Change is in the Air (Swindle)

[Zero]

((3 December 2027, a snowy road outside of Colorado Springs, 0319 Hours Local Time))

The snow had stopped, for the time being, which she supposed was good. From what she had discovered from the past few hours, after she landed, was that the powdery white substance normally did not agree with the tires of the vehicles found on this planet. Luckily for her, she'd found a handy alt mode; a snow plow.

Now, there was something else she needed to find, or rather, someone. ="Hey, Stumpy? You alive on this mudball planet?"=

[Swindle]

Swindle froze as the comm message reached him. That voice, he hadn't heard that voice in so long. Part of him had thought he may never hear it again. After all, Zero hadn't been seen or heard from since shortly after the botched Archetype mission. He'd always hoped she was alright, but she had disappeared without a trace, hadn't even told him what was going on before doing so, deep down he had feared the worst. But that was her voice, there was no mistaking it. Was it his imagination, perhaps? There was only one way to find out for sure. ="Zero, is that you?! Where the slag have you been?! Where the slag are you now?!"=

[Zero]

="Who else would it be comming you in the middle of the night like this, Swin?"= She replied with a laugh. ="And I've been here and there, drifting around while I sorted some stuff out."= A databurst containing her coordinates was sent to Swindle as she pulled off the road. ="Some stuff I'd like to talk to you about. Face-to-face."=

[Swindle]

Swindle couldn't help but chuckle a bit, relieved at the response. That was Zero, alright... ="You'd be surprised the people who contact me at this hour... It's great to hear from you though, I worried about you after you vanished, you know."= He received the coordinates and began making his way there. ="You're lucky, actually, I'm not too far. I was in the area anyway, handling a sort of side job under the radar. Shouldn't take long for me to get there."=

[Zero]

="Why am I not surprised?"= She chuckled, shaking her head, though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it over the comm link. ="I look forward to seeing you soon, Swin. I've missed you..."=

[Swindle]

It took just under a half-hour for Swindle to reach the coordinates for their meeting. As he arrived he transformed from his alt mode and strode towards her with a smile. "Man is it good to see you're alright... You had me wondering for quite a while there, you know? So what brings you to this planet anyway after being gone for so long?"

[Zero]

Zero grinned when she saw Swindle driving up, moving to meet him when he transformed. "I just needed to get away for a bit. Sort my thoughts out. Kinda got lost, actually, as well." She gave a small chuckle, moving to put an arm around Swindle to give him a hug. "It is good to see you again, Swins. How's the team doing?"

[Swindle]

Swindle returned the hug. It wasn't something he would normally do, in fact, it even felt a bit strange to do it, but with Zero he felt like it was okay. "Well it's good to see you back again. As for the team..." He sighed and shook his head a bit. "I wish I could say we're doing better... Someone thought it would be a great idea to send Brawl here ahead of the rest of us and... Well, he didn't last long... Vortex and I are here now, we're still waiting on Blastoff and Onslaught, but without all five of us..." He still wanted to know who decided to separate Brawl from the rest of them. Part of him wondered if whoever it was actually intended to sabotage the Combaticons for some reason.

[Zero]

A small frown crossed Zero's face at the mentioning of Brawl's separation from the team, and following demise. "I'm sorry to hear that, Swin..." She replied. "I wish the four of you the best of luck, though. I know you guys are a great team. Who knows, there might be a way to bring Brawl back. I've heard that stranger things have been happening here."

[Swindle]

Swindle couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Yeah, just one thing after another. Not sure what it is exactly but it seems like just about anything is possible here. If there is a way to bring Brawl back he wouldn't be the first case of it." He then let out a sigh. "Still, the way things are right now we're not in the most favorable position, and I don't like that at all..."

[Zero]

"I'm confident that you'll find a way to reverse that, Swin." Zero replied, putting a hand on the smaller mech's shoulder. "I know you. You've always got a plan or five cooking in that processor of yours." She needed to tell him soon. It was only going to get worse the longer she delayed. "Anyways, there's something else that I need to tell you, Swin. I'm leaving the Decepticons."

[Swindle]

He couldn't help but smirk when she mentioned her confidence that he could get them out of their current situation and how he always had some kind of plan. "Yeah, well, you know, it's good to have a backup plan. And a backup plan for your backup plan. In fact, just try to have as many plans as possible, one of them is bound to work out, right?" His expression changed abruptly when she broke the news to him and he backed up a bit, shaking his head as he looked up at her. "Zero, wha- No, that's... That's a bad plan... Look, I can find a way to get you back in, you won't even owe me so much as a favor, but leaving... Where are you planning to go, anyway? Are you just going to disappear again?"

[Zero]

Zero shook her head. "No, I'm not going to disappear again, but I can't go with you. Swindle, I've heard plenty of what's happened in the Decepticons, and it's not something I can bring myself to be a part of." She let out a small vent, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to join the Autobots. Don't know how that's going to go, but I thought you deserved to know, and, I'd like it if you came with me, Swin."

[Swindle]

Swindle vented a heavy sigh. "Honestly, Zero, you'd be better off disappearing again. Most have assumed you to be dead at this point but if the Decepticons find out you're back and that you're with the Autobots you'll be hunted down and..." He shook his head again, unable to say what would most likely happen in that case. "Look, I don't want to see that happen to you. Believe me, I'm not a huge fan of what all goes on among the Decepticons either but there are ways to keep a distance from a lot of it, for the most part anyway. As soon as anyone else finds out you're back the safest place for you is going to be back among the Decepticons and I can make that happen." He went quiet for a moment as what she said sank in more. "But if you leave I can't go with you. I'm not very fond of the idea of being hunted down for being a traitor, not to mention I'm part of a gestalt and right now we're on really thin ice. I can't just abandon my brothers."

[Zero]

"I can't just up and disappear again, Swindle." Zero replied, shaking her head. "Besides, even if I don't join the Autobots, I'll be hunted down as a deserter. But, I can't go back. I don't belong there, Swindle. I treasure our friendship, which is why I wanted to let you know that I was okay, and what I'm going to do." She turned a bit, looking in the direction of the road she'd pulled off. "I don't want us to become enemies because of this."