by Smokescreen85 » Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:32 pm
- Motto: ""A look can be deceiving; a touch can be lethal.""
- Weapon: Twin Shoulder-Mounted Rocket Launchers
Command Center
Bluestreak had become so engrossed with inspecting one of the consoles that he had not even heard Air Raid's series of questions. Before he could finally respond to him, Kup had answered the Aerialbot's inquiries and then set him on an assignment outside of the base. "Yeah, sorry about that! We'll talk later!" Streak replied to Air Raid as he left the room.
The Autobot gunner then turned his attention back to the terminal in front of him as he overheard Kup speaking to Howlstrike over the comm. Keeping one audio receptor acute to what was being said, Bluestreak punched in a few keys and the computer hummed to life. The monitor flickered a bit as he attempted to adjust the visual settings, but nothing appeared to help. Finally, Streak simply struck the top of the screen with his hand and the flickering stopped. "Sometimes you just gotta show 'em whose boss! Ha ha! Well, it looks like this one is working okay."
Bluestreak moved away from the station as Kup now addressed him. The gunner reached into the hover cart full of spare parts and pulled out a tangle of wiring that the old timer had requested. As he pulled the wires apart and began handing them to Kup, Bluestreak couldn't help but be nosy. "So, you got Howlstrike retrieving some kind of box, huh? I guess you can't tell me what's in it can you? Top secret stuff and all that. Well, you must really have a lot of confidence in that former Predacon to entrust him with an assignment like that. I wish I could have that kind of faith in a mech that once fought for the other side," Streak said as he handed more wiring to Kup. "But don't worry. I'll be nice to him when he gets here. I promise."
Bluestreak fully intended to be nice to Howlstrike, at least while in front of Kup. But when the old timer wasn't around, Streak had no intention of being buddy buddy with the pretend Autobot. It was only a matter of time before there was a confrontation between the two mechs.
The Breach - Level 3
Howlstrike finished welding the large metal slab into place and then put away his torch. Using both hands, the tracker pressed against the patch with all of his strength to ensure the integrity of the fix. Any movement would indicate the breach was not sealed properly and would have to be reinforced which would likely take longer. However, as luck would have it, the patch was solid as a rock and did not move an inch under Howl's powerful arms.
Satisfied that his job was done, Howlstrike stepped back from the newly repaired wall and listened as he received Kup's response over his comm line. His friend had a new assignment for him, albeit a simple one. Howl was to recover a special metal box in one of the empty rooms within the base and bring it back to his long time friend. However, he was not allowed to look inside. Only the old timer, himself, was allowed to handle the contents. Howl was slightly taken aback by this.
Does Kup not trust me? The Autobot hunter wondered as he received the coordinates for the box's location. He wouldn't exactly blame Kup if he didn't. After all, Howl hadn't been entirely honest about the shuttle crash that had brought the two former enemies together. Perhaps Magnus was right and Kup did already know about or at least suspected what Howl's true motives were when he saved the old mech's life so long ago. If that was the case, then the tracker needed to prove himself to be trustworthy and reliable. In the short term that meant following Kup's orders to the letter. In the long term, however, it meant ultimately coming clean with his friend about the crash whether Kup knew the truth already or not.
Howlstrike opened a comm line back to the old 'bot: >>"I read you, Kup. The breach is now fixed and I'm on my way to pick up the box you requested. I'll return to the command center within a few cycles."<<
Transforming to wolf mode, Howl then headed off down the corridor towards the location of Kup's metal box. He rounded a few corners before heading down a stairwell, leaping over several steps at a time as he went. The hunter would've used the turbo lift, but since he was already in beast mode he figured it would just be quicker to use the stairs.
Autobase - Level 1
Howlstrike was now on the lowest level of the base. The only areas lower then his current position were in the sub-basement, but the box in question was not down there. According to Kup's coordinates, the box was located not too far from where the mechanical wolf now stood. Howl sniffed around as he made his way down the corridor in an attempt to sense any cyber-rats that may still be lurking nearby. He slowed as he came upon the designated room and then returned to robot mode.
The tracker approached the doors which were stuck in a half-open position. Using both clawed hands, Howl pried the doors apart and entered the darkened room. It appeared to have been an office of some kind. Perhaps it had even been Kup's. Regardless, Howlstrike quickly found the only desk in the room and knelt down beside it. Sure enough the box was right where Kup said it would be. Howl grabbed a hold of it and pulled it away from the base, tearing a chuck of the desk off with it. The tracker examined the box for an astrosecond and found it to be securely locked. Whatever was in there must be very important.
Howlstrike stood up and tucked the box under one arm before leaving the room and heading back up to the Command Center.