|
Post by Spinister on Sept 4, 2007 16:28:41 GMT -5
Spinister listens intently as Thundecracker, Dead End, and Jetstorm answer and marks down some notes. He used the smallest sample vial that he has for Jetstorm. Spinister notes, "The inhabitations here may have smaller containers. It looks like one may be required."
He looks dubious over the idea of a techno-organic Cybertron. He isn't actively opposed to the idea of organics, but making Cybertron techno-organic strikes him as something that would just make the place harder to upkeep and tastier to Unicron.
Spinister raises a finger and says, "Dead End, could you be so good as to describe the Autobots that you engaged in the battle at the power planet in terms of looks and abilities? Also, do you have any pictures or descriptions of this 'Treaddraft' person?"
Spinister is no artist, but he readies himself to make a few sketches with the stylus.
|
|
Thundercracker
Minor
Accomodatus the Obliging, Costumer Extraordinaire
Maybe they should just move my berth to repair bay and have done with it...
Posts: 259
|
Post by Thundercracker on Sept 4, 2007 16:59:03 GMT -5
If Transformers had the ability to roll their optics in the same manner as humans rolled their eyes, Thundercracker would have done so at Dead End's mention of storytime. Well, at least ONE thing hadn't changed about the Stunticon -- namely, that none of his stories could exactly be called the "happily ever after" type.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge of relief that being transported to this alternate reality would mean he would most likely avoid the disastrous raid on Autobot City. He also had to wonder just how he -- or rather, his alternate self had died, or whether he or any of his injured compatriots had truly been completely dead before being jettisoned to save fuel. It wasn't as if Starscream considered him a close friend, or vice versa. Then again, Starscream probably would have jettisoned his own creator if it would have saved his own neck...
Not that he was going to say any of this out loud, oh no. He might not be genius material, but he had the wits to know when to keep his vocalizer off. "So I can only assume Starscream declared himself leader? I can't imagine Shockwave being too happy. But that doesn't explain where this Galvatron character comes in."
He tilts his head curiously in Jetstorm's direction. The Vehicon is admittedly a strange creature, but he does seem to have a sense of humor -- something to keep morale up on this dead world. A little like Skywarp in that respect. "So your reality has a Megatron, but no Prime?"
|
|
Dead End
Major
Yes, we're all doomed. I already knew that.
Posts: 797
|
Post by Dead End on Sept 4, 2007 22:31:47 GMT -5
Dead End turns his head with exaggerated slowness to look at Spinister for a long moment. The pink helicopter is trying to change the subject! After asking for some of this information in the first place. Who did he think he was, Wildrider?
"I'll get to that," Dead End says, then turns back to Thundercracker.
"Of course Starscream declared himself leader, and he appeared to have the support of Astrotrain and Blitzwing, so there wasn't much argument--at least, not by the time he landed on Cybertron. He promptly decided to have a coronation ceremony for himself, too." Dead End sighs.
"What none of us knew at the time was that Unicron had stalked the shuttle home. Unicron was--is--a gigantic living machine planet that eats other planets. It also transforms, so it could also be the largest Transformer in existance. It... salvaged some of the jettisoned Decepticons, and re-made and re-programmed them to suit itself. One of those was Megatron--he became Galvatron, and apparently did not follow the program Unicron intended."
"A purple spacefighter crashed Starscream's coronation ceremony, and out of it leaped Galvatron--the spacefighter transformed into his lieutenant, Cyclonus. Starscream seemed to recognize that Galvatron was Megatron, but that's about as far as he got. Galvatron transformed into a sort of fusion cannon artillery piece and literally incinerated Starscream. Nothing was left but a pile of ash and a shattered crown." Dead End's voice is rich and dark as he remembers those terrifying moments.
"I think it was Rumble who asked the stranger's name, then we all hailed Galvatron as our new leader. Galvatron lead us to attack the Autobots. Things were rather chaotic after that--Unicron ate both moons and attacked the planet. Shockwave sent all the Seekers and spacefighters and other fliers up to defend our world against the Great Devourer. A few survived. Shockwave did not. He was under Unicron's first strike on Cybertron."
"Somehow, the Autobot Hot Rod got turned into Rodimus Prime, the new Autobot leader, defeated Galvatron, and destroyed Unicron. Those of us who survived managed to make it to a burnt-out world called Charr. Without leadership, without hope, without energy, we mostly starved for a year." Dead End takes a long sip of his energon. "Astrotrain went on scavenging runs and brought back what he could, but there was never enough. We grew steadily weaker, and it was a bad time to be weak and without friends. Not everyone survived Charr."
"Cyclonus and Scourge turned up about a year later, and convinced us we needed a leader, and to give him the last of our energon so he had enough fuel to go in search of Galvatron. He did, and while he was gone, the Quintessons showed up, and tried to buy themselves Decepticon mercenaries with energon. But that, is another long story."
"Now, Spinister, as to your question: Treaddraft was unknown to Starfighter, who has a very good record of my reality, and such of your reality that is analogous. He did not appear to be one of Wreckage's type, either. Possibly he came from Demolishor's reality, or yours. He was an unaesthetic lavender shade, without distinguishing marks, and no obvious alternate mode parts. Very curious mouth structure, too--I've never seen one like it. Almost like that in a standard Seeker face, except for the bars linking upper and lower lips on each side, like he was constrained from opening his mouth too much. Very odd."
"As for the Autobots: Swerve, the red and white one, was unknown to me, but I can tell you that he's a racer, he's easily angered, and he likes to get physical, as well as using his lasers. His alt mode is a wheeled vehicle, but not of the Earth culture I'm familiar with. He's also tough enough to survive being dropped in a pit and getting buried under a pile of rock. There was an orange Autobot with what looked like a construction vehicle alt mode--I saw a shovel, which he was using to carry a wounded teammate in before I shot him. "
"I came across Wreckage fighting Kup, who is a very tough, very experienced, very dangerous Autobot. Gray green, transforms into a small utility vehicle--what they call a "pickup truck" on Earth. Don't go one on one with him unless you are comparable to Megatron--he's that strong... as I believe Wreckage found out to his disadvantage."
"I sighted two fliers--one was the Aerialbot Slingshot, the other unknown to me, but flying with Slingshot. The unknown rather resembled a small gray Skyfire. Slingshot is a hot-head like Swerve, and he really hates Stunticons. He also has a rather nasty rifle in robot mode--don't get hit with it."
"Long Haul appears to have a Cybertronian version of his usual alt mode, and insists that he never was a Decepticon. He claims not remember Megatron, or helping build me. He was carrying wounded in his bed which I didn't get a clear look at, but I did see Perceptor with them. And, of course, you saw Omega Supreme."
|
|
Jetstorm (BM)
Minor
Producer, Director, Actor, Writer, but not prop boy, Jetstorm, soon to be winner of some award.
Posts: 355
|
Post by Jetstorm (BM) on Sept 4, 2007 23:21:26 GMT -5
Jetstorm’s attention span lasted all of two seconds into Dead End’s story as the started, and the Vehicon General was soon flitting around the area, staring at everything possible, poking, bothering, and generally being a nuisance. Glared at the group, narrowing his optics for a moment before crossing his arms.
“BORING. If I wanted a history lesson I’d download it. Y’all boring,” Jetstorm said as he snubbed the group, sticking his chin high in the air and half snorting, or at least making a sound that was more of a ‘hmph’ than anything else. “I’m gonna go...” he started to say before he fell half silent, drawing out the word go until he could think of something else to say. Which ended up being, “Goooo... Somewhere else!” He dramatically pointed to the left and then grinned. Or smiled with his eyes.
“Exit Actor Jetstorm STAGE LEFT!” With a dramatic flourish and a bow, he suddenly blasted all his engines to the right, propelling him to the obvious left and up into the skies, where he transformed into his tiny, speedy Cybertroninan mini-jet form and went for a nice fly. After all, what were the skies for anyway?
OOC: Time for this flyboy to get some action!
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Sept 5, 2007 18:36:18 GMT -5
Spinister isn't trying to change the subject per se. He just has a lot of questions that he's trying to get in edgewise, and Dead End is rambling. He offers as a token, "Very interesting. None of the events that you just described ring a bell at all. Despite sharing a number of people - your Starscream seems quite similar to mine, if a bit more stable - the origins and histories of our people are entirely different. Our universes seem not so parallel as they might look."
He pauses dead cold at Dead End's description of Treaddraft's mouth. No, it couldn't be... but it costs nothing to investigate. Spinister pulls up a picture of Emirate Xaaron from his files, blows it up to full screen size on the datapad, holds it out in front of him, and asks, "Like this but lavender?" There is a hard, cold glint to Spinister's optics and an almost anticipatory tilt to his blades.
At the mention of Skyfire, Spinister shakes his head and says, "No idea who Skyfire is. To me, the little grey one looked like Jetfire, a new Autobot built on Earth. Was meant to be a Decepticon, but the humans stole his body from us and gave him life. A waste of a body. Wreckage said that one was Skyblast, a sky-painter."
He makes a note to himself to ask Needlenose what sky-painting is. Spinister watches Jetstorm depart and once again shakes his head. One may imagine him to be tsking, but he makes not a sound. Jetstorm's small size could make him an effective infiltrator. However, he does not appear to possess the patience or capacity for quiet required. He could still serve as a high speed courier, however, Spinister supposes, and there were Autobots small enough that engaging them might not be suicide for the Vehicon.
|
|
Thundercracker
Minor
Accomodatus the Obliging, Costumer Extraordinaire
Maybe they should just move my berth to repair bay and have done with it...
Posts: 259
|
Post by Thundercracker on Sept 5, 2007 21:46:46 GMT -5
Thundercracker is silent a long while after Dead End completes his story. His first thought is Slag, is he doing this on purpose to depress me? But no, gloomy and pessimistic as Dead End might be, even he wouldn't make up such a tale.
How far the Decepticon Empire rose... and how far it fell, he thinks gravely. If I could get back... get back and warn Megatron somehow... perhaps our reality can be spared this horror...
He nods respectfully at Dead End, acknowledging what he has gone through without outright trying to comfort him. "Forewarned is forearmed. When we find our way back to our realities..." He won't let himself think <i>if,</i> it would be counterproductive. "...perhaps we can prevent such a thing from happening in anyone else's timeline."
He looks back and forth between Spinister and Dead End. "Is there anything else I should know? Or anything you need me to tell you? If not, I suppose I need to report for duty."
|
|
Dead End
Major
Yes, we're all doomed. I already knew that.
Posts: 797
|
Post by Dead End on Sept 5, 2007 22:27:53 GMT -5
"What a peculiar little jet!" Dead End watches Jetstorm depart, then turns to consider Spinister. "Our Starscream is more stable than your Starscream? Oh dear."
He looks at the picture of Emirate Xaaron. "Indeed so. Here, before I forget again--radar images of all the mechs I was in contact with. Prepare to receive upload."
If Spinister accepts the transmission, he'll receive short-range, short-wavelength high-resolution radar images of the various mechs Dead End has fought lately--including the giant mining worm in the swamp, and the highway patrol tank. No colors of course, and some configurations reflect oddly, so the radar images aren't exactly a 3D image... but they are recognizable reference pictures for anyone that uses radar.
"Any further questions, Spinister? I ought to show Thundercracker to Hook and Starscream. Last I left Hook, he was waiting at his sand drawing for Starscream to show up."
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Sept 6, 2007 12:06:49 GMT -5
Spinister considers Thundercracker's questions. He deems, "Dismissed, for now. I'll want you in some combat training sessions later. That goes for everyone. You are proven warriors or specialists in your fields, but this is a new setting with new people. A specialist may be called upon to tote a gun, and warriors will have to fight outside of their comfort zones."
Spinister shrugs at Dead End's 'oh dear'. Thus far, Starscream hasn't devoured any libraries and killed all of them. Spinister counts that as good. He accepts the transmission and runs it through multiple levels of security checks before opening it to review the images. Spinister dreams in infrared. He can deal with radar images. At Dead End's confirmation that Treaddraft looks like a lavender Emirate Xaaron, Spinister explains coolly, "This is Emirate Xaaron. Given the choice between killing Emirate Xaaron and Optimus Prime, I would kill Emirate Xaaron every time. He is the beating fuel pump of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron. Without him, the resistance would crumble and splinter into bickering factions unable to cooperate. If you ever see this 'Treaddraft' again, shoot to disable. I want to talk to him."
That said, Spinister agrees, "Starscream's there now. Take Thundecracker."
He's going to see about rigging some mines out of the explosives here and then putting a proper lock on the place.
|
|
Thundercracker
Minor
Accomodatus the Obliging, Costumer Extraordinaire
Maybe they should just move my berth to repair bay and have done with it...
Posts: 259
|
Post by Thundercracker on Sept 6, 2007 22:51:03 GMT -5
Thundercracker sighs a little in relief, glad to be through with questions for now. "Lead the way, Dead End." He prefers that, for now, the Stunticon take charge. Being a follower makes it easier to not question your loyalties...
OOC: Following Dead End to the Base Design thread...
|
|
Dead End
Major
Yes, we're all doomed. I already knew that.
Posts: 797
|
Post by Dead End on Sept 6, 2007 23:19:36 GMT -5
"Well, he wasn't on our Cybertron. Optimus Prime was the live core of the Autobots, and Ultra Magnus and Elita One led most of the fight on Cybertron itself," Dead End points out. "Rodimus Prime came after Optimus Prime, but it was not a resistance he led--it was a victorious army."
Dead End considers Rodimus Prime the more dangerous of the two Primes. Optimus Prime fought a losing battle to hang on; Rodimus Prime fought to win.
Dead End wanders off toward the sandbox with the partial cube, looking for Hook and Starscream. Hopefully, Thundercracker follows.
And Dead End exits thataway towards Hook's Base Design plans
|
|
|
Post by Spinister on Sept 7, 2007 9:29:22 GMT -5
So Dead End and Thundercracker really didn’t have an Emirate Xaaron. It’s all Spinister can do to keep from groaning. These Decepticons will underestimate the Autobot who thinks like a Decepticon, Spinister can see it coming now, and they will suffer for it. Ultra Magnus? He answered to Emirate Xaaron. Elita 1? Never heard of him. Rodimus Prime? That strange future Prime? He was clever enough, from the reports, but never has an Autobot civilian done so much with so little. Rodimus Prime didn’t have to make do with 100 men in the Underground, and he didn’t have to draw support together to grow those 100 into an army that would have wrested control of Cybertron from the Decepticons if not for the valiant actions of Straxus.
Emirate Xaaron is a legend, and in most of the Decepticon legends, he is a demon, too. Did he not rise from the Underground, lacking any transformation?
Spinister doesn’t put much stock in Primus, but he makes a prayer now, brief but sincere, that Treaddraft really is just a Decepticon civilian with a truly unfortunate resemblance.
Putting his worries out of his mind for now, he withdraws his demolitionist kit and calls up his old notes on explosives from his datapad. Spinister is careful, slow, and methodical as he works, and he frequently consults his datapad to check that he’s doing it right. Demolition work is not his forte, but Spinister dabbles in a little bit of everything as a special operations agent. Once he’s satisfied with his makeshift mines, he moves to construct and install a lock.
OOC: And blah blah, Spinister does boring work.
|
|