So Flat

[Fleetwind]

Earth Month 1, Week 2, Day 1. Detroit. Open to flying Decepticons.

A F-35 soars over the city of Detroit. He pings the right modes and codes to be left unmolested, though curiously, the color, a pastel yellow, seems to have drawn no attention at all.

Maybe it's just too high up.

Fleetwind's sporting a brand new alternate mode, because as odd as a pastel yellow F-35 in the skies of Detroit may be, a pastel yellow tetrajet would be odder. As usual, he sports his enhanced scouting sensor suite, but he's had a few additional, temporary sensors added on to aid him in his survey.

He surveys the land below him, and hrms over the Decepticon frequencies. // You know, what I've heard about this planet is true. It is way too flat. //

OOC: Additional sensor equipment approved by other admin, temporary, and generally imprecise.

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

Skystrike is nowhere near as conspicuous as Fleetwind in appearance, but she was still a blue SU-47. She keeps her distance from Fleetwind however, as there was also nothing quite as conspicuous as a blue SU-47 flying beside a flamboyant pastel F-35.

//It really is,// Skystrike answers as -a-matter-of-factly, a shrug in the tone of her voice. //Of course, their world isn’t built as our’s is. Only a small fraction is actually used by the organics. The rest is just rock and water.// Inefficient use of space, really; no layers. Although considering the core of the planet was molten, it was probably impossible to take full advantage of the space entire blasted thing took up.

[Fleetwind]

Well, on the up side, at least Fleetwind isn't quite as likely to result in an Airforce scramble.

However, there have been no scrambles so far, partially because both jets are squawking proper IFF codes.

// It's pathetic. We really could make more effective use of this pla- hnh. //

// I'm picking up something... odd from the center of the city. It's muffled, though. //

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

Russian jets in US airspace were probably not terribly inconspicious come to think of it.

//Odd?// Skystrike repeats. She starts up her own scanners although she’s not in range to detect it without Fleetwind’s special equipment. //Shall we investigate?//

[Fleetwind]

// Unexpectedly intense energy readings, and yes, // Fleetwind replies, heading towards the area of the city where the readings are strongest and... probably catching a fair amount of attention on the ground as he flies low, but mostly of the, 'Oh, look, a jet!' variety.

// Not sure how much we can do, though. Muffled. Like maybe it's underground? See if you can get in close enough to pick them up. I'd like another set of optics on this before we report back. //

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

//Understood.// Skystrike rumbles as she descends after her teammate, sounding rather wary. Humans may be insects, but getting caught in the middle of an insect nest was never fun.

She reaches out with her sensors, trying to a catch whatever it was Fleetwind had found. //Any idea what it could be?//

[Fleetwind]

//Well, the readings are incomplete thanks to the interference, so I can't narrow down the probable causes as much as I'd like,// Fleetwind begins hesitantly as he begins circling the area where the readings seem strongest.

//But... one of the energy sources that comes up as a potential match is energon!//

Skystrike should be able to confirm this by this point. Again, the readings are incomplete due to interference, and there are several more mundane possibilities that would also fit. It could just be a false alarm.

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

//Hnh.// Skystrike grumbles warily as she eyes the readouts. She doesn’t get her hopes up. //A lot of annoying new questions if it is energon,// the seeker grumbles rising higher now that she’d gotten the scans.

//None of the human maps of this location indicate a power plant in this particular location,// the seeker just sounds progressively more and more unhappily suspicious. //Let’s get out of here. I don’t like this. Let someone else do their jobs and figure it out.//

[Fleetwind]

//Yes,// Fleetwind agrees, raising altitude as well. //Get someone more... suited for ground level exploration on this.// Tempting to refer to them as 'dirt crawlers,' but these days there are too many such Decepticons of rank to make such an off-hand remark safe.

//So, Skystrike, have you actually been to Earth? Or were you granted the mode as a precautionary measure? //

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

If Fleetwind said that with Skystrike around, she would have chased him. No you may not make derogatory comments about grounded mechs around the grumpy blue Russian jet.

//Been to earth,// she rumbles, her tone suggesting a shrug. //Did scutwork. Got shot at.// Terribly exciting. //You?// the blue flier asks after a moment.

[Fleetwind]

And this is the other reason Fleetwind tends to keep snide remarks to himself, even if he really believes it: it's all to easy to gain the animosity of someone without intending to. And so he keeps his remarks to himself, even if he does still believe that jets are inherently superior to ground vehicles.

(Dirt crawlers.)

//Never off Cybertron. But the rest about describes what I spent my time doing there, though maybe a bit more of the scutwork and less the shooting. It depending how active the Autobots cells were being.//

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

//Sounds about right,// Skystrike says idly as she rolls. //Cybertron never did change too much under our Shockwave.// Of course, their Shockwave had been a guardian, not a leader and no one had expected Megatron to promptly disappear into the stars chasing down the Autobot flagship.

It was a wonder how the purple mech had stayed in power for the duration of the blackout. Skystrike hadn’t been in too much of a position to worry about that, stuck out in the wastelands with a Decepticon fuel convoy as she had been. In retrospect though, it didn’t make too much sense.

[Fleetwind]

//Indeed. This one is far more dangerous,// Fleetwind observes. In fact, the yellow Seeker is a bit unnerved with the knowledge that Shockwave is out there, but they don't know where. There's no telling what sort of future trouble that might cause.

Same problem with Overlord, really.

OOC: Fade out to further scouting and reporting back? The thread was always intended mostly 'interesting discovery, a bit of general chit chat.'

[Skystrike/Skylar Stringers]

Aren’t a lot of Decepticon leaders like that though? Dangerous and often lost in space for a lengthy amount of time? What a strange leaderly trait.

//All of our leaders are dangerous,// Skystrike snorts. //The day we accept a harmless mech as our leader is likely the day we cease being ‘Cons.//

OOC: Fade is fine!

[Fleetwind]

// Well, I know I am certainly most prone to following dangerous leaders, // Fleetwind admits.

They terrify him more.

The Seeker continues on, ready to finish his scouting run and see what other information he might find before returning to the others.

OOC: And fade.