...Perhaps I spoke too soon. That was Whiteout's first thought as he watched the femme vault into the air, using her sword as leverage to climb to the top of his improvised wall. He stood, helm tipped back, smirking in open impressment at her quick thinking and admirable skill. This femme was no tourist. She had been a part of the war, to be sure. His smirk only broadened when the femme taunted him through surprisingly pleasant laughter. "Do I hear a challenge?" His desire to irk the femme for the next thousand eons was waning, at least any desire formed in anger. He was actually having fun playing chase with this strangely magnetic femme, if he could ignore that strange sense of panic he felt at the prospect of losing her. He watched her leap off of his wall, waiting until he heard her engine revving once more before he used his thrusters to fly up and land in the exact place she had been standing atop his wall. He was preparing to pursue her when an oncoming energy signature bolted into his sensory range with such speed it dizzied him. He faltered, grabbing his helm and nearly falling off of his wall as his processors worked rapidly to pinpoint the racing signature. However, he didn't get a lock on until the signature slowed, and, by then, the being responsible for the energy signature was in his sight. It was undoubtedly another Cybertronian, one who carried himself in a rather sturdy, two-wheeler alt. form that was bright yellow in color. Unlike the femme, Whiteout was able to pull a trace amount of information up about the mech who approached. He had never met this mech personally, but he had been around enough to hear a few stories. Every detail of his energy signature seemed to indicated that he was a former mercenary captain during the war. Concussion, was it? Given that the mech had been a mercenary of all the things, Whiteout doubted he had come speeding to the "rescue" of the femme he was playing with. Thinking of the femme...
Whiteout's helm suddenly snapped in the direction she had sped off, alarmed to see how close she was getting to the city. He decided, for a spilt second, to ignore the ex. commander who had approached and transformed in a flash, bolting off in the direction the femme had gone only to halt almost immediately. He hovered in mid-air, watching her with targeted vision before deciding to give her up...for now. He would remember her heat signature. No need to be overly obsessed with a stranger, not when he had stumbled across a most unusual find in Cybertronian life. He transformed and landed back onto his pedes easily, turning his gaze to the former commander. "You made me lose her," he motioned to trail of dust the femme had left. "No matter. I think I've found someone more interesting." Whiteout approached the mech casually. "You go by the designation Concussion, don't you? You're some former mercenary commander a part of some old exclusive merc. club, right?" His intentions were not to be unfriendly, but he had to mock the idea of mercenary groups just a little. He had always thought they were stupid. Why band together when solitude remained such an obvious option? As far as he was concerned, squadron members and the like only held others back. Companionship had no place in a war.
Shockwave found himself undeniably surprised at Nightshade's unexpectedly calm demeanor. Perhaps he knew less about her than he had originally thought, but he was not alarmed. There was a reason he had not attempted to shoot her out of the sky on her approach--he had a distinct feeling that he was more unfamiliar with the femme called Nightshade than he wished to be. No, Shockwave cared not for personal relationships with other bots, but it was ever-unwise to not know intimately his every ally and enemy alike. Without knowledge, everyone was weak, and while he remained relatively unknowledgeable about Nightshade, he would not presume to be strong. It would only get him offlined, an outcome illogical to chase.
He turned from his work on the computer to face the scowling femme fully, examining her tone and posture. She appeared enough like her father in her demeanor and tone that Shockwave dared to conclude that he could safely say he was receiving no offer of choice. He bowed his helm unaffectedly. "I can see no more logical path than what you have proposed to me. My loyalty is certain." For now, this was true. Shockwave would become Nightshade's quiet servant until it would become logical to usurp her.