|
Post by Shrapnel on Oct 23, 2007 20:44:12 GMT -5
Shrapnel looks Scourge up and down. He doesn't recognize this mech beyond the obvious - 'looks like Motormaster and Optimus did something pseudo-incestuous' - but that's been true of every Transformer he's met in his life for the first time. Even if they did think he should know them because he woke up in the same escape pod with them.
But apparently "I'm an Insecticon" isn't going to cut it as an explanation.
"Starscream and I don't get along. I don't need him, he doesn't usually need me, so we mostly ignore each other. It keeps the casualties to a minimum, minimum."
"Useful, useful? If you want to lose a few hours, you should have one of these things." He glances at Screwdriver. "It's more obvious if you're inside the ring when it activates, activates."
|
|
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
|
Post by Screwdriver on Oct 23, 2007 21:01:47 GMT -5
Screwdriver looks up at the Insecticon. Who has not demonstrated the strange device yet. Hell-ooooo! She's totally waiting for a demonstration here! It's the only reason she hasn't started to open the metal objects up yet!
Still, she tilts her head. "Lose hours? Where do they go?"
|
|
|
Post by Sable Conolly on Oct 24, 2007 9:01:52 GMT -5
Scourge listens along rather intently to Shrapnel. It does not sound like the Insecticons is on the best of terms with Starscream. So Scourge must wonder if Shrapnel's directions can be trusted, and if they can be, is Starscream even someone he wants to meet? He says, "Is Starscream a poor commander, then, or are you just not interested in his goals?"
Before he came here, the idea that he could just walk out had never occurred to Scourge. He suspects that, were he back home with Megatron leaning over his shoulder, the idea never could. His very programming belongs to Megatron, and it's that lack of his commander that drives him to such thoughts.
He can make choices here and decide who to follow for himself. The task seems daunting, and there are no sure answers. In a way, Scourge feels as if he has woken up from a dream, only to find that reality is a dream. Isn't there a curse along those lines? May you wake to find you were ever a dream.
Scourge shakes his head, trying to clear it of such fuzzy, unbecoming thoughts. He is a soldier, and he will find the proper commander on this world, whoever he may be.
Bending his mind back to practical tasks, he ponders the use of losing hours, and he snaps his fingers. "You can use it to complete tasks quicker. Say you need to set a resin in 24 hours, and you only have 12. Just lose the middle 12 hours."
|
|
|
Post by Shrapnel on Oct 24, 2007 13:16:10 GMT -5
"He's Starscream, Starscream."
This is all the big, black truck is going to get out of Shrapnel on the subject. He has no need, no desire, no compulsion to explain his history with Megatron and Starscream.
"No, you have it backwards, backwards. A few minutes inside is equal to a few hours outside." Yes, Shrapnel has totally been explaining it backwards. Like he's noticed that at all.
He scoots to the outside edge of the cap he's been sitting on, approaching Scourge. "I'll show you, show you."
Lightning crackles around his antlers, drains down his arm and into the structure. A slow, sonorous piping is heard as electricity cycles through it, gradually going louder and more frenetic. A perfectly circular distortion, like heat rising from a black road, fills the spaces between the columns and reaches high up into the sky.
Shrapnel seems perfectly happy to hold it activated for as long as possible.
Who knows what it will be like for Screwdriver inside of the ring?
Well, the Insecticon knows.
---
Yeah, been mis-describing it. Inside the ring is slow-time, not fast-time. -_-;
|
|
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
|
Post by Screwdriver on Oct 24, 2007 14:44:23 GMT -5
Screwdriver tilts her head and smiles as everything seems to speed up. Does this make her Rip Van Winkle?
She doesn't seem particularly bothered by the anomaly, but instead steps closer, once more, to the generators with her tool. From the inside, no doubt she looks as though she is moving very slowly, but to her, it's quite the normal pace, perhaps a bit quickly. She runs her hand over the device, then uses her tool to pry open a panel, obviously not bothered that it's still operating.
Once the panel is open, she examines the circuitry. It's not very long at all (or, at least, doesn't seem long to her) before she's started taking it apart. Now and again she shocks herself, but she seems to largely ignore this. At one point, however, she is thrown forcefully back as something explodes. Halfway through the arc of the explosion, her personal time suddenly returns to normal, meaning from the outside perspective, she starts flying backward at slow motion, but suddenly resumes normal speed before cracking back against the opposite side of the ring. There's an alarming crack as her upper torso splits from her waist, rendering her in two parts (Jazz style!), but oddly, her grin does not fade and she pauses not at all before reaching for her lower body.
|
|
|
Post by Sable Conolly on Oct 24, 2007 17:10:15 GMT -5
Scourge really does not like the sound of what he's hearing from Shrapnel. Now it is possible that Starscream is a model commander, and the Insecticon just enjoys living as a hermit. It is possible that the Insecticon would be an undesirable soldier. It is also possible that Starscream is just incompetent. He cannot make the call yet. He just isn't encouraged.
He's also less sure than ever of whether or not he should trust Shrapnel's directions. At least he has a medic with him.
Of course, she just has to try out the mystery device that just might be a trap. There is no way Scourge is touching that thing until its properties are documented. As she starts tinkering, Scourge looks ready to say something, because as much as he hates her cryptic guts, he hates the idea of dying out here because he injured himself and couldn’t get repairs more.
Then something explodes. Scourge does not panic, but he does duck. He peeks back up, a hand over his optics for protection. Shortly prior, he mused if perhaps this was a dream. Now he sees it for a nightmare. Scourge is made of stern stuff. He does not flinch at the sight but drops his hand to his side to regard her with a morbid curiosity. He's never seen someone cracked open like that. Scourge comments, "I'm fairly sure you shouldn't be taking that kind of injury so cheerily."
Maybe her mechendorphins kicked in and she can't feel the pain? Maybe she has a high pain threshold? Scourge saw how she took those bumps like a maniac. His alignment felt sore, just to watch her. No, he doesn't offer help. She appears to already be handling herself, which is more than a little disturbing, if rather interesting.
|
|
|
Post by Shrapnel on Oct 24, 2007 23:21:39 GMT -5
"You broke it, broke it!" Shrapnel accuses. Okay, so he doesn't have a use for it himself, but it was in his swamp! And now the crazy motorcycle-girl's broken it!
It's been a good while since he locked Screwdriver into the slow-time field.
The fact that Screwdriver broke herself is no nevermind to Shrapnel. Perhaps she's food now. No, wait, she looks like she's trying to put herself back together. So, not food.
Weird, but so was everyone. If he hadn't learned to roll with the punches, Kickback and Bombshell would have driven him stark-raving bonkers.
|
|
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
|
Post by Screwdriver on Oct 25, 2007 7:32:05 GMT -5
Screwdriver pulls herself together and hops to her feet, looking up at Scourge and over at Shrapnel. "What was shattered can be made whole!" she explains, but is she talking about herself or the time field generator?
She then throws Scourge an extra smile and adds, "I have no strings, as you can see! There are no strings on me!" After all, he had been the one to observe on how cheerfully she should or should not be taking her injuries! (Although really, so much fuss over something so minor...)
Explanations given (at least to her mind), Screwdriver retrieves her tool and goes back to pulling apart the device. She may have to be pulled off this for the trip to continue.
|
|
|
Post by Sable Conolly on Oct 25, 2007 11:50:01 GMT -5
Scourge rubs the side of his head. He has a headache and a strong desire to kill something, which he cannot exercise. Instead, he directs Screwdriver, "We can lash the machine to my trailer. You'll have time to study it later."
Magically, his trailer appears. He gets it from his dad.
He turns to Shrapnel, still torn as to whether or not to follow those directions, and he asks, "What are your goals?
|
|
|
Post by Shrapnel on Oct 25, 2007 15:17:59 GMT -5
Maybe his smoking artwork had put some hallucinogens into his system, and this was all a very strange trip. Clearly, the motorcycle-babe didn't come from anywhere sane, which made her a good candidate for a hallucination.
"Goals, goals?" Shrapnel looks blankly at the black truck. He's supposed to have goals? "I'm waiting for Bombshell and Kickback to arrive, arrive."
|
|
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
|
Post by Screwdriver on Oct 25, 2007 17:20:49 GMT -5
Screwdriver looks back at Shrapnel. Well, he makes about as much sense as the Caterpillar should.
Never mind that she typically makes less.
Then she nods enthusiastically at Scourge, cries out, "Finders keepers, losers, weepers!" and starts to unbolt one of the large metal objects, ignoring the fact that it was technically Shrapnel that found it. He's losing it now!
OOC: As far as I'm concerned, the process of unbolting one or two and tying them up can be finished on Scourge's post, unless Shrapnel is stopping us. That way we can move on.
|
|
|
Post by Sable Conolly on Oct 25, 2007 23:49:00 GMT -5
"Team-mates?" Scourge asks absently. "When they arrive, what then?" He doesn't say 'if'. That just complicates the issue. Besides, he'd really like for his Decepticons to show up here, especially Mega-Octane, the smartest and most powerful of the bunch, yet he knows his place. He helps Screwdriver with moving the machinery and helps her lash it down to his trailer.
|
|
|
Post by Shrapnel on Oct 26, 2007 19:40:16 GMT -5
"Then we feed, feed." Simple as that, really.
As long as Screwdriver doesn't take the one he's sitting, Shrapnel doesn't bother her about the rest. It's silly to get into fights with your own figments.
|
|
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
|
Post by Screwdriver on Oct 26, 2007 20:39:24 GMT -5
Screwdriver doesn't take the one Shrapnel is sitting on!
Once things are tied up, Screwdriver transforms and starts riding ahead. She sings as she goes. "Over the river and through the woods, today's the day the teddy bears have their pic-nic! They talked about the high price of furniture and rugs and fire-insurance for lady-bugs!"
This would no doubt be very annoying, except that, due to the treacherous nature of the swamp, she's force to ride on the metal road. Her tires have spikes on them, and thus her passage is accompanied by a continual shriek-clatter of metal points hitting metal road and leaving almost immediately.
After some time of this, however, but before Scourge is ready to attempt to kill her, medic or no, she seems to spot something out of the corner of her visual field. She swerve-screeches suddenly and then jumps off the road, rolling away a little distance into the swamp, where she transforms and kneels to examine something.
"I spy with my little eye..." she starts loudly.
|
|
|
Post by Sable Conolly on Oct 26, 2007 23:07:33 GMT -5
Scourge delivers simply, "Thank you," before transforming and rolling out. He cannot decide if Shrapnel is on the level or not. If he is, he must be a creature of very simple desires. So Scourge is following those instructions Shrapnel gave, but he's going to go in assuming an unpleasant trap at the end.
The tanker truck wonders if there is any polite way of tearing out someone's voicebox and ripping out her spikes one by one. Granted, given her abilities, he bets she'd build new ones before he has the last spike out, and it'd be back to inane singing and clatter-clatter-clatter before it was even over.
Then she suddenly drives off into the swamp. With a cry of, "Transform," he does so, skidding a few meters on his stop before friction kills his momentum. One hand poised on his hip, Scourge turns to see where she's gone. One has the impression he'd be gaping, had he a mouth. Scourge has never seen death. He carries within him the certain intent to cause it, but this is the first time he's been confronted with its reality.
Scourge strays off the path and kneels beside the dead mechanism. He can't make out a symbol on him, although there is an odd mark on his helm. Scourge takes in the damages, and with nary a quaver in his voice, he asks, "He's dead, isn't he? Know who he was?"
|
|