Skyfire: Re-entry and Approach

[Skyfire]

The first thing Skyfire noticed was the lack of weight crushing him into the ice and snow. Then his optics came back online and he looked up at a blue-violet sky. Brilliant sunlight reflected off of something--

Skyfire turned his head--he'd transformed sometime during the storm, trying to avoid a lethal crash, hoping to walk out of the hellish blizzard he'd been trapped in. His hopes had been dashed by a fall on broken ground he couldn't see in the blinding storm; his own jets had melted the snow around him, the dire cold refreezing it, trapping him as the smothering blanket of snow buried him alive...

Ice. Snow. Dazzling in the sunlight--sunlight! The storm was over. Where was his partner? Had Starscream crashed, too? If the winds had caught him close to the ground, he could be in broken pieces under meters of snow! A brief moment of panic shook him, then Skyfire forced himself to calm down. Panic killed far more than any outside hazard. Starscream was probably in better shape--his armor was much sturdier.

He might, however, be stranded. Skyfire checked his instruments; the polar magnetic field was very intense. Atmospheric static suggested a very active magnetosphere, and probably very poor radio reception here. No distress beacons transmitting as far as he could tell, but anything beyond line-of-sight would be unreliable at best.

Starscream might be near enough to receive a direct transmission, particularly if he were iced in. Skyfire's first try went out on Starscream's private frequency:

// Starscream, this is Skyfire--are you receiving? What is your condition and position? //

Long silence, broken only by the hiss of the solar wind dashing itself into oblivion against the planetary magnetic field. Skyfire repeated his transmission several times. Not good. Either Starscream was too far away to receive in these conditions... or he was no longer capable of receiving or transmitting.

The kid had Beta's own luck, though. Skyfire wouldn't give him up for lost just yet. If Starscream had been as fast on the uptake and as quick on the wing as he usually was, he just might have fought clear of the storm--and would be well south of here. Again, possibly damaged.

Skyfire took more sensor readings, including sun sightings, then transformed. He lifted into the air, powerful jet engines vaporizing the snow beneath him. Skyfire circled, banked, and headed south, out of the boreal wastes.

Odd. The readings didn't match the ones he took just before taking a closer look at this planet. How long had he been trapped under the ice?

// Starscream, this is Skyfire--are you receiving? What is your condition and position? // repeated again and again on Starscream's private frequency, and, on the general broadband:

// Skyfire to any Cybertronians, are you receiving me? Please respond. //

[Starscream]

It took Starscream a moment to consider this transmission. Apparently this Skyfire knew nothing of his betrayal, or perhaps he was from later in a point where he would come back begging for forgiveness. Either way, the Decepticons would gain yet another scientific type over their foes. Starscream was up-front with his old friend once and he turned his back on him. Starscream was not interested in that happening again. He'd have to handle this delicately.

//Skyfire, this is Starscream. Thank Sigma you remain functional. We've found ourselves on a strange planet. There are Cybertronians here who will try to deceive you. Do not trust anyone else who might try to contact you. I'll explain it all to you when we meet up in person.//

//Oh.. do you happen to have a recent time-stamp? I fear my chronometer might have been corrupted.//

[Skyfire]

The quick responses¹ to his first transmissions outside the interference zone puzzled Skyfire; they didn't seem to be expecting him. Not a rescue party, then.

His spectroanalysis routine nudged him, complaining that the readings for the star didn't match up properly and could not be analyzed for variance. Skyfire puzzled over this briefly, before realizing that this yellow star was completely different from the one whose third planet he'd crashed on. There could be no mistake; stellar spectrographs are as distinct as fingerprints.

Then Starscream's distinctive radio voice cut in on their private channel. Relief welled through Skyfire's circuits; Starscream still functioned!

// Starscream, what is your condition? // Skyfire replied anxiously on the same private channel. // Were you caught in the storm? //

The big shuttle transmits his latest timestamp--nine million years before the 20th century, right about when he was lost in the storm. Moments, in fact, before he entered emergency stasis under the ice.

He considers Starscream's words carefully as he flies high above the northern wastes, noting with some excitement signs of intelligent construction. Hmm, something else he'd better find out fast--

// Starscream, are the indigenous sapients hostile? Should I take precautions? //

As for the rest of Starscream's words... what kind of trouble had his partner managed to get into this time? "Don't listen to what they're saying about me, it's a lie, etc, etc, etc"... same old song and dance. Skyfire sighed mentally. Whose tail had the red and blue scout tweaked, and how much property damage was involved? The kid was a great scout out here in the outer darks, but the 'right stuff' out here was absolutely the 'wrong stuff' back on complacent, introverted Cybertron.

---

¹ See General Band.

[Starscream]

Oh, phew! His old friend is completely able to be suckered in.

//I am alive and functional, my friend. There are apparently NO indigenous species on this planet, I think some of these other Transformers wiped them out. I've found some who are allied with me. We have a lot to catch up on.//

Starscream transmitted some co-ordinates that would take Skyfire to a location a few miles away from base. //Can you meet me there?//

[Skyfire]

There's a long silence as Skyfire sorts through the multiple voices hailing him. He climbs, needing a good set of referents for Starscream's coordinates. Time to do at least one sub-orbital mapping pass. // Possibly, after I figure out where 'there' is. //

// Starscream.... mind telling me how we ended up in another stellar system, on another planet entirely? And who all these others are? //

That other voice certainly sounded like Omega Supreme, but without a visual, that could not be confirmed. On the other hand... why would someone fake the presence of Omega Supreme, of all mechs? If they wanted to lure him into a trap, better to use Starscream. Speaking of whom...

// Starscream, do you still have the timestamp of when we were separated on that 3rd planet, and when we surveyed the ringed gas giant in that system? If you do, please transmit them to me. // It would give a rough confirmation of his identity--unless someone had taken Starscream's memory banks apart, he should be the only one with both that precise data and the referents to know what Skyfire was talking about.

If someone had taken Starscream apart, well, Skyfire would deal with that. You don't abandon your partner on an alien world if there's any chance of rescue.

[Starscream]

It took him a moment to find the date, but Starscream still had it. He transmitted it.

//...This is complicated to explain. We are lost in time and space. I had hoped to explain in person and avoid the shock. But Skyfire, I am from a time different to yours. I still remember losing you on that planet, I tried and tried to find you, but you were lost. It was a long time, but we eventually were rejoined, as Decepticon bretheren, sworn to protect Cybertron and the known galaxy from the Autobot oppressors.// Could there actually be some sentiment in Starscream's words, or is he just laying it on thick?

//There are many who have been deceived by these Autobots - they wear a red branding. They have found their way here too, but so have many friends.//

[Skyfire]

//The lines got drawn up while you were gone, son.//

Evidentally so. Both Kup and Starscream told the same story--they were taken from their own time and place and deposited on this planet, which was apparently abandoned. Starscream's speculation that the others--the Autobots, presumably--had wiped out the inhabitants was typical of him, and probably about as valid as usual. Still, if he came up with evidence...

Kup and Starscream attributed each other's motives to themselves, and vice versa. Presumably the members of each group would insist they were the 'good guys' and the other side were the 'evil slaggers'. A conundrum not likely to be solved with mere words.

Skyfire rolled, now that he'd achieved low orbit, and began to make images of the planet's surface.

//Now I'm going to give you some advice. Don't you put any symbol on until you know damned sure what it stands for.//


Kup provided good advice, at least. He seemed to be open and above board, but he might just be a good liar. Skyfire might have trusted him, except he couldn't forget the crazy mercenary assaulting his partner and refusing to help them in a rather tricky sector.

Starscream was hiding something; there were enough of his usual tag words: "...explain in person and avoid the shock..." Translation: "I'm up to my intakes in trouble and I want to explain it in person so I can look pitiful and appeal to your kinder nature, because the facts will utterly shaft me."

Brilliant, but--Sigma, he could find trouble in a comestibles market on a TL3 agro-planet! Though, Skyfire reflected, he was the one who'd found trouble on an uninhabited resource world. Starscream had failed to find him? Not surprising; from the weight on his wings, he'd been buried deep after stumbling into that crevasse.

The first pass was nearly complete. Skyfire continued, making overlapping orbits to complete the edges.

He finally replied after his long silence. // Starscream... just how much trouble are you in this time? //

[Starscream]

....

I AM NOT IN TROUBLE YOU SPACEFARING SIMPLETON! HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO UNDERSTAND THAT PERHAPS I WOULD WANT TO BREAK SOMETHING TO YOU IN PERSON, IN THE NAME OF OUR FRIENDSHIP--THE FRIENDSHIP YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON!?

...Sigh. Okay, take a deep breath, and reply to Skyfire. Here we go.

//I'm not IN trouble! I'm fighting a WAR, which means it's possible this frequency is being monitored! No doubt, already the Autobots are trying to trick you into converting to their side!//

[Skyfire]

Skyfire completed his charting run and rolled, turning his sensors to the task of plotting all the debris and structures in orbit. There was a great deal of it; evidently the locals had been space-farers.

His cameras he turned to space, letting them gather the dim images of stars, looking for the subtle tracks of planets in this system. This is what Skyfire does; while in space, it would take a conscious effort not to do it, like it would take Perceptor an major effort not to theorize.

// I wouldn't say they were 'tricking' me; all they've done is offer assistance and give sensible advice. Do you remember that Cybertronian mercenary we met out in Far Astoria sector? The one I tried to engage as a guide, the one who punched you in the face after your, er, bit of diplomacy? He's here, and gave me some possibly useful information. //

Skyfire's voice sharpened a bit. // If you are in a war, that's about as big a cache of trouble as you can find. When did this war start, and how? //

And, partner? I'm considering the possibility that someone has blaster to your CPU and you can't tell me the straight story. But I can't say that, or I'd put them on alert. If they exist.

[Starscream]

//Far too long now, my friend. The Autobots attempted to control the rest of Cybertron's populace, tell us how we were meant to live our lives. We rebelled. They're offering help to sucker you in, Skyfire. If you come to the co-ordinates I gave you, you'll see I'm fine. //

[Skyfire]

So had the isolationists gotten in control back home? He could see Starscream rebelling against that--shutting out the universe, stopping exploration, suppressing knowledge. Skyfire would have rebelled against that!

Wait and see. If Starscream was clear of danger, he'd ask him more details in person. // I'll be down there as soon as I complete this system ephemeris I'm assembling. Do you already have a complete one I could compare mine against, make sure I haven't missed anything? According that old mercenary, Kup, this is the Gillanan system, and we're at Gillanan III. It's in... // and here Skyfire rattles off the sector-galactic coordinates--a long, long way from Cybertron.

// WHAT THE--? // A sudden snarl of static cuts through the channel.

[Starscream]

//...Skyfire? Skyfire, come in!//

Is Starscream worried he's losing a valuable tool for his empire, or is this very real concern for a friend?

[Skyfire]

Either way, he sounds concerned.

Skyfire's voice comes back online, sounding a bit shaken. // I, um, dodged. No damage. You know the solar arrays and the microwave aggregator up here, the ones providing beamed power to the ground? They're armed. With rather aggressive automated defense systems. //

// I believe I shall postpone investigating the lunar structures until I have support. They are also likely to be defended. Maneuvering for my re-entry track now. Do you have a system ephemeris?//

[Starscream]

//We're working it. And yes, there are base defenses. The one WE found had killer plantlife guarding it.// A pause. //Skyfire, do you have an ETA?//

[Skyfire]

// I have a preliminary one, plus an orbital ephemeris database for all the bodies in orbit around this planet, plus planetary imaging for you when I get down there. Can you at least receive the system ephemeris and compare it with what data you have? Kup seems to think there should be planet in the fourth orbit, and I haven't found one--just high-metallic asteroids. // A brief silence.

// I have several ETAs depending on my exact re-entry track. I had to re-evaluate my original track after finding out that the orbital structures may shoot at me. Trust me, partner; I'm coming in, though not as predictably as enemies monitoring this channel might expect. //

// Entering ionospheric blackout zone. No further communications for a while //