[LOG] THE AMBUSH

[vosseeker]

WHO: Jane, Starscream, others
WHERE: The Belt, followed by The Steadfast
WHEN: Sometime after this encounter at the Galactic Council
WHAT: What appears to be a routine scouting mission goes sideways as the First Order tries to forcefully determine Jane's real allegiance...
WARNINGS: TBD

---

The modifications that Starscream had asked Knock Out to make to his alt mode were holding up to the unique rigors of space flight, and that pleased him. For all his preening and questionable pedigree, the medic's actual skill was solid; Megatron would never have stood for an incompetent CMO, after all.

The changes Starscream had requested helped bridge the gap between an alt specifically designed for space flight verses the sub-atmospheric model he currently had scanned. More importantly, he'd demanded that Knock Out execute the changes with as little outward change to appearance as possible. It wasn't vanity - the Parliament had put restrictions on allowing him upgrades. He was a high risk individual. In reality, it was just another way for them to exert their control over him.

So Starscream had called in his standing favour with Knock Out. True, he might have liked to hoard that leverage a while longer, but needs must. Knock Out's own censure would almost certainly be extended if the Parliament found out he'd done the work on Starscream behind their backs. He might even lose his position with the Iaconian Medical Division, or be demoted and the care of the protoforms assigned to someone else. So some considerable incentive had to be supplied.

Starscream didn't bat an optic at using Knock Out's deceased partner as a bargaining chip. Sentiment was for fools and sparklings. And if Knock Out hadn't spoken more than a few words to him since, well... he'd get over it. Probably.

In the meantime, Starscream had other engagements to hold his attention. Such as accompanying Jane on what was supposed to be a routine scouting mission into the Dubrillion system, targeting an area referred to as The Belt. It would be tight, tricky flying - apparently pilots trained there to hone their skills - but he suspected neither he nor Jane would have a difficult time with their respective expertise. It would still make for an enjoyable outing.

Comments

[forceshadowed]

The last thing Jane honestly expected to happen in this mission was for Resistance fighters to show up from out of nowhere, and yet there they were, winking into existence at the edge of the asteroid field. She had no idea why they were here, though it certainly couldn't have just been coincidence; it wasn't like the Belt was a tourist destination, and the Resistance was spread far too thin in both resources and manpower to attempt cursory, tentative operations. Especially when—

The Falcon dropped out of hyperspace last, but it came in so close to the tumbling debris that it was clear it was leading this pack — and that it was about to dive head on into the turbulent mass of space rocks and come after them. She didn't have to reach out with the Force to know who was piloting. "Dameron," she muttered under her breath, loud enough for Starscream to hear over their comm line, as she maneuvered her ship to momentarily hide behind a fairly large asteroid.

Another alarm. Incoming transmission. Guess she's about to find out what the hell the Resistance was doing out here.

"Jane. I know it's you." Poe's tone was serious, but it had an undercurrent of familiarity that even the Cybertronian would catch. His opener was followed by a wailing of sorts; it was Chewbacca, speaking in Shyriiwook, which Jane didn't need any help translating, having grown up with the Wookiee. Jane. We need to talk to you. It's important.

"What are you doing here?" Her reply was cold, curt, betraying no hint of emotion. It was something she'd learned in the First Order, and it was the same way she would usually speak to her brother, especially in official capacity. But, deep down, she was desperately shoving away all memories that this encounter was trying to bring up to the surface. Her father's ship. Her father's partner. Her father. Murdered by Kylo Ren.

"We need you back, Janey."

Something within her flared, a complex mix of emotions that she couldn't hope to untangle and identify at the moment. "Don't call me that—" she started to say, only to be interrupted by the sounds and signs of battle. Starscream. Kriff.

Of course, the Resistance fired back. Why wouldn't they? And while they were extremely confused by the strange ship that accompanied Jane's TIE, it wasn't hard for them to come up with their own conclusion: a prototype of a new First Order starfighter that had long been in the works. Why else would they be in an asteroid belt? Why else would the test run be a race between the new craft and a ship of Caedus' caliber?

"Don't make me do this, Jane!" Poe said in between shouts to Chewie to get ready to enter the Belt.

She gritted her teeth, her grip around the controls tightening a little. "You want me, Dameron? Come and get me," she challenged, before cutting off the line and launching her Silencer off the asteroid and into the opposite direction of the incoming Resistance fighters.

She took a moment to consider the size of the enemy force. Not a fleet, but large enough to overwhelm her and Starscream if they're not careful. That is if anyone other than Poe would be able to follow them safely through the obstacle course. "Stay in the belt," she said to Starscream. Her attention was now divided, half on flying, the other half on locating the Wayfinder. "Skrag, I can't find the damn thing."

[vosseeker]

Starscream hissed static across the line at the familiarity with which the Resistance group leader addressed Jane. Yes, he knew academically that she was a double agent, that of course she would have contacts within their organization (that extended beyond, obviously, her mother) but they were shooting at him.

And in light of the aborted conversation between Jane and Poe, he's not even sure if he's supposed to be shooting back. His call sign indicators are all dark, all means of identifying him disabled — this isn't an official mission, and its purpose was supposed to be clandestine. So the Resistance has no clue they're shooting at a Cybertronian, let alone the Air Commander himself.

Laser fire grazes along his upper right wing leaving score marks, and he dives to escape it, slingshotting himself around a large asteroid chunk and following Jane deeper into the debris field. They weave and dodge, using the landscape as cover, protecting the rear vector.

Starscream wheels and flies straight at the Falcon's front view port, fearlessly playing chicken as it gets too close to Jane's TIE to drive it off, despite the Falcon being many times his size. The distance between them closes shockingly fast, but Starscream doesn't budge his trajectory.

[forceshadowed]

The familiarity is not because of her being a double agent, but because of her life from before she'd defected to the First Order; not that the Cybertronians would know, since she tries not to mention her past as much as possible. (Except perhaps if she accidentally revealed some secrets to Knock Out or Bumblebee or Contrail.) Poe had been a family friend, someone she had idolized as a young girl for his piloting talents, and they saw each other often enough to consider each other more than mere acquaintances.

Not that she thinks of him as a friend right now. Her mission is to locate the Wayfinder, grab it and get out. Whatever the Resistance is doing here, well, she'll figure it out later. But she sure as hell isn't going back with them, not because she considers herself loyal to the First Order but because at the moment the Resistance was the losing side.

She frowns at the flurry of activity and the wailing of her Silencer's alarms, but a moment later she catches the game Starscream's trying to play, and if they had more time, she would've thanked him for the save. Instead she lets go of the battle for a couple of seconds, diving into the Force to shift her full attention to the Belt in a desperate attempt to sense wherever the Wayfinder might be. But there's nothing out of the ordinary, nothing but rocks and debris; by far Starscream was the strangest part of the scene.

"Nothing," she practically snarls as she pulls herself back to the here and the now, steadying her grip on the controls as she veers away from what could've been a collision course. Her stomach clenches as she realizes what this might all mean. "This was a set up."

a million years later.......

[vosseeker]

Poe and Starscream split at the last second, peeling off to opposite sides so closely that his thruster burn scorched a trail across the Falcon's hull.

Jane's assertion over the comms confirms what Starscream was already suspecting when the Resistance appeared. But the question was, was it a setup by the Resistance, or by the First Order? At this point, they were looking equally likely, and he didn't like it at all. Compromising Jane's position and her agenda put his agenda in contention, and if it was one thing Starscream was guaranteed to do, it was look out for his own interests.

But his thoughts ran parallel to hers: at the moment, there was a clear advantage in sticking with the First Order.

"Time to regroup elsewhere," he said curtly, choosing a new flight vector that would clear them as quickly as possible to the edge of the asteroid field where they could leap to hyperspace once again and leave the Resistance behind.

A stray shot caught his wing at a lucky angle, rather than skirting off the planar surface, it burned through the sensitive plating. Starscream cursed in Vosian, the epithet click-trill sharpened by pain. His flight path flagged for a moment as energon — blue and glowing against the starry backdrop — splashed out, leaving a trail of droplets suspended in zero gravity.

omg same lovely sob i'm sorry ;~;

[forceshadowed]

The part of Jane that was made of emotion wanted nothing more at that moment but to scream and lash out. Partly because of the frustration, and the betrayal, and the confusion for who might have actually set her up. But at the bottom of it was really just the anguish and guilt and rage unearthed by the sight of the Falcon, for she loved her father and his ship reminded her of the memories she'd been desperately trying to keep away. She had not forgiven Ben for killing him, and she never will. That and there was the irrational thought that the ship should've been hers, not being piloted by some dumb Resistance fighter — even if he happened to be a decent pilot.

She barely heard Starscream at first, even, as she seemed to have slipped into some sort of autopilot mode, her emotions roiling within her like a storm. But the Commander's curse and the pain that followed jolted her back to the present moment. What was that? She couldn't have possibly sensed—

"Are you okay?" Even as she was asking that, she was flipping her TIE around to take down the fighter that had scored a lucky hit. Or at least one of them. It didn't matter which one, if it was the right one at all, only that she had to get back at them somehow. That and to make sure Starscream could get away safely. How strange, for her to suddenly feel protective, in a way that was frighteningly personal. "Go on ahead, I'll see you back in Cybertron!"