Turning Traitor: Remade

Operation: Bulkhead part 1

I do not like this place. The dead grass peeking through the cracked road, the grey skies suffocating the sunlight, the old and falling apart buildings that I can barely see over? It's eerie. I wouldn't say I'm scared, I jump into battle without fear, but this place puts a chill up my spinal system.

"Primius" I hear Break-down mutter as he steps forward. He crouches down beside one of the grey buildings and peers inside. "What happened here?"

That is a good question. I'm scanning this planet's internet but I can't find any information besides the fact that it was evacuated, which isn't helpful.

"Right," Break-down stands up straight again and looks at me, "You said you had the signal?"

I didn't say that, I didn't say anything. He asked if we needed a scanner and I shook my head while displaying the signal on my visor, but he was close enough. I nod and display a map of the area with the origin point of the signal lit up.

"Alright then, you lead the way" He nods back.

And so we walk.

I don't completely trust this. I have the signal layered with my map, that's how I know where to go, but it doesn't look right. The signal is fuzzy, like a layer of static between the energon and my internal scanners. I suppose it could be inside of a container that's causing this?

Perhaps it was a container meant to block the signal, but the container is damaged or worn down in some way and that's causing this? I suppose that could be it.

Still, I don't feel right about this.

Bad day to not have Laserbeak, with him at least I'd have some on demand recon. Although by no means am I complaining about Break-down, you'd struggle to find a more loyal bot.

"Man, it sure is creepy out, ain't it?" He speaks up, trying to break the tense silence. You'd think I'd be annoyed, considering how quiet I am, but I'm not. Break-down talks a lot, most of it scrap, but he's pleasant to listen to, it's like powering down to white noise.

... that sounded like an insult to him. It wasn't. I mean that listening to him speak is relaxing.

"Yeah" He answers himself, "It's like when I first saw Darkmount. I was pretty nervous"

And so the topic of our one-way conversation was set.

"I had been a wrecker for a while, I had seen all kinds of scrap! But still, that place had me on edge. Maybe it was all those pots of lava? Haha"

"I had listened to Megatron's speeches before, but meeting him? That was a jump. I thought he'd be colder, but he was kind of nice. Walked up, shook my hand, said it was good that I had signed up"

"I got discharged when my CO found out I had joined the worker's faction, bot was a joke. I actually heard he got replaced when the war started! Ha!"

"You know I never..." He trails off and goes quiet

I look over my shoulder, curious as to why his rambling stopped. He looks... thoughtful, like he's remembering something sad.

I stop and turn to face him. He takes a second longer to stop, not paying much attention. When he does he seems confused, "Huh? Oh, umm, are we at the signal?"

He looks around for a moment before his optics settle on me, I shake my helm. "Then why have we stopped?"

"-You know I never...-" I replay his own words and display a question mark.

"Oh" He laughs, "Oh it's nothing, just a dumb question"

I tilt my head and stay still, not accepting the answer. I'm curious as to what's he thinking about. he narrows his optics for a second before sighing.

"I never got why so many Wreckers joined the autobots" He explains. I turn and begin to walk, keeping my helm to him to make it clear I'm still interested.

"I mean, sure, being a wrecker paid good, but pretty much all of us HAD been poor, that's why we joined up. I figured we'd be a pro-Decepticon faction through and through" He continues.

"Unicron's sake! We WERE a pro-Decepticon faction until the war broke out, then pretty much everyone joined up with the defence of Iacon!" He rants.

What was that? I heard a sound off in the distance, some vague crashing sound. I stick an arm out to my side and stop dead in my tracks.

"And I al-Ah" Break-down stops, my arm hitting him. I crouch down and he follows suit. "See something? Hear something?" He questions, his right hand switching out into a hammer.

"-Hear something-" I replied. I try to listen out but I can't hear it anymore. Whatever caused that sound is a good distance away.

"Hmm" Break-down thinks to himself for a moment, "How 'bout this? You go check out the signal, I'll see what caused that. That sound alright?"

Not big on splitting up, but he's a former wrecker and I know I can handle myself.

I nod.

"Good" He mutters, "Where'd you hear it?"

I pull up a map of the area, displaying us and roughly where the sound came from. He nods and stands up, peering over the buildings with narrowed optics for a moment.

"Alright, let's go" He speaks firmly before turning and beginning to jog away. I turn and go the other way, refocusing my map on the signal whilst adding Break-down's tracker to my map. I'll find the signal then find him.