manuverable interceptor fighters. He carries a pair of low powered gatling laser blasters, with a combined firing rate of 4550 rounds per minute, four ATA/ATG variable warhead Maverick-class medium-range missiles, and a single stanchion for a laser-guided bomb. He usually carries a Colonial-class armor-piercer, but he can handle most anything under his weight ceiling. His frame and chasis is made of re-enforced Polyluminum, which unfortunately has very little in the way of modern armored protection. I'm considering re-casting his chasis in a new material I developed recently called 'Cerasteel', which should help, but it still won't be as tough as durasteel or tritanium-alloy."

"I'm... not sure what else you would consider important. Ask away."

[frigidmagi]

"What's his maximum ceiling? I understand he... sleeps? How often does he require that and how long can he go without it before it damages him? Does he have any special energy needs or can he process the same fuels as the rest of us?" I ask.

[General Havoc]

"Sixty five thousand feet", said Wheeljack. "He's not spaceflight capable and he doesn't have an antigrav unit. His flight is based on aerodynamic physics. As to his sleep cycles, he'll enter them automatically when it's time. Typically that's about a day or so apart. I'm not as foolish as they say I am however. They can be canceled without ill effect by a priority override from his processor. He won't suffer damage if denied sleep, or otherwise be impaired, but he might slip into a sleep mode more frequently if he hasn't been permitted it. Too long without them however, might skew the experiment, so if there's not a dire need, I'd appreciate it if you'd let him sleep when possible."

"As to fuel, he uses energon, just like we all do. His fuel tank is necessarily smaller than the rest of ours, so his impairment level will be quite high if you overfill him. About a 40% portion should be sufficient for his needs."

Wheeljack sat back. "The main thing you need to understand about him is that, despite my best attempts to make him appear otherwise, Hornet is no stupider than any other Autobot. In fact he's quite sharp when his mind isn't wandering. He has a fully functional processor with fully functional systems therein, eidactic memory, the works. The difference is the degree to which his spark influences his processor. Hornet is very succeptable to extremes of emotion and approaches the world from a much less... analytical perspective than most of us. He is very easily distracted, and his cognitive subroutines just don't work like yours or mine do. Some things he understands and can do inherently. Fly for example, and judge flight characteristics. What he doesn't have is any sort of perspective or experience, and while he 'can' learn, that doesn't mean he 'will' do so. I don't envy your job."

[frigidmagi]

"I have had worse. Thank you Wheeljack, you have been very informative. My hope is you will not need to repair Hornet as much has you have had to recently. Good day." I say and make my leave. I still have some Megacycles before I need to oversee the range training. Perhaps I can track down Rodimus.

[LadyTevar]

It took him a few minutes, and about another six shots before he managed a grazing shot on the turret of the tank, and another four before he hit it squarely. At this, he smiled with relief.

"Getting better," Crimson said, inwardly thinking that Blindside might want to stick to hand-to-hand. "You're still tensing up before you take your shot."

[rhoenix]

"Getting better," Crimson said, inwardly thinking that Blindside might want to stick to hand-to-hand. "You're still tensing up before you take your shot."

Taking Crimson's advice, Blindside focused for a few microseconds on the heartbeat of energon within him, helping him to become calmer, and much more relaxed. Over the next few minutes, by staying relaxed and keeping what he had learned over the course of the past megacycle, his accuracy had increased to hitting a moving target solidly twice out of every five shots, sometimes three out of five.

Blindside sighed as he managed to take out another tank turret after a short series of shots, unknowingly echoing what Crimson had been thinking. "I know it's necessary for me to learn how to shoot, but I still think it would be better for me to just run up and hit them."

After a moment though, he perked up, his golden eyes brightening as he had a sudden thought. He stared off into the distance for a microsecond or two before turning to Crimson and Shellshock. "Do either of you think someone would be willing to teach me how to use explosives or set charges properly?"

[LadyTevar]

Crimson blinked, as that was out of left field.

"Umm... not that I can think of right now," she hedged, glancing around the training room for Breakout.

[Charon]

Shellshock looked down at Blindside. "You can't even hit the target, prone, with a rifle, and you want to learn how to use explosives? Get back to training."

Shellshock had himself taken a few potshots in the time given to them, hitting a vital point along the slower targets, or smashing down a plane from the sheer force of the hit. This was his element, and Shellshock showed it.

Shellshock had always been quite while Blindside was lining up his shots so far though, now we waited until the moment that Blindside was about to fire. Just before he did, Shellshock was going to fire a blast to see if Blindside would be shocked by it.

[rhoenix]

Crimson blinked, as that was out of left field.

"Umm... not that I can think of right now," she hedged, glancing around the training room for Breakout.

At this, Blindside smiled, feeling somewhat embarrassed. "I ask because I recognize that my aim isn't exactly impressive, and due to my stealth, I might be of more use placing explosives undetected, if necessary."

[LadyTevar]

Crimson looked to Shellshock, who was obviously waiting for Blindside to get back to firing. "Talk it over with BreakOut when he gets here. First, I want to see you hit that tank three times in a row," she answered.

[Dark Silver]

Rodimus was in the armory on the second level of the Ark proper, near the engine port of the great ship. He stepped out a few minutes after he stepped in, replacing a ion displacer pistol into his subspace pocket.

He looked concerned, before walking to the former engineering section, he was a easy enough 'Mech to find, when someone wanted to locate him.

[rhoenix]

Crimson looked to Shellshock, who was obviously waiting for Blindside to get back to firing. "Talk it over with BreakOut when he gets here. First, I want to see you hit that tank three times in a row," she answered.

Sighting the tank Crimson was pointing at, he nodded as lay back down, and focused on his heartbeat to calm himself. He felt gratified to be falling into the same sort of meditative trance he felt when he practiced the various forms of Metallikado, one that helped him block out the world while still being aware of it.

As he fired the first shot, Blindside calmly observed it flying above the tank. Steadying himself, and re-bracing the butt of the rifle, he fired again, hitting the tank on the left side. Just as he was about to fire again, a thunderous sound was heard right above him, which despite his trance-like state he couldn't help but react to somewhat - the shot went wide.

[Charon]

Shellshock looked down at Blindside, lowering his still smoking gun barrel. "That's what you're going to be having to deal with for every shot you try to make. You're not gonna be able to zen out for every shot you make."

[rhoenix]

Shellshock looked down at Blindside, lowering his still smoking gun barrel. "That's what you're going to be having to deal with for every shot you try to make. You're not gonna be able to zen out for every shot you make."

Blindside looked sharply upward with a glare, but hearing what Shellshock said (after filtering out the ringing from his audio sensors) did make sense, and made him think. He nodded thoughtfully after a moment, and when he aimed again, he didn't focus on going into a trance this time as he lined up his shots - he just aimed, led his target, and fired.

It took him a few minutes, but he managed to hit the tank three times in a row. He paused with aiming for a moment, but then began moving up to trying to hit the faster-moving targets. He aimed primarily for the Chinese MiG's and the Casseticons, since he didn't trust himself aiming for the faster-moving Seekers just yet.

[LadyTevar]

Crimson had expected Shellshock's little trick, but even she was rubbing her audio pickups. "This is why I try not to be near you during a fight, Shellshock," she said wryly. "I don't want to replace my audio after every battle."

The Fembot was still watching Blindside as he focused on the Casseticons and MiGs. Obviously, he was better at the Casseticons, who didn't move as quickly. Like Hornet, he wasn't targetting the humans, who would be far easier targets. "Blindside? The smallest bipeds are 'Humans', the natives of this world," she explained, her voice sorrowful and pitying. "Unfortunately, some of them are being manipulated by the Decepticons into fighting us."

Crimson was torn. Blindside needed to know how bad it was, but the knowledge of what had been done to the humans was a heavy burden, and hard to speak of. "Some of them have been ... experimented on ... to make them more dangerous to Cybertronians."

[rhoenix]

The Fembot was still watching Blindside as he focused on the Casseticons and MiGs. Obviously, he was better at the Casseticons, who didn't move as quickly. Like Hornet, he wasn't targetting the humans, who would be far easier targets. "Blindside? The smallest bipeds are 'Humans', the natives of this world," she explained, her voice sorrowful and pitying. "Unfortunately, some of them are being manipulated by the Decepticons into fighting us."

At this, Blindside paused, and looked up at her from his now-crouching position, confusion showing softly on his normally calm features. "...Manipulated? How so?"

Crimson was torn. Blindside needed to know how bad it was, but the knowledge of what had been done to the humans was a heavy burden, and hard to speak of. "Some of them have been ... experimented on ... to make them more dangerous to Cybertronians."

At this, his golden optics glowed brighter in surprise, and in shock. "You mean...the Decepticons are taking the natives of this world, and turning them into living weapons, dangerous to us?"

He was stunned for a few microseconds, nearly overwhelmed by the enormity of this as he stared at the holographic projections of these "modified" Terrans. He thought quickly to his experiences on the highways on the way to the Ark, at how similar the humans seemed to be to them, despite being organic. He thought of the two books he read, written by Terran authors that had him even how drastically reconsidering how he approached fighting and warfare. The thought of these imagining, thinking, dreaming, working organics being turned into near-mindless weapons of war by the Decepticons filled him simultaneously with deep sorrow for the Terrans so entrapped, and began to stoke the fires of deep-seated fury against the Decepticons for this new travesty.

A moment later, after all this running at high speed through his mind, he still looked saddened. "It will be...difficult to attack them knowing that, but more difficult still to ignore them, knowing what I do about them already." He looked up at Crimson from his position, with a more determined look on his face, though still with a tinge of sadness. "Thank you for telling me, Crimson."

With that, he dropped back down, and after changing the setting on his rifle, Blindside began picking them off, vaporizing entire squads at a time as they spread out in formation. He still missed more often than most, but due to their numbers, a miss still usually manage to hit a few.

As he did, his internal chronometer let him know that there was now exactly half a megacycle left until Breakout's time of assembly. This cheered him a small amount, as he had been down at the firing range, learning how to shoot properly for nearly the entire time - something he had never done before, but knew the necessity of now.

[SirNitram]

"Computer. Render holographic target: MiG Headmaster Hybrid." Overload spoke firmly as the topic of the humans came up. The massive hauler gestured as the modified MiG appeared. "The pilot has been extensive cyber-grafted, to replicate the experimental Headmaster process from the Golden Age." As if in demonstration, Overload's hands reached up, and pulled his head up and off. "It was a neat trick, but the power savings weren't considered sufficient in a golden age. And when the war started.. Well, no time." The link was re-established as he put his head back on.

"These things are cannon fodder. Upgunned from straight MiG aircraft, they can threaten lighter Cybertronians, but first and foremost they exist as psych warfare. You think oh dear, the poor humans.. And you hesitate. And you question." Overload, hardened by wars organic and transformer, didn't seem as inhibited. "I don't know if they recruit or enslave for these. But human nations are being convinced there's gains to make by siding with the Decepticons. Humans are damn capable of being conquering peices of slag, same as us. Trust me. I can playback the local conflict identified as 'World War II' if you doubt they can be evil."