Dark Silent Night

[Rinzler & Darklight]

((December 12th, 2027; somewhere in the Canadian arctic))

A small vessel descended through the atmosphere amid the swirling multicolored flames of the Aurora Borealis like a silver meteor to land far to the North of civilization amid ice, seals, and polar bears. The heat of reentry sent it burrowing deep into the ice cap before it came to rest finally, and for a long several moments, there was no sound, no movement, nothing to indicate what had actually landed. Then a deep hiss erupted from the still steaming hole in the dense polar ice, and shortly after a soft hum. What emerged was unlike anything on Earth, a black figure on an equally black two wheeled vehicle resembling some sort of motorcycle, and yet it was no more a motorcycle than the rider was human, despite his over all shape. Lines and markings of white light accented both forms as they launched up out of the sloping tunnel, landed and turned to skid to a stop, the rider sitting up for a moment to look around at the strange landscape. Aside from the low hum of the vehicle's engine, only a soft growl like purr rose up from the rider, then he hunkered down over the motorcycle again and the vehicle lurched forward along the white ground. They soon came to a chunk of ice that stuck up out of the landscape at an angle that allowed the vehicle to drive up the incline and launch into the air. A very different sound rolled out over the frozen landscape as the motorcycle seemed to slowly explode and reshape itself into some sort of small jet craft beneath its rider and took off into the air and turned Southward, speeding over the Arctic landscape faster than any human would have been able to bear so exposed to the wind and cold.

But this was no human driver, and the vehicle was no inert machine. They were Cybertronian and very much sentient and alive, bound in a strange sort of symbiosis to each other. Few had seen them and survived the encounter since the war began, and the lethal pair were careful who they attacked and when to ensure the swiftest kill with minimal risk to themselves. They were no friend to Autobot or Decepticon, rogue assassins determined to destroy both sides for what they had done to their home world, their very race, to all Cybertronian kind. Lethal punishment to the war mongers and murderers of Cybertron.

Onward they flew over the Canadian landscape ever Southward, seeking their targets, their prey. They had followed the signals of other Cybertronians to this odd little organic planet, and remembering what the two armies had done to Cybertron, the pair grew even more determined to destroy both factions and prevent them from destroying another innocent world with their destructive warfare. They would seek out the leaders of both factions and their top lieutenants one by one and off line them all. One way or another, the war would finally come to an end and the criminals would come to brutal justice at last.

[Soundwave]

Soundwave had watched hidden in silence and darkness among Earth's many satellites as the small craft landed in the arctic. When the two occupants emerged, he knew precisely who they were, remembering the dark and grief maddened pair from Cybertron. He watched as they flew South and pondered whether to warn either side of Rinzler's and Darklight's arrival, knowing that some did deserve to die for their crimes, yet knowing they assassins were indiscriminate in whom they executed. He reached out over the bonds he had and warned his beloved family, however, sending a coded message to both his adopted son Wavelength and to the Decepticon medic Knockout as well. For now, he would remain silent and ever vigilant, watching and waiting, careful to observe without interference unless he had to. The Autobots did not deserve Rinzler's and Darklight's wrath, for the most part, yet many Decepticons did, including Soundwave himself as far as the Communications Officer was concerned. Soundwave had other plans, however, and if he was going to die, it would be on his own terms and no one else's. But before that happened, he would ensure the safety of his family first and foremost above all other considerations. So he watched quietly, undetected by anyone like always, vigilant, patient, carefully recording everything he saw and heard as he planned with such precision and detail no other could match.

[Abyss]

<Somewhere within signal range>

After spending time on the East side of the United States, Abyss had drifted all the way into the farthest ends of Canada she could manage. It was easy to evade the human populace here, as it was considerably different from the US. Because of preferring to stay disguised as a human, Abyss's signal was completely masked during her travels through the countries. Unless one recognized her alternate mode, she looked just like an old, well kept and classy Chrysler Imperial, somehow managing to push its way through this rough terrain.

Lately, Abyss was more inclined to be herself. Additionally, she was becoming more inclined to stretch out into her Cybertronian form when away from the human eye in quiet, more desolate places such as this. But, for the first time in over a decade, she wanted to unmask her signal, as she doubted anyone was out here. In a place like Germany, yeah, sure it was better to have your signal masked even if you didn't sense any Cybertronian for miles on end. There was absolutely no one out here. At least, during the time she'd spent up to this point.

Abyss had long since had her signal unmasked, and she would frequently switch between her alternate mode and Cybertronian form to maneuver over the terrain. Freedom, she loved it so. She also liked being alone and not wasting her energy on petty humans for the time being. She was currently climbing up a mountain at a rather ridiculous fast pace. Perched near the edge of it, her unique white/bright green optics took in the sites of the frigid landscape.

A few moments later, she began to detect the sound of an aircraft approaching. Receptors twitching, she jumped down the otherside of the ridge, obscuring herself from view in the shadows of the ridge, but didn't mask her signal since she presumed the aircraft would be human. This was done out of instinct, because she didn't want to be spotted right now. She was thoroughly content exploring out here alone.

[Rinzler & Darklight]

With their signals deeply masked, one had to actually be near enough to hear them or even see them to know they were there. As they few, a signal was detected below and the white lights on the pair went dark, leaving their black forms virtually invisible against the darkness. They flew past, angling to circle around and pinpoint the exact location of the signal before they would strike. Low and fast they flew, and suddenly the twin plasma cannons on Darklight's frame opened up, firing on the Cybertronian signal, the accent markings on both of them flaring deep red. They hadn't anticipated a kill so soon after their arrival on this world, but they would not complain as long as their objective was completed. All that mattered was the deaths of those who murdered Cybertron, and as Darklight fired on the hidden bot below, Rinzler growled in eager anticipation of the kill...

[Abyss]

Being used to tracking enemies or targets without the strong Cybertronian signal, Abyss relied on sound to steer clear of the targets, her optics instinctively flicking towards the bright red glow of the plasma guns. A glare on her face plates, Abyss quickly masked her signal once detecting she was being fired upon and shot down the downwind side of the ridge she was on, weaving through the thick foliage and bounding over rocks. She followed a gorge off to the left as the mountain began to steepen. Not kicking up snow was nigh impossible, but having rocks and trees to help herself move about in cover certainly helped.

Abyss had many weapons at her disposal, but she would start out light with these two since they were fliers. Leaping up on a rise, she spun around and fired her twin laser pistols at the rear of their form as they flew overhead opposite the way she had been bolting down wind. Her accuracy certainly wasn't rusty, and with her agility, it would take more than just speed to get her down. It had been ages since she'd used her Bot form weapons, and she had to admit, despite the danger she was getting herself into now, she was secretly enjoying the chance to use them. "Wanna play? I'll be nice." she muttered to herself as she leaped off the rock and started to slide/run down the remaining half of the rocky, snowy mountain.

While their signals were masked, if Abyss got a good whiff of their scents, she would know right off the bat that the thing targeting her was not a human aircraft. They were hard to see even for a Cybertronian with good optical sight, which was mildly frustrating to Abyss, but not being able to see something to her preference didn't mean she wouldn't take a challenge or give up. Without the accent glowing lights on the aircraft, Rinzler and Darklight were incredibly hard to see, and they were also very quiet. Stealth was something she respected after all. In an environment like this and not being a flier, it was difficult. She was achieving being unseen and moving into obscure places, but noise reduction was proving to be more difficult. It was simply very difficult for a being of her size to completely mute out her steps on the snow when moving at such high speeds. Regardless, she was quite skilled with it since she had been on Earth for so long. Occasionally there would be a light woosh or crackle as she went down a steep part of the terrain but otherwise very little would be heard.

[Rinzler & Darklight]

Rinzler glared down at the area as the signal vanished, so he switched to thermal scans, Darklight angling upwards and circling back. The shots that rang out from below made the jet roll and climb again in an effort to get clear of them, though a few grazed his left wing anyway. Rinzler looked to his partner then and Darklight arced around the ridge and swooped low, spotting the thermal signature and firing at the running bot while Rinzler silently dropped off his back and onto the ground ahead of the target. He used Darklight's distraction as cover to lay a trap, two grenades set eight feet apart and set to go off when the larger mech went past them. Rinzler backed out of the blast radius and hunkered down to wait, his twin laser discus in his hands, though not yet active, ready to attack as soon as the grenades were activated.

[Abyss]

As the plasma blasts shot at her from a different angle, Abyss's receptors perked up and listened for the source of the shots. She did a sharp 90 degree pivot to the left and dodged the majority of the plasma shots, though two of them easily landed dangerously close to her back and she could feel the heat on them. Whoever was attacking her was good, she was pretty sure it was just one aircraft, but she wasn't closing her mind to the possibility there might be two. Glancing back the way they had fired as she had pivoted. She leaped over a thinner part of the gorge and ducked behind a tree before scanning the night sky for a flicker of motion from the weapons, carefully listening for any sounds over her running through the terrain. This time though, she was unable to fire back since she had changed course and couldn't keep direct sighting on the agile flier. Whatever it was, it was small and deadly, likely not human - few human aircraft were THIS quiet.

Her receptors twitched again, a sign that she was still searching for movement and taking in the scents available to her. Something was nearby, Abyss knew it thanks to her intuition, but she wasn't sure of the distance. Because of the way she had tried to avoid the next round of plasma shots, she avoided some of the trap, but two of the grenades were still near her, two of them covering this side of her path.

Diving and to her surprise a bit more stunned and frazzled in the processor than she would like, she sort of threw herself away again into a cartwheel in alarm; the femme landed with a thunk on all fours, her dark armor singed a little from the explosives, though with all the old scars on her body from a time way back when, it was clear she could take a beating, whether it was from metal or explosives. She growled a soft, steely growl and put away her pistols. Taking this as a sign that she was about to be ambushed Abyss shifted into a fighting stance and extended her electrically charged claws. She waited patiently waited while she sniffed the air and scanned above and around her for signs of motion. She knew first hand that black was hard to see at night, since her own armor was black. It was always a challenge facing off with other opponents. Her night vision was quite keen, but vision wasn't everything. If there was another, she would find out soon enough.

[Rinzler & Darklight]

The explosion drew Darklight back and as he circled around he fired at her again, cutting to her right knowing his partner was behind and to her left. That was when one red glowing discus was thrown at her leg just above her knee, and Rinzler jumped up and off to one side, throwing his second discus from a different angle before landing and circling to keep himself behind her, the second discus aimed at her upper back. He intended to take out a leg and shoulder to limit his opponent's ability to fight back so he and Darklight could finish this one off as quickly as possible, then get under way again Southward. But with as heavily scarred as this one seemed to be, that outcome appeared less likely than Rinzler at first thought. This was going to take longer than either of them expected and Rinzler was not about to underestimate his opponent so quickly.

[Abyss]

Abyss parried her left arm low as she pivoted backwards, the leg being targeted facing down hill as her senses started to adjust, she ducked just barely in the nick of time when she saw and heard the ever so faint sound of the glowing discus spinning towards her in the dark. Using her more bent knee going uphill as a pivot point, she shifted straight towards the direction of the discus and lashed outwards with her electrically charged claws - anything within slashing/cutting range would get a nice zap. Unfortunately, she wasn't in reach. As she slashed out with her right set of claws, the left arm moved back up to cover her upper body again. Her eye sight and senses were returning to normal, and now she was able to start following Rinzler.

Just as she had lashed out of course, she found herself doing two back flips to avoid more plasma shots from her right. Quickly drawing her laser pistols, she fired at both Rinzler and Darklight while she could still see them. With both being a little closer, her keen eye sight stood a better chance in picking up Rinzler with the aid of the snow and the moonlight seeping through the clouds. As her senses started to return to normal, she was reassured by the moonlight, her confidence remained intact.

[Rinzler & Darklight]

Rinzler tucked and rolled to cover as his twin discus returned to him and he thought for a moment as Darklight tried to dodge the shots as well. By coming at their target from different directions simultaneously helped to keep the other bot from effectively targeting either of them. As Darklight arced away from them, Rinzler threw another grenade, set for a concussive explosion, then moved around among the trees to get into another position outside the blast radius. The pair were determined to make the kill, and no matter how long it would take, they would do what they had to do. Once the explosion had gone off, Rinzler threw his two discus at her again from two different angles as he continued his circle around her while Darklight flew in low over the ground in an effort to use cover to keep himself from being shot down as he readied another volley.

[Abyss]

Abyss narrowly avoided the majority of the explosion as her focus switched between the two fighters. She heard the grenade move through the air. Swiftly launching herself upwards into the air and leaping onto a tree, she simultaneously managed to avoid the first discus and then blocked the other by slashing at it with the outer side of her hand and claws. Bolts of super-charged electricity zapped around the discus as she swatted at it while holding onto the large tree with the other free hand.

Leaping off the tree with a thunk, Abyss turned towards the gorge and bolted, reaching for her handheld flame thrower as she did so, weaving around trees. The flamethrower was a rather large one, but enough to wield with relative ease for a femme her size (similar to that of a Cybertronian-style grenade launcher). It would definitely light up the place and put these two on their toes if she swung it around and started some fires. It was dry and oxygen was plentiful at lower altitudes, and they were much farther down the mountain now.

If she could slow them down in due time, Abyss had more tricks up her sleeve. She switched her vision to infrared to be on the safe side, to allow herself to see them easier. Most mechs (especially the warriors) had this ability, and so Abyss decided it was about time she used it. She figured they were tracking her on a similar wavelength. Her night vision had improved with the help of the moonlight, but it was cloudy out so conditions weren't the ultimate best.

Abyss jumped into another low point in the gorge, and waited, knowing the wait wouldn't be long before either or both of them were near the edge.

[Rinzler & Darklight]

Darklight tracked her as he flew overhead, watching to see where she was going before he fired, though instead of shooting directly at her, he shot the stone and ice above her, causing an avalanche to rain down on her in an attempt to bury her in it. Rinzler followed on foot, letting the charge dissipate as his discus bounced between a couple trees before returning to his hand. This target was a tricky one indeed, and he chuckled inwardly as he heard the explosions and the resulting slide, knowing what his partner intended. Rinzler circled around then and moved down into the gorge farther along. If she survived the avalanche and continued downward, he would have her. He set four grenades this time, all of them explosive and spaced precisely so she would have to pass between them to get through. Some prey were more troublesome than others, but Rinzler and his companion were patient and efficient hunters. In their processors, it was only a matter of time before this one fell like all the rest had fallen before them.

[Abyss]

Contrary to what most would have done, Abyss went UP the avalanche instead of down. She leaped to the right side (their left) of the main slide and rocketed upwards, strapping the rocket launcher to her back so her hands would be free. She leaped from rock to rock as the chunks fell apart, avoiding the silty snow causing the slide underneath. She was moving away from Rinzler and moving towards Darklight. As she reached the top of the gorge (which wasn't far compared to the gap farther up the mountain), Abyss suddenly leaped up and activated a series of laser guided missile pods on her upper body, locked on at Darklight's figure as he moved by and released a set of four missiles towards him before pushing off the edge and withdrawing her flamethrower. Firing a hot blast at some trees, they toppled into the gorge towards Rinzler's general direction, though she didn't have her sights on him at the moment. She was more or less just making her final exit from the gorge.

Abyss glanced back to see if any of the missiles were successful in hitting their target or at least slowing them down. She had plenty more tricks up her sleeve, and plenty more missiles to use up. She was about to light this place up. They couldn't hide from so much light and heat, and it would be harder for them to get close to her. Once she was back in the valley, she would likely have more of an advantage. Moving away at an angle form the gorge, her dark figure also became harder to see as she moved about the trees swiftyly.

[Rinzler & Darklight]

Rinzler scowled a bit as his target switched direction and he deactivated his grenades, moving up in a parallel course towards the ridge line, careful to avoid the second landslide their target had started. He saw the missiles then and inwardly warned his bond mate, who spiraled left hard down into the gorge and cut a hard right, hoping to get the missiles to impact the walls of the ravine instead of him. Unfortunately, one did catch him along the side and he came down hard, transforming reflexively in a desperate attempt to minimize the damage by rolling with the landing instead of ending up with his wings torn off. Rinzler bit back a yelp of pain, though he did snarl and crouch down, gripping his side where his partner had been hit. Darklight growled as well, rising up from where he had landed, fluid and a bit of Energon oozing from his wounded right side. After a split second to confirm they both were okay, and noting where their quarry had fled, they devised a new strategy to deal with this one. With their chassis lights off, they moved separately along the ridge, Rinzler moving close while Darklight circled wide, moving swiftly on all fours like a hunting cat. Rinzler kept his profile low as he moved himself just out of the fire light, his UV tracking systems picking up her trail and signature ahead of him. This one was growing more troublesome than she was worth, and Rinzler was determined to end the game quickly before either of them were off lined by this traitor they stalked.

[Abyss]

Abyss plowed the rest of the way down the slope by lighting the trees on fire and leaping over the burnt chunks in the path of the firey fury. If any of them moved close enough, she would see them soon enough with the light of the fire. If any of them came close enough and she caught sight of them, she would retalliate accordingly. She was done here, and would figure out how to get rid of them once in the valley.

She thought she had heard the other snarl which she hadn't hit. Abyss merely assumed the snarl was one of frustration and not because of a sibling bond. She did know they were a lot alike physically, but she found the observation mostly irrelivant for now. She wasn't here to study them, after all. She was only trying to surive and get the slag away from them.