Fading Starlight

"You got your shoulder dinged up. Did someone snipe you or did you get it in ground combat?" Prowl called after him.


"We're agreeing for once, isn't that enough peace?" Helixon asked.

"We are not agreeing." Altrock scowled.

Path stopped and turned slowly to answer. "I scrapped the Decepticon that killed our last comms officer, if you must know." His tone maintained same unbothered tone, except it was a little colder.

"I don't care if you agree or not, just don't do it out loud! Primus. The cons will hear your chatter from klicks away." Tarmac herded them all into the bay where they'd be staying for a short time. He looked around for Path and saw he was lagging behind. Prowl was talking to him. He frowned.

"One less Decepticon to deal with, but I'm sure someone else has filled his place already, just as someone else has filled the role of your comms officer. He fits your team well." Prowl replied, meaning it in an insulting way. That group was a group of bots who didn't fit anywhere else. They were wild cards that could cost the autobots a battle.

Path's hand twitched like he wanted to make a fist, but he refused to let Prowl see he'd irritated him. "That he does, Prowl." His optics narrowed slightly. "Am I dismissed, or do you intend to boost our morale even further?" His face was deadpan, but he smiled internally. Prowl was notoriously terrible at motivating his team, and Path knew it.

"You've already been dismissed, nor was I intentionally boosting your morale." Prowl replied.

Path grunted and walked away. He passed Tarmac without a word. Tarmac shot a glance at Prowl. He wouldn't tolerate anyone messing with his crew, even if it was a superior officer.

Blueshade went in and sat down, glad to get a little rest before the mission that night. He activated his weapons and checked them over, making sure everything was operational. He looked around for Reverse to see what he was up to.

Prowl's expression was cold as he watched Path walk off. He turned and went in his own direction, as he had other things to attend to rather than deal with these bots.

Altrock went over all of his equipment, while below him Helixon was sitting upside-down and complaining to Altrock that he didn't see how he could stand being upside-down all the time.

Reverse was sitting mostly out of the way and quietly watching everyone else.

Blueshade saw Reverse by himself and went over to sit next to him. "Hey Reverse, how's it going?" He reined in his energy, not wanting to startle him.

Path looked at Tarmac. "Great company out there."

Tarmac chuckled. "Let him cry about it. He still answers to Ironhide."

Reverse looked up at him, and nodded.

"Nevermind him," Altrock snorted. "We're better company."

"Better company if I wanna lose brain cells maybe." Blueshade shot back. He was used to their taunts. "Don't mind them, they're not very smart."

"Hey! I bet you don't know how to dismantle an EP-17 without triggering the sensors that trigger the needle to puncture the hyperactive fluids shell." Altrock shot back. "Then for certain you'd lose brain cells."

Blueshade looked flustered. "That's a lot coming from a guy who stands on the ceiling like a scraplet!" He'd never been as savage with the insults as the others. He had the speed, but all of the words would come out at once and not make much sense.

"Yes, I'm just as destructive to a bot as an entire hoard of them." Altrock grinned.

"You're the least scary one here. I'm more scared of Reverse than I am of you." Blueshade was lying, once Altrock had chased him with a "live" explosive until Path caught him and explained it was just a smoke bomb.

Altrock cackled. "Okay you're scared of a bot who's like a third of your size, with little blasters that would do absolutely nothing but leave a smudge on your paint job?"

His laughter was short-lived. A blast scorched the ceiling next to him, taking a good sized chunk out. Reverse stood next to Blueshade, holstering his weapon. Altrock remained unharmed. Helixon laughed. "Good aim! Would have been perfect if you hit him though."