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“Sigma-17! Roll to the rescue!” The new rescue team burst into motion as one, following their leader Heatwave onto the roads of Polyhex.
“What’s the emergency, Heatwave?” Chase asked as they raced through the streets.
“Cave-in in the north, close to the Rust Sea shore.”
“Is there any water-leakage reported?” Boulder asked.
“I haven’t heard anything yet, it’s not that close to the shore.” Heatwave paused as he sent the coordinates and a map of their route to the entire team. “But there was a small settlement here, just outside of the city bounds, where the seismographs recorded the cave-in taking place.”
“Just requested the data from HQ, I’m not seeing any dampening that would suggest major liquid involvement.” Boulder said.
Blades cut in. “Thank goodness- drying out is so boring.”
“Keep the chatter to a minimum, Blades.” Heatwave said.
“Heatwave, we’re not even there yet!” Blades responded.
“I’ve gotta cut your whining off at the source or we’ll be hearing about it the second you get your pedes soggy.”
“Hey!”
Before that situation escalated any further, the road they were on opened into what used to be a pretty sizeable cavern. A portion of the cave appeared as if it had sloughed off the ceiling and fallen onto the ground below it. Without needing to be instructed Chase turned off the road to beeline towards it, sirens blazing. The others followed as Heatwave began shouting instructions.
“Boulder- start imaging the debris, I want counts for everyone in there! Blades, make sure the nearby area is clear of civilians, and that mechs are together, we need to be able to evacuate the settlement quickly if more of the ceiling is unstable. Chase, I want you to clear the area behind the debris.”
In lieu of a verbal response, Chase sent back an affirmative ping and raced past the partial-collapse. Citizens that had begun to dig others out of the rubble stared at Chase and the other rescue bots in shock. As he got close enough to identify kibble and alt modes, he realized why.
This wasn’t just any settlement, it was an outcast settlement, filled with those with “inconvenient” alt modes that didn’t fit into the caste system. It was likely these mechs didn’t expect a team to come to their aide in the first place. In fact, his suspicions felt confirmed as he spotted a couple beastformers with mechamole alt modes digging into the fallen mass of metal. Something in Chase’s spark tied itself into a knot at the sight of them, it came with a feeling that was unidentifiable, but not quite bad.
“Halt!” He shouted as he skid to a stop.
Only one of the beastformers even spared him a glance before he returned his focus to the rubble.
Chase tried again. “Halt! You could destabilize the structure.”
“We know that, idiot!” One said.
He blinked. “One of my teammates is doing imaging to locate trapped occupants and calculate the safest path to rescuing anyone trapped.”
“Oh.” Both of them were staring at him now. “You’re a rescue bot, what the hell are you doing out here?”
Chase stared blankly back at them. “Rescuing.”
“Don’t you have some upper-caste scratches to buff out?”
“I would say that there’s citizens of Cybertron here now that require our assistance.”
Boulder’s voice on the comm lines distracted him. “I’m sending you guys the results of my scans.”
Chase paused to inspect them. According to Boulder’s notes on the data, the piece of ceiling that had fallen had a small commercial building attached to it, and it fell onto an unoccupied space on the ground. Around two dozen sparks were detected inside and Boulder had already generated a tunnel system that would most effectively reach all of them.
While Chase was distracted the two mechs had continued drilling into the rubble. “Halt!” He tried for the third time. “My teammate generated a plan for the removal of trapped mechs. You can assist us if you wish, as your abilities will be helpful, but deviations from this plan will be perceived as interference and I will have to remove you from the area.”
The mechs glanced between each other, and seemed to accept Chase’s proposal, perhaps realizing that they had no other choice. Chase offered them a data cable, which they practically jumped at. As he transferred the information to them Chase addressed the rest of his team.
“Heatwave, I discovered two mechs with mechamole alt modes attempting to drill into the rubble.”
“Well- stop them!”
“I did cease their activities, and I… may have recruited them into the drilling efforts.”
“You what- you don’t have the authority to do that!”
“I assessed their abilities and their determination to assist others and concluded that recruiting their help would be more advantageous than arresting them for interfering.”
“Of course you did- alright we’ll take them on as civilian rescuers. But if one of them gets hurt this conversation never happened.”
“Of course.”
Since Boulder was the only one of them capable of drilling into metal, the addition of the beastformers immediately tripled the speed of their digging efforts. With that underway, Blades returned so he could patch up any injuries before medical teams could arrive, and Chase took over wrangling crowds.
The knot in his spark was back as he looked over the crowd of beastformers, aquatics, and the scant few that were both. One such mech raced up to the perimeter Chase had set up, she had a barracoda alt mode and was fittingly dripping wet, seemingly from a dip into the Rust Sea.
Chase intercepted her before she could get too close to the rubble. “For your own safety, citizen, stand back.”
She immediately tried to duck past Chase to get closer, mumbling an explanation. “Is my conjunx here? She’s not returning my comms!”
He blocked her. “I cannot let you pass. If you give me your conjunx’s name and description, I can report if she has been found. In the meantime, have you checked your residence? It is likely your conjunx is simply defragging.”
The femmebot stopped and relief sagged her shoulders. “Oh- I hadn’t even thought of that, I just panicked. Yeah, I’ll go see if she’s at home- thank you.”
Chase nodded curtly and then turned his attention back to the crowd as she made her way back out.
The entire rescue operation took several more hours, but finally every spark in the collapsed section was removed and passed over to medics. The only thing left was clean up, which was outside of the rescue bot’s speciality. Chase had a guess that the clean up would need to be managed by the members of the settlement. And, the feeling in his spark hadn’t gone away, even after the situation calmed down and his teammates began to head out.
The team approached the tunnel back to Polyhex, with Chase lagging behind somewhat. The other three discussed the rescue over the comms, as Chase reviewed his own behavior internally.
So absorbed in himself, he almost missed seeing Blades swerve to avoid something on the road. Heatwave and Boulder shouted and dodged both Blades and the thing he was avoiding. Chase snapped back into reality quickly enough to spot a turbofox racing across the road.
The turbofox, upon seeing him, started skidding to a stop in the middle of the lane. Chase swore and instinctually transformed, propelling himself over the mechanimal and to a stop on the shoulder. Because of the disaster there was no one else on the road, thankfully, but it gave him time to peer at the turbofox. He'd never actually seen one up close before- no mechanimals ever got into the cities, and it was strange for it to be on the road at all.
The turbofox turned to look at Chase and the pair of them locked optics. He gasped as the feeling in his spark returned with a vengeance, though now he could identify it: envy. The mechanimal was perfect… speedy and intelligent and curious- Chase’s t-cog audibly whirred as it prepared for a scan. Chase immediately shut his optics, ruthlessly cutting off his t-cog’s ability to scan anything. Mortification ran ice cold through his energon lines at even the thought of scanning a beast mode. He heard the turbofox race away into a maintenance shute on the side of the road.
Before his teammates got suspicious of something untoward happening in Chase’s head he transformed and raced after them, an image of the turbofox burned into his optics. He tried to scrub the encounter from his memory banks. He couldn’t scan a beast mode- he’d lose everything. Beastformers weren’t welcomed in most populated cities- he’d have to move to Tarn or some outer settlement like the one he’d just been at. Even worse he couldn’t be a rescue bot at all, he’d be jobless and futureless because beastformers were considered too aggressive or unpredictable to do rescuing work.
No, the turbofox wasn’t an option.
—
When they’d been required to scan the dinosaurs, Chase had been almost afraid to enjoy having a beast mode. The others didn’t appear to, they almost never used their dino modes, having seemingly forgotten that they had them at all. Ashamedly, Chase followed suit, restricting his time as a “velociraptor” to when he was alone- or nearly alone.
The base was empty except for him and Chief Burns, who was relaxing in the firehouse, and presumably not paying attention to the race track outside.
Chase transformed on the starting line, and suppressed the instinct to roar by replacing it with a big stretch of his talons. He assessed the track, eyeing the loop and both of the jumps, and when he was satisfied he took off. Chase swiftly gained speed, slower than his vehicle mode but quicker than he anticipated. Instinctually he tucked his arms into his body and lowered his head to increase his aerodynamics. Energon raced through his lines as he approached the loop- he definitely didn’t have the speed to take the loop as it was intended but he could work around it.
As soon as the track started lifting up Chase leaped through the loop and onto the road on the other side. He stumbled dangerously on landing but quickly recovered and continued on, regaining the speed he lost. The two jumps were practically childs-play, with barely any momentum lost on his landings. Quickly enough Chase passed the starting line, but he continued forward, tacking the track again.
His landing was better the second time he took to the loop, not even tripping as he executed the sideways leap. Cold air shot through his vents, soothing his heating internals as pistons pumped in a way they never could while racing in his vehicle mode. Chase continued on, finishing the second lap and then going for a third and fourth. He started timing himself and challenging himself to get smaller and smaller times. In a burst of inspiration he began to imagine a car in front of him, some nondescript criminal that was speeding on his streets. He did as his name demanded of him and gave chase to this imagined speeder.
Abruptly, at the end of his twentieth lap, Chase realized there was someone watching him from the stands. He slowed to a stop after the finish line and then trotted back to see Chief Burns sitting and watching him with a thermos in one hand.
He greeted Chase when he reached the stands. “Wow, Chase,” he said with a smile, “that was impressive!”
“Thank you, sir.” Chase bowed his head a little.
Burns put down his drink and reached up and Chase, after a delay, realized the man wanted him to lean down, and did, so his snout was in touching distance of him. Burns leaned over and patted his nose affectionately.
“How fast do you think you were going?”
“By my estimates, my max speed on the straightaway was 60 miles-per-hour, but I believe I could reach higher speeds on longer stretches of road.”
“Huh.” Burns looked contemplative. “That’s as fast as or faster than the speed limit anywhere on the island.”
“Indeed it is.”
He looked up at Chase, focusing on the big optic peering down at him. “Chase, have you heard of ‘mounted police’?”
Chase reared back in shock. “Sir, are you implying what I think you’re implying?”
“I think I am, partner.” He stepped off the stands. “I think it’s worth a shot, the kids in town would love it. And I don’t think anyone would be interested in doing crime with a dinosaur as big as you hanging around.”
“If you think this is viable, it might be worth considering.” Despite his neutral tone, Chase wasn’t entirely sure what he thought of the idea. Being in public in his alt mode excited him, but it sacred him at the same time.
Burns moved to Chase’s flank and hummed. “You’re going to need to kneel down partner, I’m not as lithe as I was when I was younger.”
“Oh, of course.” Chase settled into a laying position so Burns could climb onto his back.
The leather seats of his vehicle mode’s interior had shifted significantly in his dino mode so that the back row of seats now decorated his back, exactly where a human would want to sit. Burns patted them before lifting himself up to sit on them.
“Well, this isn’t that uncomfortable.” Burns commented. “Chase, do you know how to ride horses?”
“I can’t say I’ve ever been afforded the opportunity to.”
Burns chuckled. “I guess you wouldn’t’ve. Since horses don’t understand human language, riders use a lot of non-verbal cues to tell the horse where to go and how fast to get there. I think it’d be useful for you to learn those to keep up the act.”
“I see. Should I stand up now?”
“Not yet, partner. Now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t really have anything to hold onto.”
“Oh, I need reins, yes?”
“Exactly, that’s one of the ways riders communicate with their horses.”
“I think I can do something about that.”
Chase concentrated on his internal systems for a moment, focusing on the micro-transformations all Cybertronians had access to. Then his t-cog began to click and whir, at the same time the finials on the side of his head rotated down and a long cable came from the tip of each of them, eventually connecting in the middle with a soft click.
“Huh.” Burns said as he grabbed it. “That’s a neat trick, and it means we’re good to go. Up.” In association with the command, he lightly pulled the reins up.
Chase slowly rose to his full height, careful not to jostle his rider.
Burns adjusted himself and then cleared his throat to get Chase’s attention. “Alright, being a horse isn’t that difficult.”
Chase felt something lightly hit his right flank.
“Do you feel that?” Burns asked.
“Yes, I can.” He turned his long neck to eye the chief.
He bumped Chase with his foot again. “That means I want you to start walking.”
Chase tentatively took a few steps forward.
“Yup, like that, keep going.” After a few steps, Burns pulled on the reins. “If you can feel that, this means I want you to stop.”
Chase stopped.
“But, I might just tell you to start and stop, the townsfolk are going to know that you can follow basic commands.”
“That seems reasonable.”
Burns bumped him again. “Alright, here’s the fun part, partner, when I want you to go faster I’ll kick you again.”
Chase wouldn’t call the subsequent bump a kick, but Burns’ movement was hard enough to be felt. He transitioned into a trot towards the race track immediately.
“You’re about as bumpy as a horse, Chase.” Burns chuckled.
“Is that a good thing?”
“Not really.” He admitted.
“I can attempt to modify my gait to provide a smoother riding experience.”
“That’d be appreciated, partner, though maybe after you learn how to go left and right.”
“That’s wise.”
“I’ll just pull the reins in whatever direction I want you to go.” Burns pulled them right, and even slightly leaned his body in that direction.
Chase complied, and then practicing began in earnest. A sort of calm determination settled over Chase’s processor as he focused on Burns’ commands. The anxiety faded away bit by bit and finally they decided to give the race track a try.
“I don’t think we’re ready for the loop, but I think we could try racing the track between the starting line and the second jump, if you’re up for it?”
“Are you ready for the jump, sir?”
“Yeah, this isn’t my first rodeo, even if it’s been awhile.”
Chase looked back at him. “I wasn’t aware we were going to be in a rodeo.”
Burns smiled and pat his neck. “It’s just a figure of speech.”
“I see. I’m ready if you are.” While they were talking Chase had maneuvered them to the starting line.
“Then let’s go partner. Hyah!” Burns punctuated the shout with a kick and Chase shot forward with a burst of speed.
Going backwards on the track, they didn’t have enough time to approach Chase’s top speed before the jump, but that was likely for the better. He didn’t slow down as it approached, instead taking the jump as fast as he could. The chief’s added weight barely strained his pistons as he kicked off the ground and over the gap. They landed as smoothly as possible; Burns gasped like air was forced out of him, but Chase didn’t miss a step, racing towards the next jump.
The second one went as smoothly as the first and Chase slowed to a stop before they reached the loop.
Burns laughed. “Now that was a hell of a thing, want to try again on the way back?”
Chase nodded. “It would be my pleasure, sir.”
“Giddyup, then!”
At the encouragement of a kick Chase took off again, faster than before. Burns gripped Chase’s saddle with his legs as he burst into a full gallop. As they passed the starting line again a voice broke Chase’s concentration.
“Noble!”
Both Burns and Chase looked up sharply to see Cody running at them full speed, only slowing down when he was practically below Chase’s nose.
“Hello Cody.”
“Hey, son, how was school?”
“School was okay- not as cool as this!”
Burns chuckled. “I’d imagine not.”
“Can I try?”
Cody was staring up at his father, so he patted Chase’s neck. “Chase?”
“I wouldn’t mind.” He said as he lowered himself to the ground.
The boy immediately scrambled up Chase’s side, sitting himself down on the saddle in front of Burns. The man adjusted the reins so they were in front of Cody, conveniently letting him wrap his arms protectively around his son.
“Alright let’s go a little bit slower around the grounds. No jumps, preferably.”
“No jumps.” Chase agreed as he started walking.
—
Since the chief started taking Chase out on patrol in his dino mode the bot had begun to feel more comfortable in that mode. The shame that he’d been taught to feel chipped away bit by bit as the weeks passed. Eventually he started spending more and more time in dino mode, even when he wasn’t racing or patrolling.
Every once in a while Chase saw one of the other bots staring at him from the corner of his optics, judging silently. But no one said anything.
That was until, of course, Kade finally brought it up. He’d wandered into the bots’ makeshift ‘living room’ while Blades and Chase were watching a detective show. Blades was sitting on the couch, with Chase next to it in dino mode, resting his head on the armrest.
“So, why does Chase spend way more time in dino mode than everyone else?” Kade asked suddenly, and to no one in particular. “If I could be a dinosaur, I’d also be one as much as possible so what’s up with you guys?”
“He just likes it more.” Boulder said diplomatically, at the same time Heatwave said “beastformers are weird,” less kindly.
Chase huffed. “I believe I can speak for myself.”
“What’s a beastformer?” Graham asked.
“Someone with a mechanimal as an alt mode.” Chase responded.
“Uh, but you all have animal alt modes, what makes you different?”
“Preference.” Chase stated simply. “Every Cybertronian has a type of alt-mode that they prefer on a spark-deep level. It’s possible to scan other alt-modes, but they will at best be unsatisfying or at worst be outright rejected. Blades, for example, had trouble with his first transformation into a pteranodon. It’s a flying mechanimal, two things that are counter to Blades desires- a problem made worse by his primary alt-mode already being one he is ill-suited for.”
The humans looked slightly alarmed by that. “Is it bad to scan an alt-mode that doesn’t suit you?” Dani asked.
“Usually, there are no physical side effects.”
Blades scoffed. “I thought my t-cog was going to stop working permanently!”
“Usually.” Chase repeated.
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you’re spending so much time as a velociraptor. It’s not like Heatwave is sitting around as a fire truck for most of the day.” Kade pointed out.
“Those that have a preference for beast modes are more likely to find comfort in being in their alt mode. Statistically, beastformers spend 80% more time in their alt-mode than all other Cybertronians.”
“It’s weird.” Heatwave said roughly.
“Uh, Heatwave, I don’t think you can afford to comment on other people’s alt modes when you chose a boat as your second mode.” Blades said.
“Hey- that’s uncalled for.”
“Is it?” Chase interjected. “I do recall you disparaging my preferred mode mere moments ago.”
Boulder, ever the peacekeeper, said. “Alright guys, it doesn’t really matter what anyone’s alt-mode is, or how much time they spend in it.”
“Yeah, we love you just the same, Chase.” Blades pat the top of his snout.
Chase snapped at his hand lazily.
—
Aside from the humans, the only one that enjoyed Chase’s dino mode as much as Chase was Servo. The minibot had a very advanced AI, but he had still been programmed to act like a mechanimal. And he was very excited to have another mechanimal hanging around the firehouse. The little minibot made Chase’s instincts go wild, and he more often than not was able to pull Chase into antics when he got bored.
Chase had just returned to the garage after a few laps around the race track in dino mode when Servo had the audacity to nip at his heel. Chase jumped into the air like he’d been shocked.
“Servo!”
The minibot barked at him.
“That was rude.”
Servo darted forward to nip at Chase again. He jumped backwards to avoid the minibot, who immediately began to ‘attack’ him. Chase huffed good-naturedly and countered by nudging the minibot with his snout.
Servo fell over dramatically, limbs splayed out in every direction, only to jump up and start barking again. Oh, Chase knew what he wanted and the temptation seemed overwhelming. And well, there was no harm in lengthening his break, was there?
Chase stomped a foot in Servo’s direction. The minibot immediately perked up and then Servo pivoted on the spot and raced in the other direction. Considering that the minibot was so much smaller than Chase, it wasn’t at all difficult to “catch” him. But he had to carefully measure his steps so he didn’t accidentally stomp on the hyperactive minibot. They quickly traded back and forths until Chase let Servo get a good run in.
While running Servo looked back at Chase, playfully, for just a moment- and that was the opening he needed. Servo slowed while he was making sure Chase was still following him, putting him in range of an attack. Chase leapt at the minibot and quickly calculated his landing so his claws landed to the sides of Servo. The minibot tripped when the ground shook from Chase’s landing and rolled onto his stomach in a display of submission. Servo’s tail wagged so furiously the force of it shook his whole body as he barked up at Chase.
He leaned down to nuzzle Servo and nearly missed the thundering footsteps that directly preceded Heatwave shoulder checking him away from Servo. Chase let out a frankly undignified squawk and transformed back to root mode so he could fend off Heatwave’s attempts to grab him. Though his defensive maneuvers were in vain as Heatwave deftly grabbed his wrists, tripped him, and pinned Chase to the ground with his own weight.
“Heatwave?” Chase sputtered. “What is the meaning of this attack?”
“Are you losing it? You were about to eat Servo!”
“I was not- that’s a preposterous accusation!”
“Then what was that flying leap for?” Heatwave demanded with a growl of his engines. “You looked like you were zeroing in on prey.”
Chase calmed somewhat as he pieced the situation together. “That was play, Heatwave. If I truly intended to attack Servo I would have simply crushed him. But as you could see if you let me go, he is perfectly operational.”
Right on cue, said minibot pranced up to the pair from behind, and wiggled his way underneath Heatwave’s arm so he could stand on Chase’s chest and lick his face.
“What?” Heatwave released him and leaned back in confusion, but his weight was still compressing Chase’s lower torso.
“Heatwave!” Chief Burns’ voice cut through the garage. “Get off him- it was just a misunderstanding.”
“Ah, is everyone back?” Chase attempted to peer around Heatwave and Servo to look at the entrance.
With an indignant huff Heatwave stood up, freeing Chase. After a moment’s hesitation he offered the other bot a hand. Servo jumped off Chase when he took Heatwave’s hand to let himself up.
Heatwave avoided optic contact with Chase and instead watched as Servo trotted over to the Burns to greet them. “Play?” He finally said, incredulously.
“Yes.” Chase replied curtly. “Perhaps you would be more familiar with the behaviors and habits of mechanimals and beastformers if you ‘let out your wild side’.”
“Really?”
Chief Burns interrupted Chase’s response. “I think that’d be a great idea. Either here or in the forest. Consider it team bonding”
Blades didn’t look enthused about the idea, but Boulder clearly nodded in agreement. Heatwave looked back at Chase, clearly conflicted about the idea, when Cody chimed in.
“I want to come with!”
And that’s how they ended up on a weekend camping trip with the Burns.
—
They hiked a few miles into the woods behind the firehouse before Chief Burns and Cody began to setup camp. They were the only humans that went, the others had either been busy or claimed that they were busy. Chase was already in dino mode, and poked his head at the tents they were setting up.
Both Cody and Chase watched Burns drive a stake into the ground, the first of 8 to keep both tents stationary. Cody glanced up at where Chase’s head was hovering above his shoulder.
“Hey Chase,” Cody said, “have you seen the movie Jurassic Park?”
Chief Burns laughed.
“No, should I have?”
“That’d be a good movie night.” Burns said. “We could recommend it for the drive-in so the bots could watch it in dino mode.”
“That’d be noble!”
Burns gave the stake one last strike and then turned to look up at the two of them. “By the way Chase, Cody mentioned Jurassic Park because it is a little intimidating to have you hovering over my shoulder like this.”
“Oh!” Chase stumbled backwards a few steps. “My apologies! Usually you’re alright with my… hovering.”
“Admittedly,” he grunted as he stood up. “It took me a few months to get used to your robot mode. I’ll get used to this one, too. But Jurassic Park might be good ‘research’ on why your dino modes might freak out some humans.”
“Is it not just our size?”
“No, I think there’s some animal instinct part of it, too.” Burns began to work on the second stake for his tent.
“I will keep that under consideration in the future.”
Chief Burns glanced over at the other rescue bots. “Do you two think you can recruit the others into helping? We need a firepit because it’s going to get dark fast.”
“Yeah!” Cody enthusiastically went over to the group of three to tell them of their new mission, with Chase close behind. “Do you guys want to dig a pit in the middle here? I’ll grab some rocks to keep the fire in.”
“Don’t go too far!” Burns called from the other side of the clearing.
I won’t!” Cody shouted back.
The rescue bots turned to Chase after Cody started flitting around to grab rocks. Chase turned around and casually glanced his tail against Boulder’s armor.
“This ‘vacation’ is meant to get you used to your dino modes. Boulder, your front legs should be able to dig a more elegant hole than your vehicle mode.”
“Oh- yeah they would!” At that Boulder transformed and dropped into his dino mode.
He identified the middle of the campsite area, and after checking that the humans weren’t in danger, began to dig. The big scoops that made up his front claws made quick work of the ground and in moments they had a firepit in the ground.
“Good work, Boulder!” Burns praised as he assessed the pit. “Cody, how are the rocks coming along?”
“Uh, I’ve got a few…” Cody waddled to the pit, arms full of various-sized rocks.
“Put whatever you’ve got down, I need you to help me pitch up this first tent.”
While the pair worked on the tent Chase affectionately nudged Boulder’s shoulder with his head. Together they went up to the other two rescue bots.
“How’s the pit look, Heatwave? Good enough?” Boulder asked.
Heatwave rolled his optics good-naturedly and made to walk towards the pit.
Chase intercepted him. “Ah. According to the laws of the campsite, a rescue bot must be in dino mode to participate in activities.”
“What are you gonna do? Arrest me?”
“No, the punishment for this crime is… Mr. Pettypaws duty. You’ll have to cover one of our responses per minute in the campsite not in dino mode.”
Blades gasped and immediately transformed into dino mode despite being behind Heatwave and not even “in” the campsite.
“Alright, alright.” Heatwave transformed swiftly. “Heh. I like how much taller I am than you guys like this.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to see the firepit from up there?” Blades asked cheekily.
Heatwave quickly lowered his head down and shoved it into Blade’s face. He squawked in shock and fell backwards.
“Yeah, and I can hear you up here too.”
Chase nodded and moved out of the way so the other two rescue bots could get into the campsite. Heatwave beelined towards the fire pit, and watched as Cody arranged more rocks around it. He tentatively put one massive foot into the pit when the boy was done.
“This will be good. The fire threat isn’t high today.”
“Thanks Heatwave!” Cody craned his head up to smile at him.
Chief Burns shouted across the campsite. “Hey, son, now that the pit’s good come help me set up your tent.”
Cody went back to him, leaving the four rescue bots to be on their own.
Boulder dropped heavily into a sit, and then into a laying position. “I think I might get what the humans are talking about when they talk about ‘being one with nature’.”
Chase hummed. “Perhaps you should spend more time in dino mode when you’re out in nature.”
“Yeah!” Blades chipped in. “Since these alt modes are based on Earth animals perhaps animals will like you more!”
“I don’t know Blades, a lot of animals’ interactions with each other are aggressive.”
Heatwave shrugged. “Humans get along with dogs and cats and birds just fine.”
“That is true.” Chase said. “For example, certain breeds of dogs are trained to be police officers.”
“And firefighters.” Heatwave pointed out.
“But those are animals humans domesticated to be kind to them.” Boulder said.
“Why don’t humans domesticate every animal?” Blades asked. “If they domesticated bears they wouldn’t need to worry about bear attacks.”
Boulder frowned. “I think when an animal is domesticated there’s still wild versions… so that wouldn’t help.”
“That’s lame.”
“Wild animals are really important to Earth’s ecosystem! Without them everything would fall apart- other animals and humans and plants would all be doomed.”
“Are you sure? All our dino modes went extinct and the humans are still here.” Blades said.
Heatwave chuckled. “Blades’ got a point.”
“I… hm…” Boulder said. “Hey, Chief?”
Chief Burns looked at them from the partially-completed tent. “What is it, Boulder?”
“Why do humans exist when dinosaurs are extinct?”
A look of utter confusion passed his face. “What? What are you guys talking about over there?”
“Domesticating bears.” Blades said.
“Actually, the conversation started with Boulder feeling ‘one with nature’... as humans say- for some reason.” Chase piped up.
“And then we ended up on wondering how humans are alive when dinosaurs aren’t.” Heatwave said.
The clarifications did not seem to heighten Chief Burns’ understanding at all.
Thankfully, Cody poked his head around the tent and said. “I know this! Humans weren’t around when dinosaurs were all over the place. When a big meteor destroyed them all, it let new species like us exist!”
“Fascinating.” Boulder replied.
Chase nodded. “It is incredible how Earth is constantly transforming and adapting to maintain balance.”
Suddenly, the Chief clapped. “The tents are up!” He glanced up at the sky. “Cody, you should gather a bunch of fire wood before the sun goes down. I’ll set up the mosquito torches- don’t go too far!”
“Got it, Dad!” At that he ran to the edge of the clearing to scavenge for sticks.
Chief Burns turned to the rescue bots. “So you’re enjoying your outing- I think?”
“I am.” Boulder said.
“I was coerced.” Heatwave huffed. Despite not having arms he looked like he wanted to cross them.
The mood in the campsite shattered like glass at the sound of a gunshot in the distance. Chief Burns, unable to hear it, stumbled backwards in shock as Boulder surged to his feet.
“That was a gunshot.” Heatwave explained quickly.
“What? Here?” Burns sharply turned to the forest. “Cody! Get back here, now!”
Cody had barely been out of the bounds of the clearing, but he still raced back to the bots and his dad. “What’s going on?”
“The bots heard a gunshot. Where did it come from?”
“Southeast,” Blades said, “away from the town.”
“Hunting isn’t allowed right now- we need to investigate.” Chief Burns looked down at his son. “Sorry, Cody.”
“I get it…” Cody said sadly.
Burns patted Cody on the shoulder. “Boulder, stay here with Cody. Blades take to the skies and head towards the sound, don’t engage, just try to act like a bird. Heatwave and Chase, you’re with me.”
Blades immediately took off in his pteranodon mode and headed southeast.
Chase laid down so Chief Burns could climb onto his back. “Heatwave, think you’ll be able to keep up?”
He eyed the pair. “Probably not.”
Burns chuckled. “That’s alright, just stay as close as you can in case we need backup.”
Chase stood up and the three of them ventured into the woods where the sound originated. After a couple minutes of sprinting Blades interrupted the silence that had fallen over the group.
“I think I’ve spotted someone. He looks to be alone.”
Chief Burns looked behind him to see that Heatwave was so far back he was barely visible in between the trees. “Did he take a vehicle with him? We could ambush him there.”
“I’ll check.”
As they approached the area Chase slowed and let Heatwave approach. His thundering footsteps shook the ground as he came near. Chase sniffed the air.
“I can smell the gunpowder.. And the hunter that caused it.”
Chief Burns anxiously pat Chase’s neck. “Can you smell blood?”
“No. I think he missed.”
“That’s good for us, then, if he’s a bad shot.”
Blades spoke up again. “I found his truck, it’s a bit west.”
“Great, Blades lead Heatwave to the truck. Chase and I will scare him back to it.”
“Can I crush it?” Heatwave asked with a smile in his voice.
Burns chuckled. “No, that would still be destruction of property.”
“Darn.” Heatwave said good-naturedly.
Chief Burns patted Chase again after Heatwave left to follow Blades. “Think we can track him down?”
“Of course, sir.”
Chase raised his large head and then smelled the air again. After a moment he began to walk again, taking swift but measured steps to stay quiet. Eventually they spotted the hunter- a man that was unfamiliar to both of them- presumably a mainlander. He appeared to be tracking something as they were tracking him.
“My paint does not assist me in being stealthy in this environment.” Chase commented quietly.
“That’s alright,” the Chief whispered back, “we don’t need to get close, we just need to scare him.”
Chase addressed the comms. “Heatwave, are you in position?”
“Almost. Will be by the time he comes back.”
“Noted.”
“I’m ready if you are, partner.” Chief said.
“Then I suggest you cover your ears, sir.”
Chase waited for Chief Burns to comply before he let out an extraordinarily loud screech. The hunter jumped in shock, and whatever he was tracking surely raced away from them.
“Wow,” Heatwave said into the comms. “I heard that from here.”
“He’s headed directly away from us.” Burns commented. “We’re going to have to corral him a bit.”
“It would be my pleasure, sir.”
They took off running again, arcing around the hunter’s path. Energon raced through his lines as they followed the human- although Chase was fast, the forest hampered his speed, but not enough that Chase couldn’t catch up if he wanted to. Chase screeched another time, resulting in the hunter going west, back to his truck.
“Heatwave, human incoming, we are in pursuit.”
“I’m ready!”
Chase was close enough behind the hunter that he could see when the man reached the truck. He had been about to open the door when Heatwave literally leaped towards the front of the truck with a roar. Heatwave raised onto his back legs and then dropped one of them onto the truck, not putting his full weight onto it so it dipped on its suspension but didn’t break under the bot’s weight.
The human dropped to the ground with a scream, his gun fell out of his hands and skittered towards Heatwave’s feet. He tried to scramble up when Chase and Chief Burns burst onto the scene behind him. Blades swooped down and landed in the pickup truck’s bed and propped up one wing on the roof.
“Griffin Rock PD.” Burns said to the man, who had become sheet-white. “You are under arrest for hunting on the island without a permit.”
—
By the time Chase rolled back into the firehouse garage the other rescue bots and the elder Burns children had retrieved Cody and Boulder from the campsite. The bots were still in dino mode, lounging around the area, surrounding their partners. Marshmallows and graham crackers laid strewn around them on a handful of blankets. Cody’s face and fingers were suspiciously covered in chocolate.
Chief Burns laughed at the sight. “I see you started camping activities without us.”
Cody flushed. “We, uh, thought they shouldn’t go to waste?”
“Yeah, yeah, did you save any for us?”
“I don’t think so.” Kade said, barely understandable through a mouthful of smores.
Chase transformed from vehicle mode directly into dino mode as he followed Chief Burns to the ‘campsite’. His children scooted over to make room for him, and Chase settled with dropping next to Heatwave’s flank.
“I think,” Chase said quietly, “that we could consider this dino camping trip a success.”