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Post by Mirage on Aug 28, 2007 21:45:02 GMT -5
“Unnhhh. What’s…happening? I remem- NO!”
Mirage surges to his feet, rifle at the ready, as his optics come back on line. It takes a few moments for him to process that he is most definitely not in the place he should be. That place being Iacon right after that new Prime ordered a planetary evac.
Mirage had not taken those orders well at all.
Shaking his head a bit, as if to clear it of unwanted thoughts, he slowly takes in his surroundings. If he was on Cybertron, then this was no placed he’d ever deigned to visit. And he had to be on Cybertron. Didn’t he? But this place seemed so alien….
Just as he’d began a slow examination of the area, he heard someone- Something?- approaching. He flattens himself against one of the walls and activates his electro-disruptor, rendered him essentially invisible. Best to wait and take their measure first. Then he could introduce himself on his terms.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 28, 2007 22:02:11 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron is stuck looking after Tiny, who is still leashed. Long Haul promised that he would watch Tiny, and Holi volunteered to help, but those two have been busy, evidently. Ostensibly, Emirate Xaaron is out on a patrol, and he's been trying to think about the leadership issue.
Abruptly, Tiny strains at the leash. The dragonette looks quite puzzled, and one can almost hear her strain air into her metal nostrils. She brings up a forepaw and bats at her nose, but it does not seems to alleviate her confusion.
Emirate Xaaron pauses and raises a hand to his chin. He looks the way that Tiny is poised, but he sees nothing. It looks like the arrival site in the zoo, but there's no one there. Sighing, Emirate Xaaron tugs on the leash, "Come on, you. There's no one down there now."
Tiny swishes her tail and sniffs down the way again, pulling off in the other direction.
Frowning, Emirate Xaaron throws up his free hand and protests, "It's probably just a bird, you ridiculous reptile!"
Tiny looks perhaps a bit hurt. She doesn't understand the words, but she can understand the tone. She knows that she smells something, but there's nothing to see. It piques her predatory curiosity. Food that cannot be seen is still food?
Emirate Xaaron lets loose a low hiss and notes, mainly to reassure himself, "I am Emirate Xaaron. I am not having an argument with a dragon."
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Post by Mirage on Aug 28, 2007 22:41:59 GMT -5
Things had just gone from the odd, to the strange, to the downright bizarre. By the Source what the frag is that thing? It’s…it’s…ventilating on him! Stop that you…thing! The condensation…you’ll ruin my paint! It couldn’t possibly see him, so why was it all but transforming into a marquee that screams, “Mirage is here” in flashing neon?
And above all, who is the creature’s keeper? He didn’t look similar to any body styles Mirage knew. What’s more, Mirage couldn’t see any brand on the mech. He thought everyone who hadn’t chosen sides had been slagged by the Decepticons. Should he uncloak?
Unfortunately for Mirage, his systems were making that decision for him. He was entirely too close to auto-time out. Time to see if this new comer was friend or foe. He uncloaked, his rifle not quite pointed at the distracted stranger.
“It appears that your…pet has me at a disadvantage.” He stepped casually towards the motley pair, “ I don’t suppose you’d care to share the name of this location? Oh, and how you managed to escape choosing sides? The name’s Mirage, by the way.”
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 29, 2007 10:26:36 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron takes a moment to recognise the machine who has just appeared before him as a pre-Earth Mirage1. He never had much interaction with his own Mirage, so it takes him a while for him to place the face. Mirage's mention of his name certainly helps. Well, this isn't his Mirage, then. His Mirage would remember a Council member, Emirate Xaaron hopes.
Wryly, he glances at Mirage's gun and asks, "Is there a reason you have that out? I do hope that the skybull hasn't returned."
Emirate Xaaron looks back down and Tiny and crouches to skritch her. It seems that he owes her an apology! Then, he straightens and offers his free hand to shake as a gesture of good faith. He introduces, "I am, ah, Emirate Xaaron," and Primus, is he embarrassed. Mirage saw him arguing with the dragon? "Do excuse my lack of a symbol. I am an Autobot. This planet is Gillanan III, and no one has any particular idea why he or she is here. There are people from different timelines and different universes here. There are also Decepticons, so you will likely need that rifle yet. My 'pet', as you put it, is Tiny the mecha-dragon. Her sense of smell is quite good. Out of sight may be out of mind, but it isn't out of scent, I suppose, although she can be fooled at times."
For example, she seems to have decided that Emirate Xaaron is mother and Long Haul is her father. Certainly, they did have mecha-dragon scent on them at the time, but the beast needs to learn how to use her optics to check these facts her nose tells her!
1 It is assumed that War Within designs for characters who never had pre-War designs in other canons look like what those characters would have looked like if they had possessed pre-War design in those canons. This is sort of like how Thundercracker still looks like Thundercracker to Spinister, even if the Marvel comic didn't quite draw Thundercracker the same way as the cartoon.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 29, 2007 13:39:02 GMT -5
Mirage looks askance at Xaaron. Skybull? What is that? Mirage is armed because he’s in unfamiliar territory, most definitely against his will. What bothers him is Xaaron’s apparent lack of concern over the situation he now finds himself in. There aren’t that many Autobots Mirage knows that would take this kindly to someone appearing out of thin air. Especially when that someone has them covered, more or less.
It’s Xaaron’s matter-of–fact demeanor that actually prompts Mirage to lower his weapon to the side. He takes the offered hand cautiously- civility should always be returned in kind- but drops it as soon as the other mech mentions alternate timelines and universes. He could not have just heard Xaaron correctly.
“With all due respect, do you have a virus in your central processor? Just a few minutes ago, I was fighting to stay on Cybertron after being told we were abandoning it,” the growing condescension in his tone was hard to miss, “Now I’m supposed to believe that…something… just picked me out of the time stream and dumped me- and others-here of all places.”
Mirage shakes his head violently. Xaaron’s explanation simply could not be true. “Dropped here with no warning, no explanation, expected to just play out the same ridiculous war we always have. And for what? A home that isn’t, and will never be, home again. It’s ludicrous!”
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 29, 2007 14:23:55 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron sighs. He remembers why he didn't deal with his Mirage much. He always used to let Optimus Prime handle and coddle the fellow. For all that he does not appreciate the condensation in Mirage's tone, perhaps less than Mirage appreciated the rather different condensation from the dragon, Emirate Xaaron does not let it show. He can certainly play to a high society snob. He was only on a ruling Council, after all. They could use a Mirage, especially considering that the Decepticons have their own stealth specialist primed and ready to go.
Emirate Xaaron's expression does not waver but it, in fact, grows perhaps a bit stern. He is unconcerned because, certainly, Mirage could shoot and kill him, and there is very little Emirate Xaaron could do. He tries not worry over things he cannot change. However, if Mirage does anything less than kill him, Emirate Xaaron can call in quite a few reinforcements to his side quite quickly. He lets his extended hand drop to his hip, and he explains, "I assure you that my firewalls are all in working order. Would it perhaps make you feel better if I informed you that not only have I never left Cybertron, aside from ending up here, but at the moment I left Cybertron, I was fighting to ensure it would not be destroyed?"
That's right, Mirage. They all have problems. Join the club.
Emirate Xaaron continues, "The explanation is odd, I grant you, but I can offer no other."
He withdraws a deck of Decepticon-style playing cards and holds them out to Mirage. They are well-used and worn, scratched and dirty in places, and they are emblazoned with the faces of various Autobot leaders. Most may seem unfamiliar to Mirage, but there is an Optimus Prime in there. One of the cards appears to show Emirate Xaaron himself. There is no doubt that the actual cards are real and have been used. Besides, who would go through the trouble of faking such a peculiar object?
Emirate Xaaron, with a stitched-lip smile, notes, "Did such a deck of cards exist where you came from? I rather doubt it. Yet here it is. I honestly have no idea if there even is a Cybertron in this universe because I have been unable to leave this planet. Now, it is not for lack of a space ship. We do possess one. It is not for lack of technical prowess. Do you know Perceptor? If not, know that he is as fine a scientist as you will ever meet. No, I have been unable to leave because while a group of us were trying to investigate a power plant to find some energy, the Decepticons attacked, unprovoked. I do not like war, but when someone is firing at me, I feel well within my rights to fire back, especially if the avenues of polite discourse are futile. You are quite welcome to let the Decepticons shoot you, if you so desire. You can run, hide, and try to scrape together an existence. I am certain that you could manage quite handily. However, if you would like to leave this planet and perhaps even return home, the way will be with us."
Emirate Xaaron looks up, trying to lock his gaze to Mirage's. And if he even thinks about sneaking in once the hard work is complete? Well, Kup is a security director. Surely, he can figure out some way of keeping out the invisible man. If not, Emirate Xaaron will have to trust to Tiny's nose.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 29, 2007 15:38:18 GMT -5
Mirage regrets his outburst almost immediately. Not his opinions, mind you, but the voicing of them. If all this is to be believed, then he’d be better off not angering those already here; especially if they are working on a way to return home. He put away his rifle, fully prepared to apologize to Xaaron (as much as it grated to do so) when something the older mech said caught his attention.
“Destroy Cybertron? What…how? What could possibly…?”
The distress he feels at the thought of such a thing is obvious. His curiosity –and worry- now aroused, he takes the cards from Xaaron, thumbing through them as the other continued. He blinks when he reaches the card bearing Emirate Xaaron’s image. He wasn’t familiar with these cards, but one doesn’t get your face on such an item without being important. It was information worth having- and worth investigating.
“I don’t know a Perceptor, but then I was not often in the company of scientists. Jazz, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Kup, Prowl…they were some of the Autobots I knew. This one,” he holds out the card bearing Optimus Prime’s image, “bears a resemblance to the Prime that was selected after Sentinel Prime was literally torn to pieces by Megatron. The one whose answer to the war was to give up.” He made a sound very like a snort at that, handing the cards back to Emirate Xaaron.
Meeting the smaller mech’s gaze, Mirage continues, in a much more even tone, “By the by, just because I have been previously relegated to the role of a spy, because I do not run about looking for Decepticons to slag, or because I prefer the path of diplomacy does not mean that I am a coward. Whatever Mirage you may or may not have known, I do not ‘run and hide’ when I am needed.”
“I would prefer at this time to see more of this place, if you are agreeable. I assume that there are others I should meet?”
Run and hide? What honor was there to be had in that? If there really were alternate version of him running around somewhere, what could they have been like to provoke such a thought?
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 29, 2007 16:54:19 GMT -5
As far as reactions go, Emirate Xaaron can deal with anger. He was expecting it, but then, Mirage did insult him and question his sanity. Emirate Xaaron notes calmly, "There are several things that can destroy Cybertron, not least of all its own planetary jets. However, I was dealing with the dark god of chaos, Unicron, at the time. He wanted to eat Cybertron."
He shrugs. Such is the price his people paid for being the children of a god, the price of carrying their Father's burden of fighting Unicron. Emirate Xaaron cannot say that he shoulders it gladly, but it is something that must be done, so do it he shall. Now, he just needs to get back home in time to make a difference.
At Mirage's mention of a Sentinel Prime, Emirate Xaaron visibly perks. He remembers Sentinel Prime! He does not remember Sentinel Prime being torn apart by Megatron. He certainly does not remember someone who resembles an Optimus Prime giving up on the war. A dark scowl crosses Emirate Xaaron's face, and he grumbles, "That sounds more like Tomaandi and Traachon than the Optimus Prime I knew. Then again, Megatron didn't tear apart my Sentinel Prime. Sentinel Prime passed away on his deathbed, peacefully. However, given that your history doesn't have me in it," the very Ace of Spades, if the Decepticon card game translated that way, "I knew that it couldn't be mine."
He reaches out a hand to take back his cards and ponders, "We do have a Jazz and a Bumblebee. I somehow doubt that they are yours, but then again, they may be. We also have a Kup, but he may be older than you remember. What was the last timestamp you had, Mirage? There are indeed others that you ought to meet. I can take you to Kup, but he may be busy. Otherwise, I can show you to Omega Supreme. Usually, at least someone is inside him." He pauses. "Omega Supreme is a sapient, transforming defense base and interstellar rocket. It is unwise to anger him. For example, if you know a Long Haul, you may know him as a Decepticon. The Long Haul here is not a Decepticon, and Omega Supreme is protective of him."
Emirate Xaaron starts to walk toward Omega Supreme, who honestly can be sighted from here, if one knows what an Autobot defense base looks like, then, he pauses and adds, "I did not call you a coward, Mirage. I merely wished to list your options. I do quite understand the value of subtlety, guile, and a well-placed word."
He's Emirate Xaaron, people.
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Screwdriver
Rookie
The Lady Protector, Her Splendid Primacy, Grand Duchess Screwdriver. The Devout Silencer of Common Sense and Logic
"And *I'll* live happily ever after..."
Posts: 225
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Post by Screwdriver on Aug 29, 2007 17:25:46 GMT -5
From time to time since their return to the city and the zoo, the Autobots who were outside would have occasionally heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance. Sometimes they would have even caught glimpses of it. And sometimes, even more rarely, Screwdriver would have made a brief appearance, perhaps gabbled out a bit of fairy tale, and wandered off again.
She's been a busy little tinkerer, forced to set up shop on her own! She's been doing rather well for herself, however, Junkions being the expert scavengers that they are. She has even found a small garage somewhere to use as a workshop.
Of course, any Autobot with a soft spot for the local non-sapient life forms would probably be quite disturbed were they to actually enter this workshop.
It's a good thing her paint job is rather close in color to dried blood to begin with.
She can not be seen just now. No, but she can be heard, the oversized motorcycle noise off in the distance.
It's getting louder.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 29, 2007 18:47:06 GMT -5
Eat Cybertron? Mirage can’t keep the incredulous look off his face at that statement. While he still has his doubts about this whole debacle, he is starting to be convinced about this “alternate realities” business. No one could make up something so horrible, yet talk about it so matter-of-factly. At Emirate Xaaron’s comparison of Primes, he speaks up.
“Sentinel Prime deserved a better end than he received, I assure you.” Mirage shrugged, “I didn’t know Optronix, and wasn’t there when he received the Matrix from the Council. Many were not thrilled that our fate was to be entrusted to a records clerk with no military experience. However, I understand that he actually acquitted himself quite well against a group of Decepticon assassins that day, .”
“But the new Optimus Prime’s first order as Leader of the Autobots was to prepare for planetary evacuation, give up Cybertron. It was not a popular decision. Shortly after that decision I...woke up here. What he might become in later years, I can not say.”
Mirage listened as the other listed off displaced Autobots he might know. For some reason, he’s not surprised there’s a Kup here; he wonders, though, if this Kup woke up, looked around, and said, “This reminds me of the time back on….”
“Long-Haul is an Autobot? Now that is interesting.” Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he began to walk with Emirate Xaaron, giving tacit approval to being introduced to Omega Supreme. He rattles off a timestamp that placed him a few million years prior to the appearance of Unicron in the other’s universe.
Mirage made no reply to Emirate Xaaron’s clarification. Best, at the moment, to let the matter drop. Shielding his eyes, he glanced off into the horizon. It sounds like someone is heading their way.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 29, 2007 20:18:40 GMT -5
The more Emirate Xaaron hears, the more Emirate Xaaron wants to smack Mirage's Council. In that way, he supposes that things sound like home. He thinks he would also like to smack Mirage's Optimus Prime. Even more like home, if not for the same reasons.
He raises a hand to his mouth to cover a scowl and mutters, "What was he thinking? Pull out, and the Decepticons gain all the materials of Cybertron, and they won't stop there."
Emirate Xaaron sighs and shakes his head. He does not need to be spending time second guessing the Optimi of other universes. Yet, he cannot help but ask, "You have a Long Haul? Now, Hook is a Decepticon. Hook's fair game, but yes, Long Haul is an Autobot. He's currently at work on a temporary base under the direction of Perceptor."
When Mirage looks off to the horizon, Emirate Xaaron follows suit. If the spy thinks something is worthwhile to see, it at least bears a glance. Tiny also looks that way and growls rather feebly, more of a squeak really.
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Screwdriver
Rookie
The Lady Protector, Her Splendid Primacy, Grand Duchess Screwdriver. The Devout Silencer of Common Sense and Logic
"And *I'll* live happily ever after..."
Posts: 225
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Post by Screwdriver on Aug 29, 2007 20:34:17 GMT -5
The noise gets louder and louder. Motorcyle engine running, faintly loose parts rattling, vrooom! The riderless, rust colored motorcycle busts into the general area from one of the side paths, hits a ledge, and flips into the air, wheel over wheel. This is not a smooth and graceful flip, however. The cycle wobbles in its rotation, transforms, and it is Screwdriver that lands hard and lands wrong, badly enough to break off one of her legs against a deactivated cage.
The Junkion looks down at her amputated limb and... laughs. She announces, "He thought that she, like himself, had only one leg!"1 Then she reaches for the leg and starts re-attaching it, all this without obviously noticing the other occupants of the area.
1 "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" (can you tell it's a favorite?). Technically, she's probably speaking English, not Cybertronian, but as she's a cartoon Junkion and their most advanced handling of language was Carnage In C-Minor, where everyone sang in English but had to be translated by Blaster anyway, feel free to overlook this fact and talk to her, anyway.
Or don't overlook it. Whatever you think is most fun.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 29, 2007 20:53:53 GMT -5
Mirage watches the new arrival with something akin to morbid fascination. What manner of Transformer, regardless of alignment, reacts to dismemberment with laughter? His first inclination, upon noting that the bot was a fem, was to offer his assistance. But something stops him. More than likely, it was the fact that she sat there babbling incoherently while apparently repairing herself.
Without looking at Emirate Xaaron , Mirage said, “Yes, we have a Long Haul, and the entire contingent of Constructicons. We do not, to my knowledge have anyone resembling…her.” He kept his glaze fixed on the fem-bot. He wasn’t sure he wanted to take his optics off someone who was obviously not running on all cylinders.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 29, 2007 21:30:40 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron stares at the Junkion-thing's weird display. He's contemplating radioing for some assistance where when she puts her leg right back on. Kup wasn't kidding when he said that these things don't stay down.
Not really thinking about it, he scoops up Tiny, almost protectively. He might claim he was using her as a shield for his more important parts if anyone called him on it. Emirate Xaaron also takes a few steps back, cradling the dragonette in his arms.
Rather vehemently, he assures, "Neither do we. Kup tells me she's some sort of Junkion, and I suppose that kind of behaviour isn't atypical for their kind. Oh! I bet you need a Terran-language lexicon. I had to download one to understand Bumblebee. He's... damaged or something. Speaks in snippets of Terran music."
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Screwdriver
Rookie
The Lady Protector, Her Splendid Primacy, Grand Duchess Screwdriver. The Devout Silencer of Common Sense and Logic
"And *I'll* live happily ever after..."
Posts: 225
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Post by Screwdriver on Aug 29, 2007 22:02:02 GMT -5
As soon as the leg's reattached Screwdriver's up and back on her feet. It's now that she notices the other people. They're talking! In Cybertronian. She does, believe it or not, understand Cybertronian. It's just that Junkions don't use it very often!
She tilts her head and narrows her large red optics as she examines the both of them. "Frodo!" she proclaims, looking at Mirage. Then she studies Xaaron. This one looks familiar... like she's seen him once or twice. Oh, wait! Wasn't he the Master in Lavender? The glow of her optics blinks off once, then twice, in surprise, and then she declares, "'But he has nothing on at all,' said a little child at last!" She's switched to very, very heavily accented Cybertronian, but still quoting Hans Christian Anderson!
After examining the two of them, her optics alight on Tiny, and her entire face brightens. "Why, an artificial nightingale made to look like a living one, and covered all over with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires!"1 She seems quite delighted with the little dragon, even if she's calling it a bird.
1 The Nightingale
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