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Post by Sentinel Prime on Nov 29, 2009 21:40:37 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime opens his big yap to explain all about how Megatron is a horrid person who eats protoforms, when Firebolt... drops a bomb.
His fingers twitch, one optic widens while the other narrows, and steam rises from his head, as if Sentinel Prime is about to have an apoplectic fit.
Wait, slow down a minute here. No, he was not duly informed about Jetfire here, and you know what, sweetcheeks? Sentinel Prime went through the interview with Kup, and Kup sure as shooting didn't see fit to tell Sentinel Prime then.
He stands stunned, and then, his fuel pump hardens, and there is a dangerous, deranged glint in his optics.
Firebolt has just done a fabulous job of making herself look like an insubordinate, filthy-mouthed twit. Sentinel Prime can use that. He opens his radio to make a call.
When he's done, he shakes his head sadly and simply remarks, "Kids these days, eh? The sergeants wouldn'ta stood for it, in my day. But yeah. Megatron's the top dog of the Decepticons, Nasty piece of work. At least, he is back home."
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Post by Kup on Nov 30, 2009 9:17:34 GMT -5
The Event Horizon is a very large ship, and as is fairly typical for large Autobot vessels, there's plenty of room to roll when one doesn't want to walk.
Right now a battered green-gray truck-thing is rolling towards the group at a respectable rate. Not the full-out truck equivilent of a run, but on the hurried side, even so.
As the group comes in view, Kup transforms and more stalks the remaining distance than walks. Now, those who know him might well be aware that his mood has generally been fouler than usual since the arrival of the dead version of him. On the other hand, there may well not be anyone here who knows him quite that well.
Either way, his current mood is none-too-pleased, either.
"Jetfire!" he roars angrily. "Of all the part-droppin', diode-blowin', memory-whiped dimwittery! I thought you were told to get rid of that grill-crackin' target! We gonna have to go through this nonesense every single time a new guy arrives, or are you gonna report to medical, Skyblast, wherever soon as you leave here and get that damn symbol wiped off your aft?"
OOC: I'm posting in here, but I think Ramulus is up?
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Post by Ramulus on Nov 30, 2009 13:54:15 GMT -5
Ramulus goes O.O on Firebolt’s outburst, dead silent for a while. One can almost hear cricket sounds. It’s why he’s a few posts behind!
He eventually snorts in disgust, listening to the Autobots talk about one mech he knows (and, matrix knows, hates most save but one other!), when he hears the sound of an engine approaching quickly. 'Uh-oh, KUP!' Ramulus clutches the amethyst bed closer to him and backs up against the wall, glaring defensively, all hairs bristled. He knows he’s done nothing wrong to warrant any flak, but the old mech’s been non enjoyable for days on end. He knows that much well before the Autobot begins chewing on Jetfire proverbial ass. “Room” He mumbles, trying to stealth out.
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Post by Jasper Stoneham on Nov 30, 2009 20:22:45 GMT -5
Jetfire has seen a lot of things in his days. Stars implode, planets born, others die, comets dance... It takes quite a lot to actually surprise him after all this time.
Firebolt certainly succeeds, though.
Her outburst stuns him silent, and his jaw hangs open as he stares off after her with wide optics, wondering just what in the slag happened. He barely has the presence of mind to mumble a distracted answer to Sentinel, still staring off down the corridor that Firebolt had sped away down.
"Megatron, eh? S'the Fallen where I'm from..."
And the weirdness seems to be on a roll, as Kup now motors up and lays into him; Jetfire rears back as if he'd just been smacked in the optic with something unpleasant. Shock and surprise melt away quickly, though, as his features pinch into a tight scowl and he stoops forward again to poke a finger at Kup's chest.
"Now just one bloody minute!" he bellows. "I'm scheduled to get my checks and repairs in just a short while, and I was bloody well going to have it done then! Not my fault everyone's so bloody jumpy around here! BOLLOCKS!"
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Nov 30, 2009 23:42:55 GMT -5
Now it's Kup's turn to receive puzzled looks from Skyfire, though this puzzled look is more of a 'what the slag?'. Ice-blue optics narrow slightly.
"Kup, Jetfire was on his way to Medbay for his checkups, and I already recommended he get his badge re-cut while he was there," Skyfire says, his tone cool and clipped. "No need for shouting."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Dec 1, 2009 13:46:15 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime takes a few steps back as Kup arrives. It would appear that when a can of whoopass is opened, you cannot just easily put it back in the can. Sentinel Prime has summoned something beyond his control, and all he can do now is play damage control.
He has the look of a man who tried to raid the cookie jar and instead found it to be full of Molotov cocktails.
Covering, Sentinel Prime says pleasantly to Ramulus, "Good cycle, Ramulus," as Ramulus sneaks away. See? Totally not afraid of Ramulus! Ask him again tomorrow, when he's had time to recover, and maybe, but he's too dazed right now for fear.
His head tilts to one side as Jetfire's first reaction to a ranking officer is to whine and protest, as if the officer has done something wrong by calling Jetfire on his error. He notes that Skyfire's reaction is also to whine at Kup for trying to maintain order.
Sentinel Prime's fuel tank curdles like cement. This place is screwy! Everyone is insubordinate!
He salutes Kup, much as it galls him inside, standing at attention, and he greets Kup formally, "Sir."
See, folks? This is how officers should be treated!
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Post by Kup on Dec 1, 2009 15:03:54 GMT -5
Kup doesn't even notice Ramulus's departure. He's too distracted by other events.
(Ramulus may be glad of this.)
Simularly, Sentinel Prime's salute goes unnoticed. It's not a snubbing - Kup just has other things on his mind just now.
Kup's fire-bright fury turns suddenly to a much more glacial anger, but one no less intense, as Jetfire prods him in the chest. Despite such proding, however, he does not budge back an inch - it's akin to trying to poke a wall. Once both Jetfire and Skyfire have attempt their dressing down, he's silent for a fraction of a moment and then says quietly, voice rough and hard and steel-lined, "You people done for the moment?"
Then, without even giving them a chance to answer, he yells, "Good!" If Jetfire's finger is still poked towards him, he pulls his right arm up and twists it around, swinging it out in the process, intending to knock Jetfire's arm away with considerable power while forcing Jetfire back and away, should he be standing too close.
"Not that someone who'd slept their way through the war would get this," he yells, now jabbing his finger back towards Jetfire - he couldn't possibly be including anyone else in that statement, could he? Skyfire, after all, was pulled pre-Sleep - "but people are 'jumpy' because some of us have spent a few million years associatin' that pointed angry-face decoration of yers with immenent attack! On top of that, we're all here inna situation where new people arrive without warnin', and there ain't no guarentee whose side they're gonna be on, and yeah! It leads to a lotta jumpiness! You're lucky you ain't been the subject of a friendly-fire incident as it is, and if you had been, y'know who would have had've clean up the mess? Among other folks, me! So yeah, your damn aft-tattoo is my problem!"
"And I'm shoutin'," Kup now turns towards Skyfire, though this time the dreaded finger is not deployed, "'cos talkin' didn't do the job! It's well and good that he's gettin' it taken care of later, but it shoulda been taken care of already!"
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Post by Jasper Stoneham on Dec 2, 2009 22:28:37 GMT -5
ooc: assuming Ramulus is out of thread, since he was trying to stealth out.
Jetfire's hand is batted wide, throwing off his balance, balance which is further skewed when Kup advances, trying to push him back. He goes back, all right. Back onto his aft with a rattling crash as he overcompensates and tips aft over teakettle with a startled shout.
He isn't so rattled, though, that he misses everything Kup has said... errr, rather, shouted.
"Slept?" he bellows again, stung hard. Jetfire will be the first one to agree that he is a traitor. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, he remembers when Decepticons were Cybertron's warriors, her guards and defenders. He still remembers a time when they were honorable. Not that the memories can't be simply... rosy embelishments upon reality, but they are real to him and to the way he had always led his life.
He remembers how, over the years, the centuries, the aeons, how that honor was slowly corrupted by the hunger for power and conquest. How he would return from one Seeker mission after another to see how his fellow Decepticons had slid that much further along the path into... into what they are today, until, finally...
Finally outright war had erupted between the two factions.
Yes, he is a traitor. He is a traitor to a name, but not to the Primes he'd pledged himself to so very, very long ago. He'd held true to his own ideals, to his own honor, and had left behind the faction he had been constructed for. And he'd concentrated on his mission, a mission whch had taken on a whole new meaning, a whole new urgency with his decision to turn his back on the Decepticons and the Fallen and the Fallen's goals.
A mission which he'd continued performing for as long as he had the strength and freedom to, only going to sleep when the humans had become too numerous and too curious and too powerful, and he'd started running too low on energy to continue, awakening periodically to seek energy and find a new form to hide in.
He's done his share of fighting over the years, and the sleep... the sleep is recent, and not by his own choice.
Or, at least that is how he truly believes it all to be.
"SLEPT!" he bellows again, red optics flaring with righteous anger as he struggles to shove himself at least up off of his back and into something a shade more dignified. "I fought faithfully for my Primes for longer than most of these little sprats have been sparked! Don't you get snippy with me about sleeping through any bloody slagging WAR, you spavined old wreck!"
Pot? Kettle? Yeah. You have something in common there.
"And I bloody well just bleeding FORGOT!"
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Dec 2, 2009 23:06:19 GMT -5
Skyfire was once an independent command, him and his Seeker-Scout partner (who just happened to be named Starscream and is now a prominent Decepticon but let's not mention that part) exploring distant worlds on their own, without senior officers breathing down his neck. If and when they returned home (space is dangerous), the Exploration Office of the Council of Science got their reports.
Back in those days, there was no war, and Skyfire's mission was peaceful (to a point: space has its own special share of dangers and violence) and civilian. He didn't have "superior officers", he had a project manager who set goals, controlled finances and suggested missions that Skyfire, knowing his and his partner's capabilities, evaluated for feasibility and ultimately chose which ones they could do.
Unfortunately for Sentinel Prime's sense of propriety, not only does Skyfire NOT subordinate himself to superior officers, he's in the habit of choosing which orders to follow, based on reason. He's a scientist, not a military officer. Joining the Autobots hasn't changed that mindset in the least.
He does not salute Kup, nor does Skyfire look even slightly intimidated. However, he does nod in acknowledgment, some of the ice fading from his optics. "You have a good point." You're worried; I understand that now, is the unspoken thought. "How about I escort Jetfire to Medbay now? He's new and even with a map in one hand, this vessel can be a bit confusing."
Skyfire turns to Jetfire and offers him a hand up. "Is that okay with you?" The big white shuttle-former smiles and adds self-deprecatingly, "And with me blocking the view, you're less likely to get shot by accident."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Dec 3, 2009 12:34:37 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime continues to stand at attention, because Kup hasn't released him.
He despairs of these people, he really does. They're a bunch of whiny little primadonnas who need to be forced to run through live exercises without so much as a peashooter until they understand that there is a time and a place for sass and free thought, and that no, it will never be that time and place. Not for their kind.
Granted, he's not impressed by Kup's ability or lack thereof to keep a handle on a situation, either.
Sentinel Prime is a bit chagrined, since Jetfire wasn't even the one he wanted to six. Just caught in the crossfire. It makes things awkward. Note to self: Kup is more like napalm than a precision round, once set off.
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Post by Kup on Dec 3, 2009 13:28:35 GMT -5
Kup actually growls and starts to step forward, fist clenching and hand pulling back automatically. There's a moment of hesitation, however - Kup is not above beating on someone when they're down, but there's something unnerving about the idea of beating the slag out of a fellow Autobot who's not even on his feet. That moment is long enough for Skyfire's words, the olive branch that he offers, to sink in. The hesitation extends a moment longer, and then Kup drops his hand to his side and cycles a deep, cooling breath.
"Get him out of here," Kup says softly to Skyfire, voice still heavy with a now more restrained anger. He starts to turn away, at which point he finally sees Sentinel Prime standing at attention. For a moment, his optics flicker in confusion, and then it registers that this guy's an 'academy officer,' something his own reality hasn't had for quite a while. He touches the right, inside edge of his helm in a lazy 'lifer's salute' and mutters 'at ease,' but Sentinel's arrival reminds him of the other reason he was over here.
Kup glances back towards the *fire's once more and says, "I'll be tracking you guys down later to ask you about the Firebolt business."1 He would try to get more details from Sentinel right now, but it's best to question people seperately about things like this, though he'll certainly take note of anything being blurted out before then.
1 It'll either happen during Pz-Zazz, or the geezer'll will forget about it, depending on folks' preferences.
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Post by Jasper Stoneham on Dec 3, 2009 17:08:40 GMT -5
Jetfire's optics widen, the apertures flaring sharply as he takes in that tightened fist, the way Kup steels himself to strike. It doesn't even occur to him to be surprised or even the least irritated about an Autobot being willing to attack someone who is down. He's got a lot more mass and height than Kup; far as Jetfire is concerned, only an idiot would let the blackbird heave himself back up into a superior position before letting him have it. And he's angry, not as angry and grouchy as Kup, perhaps, but those jabs to his pride have Jetfire spoiling for a fight.
Except that Kup hesitates.
Kup hesitates, and Skyfire interjects into the tense silence, piercing that hazy fog of righteous indignation. Jetfire's grip upon his cane tightens enough that something groans with the strain, and even he isn't certain if it's his hand or the shaft of the cane or what. Just that all that hot anger washes away as suddenly as it had erupted, vanishing like oil from a shattered crankcase. As Kup turns away, Jetfire flops back against the floor with a muffled clang. Life, though lonely, was so much easier when he'd been solo. Old codger's forgotten a lot about basic interaction skills.
"Too old for this crap," he mutters, staring up at the ceiling. Raising his voice, he adds, "Understood."
"...didn' mean to forget. An' I didn' sleep through it. No' all o' it," he says softly. His skills at apologizing, like simple interaction, suck, too.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Dec 3, 2009 22:23:40 GMT -5
Skyfire nods again at Kup. "I'll see to it. I'll give you a call after Jetfire's in Perceptor's capable hands about the other thing--you know my watch schedule, so whenever is convenient for you."
A long glance at Sentinel Prime. "I'm sorry our first meeting was so, ah, chaotic, but perhaps we can talk sometime later."
Looks like Jetfire's going to need two hands now. Skyfire moves in front of Jetfire, braces himself, and reaches two hands down, offering to pull up the fallen elder Seeker. "You know, I think I'm from as far back in time as you and Kup are old, but I skipped all that time when I got pulled here. Does that make me 'old', 'young', or just hopelessly obsolete?"
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Dec 4, 2009 14:17:57 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime switches to an at ease posture that looks anything but at ease. He nods and confirms readily, "Sir," as Kup says he'll track Sentinel Prime down later. Good little boy good little boy good little boy.
"The regret is mine entirely," he says to Skyfire, looking appropriately contrite, but on the next comment, Sentinel Prime's expression tugs into a grimace, and he mutters, "If you have to ask, Skyfire..."
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Post by Kup on Dec 4, 2009 14:42:32 GMT -5
Because everyone (more or less) agreed to being questioned and Jetfire agreed to getting his butt repainted, Kup just mutters, "All right, then,"1 transforms, and rolls out of the thread.
1 Kup's skill at apologizing is arguably worse than Jetfire's.
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