Transformers Skyfall I: Rising Sun

DECEPTICONS: The Sky's your Limit

Decepticon Warship: Nemesis, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
4 AM, May 11th 2021

A storm had been brewing all yesterday and by 1 o'clock this morning, it had finally broke. As soon as thunder boomed across the skies above, Soulscream was back online. Awake before the majority of her comrades were, she wasted little time in gearing up and heading out - only slapping a short-fused Energon patch on her arm before she raced to the upper decks. She kept to the shadows and hissed quietly as she watched the Wing Trine walk in from the rain battering the upper decks. The upper decks were on the top of the warship and were the only levels exposed to the outside elements. Therefore, they were the only place on the entire ship for taking off and landing, and when most of your fighting force was airborne, there was bound to at least always be one soul out along the upper decks. Like her Creator; watching with a good optic to see who was returning and what condition they were in before sending another Trine out to replace them. Or just out, in general, watching the stars above when one often could not find peace in stasis.

Soulscream more than anything, despised running into her Creator, especially at a time like this. They'd been touring the continent known as Africa and there had been nothing but drought for the last eight months. She was itching to take to the skies in some cool weather, and thankful that Soundwave had insisted on steering them North again.
They were due to be coming across Autobot forces any day now and that meant that all of the Decepticons had to be ready and in fighting shape - herself included. So no matter the weather, or who stood in her way, the young seeker was determined to sneak out for a quick flight. She'd always been ambitious; a trait she'd picked up from her Creator, without a doubt, everyone thought they knew her already simply because of it.

As she waited for Dreadwing and the others to walk further down the hallway that she had just come from, Soulscream crept out of the shadows, looked both ways and then took off toward the door that led to the upper decks. Once the door did open, Soulscream grunted and brought up one of her arms to shield herself as the wind roared an onslaught of rain directly upon her. She felt the strong gale tickle the tips of her wings and grinned.

It's been too long, she thought to herself, and without risking another paranoid glance behind her, she ran forward. As soon as she was clear of the overhang, she transformed and shot straight up into the air with a victorious cry.

Her Creator had first taught them how to fly by using a thunderstorm; she remembered that. Storms were her favourite kind of weather and she couldn't wait until they returned to North America. Unbeknownst to anyone, she had very ambitious plans to tackle the infamous Tornado Alley and see if she had what it took to become just as good as the more experienced fliers among the Decepticon ranks.

For now, she'd settle on an ocean storm. Dangerous to ships and birds, but for a big aircraft like the Nemesis it hardly left its mark. The true worry was short-circuiting on her own, falling rapidly towards the ocean and getting left behind, or worse; deactivating and never being found ever again.
She wasn't worried.
As far as her allies were concerned, what was one less seeker? They didn't need to worry about her! She was just as good as them and one day she was going to be better than all of them!

With that determined fury burning in her spark, Soulscream used the Energon snack from earlier to boost her thrusters and sent her higher into the sky. All around her, dark grey clouds obscured her view as the rain continued to fall and soak her outer armour. Even though many pilots would refer to the surrounding darkness as 'flying blind', Soulscream wasn't an ordinary jet that required a pilot. She needed to test out her radar and terrain navigating systems to check if they were up-to-date and ready for a fight close to the ground. True, while there shouldn't be any ground in the middle of the ocean or in the sky, she could get creative. The Nemesis was beneath her by a few miles and rapidly shrinking. Then there was always the very minor yet very possible scenario of running into a seeker patrol out here; whether returning or going. She could use them to her advantage of testing out her stealth as well - maybe even try to evade them for a set time. They'd get paranoid as soon as they'd pick her up on their own radars, but only one would be sent to confront her until she chose to cause more trouble. Everyone knew everyone's shenanigans by now.