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It was dirty and dark, muck sticking to his legs and thrusters, dripping down with an uncomfortable slide across plating, but it was the only way to enter the hangar without air clearance and he’d only get that once everything had been put into his cargo hold. Now he knew why nobody had wanted to take the assignment, and why he had gotten various looks of pity and mockery once he was chosen. He hated being a newframe; nobody took him seriously! Huffing in agitation, he stepped over a strange puddle in the middle of the street as he suddenly heard a sharp outcry, followed by metal banging against metal and fast approaching pedesteps.
A mech less than half his height stumbled out of a nearby alley at top speed, barely managing not to fall on his aft. His plating looked rough and shiny at the same time, polished where it wasn’t covered by scrapes or stains. He was also very much being followed and running directly at Terrorfall. He didn’t even think to dodge when not even a moment later the purple mech ran into him and scrambled to get back up as the shuttle’s vastly superior mass did not yield to his rather small frame. Weren’t seekers supposed to be taller? And not have wheels… What was a triple-changer with such shiny plating doing in the dirtiest streets of Kaon?
Terrorfall ignored him as the mech finally managed to stand up and jump behind a nearby garbage pile. Four other mecha, clearly being the ones chasing the first one, exited the same alley. Their optics scanned the area and locked in on him as they noticed his presence. He cursed out his coworkers inwardly and steeled himself for the inevitable confrontation. As they approached, one of them took point, their frame clearly indicating some sort of heavy machinery altmode. His plating was also bright yellow in a non-regulation shade and clearly splattered on him, not painted. A picture was starting to form inside of his mind and he didn’t like being associated with it, even just by chance.
The yellow mech looked up at him, sneering; even some parts of his dental plates were yellow. “Have ya seen a purple triple-changer coming this way? We got a wire to straighten with him. Fragging towers thinks he can pretend it was an accident, but we know better.” Oh no, well, that would do it. Accident or not, Terrorfall really had no interest in getting involved, so he merely shook his head and stepped around the group. One of them tried stopping him, but wisely thought better of it when he kept walking, and made space for him. He pretended not to hear their muttering as they made off into the opposite direction, his wings slightly splayed to look bigger instead of folding them in, hoping they wouldn’t actually attack him and start with what were clearly prime targets.
He’d almost made it to the entryway of the hangar when he felt someone grab his servo. Despite pulling away from the contact, he stopped and looked down at the now slightly less shiny purple mech, flicking his wings in question. The triple-changer’s moved in a polite apology, while he also started to talk. “I thank you kindly for not giving me away, those fraggers just wouldn’t believe someone tripped me and, well, ya know how the walkways aren’t the widest. It just kinda fell over the railing, but of course, they wouldn’t listen. So, yeah, thanks for not giving away my hiding spot.” He sounded dejected, but his smile was bright, probably practiced for maximum effect.
Terrorfall simply nodded, painfully aware he was running late by now and would need to adjust his schedule if he didn’t get going this instant. The purple mech just ran beside him as he started walking again, though, not shutting up about why he’d even been carrying around a bucket of paint and how the walkways should be expanded, especially considering the average frame type of Kaonite citizens, and asking the shuttle quite a few questions to which answers in forms of hums and wing-cant proved enough. It was when they were standing in the actual hangar itself, his future cargo in sight, that the other seemed to realise they’d arrived at Terrorfall’s destination and shut up for a moment, letting his gaze wander.
“You work in transport? I mean, it makes sense. I’m not sure what I’ll do when I get my final upgrade. My creator works in the mines, one of them at least.” He didn’t look like that was true, but the green and black mech didn’t know enough about how CNA worked to refute it. The other didn’t stop talking, though: “You can call me Sonicbolt; what’s your designation?” A hum wouldn’t suffice this time and with a heavy vent, he answered. It wouldn’t have any sort of negative consequences, he reckoned, approaching the overseer with Sonicbolt in tow, who’d also caught sight of them by now.
With a sharp whirr, he turned towards Terrorfall, looking annoyed. “I’ll have to repay you some other time, then. Winds under your wings!” And with that, he turned on his thrusters and promptly left without looking back. The shuttle had never heard such expression before, but quickly cast it out of his mind when his employer clicked his digits impatiently. The next time the triple-changer found him, he knew trouble wouldn’t be far away, either.
- - ~ - - ~ - - ~ - -
He watched as his amica corrected Enigma’s posture again, the newframe’s focus split between talking and moving as if he was at some fancy gala. Pointing out, as Stalker had done earlier, that those didn’t exist anymore, so behaviour classes shouldn’t be part of what ‘the kid’ would be taught, was useless. Terrorfall could feel how much it calmed Soundbarrier to do something familiar, to impart some of the teachings that had been drilled into his processor from the day he onlined. He wouldn’t rob him of that little piece of peace.
Soon, they’d be among the stars again, his three passengers hopefully causing less chaos than they had during the previous flight. He should just open the hatch if they acted up again, he thought, amused by the mental image. Soundbarrier shot him a quick, questioning look, but focused on their newest addition again when he shook his helm. Stalker chose that moment to show back up, having run off a breem into the lesson to scout out the area in case their scanners hadn’t been thorough enough - and promptly started criticising Soundbarrier. Terrorfall cycled his optics in exasperation as their voices started picking up volume, walking up to them to settle the argument.