Undercover Brothers
Preparations:
"I'm not doing it!" Vortex yelled, stomping his foot.
"You are so doing it!" Swindle yelled back, getting nose to faceplate with his brother. "Onslaught put me in charge of this and what I say goes!"
"I'm not doing it and you can't make me!" Vortex hovered close to the ceiling.
"Oh, you wanna bet?" Swindle snarled. "You didn't have a problem with getting re-painted!"
"That's 'cause I look good like this," Vortex said. "Black suits me, especially with the yellow an' orange stripes. I look cool; retro, y'know?"
"Yeah, you look like Rick an' T.C. should be jumping in you to rush off to save Magnum," Swindle said, crossing his arms. "But nobody is gonna believe you're just some tourist tour chopper with those guns on your chin!"
"I could be a military chopper."
"Mexican military does not fly Super Seasprites, 'Tex," Swindle said. "An' they certainly don't fly 'em over beaches or over civilian areas." Swindle paused, switching to a cajoling tone. "C'monn, Vortex, we need you! You're our eyes in the sky! You're our first line of defense against Autobot intrusion into our field of operations!"
"You sound like Onslaught." Vortex giggled, but he lowered a few feet. "Blast Off's gonna be watching from orbit; you don't really need me."
Swindle groaned inwardly; one day he was going to find the null-sig who programmed the flyboy ego and melt the slagsucker down from the feet up. "Blast Off's gonna be busy monitoring the Autobots' communications channels. You on the other hand are gonna be the one who gets to monitor the city for us. It's our old spotter drill, y'know? Blast Off in orbit, you in the air, me on the ground. Without you, we're missing our key mech."
"I'm not really key. You're just saying that 'cause you want me to let you dismantle my guns." But, Swindle was glad to note, Vortex was back on the ground.
"'Tex, you an' me are the only ones who can go out in public an' you're the only one who can be airborne. Onslaught an' Brawl gotta stay out of sight; Blast Off has to stay in orbit." Swindle sighed, looking down at his feet, then back up at Vortex, his optics radiating sincerity and desperation. "Vortex, without you, the whole plan falls apart, so c'mon, please? You're still gonna be able to make cyclones an' you'll still have your glue gun in robot mode. You're not gonna be helpless."
Vortex giggled again. "I'm never helpless, Swindle," he said. "Okay, you convinced me."
Finally, Swindle thought. "Great, great, transform an' we'll get to work."
# # #
Positioning:
Blast Off manuvered himself into position, locking himself in orbit over western Mexico. Like Vortex, he'd been repainted, though in his case he'd been painted a more tasteful matte black to allow him to blend in with space.
[Blast Off to Vortex, radio check. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta.]
[Check verified,] Vortex said. [Vortex to Blast Off, radio check. Backstreet, Hanson, Menudo, N'Sync.]
Blast Off sighed. "Not sure what's more disturbing, that he's using the names of boy bands or that I know he's using the names of boy bands." [Check verified. Next check in eight orn. Blast Off out.]
[Vortex out. Bye, bye, bye!]
"Idiot."
# # #
Onslaught sat in vehicle mode, trying hard not to brood. It wasn't easy. He and Brawl were hidden under camouflage netting, the better to hide themselves from any surveilance satelites in the area. Their hiding place was just barely large enough for the two of them to rest side by side together.
Beside him, Brawl's engines rumbled softly as he dozed. Onslaught envied his brother's ability to take any opportunity to relax. For his part, Onslaught wanted nothing more than to be out in the city with the others, overseeing their operation. It wasn't that he didn't trust the others to follow the plan -- even at his flightiest, Vortex wouldn't knowingly violate orders on a real mission. But sitting back and waiting went against Onslaught's core programming.
Still, they couldn't do anything until the Autobots arrived. Primus willing, they would arrive soon.
# # #
[Swindle, are you in position?]
Wow, two breems since the last time he asked. He's getting better." [Yeah, Onslaught, I'm in position -- still. Just made my last radio check with Vortex and Blast Off, read them both loud and clear and they're reading me. Autobots are not on the scene yet, near as we can tell.]
[Your disguise is still holding up?]
No Onslaught, it washed off an' I'm standing here at the airport holding a big sign saying "Autobots, Shoot Me Now!" Swindle was tempted to actually say it, but Onslaught's ability to comprehend sarcasm was shaky at the best of times. And right before a plan got off the ground was not the best of times. [Yes, Onslaught. I look like any other hotel jeep parked near the beach.]
[Good. Inform me the minute things are set in motion.]
Duh. [Yessir, Swindle out.]
"I'm not doing it!" Vortex yelled, stomping his foot.
"You are so doing it!" Swindle yelled back, getting nose to faceplate with his brother. "Onslaught put me in charge of this and what I say goes!"
"I'm not doing it and you can't make me!" Vortex hovered close to the ceiling.
"Oh, you wanna bet?" Swindle snarled. "You didn't have a problem with getting re-painted!"
"That's 'cause I look good like this," Vortex said. "Black suits me, especially with the yellow an' orange stripes. I look cool; retro, y'know?"
"Yeah, you look like Rick an' T.C. should be jumping in you to rush off to save Magnum," Swindle said, crossing his arms. "But nobody is gonna believe you're just some tourist tour chopper with those guns on your chin!"
"I could be a military chopper."
"Mexican military does not fly Super Seasprites, 'Tex," Swindle said. "An' they certainly don't fly 'em over beaches or over civilian areas." Swindle paused, switching to a cajoling tone. "C'monn, Vortex, we need you! You're our eyes in the sky! You're our first line of defense against Autobot intrusion into our field of operations!"
"You sound like Onslaught." Vortex giggled, but he lowered a few feet. "Blast Off's gonna be watching from orbit; you don't really need me."
Swindle groaned inwardly; one day he was going to find the null-sig who programmed the flyboy ego and melt the slagsucker down from the feet up. "Blast Off's gonna be busy monitoring the Autobots' communications channels. You on the other hand are gonna be the one who gets to monitor the city for us. It's our old spotter drill, y'know? Blast Off in orbit, you in the air, me on the ground. Without you, we're missing our key mech."
"I'm not really key. You're just saying that 'cause you want me to let you dismantle my guns." But, Swindle was glad to note, Vortex was back on the ground.
"'Tex, you an' me are the only ones who can go out in public an' you're the only one who can be airborne. Onslaught an' Brawl gotta stay out of sight; Blast Off has to stay in orbit." Swindle sighed, looking down at his feet, then back up at Vortex, his optics radiating sincerity and desperation. "Vortex, without you, the whole plan falls apart, so c'mon, please? You're still gonna be able to make cyclones an' you'll still have your glue gun in robot mode. You're not gonna be helpless."
Vortex giggled again. "I'm never helpless, Swindle," he said. "Okay, you convinced me."
Finally, Swindle thought. "Great, great, transform an' we'll get to work."
# # #
Positioning:
Blast Off manuvered himself into position, locking himself in orbit over western Mexico. Like Vortex, he'd been repainted, though in his case he'd been painted a more tasteful matte black to allow him to blend in with space.
[Blast Off to Vortex, radio check. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta.]
[Check verified,] Vortex said. [Vortex to Blast Off, radio check. Backstreet, Hanson, Menudo, N'Sync.]
Blast Off sighed. "Not sure what's more disturbing, that he's using the names of boy bands or that I know he's using the names of boy bands." [Check verified. Next check in eight orn. Blast Off out.]
[Vortex out. Bye, bye, bye!]
"Idiot."
# # #
Onslaught sat in vehicle mode, trying hard not to brood. It wasn't easy. He and Brawl were hidden under camouflage netting, the better to hide themselves from any surveilance satelites in the area. Their hiding place was just barely large enough for the two of them to rest side by side together.
Beside him, Brawl's engines rumbled softly as he dozed. Onslaught envied his brother's ability to take any opportunity to relax. For his part, Onslaught wanted nothing more than to be out in the city with the others, overseeing their operation. It wasn't that he didn't trust the others to follow the plan -- even at his flightiest, Vortex wouldn't knowingly violate orders on a real mission. But sitting back and waiting went against Onslaught's core programming.
Still, they couldn't do anything until the Autobots arrived. Primus willing, they would arrive soon.
# # #
[Swindle, are you in position?]
Wow, two breems since the last time he asked. He's getting better." [Yeah, Onslaught, I'm in position -- still. Just made my last radio check with Vortex and Blast Off, read them both loud and clear and they're reading me. Autobots are not on the scene yet, near as we can tell.]
[Your disguise is still holding up?]
No Onslaught, it washed off an' I'm standing here at the airport holding a big sign saying "Autobots, Shoot Me Now!" Swindle was tempted to actually say it, but Onslaught's ability to comprehend sarcasm was shaky at the best of times. And right before a plan got off the ground was not the best of times. [Yes, Onslaught. I look like any other hotel jeep parked near the beach.]
[Good. Inform me the minute things are set in motion.]
Duh. [Yessir, Swindle out.]