BoP: C14 Overcast

The Blood of Primus
Part Two: The Everlasting Flame

Overcast
Earthdate: August 21, 1999

Trapper returned from her walk about an hour later, Overcast was laying across a couple of crates reading a datapad, munching on some goodies. The fembot snorted and sat down at her computer to review any memos; however her fatigue caught up with her and she quickly dropped into a recharge cycle where she sat.

Overcast watched her for a while and had begun to doze off himself. Until he was startled out of his own nap when he heard the all-too familiar sound of a Seeker's engines as it flew off. The sound seemed amplified and reverberated off the surrounding mountains. Birds screamed in panic and took off into the sky.

The diminutive Autobot dashed from his position on top of the crates, and ran to the tent's opening. He grabbed out his binoculars and stopped to take a closer look. Sure enough he could see Starscream flying at full throttle almost straight up into the sky and very rapidly – as if he was leaving the atmosphere. There was an urgency about the flight, something important had occurred. He scanned the area to see if there was any evidence of where the Seeker had been before, but there was nothing. The Seeker had himself well hidden. He would have to go out and scout around seeing what he can find. Starscream would leave distinctive tracks.

Overcast glanced over his shoulder at Trapper, she did not so much as move a servo. Somehow the fembot had slept through the thunderous roar of the Seeker's engines as he exited. He wondered what she had been doing that would render her so exhausted to drop into a deep recharge cycle at this time. Understanding that she was not pleased with the arrangement, he decided not to disrupt the sleep cycle. He hoped that some rest would improve her unfriendly disposition.

Deciding that he should not simply sit around, the Autobot drew out a number of maps of the area that Trapper had neatly folded on her desk. He studied the lay of the land, writing down co-ordinates of areas that he wanted to search. He wished to go over some of the areas Trapper had previously looked over. A second set of optics often found things the first set missed. He had finished plotting the excursion when the comm's unit buzzed at him. The Autobot leaned over and flipped it on. He checked the time, it was five in the afternoon and Trapper was still out cold.

“Optimus Prime,” Overcast greeted with a friendly smile.

“Overcast, is Trapper available?” The Autobot commander queried, it was her camp and she was in command.

“She's currently in a solid power down, want me to awaken her?” he asked glancing at the fembot. She was sleeping, with her cheek on her fist, snoring softly.

“Not at the moment, but I want you to be prepared for recall. There has been some Decepticon activity – the Skyspy has recorded a number of strange energy surges with a similar signature to space-bridge activity. No space bridges have been detected at any of the locations.”

“What... space-bridge activity without a space-bridge; how is that even possible?” Overcast asked bemused.

“We aren't sure,” Optimus replied. “Ratchet, Perceptor and Wheeljack are looking into the anomalous readings to determine what it is. If you could, there was a surge reading within your vicinity. Two miles due south -  I am sending you the rough co-ordinates, please investigate it and report back any findings. At some of the other locations, Megatron or Starscream were detected, although not at your location.”

Overcast nodded, he enjoyed the idea of having a mission, “Primus, sounds like they've got a teleporter or something. That can't be a good thing.”

“I agree,” Optimus replied. “We feel that the Decepticons may be testing some new transport equipment and could be planning an attack. I've had word that one of their wind generators was destroyed this morning by some unknown party, only a short while before these anomalous readings.”

“That would explain why I saw Starscream leaving the area in a fraggin' hurry... He must've been called back.”

“You saw him?” Optimus asked surprised, “and you did not report it?”

“Yeah, Sorry boss, I didn't get a chance.” he rubbed his head sheepishly. “Starscream was out of here real quick, and we still don't know where he's hiding out,” Overcast said with a frown. “I think it's possibly underground, but we know how Seekers are that way... I was just going out to see if I could find any fresh tracks before making an official report,” he explained.

Optimus' image nodded. “Very well, keep me informed if you do find anything. I'll contact you when we get more information regarding the energy surges, or the Decepticons. Optimus Prime out.” The screen went dark and Overcast glanced over at Trapper one more time. She had to be utterly slagged as she had slept through the whole conversation, without so much as a twitch.

Overcast grabbed his pack and left Trapper to sleep while he went out to check the location. The most direct route took him through the trees, along a small track that had been typically used by small human ATV's over the course of the summer which opened up on a medium sized meadow. The grasses grew up to a meter tall and were peppered with white and yellow flowers, which swayed gently in the breeze. Bees flew from flower to flower collecting nectar to bring back to their hive. Overcast observed the nature that thrived around him. He drew out a scanner from his pack and glanced around the area. There was no evidence of a ground-bridge or anything remotely technological.

A number of large rocks, or boulders which may have been part of the mountains which surrounded him. He walked further into the meadow until he came upon a spot where some grasses appeared to be flattened, twisted into a circle as if blown over by a a small whirlwind, an up-draft typically known as a dust devil. He leaned against the rock for a moment and shook his head. A small rabbit hopped out from under the bolder. It possibly had a nest hidden in a protected spot. Smiling wickedly, Overcast aimed his rifle and shot at it. The animal, entirely unaware that there was a threat to it's well being, was immediately vaporised without so much as a sound. The birds in the area reacted to the weapons fire and flew up into the air and hid amongst the trees. Overcast sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. The animal had died too easily and there was nothing but lichen encrusted rocks, flowers and trees.  

With a sigh, he returned to the camp to send Optimus Prime his findings, or lack there of. He was growing increasingly bored, wanting to do something exciting. The small Autobot finally gave in and shook Trapper awake. It never occurred to him that touching her, even slightly was not a good idea, there was barely a moment from when he had placed his hands on her shoulder and he was staring down the barrel of her pistol. She was instantly alert, if not aware, defensive and ready to protect herself from a perceived attack. There was a brief moment where she had forgotten that she had someone in her camp. It took her a few seconds to realise it was not the smooth talking flier but Overcast. She nearly wished it was the Seeker.  

“What do you want 'Cast?” she demanded. Still holding the weapon at him. She did not trust him.

“You ought to be careful with that thing, Trapper, you could take an optic out.” Overcast said pushing it away from his face with the back of his hand. He had frozen in his spot afraid for a moment that she'd not recognise him -  or find an excuse to not recognise him.

She lowered the weapon and put it away, then shook her head. “Sorry, knee-jerk reaction,” She yawned heartily. “What time is it?” She blinked and looked over at the monitor.

“Almost  seven pm,” he replied, “Sun's setting and the work day is done.”

“Primus! I wasted the day! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!”

“Likely because I figured you'd kill me. But you must've been exhausted. You missed Starscream leaving the valley just before noon.”

“He left the area?”

“Yeah, south of here -  speaking of another thing you missed., Prime called to say that the Decepticons are up to something. Space-bridge-like energy readings  have popped up all over the place, even one nearby – I scoped that out was nothing there. Starscream was detected at some, Megatron as well. Not sure how many, though.”

“The Cons got a fast transport?” she asked.

“Sure sounds like it, Trapper – Prime thinks so too, he's got the nerds and geeks checking out the energies. Prime reckons that they're making ready for an attack somewhere and we ought to be prepared for recall should he need us.”

“How are we to get anywhere? If the cons attacked let's say... New Zealand, how does Prime expect us to get there?” She shook her head, if a fast transit existed, Starscream made no indication of it. Was It possible that he did not even know about it. It was also likely that he would not use it to protect the secrecy of his area -  surely co-ordinates would be recorded in a memory buffer. But if he or someone opened up one nearby, it was either extreme co-incidence or an entirely new technology he was exploring. Ultimately she knew that this technology would would make getting to the Decepticons or predicting where they would show up next problematic beyond reasoning.

“Was any reasons given why they might wish to attack? They haven't made a hostile move against us in a long time,” Trapper asked with another yawn, she needed to stop doing that.

“Yeah, their wind turbines got trashed. As I've got them figured, they're gonna seek out someone to blame. If they're as half as antsy about not fighting nothing as I am, it's gonna be a messy one,” he said with an unpleasant smile.

“You'd love that.”Trapper frowned, Overcast nodded eagerly.

His grin broadened,“don't you know it, Sister.”

Trapper bristled at the name then turned to reach into a box that was stacked in such a way it resembled a set of shelves. She pulled out her weapons case; it was long, well used and battered. Covered in a leather-like material which was worn on the corners. It had a number of marks on the top next to the handle which resembled the triangular shapes with a cross through each of them them. Each crossed out triangle represented a Seeker who had died at her hand and she had drawn on eleven. She took out a key then inserted it into the lock, giving it a quick twist and pressed her thumbs to the latch pressing it outward. The case opened with a gentle click and she lifted the lid. Inside, laid out in precision cut foam, were the components that made up her sniper rifle, a box of ammunition, and an extra pistol. She had the weapon out only just the night before, it was the same one she used to target the flier when he was strung up in her trap. It was already well cleaned and oiled, having just had its maintenance check. However she did discharge a bullet from its chamber, it would be good to ensure it was still accurate.  

Overcast grabbed two similar sized crates and draped a tarp over them to create a make-shift table. He then took out his weapons and pulled them apart to clean. Trapper joined him and they sat together not saying a word until nearly midnight. As it seemed that the attack would not come that day.

“The S.K. seems to be ready,” she said glancing through the scope to ensure it was clear and aligned. She gave the lens a gentle sweep of the cloth to removve it of oily smudges that might have occurred during its cleaning process.

“Eskay?” he asked, “You named it Eskay? Mine's called Sparkbreaker.”

“Seeker Killer,” she stated. “Not Eskay, but Seeker Killer,” Trapper yawned again, having not stopped since she woke up in the late afternoon. She packed the weapon up. It was ready for use as soon as anyone called them to fight.

“A name that is to the point, I like that. I'll take it that you've killed many,” he replied in an effort to draw out some conversation. Eyeing the marks on her case.

“Enough,” she replied flatly. “I'm done and I apparently haven't had enough sleep, so I am turning in for the night.”

Overcast grumbled as she dropped to her platform and pulled a dust cover over her. He too reluctantly decided to turn in for the night as well.

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