Tales of the Barn (and Base)

Story 7: All Things Spooky and Stuffed with Sugar

Life at Autobot outpost Omega1 was bizarre to say the least. As far as Starscream could tell, the social structure wasn't anything like the decepticons. It was warmer, less formal. Jokes were shared, and orders felt like they were asked rather then demanded. It was both a relief and frustrating to the seeker. He had no idea how they managed to get anything done with little to no structure or discipline in their ranks.

Nya however didn't seem to have a problem with this. The air major had integrated into the ranks effortlessly. Quickly earning the trust and favor of everyone at the base. She had even somehow befriended Arcee, a feat that Starscream was both impressed by and jealous of. Though it was hard to see how her results couldn't have been any less fruitful. Nya was hardworking, always had her priorities straight, was openly friendly and easy to talk too. Her mind was both on mission and those she was working with. Though when the missions were over, she had a lighter goofy streak that she let shine through. Especially around the children.

Speaking of the human younglings, Starscream couldn't understand them either. He couldn't understand their purpose in the base. Agent Fowler was their lesion, Nya was awarded the title of Air Commander, and Nurse Darby acted as the human medic. They all had a reason to be there, but the children didn't. Sure, he could see why the youngest could be here if Starscream looked past his age. Rafeal, or Raf, had an impressive amount of skill and knowledge when it came to human computer science. But the other two? No, Starscream couldn't see what ever purpose a rowdy loud femme and a responsible almost adult could serve.

And behaver of the human young! There were many things that they did that Starscream didn't understand. Homework. That was an interesting topic. The fact that human halls of learning sent daily assignments for the students to complete in their homes seemed a little redundant to him. Especially the fact that Nya had to help the young femme Miko with a number of these. If one of the students didn't understand the assignment, wasn't it the teacher's job to educate them? How did they think that if a student who didn't understand their assigned tasks could complete them? Did they even care about their important job of shaping the next generation?! Because the amount of assignments Nya had helped with girl with was getting ridiculous.

And that wasn't even getting into the other things Nya did daily. Leaving the base early in the day only to come back with her venting harsh, and her flesh coated in a shiny sheen. The number of songs she would sing while working on her plane. Odd conversations she would have with Agent Fowler and the children (Starscream had no idea what red and blue pills had to do with anything, and he knew for a fact that it had nothing to do with Nya's seizure medication as those pills were white). And best he forgets the time that he had used his holoform to look around her courters (with her permission!), ending up in her wash rack and finding the waste basket filled with plastic tubes covered in the red substance that humans had in their tubes. Yeah, that was a conversation that Starscream wanted to forget.

So, one could imagen the seeker's shock when his human, all the humans actually, started to act even more strange. Nya began to act more secretive, spending more time with June and in the human settlement. Not to mention she had odder things in her courters; Large carboard boxes, a bucket of green paint, a long black dress hanging in her closet and human cosmetic products. Which, other than some vanilla chap stick, Starscream knew Nya almost never wore.

And it wasn't just his partner, the kids would have less time at the base. Miko would be asking Nya about something being ready, yet. Raf, talked about how his family had put skeletons in their yard, (A fact that both greatly disturbed and intrigued Starscream, as how could a 12-year-old's family obtain fully decomposed cadavers?). And Jack began complaining about some kind of human fuel at his place of work so complex to make and popular with the locals that was driving him crazy.