re_alignment_logs | Part patrol, part pondering [OPEN]

Entry tags:

Part patrol, part pondering [OPEN]

WHO: Thundercracker and anyone
WHERE: All over Haven - no, really...he's a fighter jet, he can get from end to end in minutes if he wants
WHEN: This week, spans several days
WHAT: Someone's out trying to keep himself busy . . . and maybe his mind a little quieter than it's getting
WARNINGS: Only if you bring any
NOTES: Don't forget to add your tag to the log. ^,^ also HAHA I suck at log starts sometimes. x,x

Thundercracker's out and about, usually airborne - he's a Seeker, what would you expect? - but often landing as well, especially if something, or someone, catches his attention. It's just that things have been . . . quiet around Haven lately. Too quiet. And he's getting restless because of it. What's that human saying he heard on television a few times (give him a break, it was the Stunticons who always had the thing going) - "It's always calmest before the storm", or something like that.

Why can't he shake the feeling that something's coming? And where are the First-Forged? When will they be returning? Will they be? Or has whatever they went off to deal with overpowered them? And what about those . . . those demons he encountered months ago. Yes, they still plague his recharge sometimes.

Other things bother him too, things he can't quite pinpoint - or just can't quite face. Like that fact that he's nearly asked his roommate if he'd like to be trine with him. More than once. He doesn't know how Starscream would take it, though. Or Cliffjumper, for that matter. He's not afraid of the little Autobot - that's a laughable thought, even - but he doesn't want trouble, either. He finds himself wanting to approach Wing too. For old times' sake, or whatever. And . . . and Jadewing. Because the sparkling Seeker is probably longing for his trine even more than Thundercracker is.

Right now, though . . . he'll take just about anyone's company. If only to help get the wheels in his head to quit spinning ceaselessly.

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Seekers were the best mechs in flight, hands down, and Thundercracker was crème de la crème, second only to Starscream himself. (He'd had to be to maintain his position as an officer and one of the Command Trine.) He wouldn't have tapped Rose if he thought he might risk hurting her. On the contrary, it was his way of showing that he thought highly of her, treating her "like a Seeker".

If he'd been able, he would have nodded at her comment. Instead, he lets his wings wobble a bit in reaction. "Yeah, that's what I've been thinking. No indication of what might be stirring, though huh? I sure haven't found anything." And there's mild frustration in his tone at that.

Still it made her feel like a kid being patted on the head.

"I haven't seen anything either." Which doesn't settle too well with her either. She hates not knowing when something is going to happen.

"By the way, what was with that tap just now?" She is curious, but it also serves as a good change of subject.

Jetfire chuckled dryly at that, flicking his wings and sacrificing his stable flight path for a moment, having to right himself.

::I know. I wasn't with him when he first found himself in the arena, and even after he showed me what he was doing it took far longer before he revealed he was involved with the Decepticons...:: pausing, he was quiet for a few moments.

If he'd been involved from the start, would he have understood? No, but it might have made him stay for even longer, which wouldn't have made himself any favours.

::I saw a lot of the changes firsthand, and the rest... after I... ah, left, secondhand, from the battlefield or from others' accounts,:: Jetfire said, then angled himself slightly sideways and would've arched an upper optic ridge if he'd had a face to do it with at the moment, ::and as for taking someone with me, I can. As long as they can fit in my cockpit.::

He resisted a snort - he'd taken Starscream with him to get closer to the Lambda once, and hadn't that been an... experience. Starscream was barely small enough to fit (that was, not really).

It was strange for Jadewing too, used to being the leader of his own trine. But quite apart from ingrained deference to rank, it didn't feel right to take the lead position here. Of the two of them, Thundercracker was more experienced, which, according to the unspoken rules that came into play in the air meant that he was the more likely to be able to keep you alive in pinch, and thus was the one to follow.

Jadewing smiled internally at the wing tap. He'd missed that sort of greeting; Cloudkicker was a bit too hyperactive to pull it off properly, but Snowfall would do it fairly regularly. It was... nice. Just flying with someone again was relaxing. Almost peaceful.

Then, to Jadewing's surprise, Thundercracker suddenly banked off, corkscrewing away, and calling back challenge. There was only a moment spent on being surprised, though, before Jadewing gave a brief laugh and kicked in his own thrusters, banking off to chase Thundercracker. "I should be asking you that, old-timer," he replied. Thundercracker was still in the lead in this little game of aerial tag, but Jadewing was catching up fast.

It had been awhile, though. Since he'd been living on Earth, at least. After returning to Cybertron, there had been no time, and on Charr no energy or inclination to play. Now though? He'd really been thinking more along the lines of something useful, but this would do nicely.

::It's been a long time since I've helped build anything. It feels good to be part of doing so again. Even more so since we're on Cybertron.::

Chit-chat was nice, but it's also been a long time since he's been free to just...fly. He'd sneak out of Crystal City at night to fly, but that was at night, and he had to be careful. Here that's not the case, and he's with another.

Without a word he dips and barrel rolls under the Seeker, just hoping to get the other to...play.

Edited 2014-06-28 03:09 (UTC)

"Huh? Oh . . . right." There's an almost…embarrassed? tone in his voice. But also amused. "It's a Seeker greeting. Mostly. We'll usually tap wingtips."

Arena? Thundercracker had to remind himself that different realities had different backgrounds even for the "same" mechs. Skywarp had been like that. The loss-gain-loss pattern echoed the one he'd witnessed. This mech was not a clear analog for the similar mech from his own timestream – he could tell that every time he looked at Skyfire (who WAS from his same reality…and whom he'd never really spoken to the whole time here; he should probably try to remedy that) – but there were still enough similarities for the Seeker to think he understood. Enough.

::I see. If you'd be willing, I'd be interested in going with you sometime. If I fit.::

Useful, yes, and Thundercracker would get around to addressing that too, but for now . . . sometimes it was nice to just cut loose. Something Thundercracker had never really let himself do back home, even when there had been both time and fuel for it. Too many cares, too many regrets, too much of a façade to keep up, too much worrying who might be planning to shoot him in the back if he let his guard down. It had taken him time, but he'd been learning, slowly, to shed all of that. He wished Skywarp could be here. His more carefree wingmate would be proud of him.

But Jadewing could use it just as much as he, and so for now, he'll take the lead on that too.

"Old-timer!" He sounds offended . . . or rather, tries to – the laugh betrays his tone. "All right, then. Show me what you've got!"

::Yeah, I can understand tha-huh?::

The movement catches him off-guard, and once was a time that he'd not really have responded, couldn't let himself, hardly even remembered how?

Now?

Oh, you're ON!

Wing's delighted laugh carried over the comm. He knew he couldn't out-fly Thundercracker, but he could have fun with the Seeker. He zigs and zags, dipping in close and darting away in this little game.

::Hmm, well. Starscream does, so by that token you would too,:: a pause, and Jetfire would've smiled dryly if he was currently capable of it, ::though 'fitting' might be somewhat... ah, generous. My cockpit would be very cramped.::

Of course, Thundercracker, being of a different temperament than Starscream, would probably find it easier to sit still and not touch anything, which would make the trip far more tolerable.

::So it could probably be arranged.::

Thundercracker's game enough, dancing around the other flier and putting him through his paces.

::Hmn.:: The noise of acknowledgment would have been accompanied by a nod if he could. ::Again, if you're willing, I'd like that then. Thanks.::

He wobbled his wings slightly as he changed gears on the conversation. ::So where were you headed in such a hurry?::

Wing is just enjoying having someone to fly with. He's happy to play for a good long while before shifting to go land somewhere.

::Ah... Nowhere.:: Jetfire chuckles and drops away from Thundercracker for a bit, rolling after he has the space available. ::I was merely descending. My chosen method of doing so might not be the one others prefer to use.::

Especially as he was aimed straight down and would've swooped back up at the last possible moment, imitating a battletactic. Though that one involved slamming the mech he'd grabbed into the ground, not avoiding the ground at the last possible moment.

From the added kick of thrusters that rapidly brought Jadewing even with Thundercracker, he obviously intended to do just that. A cheeky dip of a wing, and he banked off on a long, arcing trajectory that would eventually take him through a large loop and bring him back down on Thundercracker's opposite side, assuming they both continued on their current courses.

But Jadewing didn't intend to stay on course, going into a a spiral near the top of his loop. "How about this, hmm?", he called back over the comms before breaking out of his spiral and banking off again into a sharp turn. "Think you can beat that?"

Thundercracker lands with him, arms crossed and looking him up and down. After a moment, he finally comments, voice quiet, "I know I've said it before, but . . . it's good to have you back, Wing."

That gets a low chuckle from the Seeker. ::I'm sure I'm safe to assume that your chosen method isn't 'stop my descent by burying into the ground as deep as I can', right?:: He's teasing, of course. At least he'd HOPE there's some kind of planned pull-out before that point.

On a whim, Thundercracker copies the roll, leaving space enough between them not to threaten to clip the larger craft.

::Mmmhm. Not quite that deep no. I tend to pull up at the last moment,:: Jetfire said, chuckling as he rolls again before continuing, ::but that is basically the method of a particular combat maneuver I use on aerial combatants. It's quite effective.::

Most people tend to not just (at the least) get dented after being slammed into the ground, they also get disoriented, after all. Jetfire, being larger and built with more armour (and especially after having added some himself), was less affected by the sudden drop.

"Heh, there's no 'think' about it, youngster."

With that, he pulls his nose up to climb a straight vertical without warning, stalls, gets himself flipped back over so he's nosediving, corkscrews in freefall until he's dangerously close to the ground before kicking over his turbines and pulling out, arcs back around and up in a tight loop and flips over again to pull up over top of Jadewing, almost cockpit to cockpit and matching his speed.

"Your turn."

That got a low chuckle as he again copied the roll . . . pretty much just because he could. ::I can imagine. Remind me to not frag you off.::

::Might be a good idea, though presently I can't see a situation occurring that would end up with the necessity of using such a maneuver.:: Jetfire would've smiled if he could, instead he just cruised along, flicking his tailfins briefly.

::And what of you? Simply out for a flight?::

::I've been restless, and I always think better in the air. It seems like it's been too quiet lately so I've been out patrolling if nothing else, hoping maybe to spot something.::

::It has been quiet lately... though frankly I hope this will become the norm instead of being more similar to brief... ah, intermissions among various chaos.::

Sighing, Jetfire knew the situation probably wouldn't stay as it was, but he was certainly hoping it would be.

OK, Jadewing probably should have seen something like that coming. Not for nothing had Thundercracker been among the elite fliers of the Decepticons, after all. But that doesn't mean that Jadewing isn't impressed. Or mildly annoyed at being shown up so thoroughly.

But that was what this game was about, so he he merely took it as a challenge. "Oh, so you're gonna play it like that, huh?", he said. "Alright..." And he abruptly he dropped out from under Thundercracker, diving steeply, before leveling off and skimming as close to the surface as he dared, deftly dodging rock formations, ending in an abrupt turn on his side to slip through a narrow opening between two pillars of rock. He then banked hard and spiraled up around the pillars, looping turning back into a loop to fly upside-down over Thundercracker's upturned belly before, looping back down into approximately his original position.

"How was that?", he said with a smirk in his voice.

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Part patrol, part pondering [OPEN]

LOL I'd be interested in how the convo might go if Rose ever asked him about that. XD;;;

XD It might have to go that way then.

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XDDD

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