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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 17:32:17 GMT -5
Better get used to the look, Drift; you're probably going to see it a lot. Especially since you haven't 1) run screaming from the room yet, and 2) told Perceptor to shut up yet.
Perceptor accepts the explanation of the risk at face value, having no reason to doubt what Drift says. "Still, you did deviate from the most advantageous course of egress, if you did 'detour' to retrieve my alternate. I am certain that he will be grateful for the consideration when he is functional once more."
He can't help but wonder how many on this ship would have done the same: risked themselves to detour to retrieve what might only be his empty shell. It is... a depressing thought.
"A rescue mission?" And one that he and Perceptor had not spoken beforehand, despite being involved in combat together during the mission itself. As much as he would like to feel otherwise, Perceptor does not see himself as much of a "rescuer", especially when compared to someone like Drift. Not when it involves infiltrating a Decepticon ship to do so. Which leaves only...
"My alternate was one of the prisoners, then," he guesses. "Whose ship? What were the particulars of the Autobots' capture?"
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 17:38:02 GMT -5
It takes Drift a moment to translate from Perceptor's, uh, unique idiom to actual language. He shrugs, awkwardly, toying with his now-empty cube. "It was the right thing. And he'd done his part for the mission. Kept us safe while we freed the prisoners."
He doesn't know if Perceptor will be grateful. And it shouldn't matter. You did the right thing because it was right; not for gratitude or glory.
"No. Perceptor was on the mission." Drift would hate to hear of himself as some pathetic prisoner, in this or any other universe, so he assumes Perceptor is the same way. "He's with the Wreckers."
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 17:41:44 GMT -5
Perceptor smiles to himself, feeling proprietorially proud of his alternate self's usefulness. "Well, that is--"
"Wait. What?"
"I am sorry, however, I think that I must have misheard you. The Wreckers?"
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 17:49:24 GMT -5
Drift grins. So they had Wreckers in other universes, too. He might find some friends, after all.
"Yes. The Wreckers? Springer? Kup? Twin Twist, Topspin...." Me.
He leaves out the comment Kup had made, about how Perceptor normally wouldn't have come along. It didn't matter. Perceptor was a warrior in Drift's optics, one who had been willing to sacrifice his life for his team, for his mission.
Kup. Was. Wrong.
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 17:56:25 GMT -5
That... just plainly boggles him. "I... My alternate must be quite different from me," he finally manages after spending several long moments just opening and closing his mouth, as if the words would not come forth. He simply cannot imagine Springer or Ultra Magnus or Impactor tolerating him on any sort of serious infiltration and combat mission. He belongs in the laboratory.
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 18:08:37 GMT -5
"He, uh, seemed kind of the same?" From what Drift knew. Talked a lot, kind of nerdy.
"It was a small team. Pretty select." Hint: Perceptor--you weren't just gun-meat. A tentative smile. He's pretty sure any mech would be darned proud to hear he made the short list for the Wreckers.
It occurs to him, like a new thought. "I tried to get to him, then. I couldn't." Which was why he had to go back for him. Stubborn, yes.
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 18:17:26 GMT -5
That... just does not want to compute. Clearly, there must have been some sort of special function his alternate had been there to perform. He can think of no other reason why he, or someone just like him, would be included in such company.
"Uh... Oh, ah, after the injury, you mean?" he manages, wrenching his attention back around. "Driven back during the attack?" He ponders that briefly, then shrugs. "I would not wish anyone to be harmed for my sake. If he is, as you say, similar to myself, I doubt that he would have wanted you to risk yourself, either." Of course, Perceptor doesn't know that his alternate was essentially left behind. That might bother him more than he is now, if that were ever to come out.
"I apologize for fixating upon the tangential aside," he offers with a small smile. "You were speaking of the attack, I believe. And the Decepticons. Whose ship was it, again? And who were the captive Autobots?"
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 18:30:17 GMT -5
Drift is...confused. Perceptor should look happier, shouldn't he? Then again, hearing you'd been shot through the chassis was probably a bit...distressing.
"You...don't leave mechs in their hands." He knew--intimately--Turmoil's crew. And Perceptor, frankly, would simply have to wait till they pulled him from the tank to chew Drift's aft about unwanted rescues.
Right, he had been skirting that issue. "Ship was under Turmoil's command. I...don't know any of the Autobots. Or why they were held."
...erk. If Drift could facepalm without it being too obvious...he so would.
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 18:45:20 GMT -5
Perceptor just doesn't believe that he was there as anything except a contingency. Well, that his alternate had been there as anything but a contingency. He's not a fighter, and this alternate is very similar to him, ergo, his alternate is not a fighter, and definitely not Wreckers material.
"Admirable." He tilts his head as a new thought occurs to him. "The sentiment is held here, as well, but as much for pragmatic reasons as for honor. Even the deactivated... still have use." He's grown accustomed to the practice of using their dead for parts, but he's still not a fan of it. They don't really have the resources to be too choosy, though, sadly.
"Turmoil? Hm. Not a mechanism that I am familiar with. Any information about your reality and the power struggles therein that you can provide to us and the database would be most appreciated. Warned ahead is armed ahead, after all."
Something about that last, though, doesn't seem to make sense. A mission to rescue Autobots, and yet, not intel provided about those Autobots?
"That seems like a poorly planned mission, if you were not provided any intel beforehand? Who was in charge?"
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 18:54:43 GMT -5
Drift isn't particularly squeamish about reused parts. But. "When that crew gets done, there's...not much to salvage." After all, Turmoil had been planning on ventilating Deadlock's head, with extreme prejudice. As a little Evaluation Report.
"You don't want to know Turmoil." Drift doesn't want to know Turmoil. He shifts, uncomfortably. "The usual, I guess. Our side, their side. Fighting. Dead Cybertron."
Double erk. "I...think Kup was in charge." TIME TO DEFLECT. "You want any more energon?"
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 19:02:34 GMT -5
"Hm?" Perceptor glances down, belatedly remembering the second cube that he has not even touched yet. "Oh. Ah, in a moment," he replies, lifting that small portion to drain in a single gulp, and that mainly because he knows that he needs the fuel, rather than any significant hunger. Dissipating the empty cube, he nods toward Drift for another.
"You 'think' Kup was in charge? But you said that it was a small, select group?" Nice try, Drift, but, no dice. "You... were not initially part of the mission, were you?"
But Drift had also said that he didn't know who was being held captive. So... "Why were you there?"
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 19:11:08 GMT -5
Drift sags with relief as Perceptor helps himself to the cube. Distraction. Good strategy, there, Drift. He passes another through the slot to keep the Evasion going.
Oh. frag. So much for that strategy.
Drift cycles a vent of air. Well, a few Autobots back home knew...something. It's Sin of Omission time.
"I was there on the same mission. Just not...on their team."
Maybe this calls for more obvious evasion. "So. How long they going to keep you locked up here? This can't be fun."
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 19:48:30 GMT -5
"Not on their team? Freelancing? Or supporting unofficially?" he asks, toying absently with the cube he accepts from Drift.
"Here? Oh." He snorts a small laugh and takes a sip from his cube. "Kup stated that he had not planned on restricting me to this cell for a lengthy period of time; I am needed too much still, to allow me to remain idle for overlong. Your company, however, is making this more comfortable than it could have been." He offers Drift a grateful smile.
Unfortunately for Drift, the swordsmech has provided him with a puzzle, and Perceptor is nothing, if not curious; he will not submit so easily to your diversionary tactics.
"Did you frequently make a habit of performing freelance type operations to rescue captive Autobots? Or was this a special occassion?"
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Post by Drift on Mar 23, 2011 19:57:24 GMT -5
Drift decides, abruptly, he needed another cube. He'll replace it, Perceptor. "I...was alone." Fit that into one of your three options, Perceptor, to save Drift the actual lying.
And he seizes onto the distraction. "All the more reason to take better care of yourself--others count on you. You owe it to them." Drift? Expendable. And honestly, he'd rather keep it that way.
"I...uh. No. I was finishing something someone else had started." Deadlock, Wing...he wasn't sure. Other than he'd done it in some way to close the circle.
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Post by Perceptor on Mar 23, 2011 20:15:05 GMT -5
Replace it? There's no need to replace anything! The energon is there to be used!
Perceptor heaves a sigh and nods, slumping back against the wall behind him. "I know that they do." Too many of them count upon him. The Autobots need more resources; he is not immortal or infallible. What will happen if next time it is him, rather than Rodimus and/or Botanica that is incapacitated? Hopefully fate will see fit to provide the Autobots an answer in that case.
He sighs again, and shoves those thoughts away as he glances sidelong at Drift. "Alone? Very risky. A debt? Or was it a promise, instead?" he asks, trailing one fingertip through his energon. "Or payment, perhaps, for your rebuild?" He quirks a brow ridge up and tips his head to nod at Drift's gleaming white frame.
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