Lambo sammich. Again.
"So let me get this straight." Prowl's left door was twitching, little spasmodic jerks of the type that meant that he was dangerously close to losing all control and... well, Sideswipe had so far managed to avoid pushing the tactician over that line, but he suspected it involved explosions. "You two felt that the treeline obscures the view of possible incoming Decepticon forces from the exact opposite direction from where their base is known to be, despite the fact that we have a perfectly serviceable surveillance satellite in operation."
"Well, Skyspy's great and all, but we felt that not being able to see any incoming enemy from any direction leaves us at a disadvantage," Sideswipe answered in the tone of voice one might use on an injured and pissed-off Ravage - at least until one got one's hands on a good solid piece of rebar, anyway. "And Decepticons often act unpredictably - not to mention they've been active in New York before. It's not an impossible scenario, Prowl."
Prowl's left door went twitch, thrumm. "So despite having absolutely no training in how to properly clear vegetation, let alone the proper authorization from the Park Service, you and your partner there - " he nodded at Bluestreak, who up until now had been putting his "scared rabbit" impersonation to good use, and shrank back when Prowl shifted attention to him - "decided to take it upon yourselves to correct this perceived hole in our defenses."
"We like to keep busy," Sideswipe shrugged, a crazy sort of half-grin starting to break across his face despite his best efforts to suppress it. "And we didn't have anything better to do. So, yeah. We thought we'd just go ahead and clear those trees out."
Prowl stood, propelling his chair back against the wall with a clang that made both Sideswipe and Bluestreak flinch. "With a rocket launcher?"
"Prowl, it was my idea!" Bluestreak was on his feet too, and Sideswipe's mouth - already open to offer another off-the-wall excuse meant to deflect Prowl's ire - dropped the rest of the way open in shock. "I borrowed the launcher, I was gonna put it back, please don't punish him!" Bluestreak's doors were also quivering, but his back was straight and his hands were tensed if not clenched and for the first time it struck Sideswipe that yes, those two had been stamped from the same mold.
Prowl stared at Bluestreak a moment, his anger surprised out of him by his fellow Datsun's reckless endangerment of his own free time for the next vorn and a half. Then he shook his head and sat. "I see. So you went out on patrol at - " he glanced at a datapad, although seeing as how he had all of the troublemakers' schedules memorized he didn't really need to - "0800 hours, returned to base and took the launcher out of the storage bay somewhere between 0945 and 1020 hours, then returned to patrol, all without anyone seeing you?" The tactician fought hard to keep a gentle note from his voice. "Is that what you're telling me, Bluestreak?"
"Um." Bluestreak rocked back on his heels, and Sideswipe's core melted for him - bless his little doors, Bluestreak was trying to bend the truth on the spur of the moment, and he just didn't have Sideswipe's skill. "I... don't know?"
"Of course not." Prowl scribbled something on his datapad. "Bluestreak, report to Trailbreaker tomorrow morning, you're on PR duty. Sideswipe, you'll spend your downtime this evening planting trees to replace the ones you and he destroyed." He looked up and glared, but there was no potency in the expression. "Now get out of my office, both of you."
"Sorry," Bluestreak murmured to Sideswipe as he obeyed.
Sideswipe waited until they were out in the hall to answer. "It's okay, Blue," he told the gunner. "I think it's sweet you were trying to protect me."
"Really?" Bluestreak's optics lit.
"Sure." Sideswipe grinned. "Not too bright, but sweet."
"Well, Skyspy's great and all, but we felt that not being able to see any incoming enemy from any direction leaves us at a disadvantage," Sideswipe answered in the tone of voice one might use on an injured and pissed-off Ravage - at least until one got one's hands on a good solid piece of rebar, anyway. "And Decepticons often act unpredictably - not to mention they've been active in New York before. It's not an impossible scenario, Prowl."
Prowl's left door went twitch, thrumm. "So despite having absolutely no training in how to properly clear vegetation, let alone the proper authorization from the Park Service, you and your partner there - " he nodded at Bluestreak, who up until now had been putting his "scared rabbit" impersonation to good use, and shrank back when Prowl shifted attention to him - "decided to take it upon yourselves to correct this perceived hole in our defenses."
"We like to keep busy," Sideswipe shrugged, a crazy sort of half-grin starting to break across his face despite his best efforts to suppress it. "And we didn't have anything better to do. So, yeah. We thought we'd just go ahead and clear those trees out."
Prowl stood, propelling his chair back against the wall with a clang that made both Sideswipe and Bluestreak flinch. "With a rocket launcher?"
"Prowl, it was my idea!" Bluestreak was on his feet too, and Sideswipe's mouth - already open to offer another off-the-wall excuse meant to deflect Prowl's ire - dropped the rest of the way open in shock. "I borrowed the launcher, I was gonna put it back, please don't punish him!" Bluestreak's doors were also quivering, but his back was straight and his hands were tensed if not clenched and for the first time it struck Sideswipe that yes, those two had been stamped from the same mold.
Prowl stared at Bluestreak a moment, his anger surprised out of him by his fellow Datsun's reckless endangerment of his own free time for the next vorn and a half. Then he shook his head and sat. "I see. So you went out on patrol at - " he glanced at a datapad, although seeing as how he had all of the troublemakers' schedules memorized he didn't really need to - "0800 hours, returned to base and took the launcher out of the storage bay somewhere between 0945 and 1020 hours, then returned to patrol, all without anyone seeing you?" The tactician fought hard to keep a gentle note from his voice. "Is that what you're telling me, Bluestreak?"
"Um." Bluestreak rocked back on his heels, and Sideswipe's core melted for him - bless his little doors, Bluestreak was trying to bend the truth on the spur of the moment, and he just didn't have Sideswipe's skill. "I... don't know?"
"Of course not." Prowl scribbled something on his datapad. "Bluestreak, report to Trailbreaker tomorrow morning, you're on PR duty. Sideswipe, you'll spend your downtime this evening planting trees to replace the ones you and he destroyed." He looked up and glared, but there was no potency in the expression. "Now get out of my office, both of you."
"Sorry," Bluestreak murmured to Sideswipe as he obeyed.
Sideswipe waited until they were out in the hall to answer. "It's okay, Blue," he told the gunner. "I think it's sweet you were trying to protect me."
"Really?" Bluestreak's optics lit.
"Sure." Sideswipe grinned. "Not too bright, but sweet."