Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Aug 28, 2009 20:37:57 GMT -5
Magnus is grateful that Mirage lets the subject drop, but he doesn't say so. He answers the next question instead, at least as best he can, explaining what he knows of how Prime finally returned and managed to free the Autobots. The details are sketchy and again, much of the story came to him secondhand.
"And after that," he continues without pause, bitterness returning so hard and fast it hurts, his optics flaring, "he left. Again. Took a crew, boarded a ship they called the Ark, and left." He glances at Mirage. "You were on that crew. They went to look for energy since the war had depleted our reserves so much." Magnus knows why Optimus left him on Cybertron; Optimus had faith in him and his ability to lead the Autobots in the Prime's absence. Even understanding the motives, in many ways he still resents what was essentially his abandonment. He was left with the mess that his brother had made. But what he says as he carries on with the recounting is, "Megatron took his own crew and left in pursuit of Prime. For us, still on Cybertron, the war continued.
"We did… many things in the interest of conserving energy. Some of them were questionable things." Ultra Magnus can think only of the tiny soldiers he'd dragged into a war they didn't ask to join. "I lost my second-in-command," he adds almost too casually. "Fortress Maximus renounced the whole business and vanished. No-one suggested ending the war before we all died of deprivation, but…." He shrugs slightly. "The planet itself took care of that for us. The Great Shutdown deactivated everyone on Cybertron, Autobot and Decepticon. We were one… in sleep, at least."
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Post by Mirage on Aug 28, 2009 23:01:43 GMT -5
Mirage hugs one knee up to his chest. Things get bad enough that the planet itself fights back, stops them where they won't stop themselves. And where was he? Off with Optimus Prime doing who knows what. Does the war change him so drastically that he doesn't care about his home, or has he become so much the soldier that he follows without complaint?
Both outcomes frighten him.
"Why take me? Surely there were better mechs he could have drafted for such a quest," he asks, mostly to himself.
After a moment he looks back up at Magnus, "How long did Cybertron take to heal?"
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Aug 29, 2009 1:56:08 GMT -5
"I wasn't privy to Prime's reasoning for the crew he took," Magnus answers Mirage, voice tangled up with aimless hurt. "Or his reasoning for those he left behind. But you were – will be – an able scout by that point and it was a mission of exploration." He leaves it at that with the slightest of shrugs. "As for how long it lasted, I'm… not entirely certain," he continues, frowning. "We didn't all reactivate at the same time. A few dozen vorns, I think, give or take a handful." Magnus sighs and force of will is the only thing keeping him standing rigid as once again, shame and regret begin to weigh on him. "We woke to peace, Mirage. The situation was uncomfortable at first… especially with Shockwave heading the reforms. Once the Autobot Council was instated, things smoothed out. It wasn't exactly as it was before the war, but it was the closest we'd had in so long."
Briefly, Ultra Magnus drifts in the memories. The elation of no longer having to command, the freedom that came with following again, the relief that had blinded him to what was going on. He can't determine if that was any worse than hunting resistance members as far as his betrayals went; he knows his priorities become blurred where Optimus is concerned even as he hates that in himself.
He shakes himself out of it, bowing his head and saying, "And it was all a lie. Shockwave turned on me when I wouldn't agree to deactivate the Autobots I'd arrested on Earth," he mutters. After a moment, he turns only his head to look at Mirage, still scowling. "He was planning something… I didn't know what. I still don't know. I was going to stop him – help Prime stop him – but I found myself on that planet instead."
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Post by Mirage on Aug 30, 2009 20:39:27 GMT -5
Mirage doesn't say anything for several moments after Ultra Magnus stops speaking. It is a lot to process, and then there is the fact that it is a much abbreviated account to consider.
Still...
"Peace would have been a very alluring thing to most anyone, after such a long time of fighting," he says, tone neutral, "You should not beat yourself up over having felt wanted such, Magnus." For it is obvious that the soldier both wanted it and now hates himself for that fact. Of course, Mirage has the interrogation to go on for that conclusion, as well.
"Now, if I went along with Prime when he left, then was I perhaps one of those you returned to Cybertron, or had I met some nebulous other fate?"
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 6, 2009 13:48:45 GMT -5
Everything Magnus has been led to understand from the return trip to Cybertron onward brings him to the conclusion that believing in the peace they had was a mistake, one on par with his efforts to create a truce before Megatron's return. He was a fool to let himself be that optimistic.
"I arrested you along with the others," is what Magnus says, leaving Mirage's efforts at reassurance unacknowledged. And perhaps he's lashing out when he adds, "You were the one who led me to them once I explained why I was there."
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Post by Mirage on Sept 6, 2009 16:57:11 GMT -5
Mirage had been examining his fingertips in an attempt to not focus on Ultra Magnus's discomfort. That last little bombshell, however, causes him to bring his head up sharply.
"I think I require some elaboration upon that point, Ultra Magnus," Mirage says, voice cold.
He isn't a traitor. He doesn't betray a cause or friend once his loyalty is given. He is known as an honorable mech, and would never relinquish his tight hold upon such a title.
Would he?
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 8, 2009 13:18:15 GMT -5
Unfortunately for Mirage, all Ultra Magnus can offer him is a shrug and very little clarification.
"I can't speak to your motives," he says very flatly. "I encountered you not long after my team landed on Earth. I explained to you what was going on – there was some confusion… understandable, I suppose – but you seemed willing to give peace a chance, as it were. You wanted to go home. You wanted them all to have a chance to go home." Something for which Magnus, at least, can't fault Mirage.
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Post by Mirage on Sept 8, 2009 14:23:48 GMT -5
Home. The lure of home is strong even now, and Mirage can't deny that. What would it have been like after so many vorns? Strong enough to make him compromise his ideals, to give into his selfishness in such a way? Would it truly have been a betrayal, even? Ultra Magnus was one of their own, the Prime's own kin...but...Shockwave....
Mirage shakes his head violently, a physical attempt to shake off his sudden fear. Fear of what this war will do to him, in time.
"This picture you paint of me is quite unflattering, Ultra Magnus."
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 8, 2009 17:39:07 GMT -5
"I'm not here to flatter you, Mirage," answers Ultra Magnus with a low snort and a very unimpressed look. "You wanted me to tell you what happens between your time and mine. I've told you." He frowns in disapproval and pivots on one heel, turning so that he fully faces Mirage again, tall and square, staring down at the spy. "Of everything that we've gone through, that's what incenses you most?"
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Post by Mirage on Sept 8, 2009 18:02:46 GMT -5
Mirage meets that hard stare with one of his own, looking in this moment every bit the arrogant aristocrat that he is. Ultra Magnus can loom above Mirage all that he wishes, but Mirage will never allow himself to be looked down upon. They may be forced equals by war, but the day when a common soldier's disdain can cause Mirage to back down has yet to come.
"Oh, spare me you righteous indignation, Magnus," Mirage says evenly, "What did you expect from me? That I might be trembling in fear of what is to come, or expressing vehement anger over your tale of future past? It is as far removed from me in reality as you are in time."
"I was curious, yes, because the only thing of more import to me than myself is our world, and I wished to hear of how it fares. For that information I thank you, for regardless of the means, to know that Cybertron manages to recover from the atrocities both sides visit upon it is some small comfort in our current situation."
He flicks an imaginary spot of dirt off his forearm, "And you, Ultra Magnus, are only angry at me because I will not condemn you for what part you played in that recovery."
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 10, 2009 11:39:14 GMT -5
It isn't that Ultra Magnus is angry at the lack of condemnation. Baffled, perhaps, but he also hasn't included many details of his part in things. No, it's that flippant disregard for everyone else which stirs his ire. In part because it resonates a little too strongly with the way Magnus eventually chose Cybertron over his fellow Autobots, something he may never fully forgive and certainly won't let himself forget, and in part because by his very nature, he still believes others go before him.
Magnus is so angered by Mirage, in fact, that he takes the gap between them in two stiff-legged strides and backhands the spy. Not with enough power to do real damage, but hard enough that Mirage should realise what a misstep he made even with his head jammed that far up his exhaust manifold.
"Yes," he snaps, "Cybertron has suffered and I can't just dismiss that. But I also can't dismiss what those of us who were there went through, either. What the soldiers who were left behind suffered. Because they matter first and if I'd remembered that, perhaps things would have gone differently." His optics narrow and his voice lowers. "And maybe that conceit of yours had something to do with your surrender," he adds coldly. One traitor castigating another; what a pair they make. "So long as it got you back to Cybertron, damn the consequences for the rest of them."
OOC: Smacking with permission.
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Post by Mirage on Sept 10, 2009 23:03:28 GMT -5
Mirage did not brace himself for the blow he could see coming even without Oracle's ability, but instead moved with it, twisting and rolling sideways off the bench. The spy ends up on left knee behind the bench, right leg extended to one side, fingertips of one hand just resting on the edge of the bench.
His other hand comes up to gently examine his face. The blow still connected, of course, and in Mirage knows the other Autbots pulled it by the fact that his handsome face is not smashed in. Still, the blow stung, and there are small dents in Mirage's face from the blow.
His glare is as cold as Magnus's voice as Mirage tilts his head to look up at the former Wrecker. "Such a lovely way you have of dealing with those whose opinions differ from your own. I suppose we have your companions of recent past to thank for schooling you in such behavior."
"I'd watch casting those stones around so blithely, Magnus. Glass walls break rather easily."
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 15, 2009 21:00:16 GMT -5
Ultra Magnus has little use for Mirage's idiomatic jab and if he didn't already regret the loss of control that had him slapping the spy, he'd probably hoist Mirage off the deck with one hand just to hit him again with the other. But he shouldn't be responding with this much anger; it's disturbing to him now, how quickly the rage came and how undeserved was his response to Mirage's needling. He stands back, fists tightly clenched at his sides, and glowers. When he finally speaks, his voice is tight and words clipped, as if spoken through gritted teeth.
"When the time comes, Mirage, and you can shrug off your responsibility for turning in yourself and the others by setting the blame for convincing you to lay down arms on my shoulders, then – and only then – do you have the luxury of accusing me like that. I'm paying for my sins. And not from my family's coffers." Magnus takes a full stride backwards and pivots sharply away from the spy. "If you want any more information," he says, "you can read my public report after it's completed. Good day." He doesn't wait for Mirage to answer either way or to take his leave before returning to his practise. The forms are slower now than they were when Mirage arrived, but Magnus's movements are also sloppier and more forceful with anger muddling his focus. If Mirage says anything, it will go unheard.
OOC: Wrap-up/fade out?
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Post by Mirage on Sept 15, 2009 22:04:37 GMT -5
Mirage does not move, not for long moments. Not until he's sure Ultra Magnus's attention has left him. That anger was unexpected, sudden, and the spy does not wish to draw more of it. He can not hold his own against such an opponent.
This did not go well, but it could have gone worse.
Mirage leaves without comment, but he does give Ultra Magnus a long and considering look before ducking out the door.
And that's a wrap
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