![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
In the months that followed the loss of the Allspark, Barricade did his best to keep moving and stay off the Autobot’s radar. There were a hundred thousand different places on this miserable planet that he could safely hide, but he couldn’t do his job from any of them. At least until Starscream returned from his latest mad quest or Soundwave came back into orbit, he was on his own, watching and waiting. It was too dangerous to follow the Autobots themselves, so he stuck to tracking the humans, both civilian and military, finding their communications much easier to unravel.
Tailing Sector Seven, though, finally got him something solid. The organization had been all over the place since sinking his dead teammates into the ocean, moving both files and artifacts between storage facilities. During one of their transfers, he’d succeeded in hacking through their security, coming up with a delivery manifest. There was nothing particularly damning, unfortunately, but he caught wind of their past attempts to find more Cybertronians over the years. A number of vehicles had been seized with this in mind, though none had proven to be more than anything man made. All but one, he was willing to bet.
The files on a particular plane stood out, but were incomplete, which was really just his luck. The rest of the hard records weren’t digitized, and Sector Seven was facing termination from the higher ups. This was where he needed Frenzy – annoying as he’d been, he could get in and out of places that were closed to Barricade. If there weren’t digital copies, he was going to have a hell of time finding more information on their records of this operation. It was a very slim lead, but it had one saving grace: the name Wilton Knight was stamped onto the corner of the one photo of the plane that was digital. Barricade had gotten quite familiar with that name over the past few months, and that link alone made him decide it was worth looking into.
He didn’t know how or why the government allowed Knight Industries to operate or exist at all, but he wasn’t going to question it. They were a resource waiting to be exploited, and Barricade weathered the badgering he received from Michael Knight with this in mind. It was likely a mutual arrangement – a Decepticon didn’t have humanity’s best interests in mind, and FLAG was all about protecting the innocent. If they could keep tabs on him without tipping off the Autobots, they’d have their own resource to exploit. Assuming their association didn’t get them shut down under charges of treason, which wouldn’t hurt Barricade’s feelings in the least.
If the plane belonged to Knight Industries, they’d want it back. If it turned out to be an old comrade of Barricade’s, then that was all the better. Either way, he could get the human and his pet car to do the work that he couldn’t, and peel back their own security while he was at it. So thinking, he sent the delivery manifest to Kitt, knowing the trumped up calculator could parse out the relevant information.
Tailing Sector Seven, though, finally got him something solid. The organization had been all over the place since sinking his dead teammates into the ocean, moving both files and artifacts between storage facilities. During one of their transfers, he’d succeeded in hacking through their security, coming up with a delivery manifest. There was nothing particularly damning, unfortunately, but he caught wind of their past attempts to find more Cybertronians over the years. A number of vehicles had been seized with this in mind, though none had proven to be more than anything man made. All but one, he was willing to bet.
The files on a particular plane stood out, but were incomplete, which was really just his luck. The rest of the hard records weren’t digitized, and Sector Seven was facing termination from the higher ups. This was where he needed Frenzy – annoying as he’d been, he could get in and out of places that were closed to Barricade. If there weren’t digital copies, he was going to have a hell of time finding more information on their records of this operation. It was a very slim lead, but it had one saving grace: the name Wilton Knight was stamped onto the corner of the one photo of the plane that was digital. Barricade had gotten quite familiar with that name over the past few months, and that link alone made him decide it was worth looking into.
He didn’t know how or why the government allowed Knight Industries to operate or exist at all, but he wasn’t going to question it. They were a resource waiting to be exploited, and Barricade weathered the badgering he received from Michael Knight with this in mind. It was likely a mutual arrangement – a Decepticon didn’t have humanity’s best interests in mind, and FLAG was all about protecting the innocent. If they could keep tabs on him without tipping off the Autobots, they’d have their own resource to exploit. Assuming their association didn’t get them shut down under charges of treason, which wouldn’t hurt Barricade’s feelings in the least.
If the plane belonged to Knight Industries, they’d want it back. If it turned out to be an old comrade of Barricade’s, then that was all the better. Either way, he could get the human and his pet car to do the work that he couldn’t, and peel back their own security while he was at it. So thinking, he sent the delivery manifest to Kitt, knowing the trumped up calculator could parse out the relevant information.
no subject
Mike could've heard a pin drop with how silent everything seemed to be. He could even hear his own blood rushing in his ears, which really wasn't a pleasant sound. That was the kind of silence that he'd come to dread.
It was just when Mike was about to call it off that Kitt said, "There is an opening. I have not been detected."
"Awesome, now we need to hope those records have been brought up to date instead of all this paperwork."
"The search will take some time. The amount of records is extensive."
no subject
"If they have a destination to ship it to, they better have it's current location," Barricade said. "Your government isn't that incompetent."
Too true, unfortunately. Even with the network down their military had managed to coordinate a counter attack in Los Angeles. A highly successful counter attack, which made Barricade thankful he'd been driven off the road before arriving.
no subject
no subject
No sense dwelling on it now. He looked bored, reclining against the cabinets as Kitt worked.
"How much time are we talking here? They'll have it delivered by the time it's done."
no subject
Mike smiled, reaching out to pat Kitt's bumper fondly. "That's my supercar."
"The process will take approximately ninety more seconds."
"So, Anger Issues On Wheels, how good are you at decoding?"
in case you missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvWGLcdI8o8
"Easier than hacking," Barricade said, which was the truth. If there weren't any active security protocols running around, breaking through raw data was simple for them. "And easier than sorting through this hellhole."
Seriously, he was going to suggest torching the place before leaving. Either store information correctly, or not at all.
Oh lord, it's glorious.
no subject
"Remember we're not friends, here," he said, well aware of what Mike thought of him. "Delusions are a sign of mental illness. Wouldn't want to have to put you down before your prime."
Whatever that was. He waited for them to open the door, watching data unravel at the same time.
no subject
"Unfortunately yes," Kitt answered. "The plane was housed at Area 51."
"...Goddamn it."
"But it isn't any longer. With the talks of declassification of Area 51, the plane was moved to the Wright-Patterson base in Ohio."
Mike rubbed at his forehead. "Whole different kind of goddamn it. Ohio?"
"Yes, Mike. Ohio."
"Shit."
no subject
He pulled up his map of the continental United States and zeroed in on Ohio. Hell of a drive from here, unfortunately. And hell if they thought he was flying anywhere with them in that cargo plane of theirs.
"Whatever you have against Ohio, it might be a moot point," he said. "The schedule's decoded - it'll be shipping out in a few days, ground transport. Makes it easier for us to intercept, at least."
no subject
His heart was in his throat just at the thought of it. A sentient thing disassembled and put in trucks to be taken wherever someone else decided.
"So, intercept or just go and stop the bastards?" he asked, forcing himself into a more flippant tone. If he let himself think about it, he'd just get too angry before it was time to use that anger. He wasn't the Hulk, but rage made killing people easier.
no subject
Besides, being in several pieces wasn't exactly traumatic for cybertronians. Not ideal for most, but not the end of the world.
"Even if we left now, we'd still be cutting it close to meet them at the gate. Catch them on the road, and backup's too far away to catch us."
no subject
That's what it was. He wasn't going to fool himself. This was a rescue, a liberation. Period.
no subject
"I'd suggest somewhere in the Rockies. I don't know what kind of evac system you've got available, but you might want to let your friends know what's going on so they can be ready."
The mountain roads would make a good place for an ambush, though they had to be aware the reverse could be sprung on them. Mike was welcome to suggest a different place. He'd probably only argue against it just because he could.
no subject
But he turned out onto the street anyway, looking through the info Kitt was feeding him. "If there's one thing I know, it's military manoeuvers. You can change shapes, so can Kitt. If we do it just right, we can infiltrate the convoy and slip away with the plane without anybody realising until it's too late."
no subject
"I happen to like my current 'shape'," he retorted. Not a terrible idea, though. Mike would need to get the truck driver out of the way, though Barricade doubted he'd be allowed to run him over.
no subject
no subject
"I don't have enough mass to pull off a Hummer," he said. "Unless you've got something smaller that'll work, I can always pose as Colorado's finest."
no subject
"They'll have a front door and a back door. It's easier to take out the back door first. Big truck mirrors are easier to fool. So we find out what kind of vehicles they've got for their front and back door, spoof their shapes, take them out - shouldn't be hard, we're both weaponised to hell and it's not like we can't be covert - and once we've got the truck under our cover, thinking we're with them, we can organise an emergency. Take out a tire, yank out the truck driver and I'll take over the truck while you and Kitt escort. Then we're just a normal convoy going down the road, just to our destination instead of theirs."
no subject
"Tell me again how it is that you're not in jail." Humans didn't know that stuff by screwing around on the internet. With no one else on the road at this time of night, Barricade strayed into the median, taking up as much as space as he wanted. "On second thought, don't, I'll figure it out myself. We'll have to shadow them before they pass through the Rockies if that's where we're going to do this. They have to stop more often than we do."
no subject