Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Sept 25, 2010 22:54:48 GMT -5
Semi-private thread for now, please ask before joining. Late day 23.
Sitting alone at one of the tables in the mess hall, Oracle took a brief sip from the half full cube sitting in front of her before tilting back and absently looking up at the ceiling.
She supposed, if she was trying to keep up with her schedule, she should really be back down on the surface, but at the moment...she really didn't feel like it. And she had several things to think about anyway.
Which was the cause of her current location. It wasn't private, not that she was adverse to running into anyone, but it was much quieter than her usual downtime occupations. And unlike one of the bars or restaurants down on Pz-Zazz she could hear herself think, and didn't have to worry about getting shot between the wings because she forgot to pay attention.
It was a good thing she wasn't very worried about dignity, because she was pretty sure there was a distinct lack of it in studying the ceiling like it held some secret she really wanted to know, while sitting at a somewhat precarious angle in her chair. Though, that sort of thing usually required an outside observer, and at the moment, there wasn't anyone else here.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 26, 2010 9:35:58 GMT -5
What a time for the mess hall doors to slide open, then.
Ultra Magnus – needing fuel like everyone else but still feeling awkward and self-recriminating enough, even after this long, that he tends to visit the mess only at the most off hours – stands framed in the doorway. He watches what is apparently the only other person aboard the ship who thought to hit the mess hall at this hour and he wonders what he should do. That is definitely a Seeker build, a line that invariably runs Decepticon, but it's wearing the Autobrand and taking rations on an Autobot vessel.
Xaaron also keeps a Long Haul and a Scrapper around. That certainly skews the odds. Magnus warily chances that this is one of those peculiar cases of should be a Decepticon but isn't like the Constructibots and wends his way toward the dispenser, giving the not-Seeker a stiff nod.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Sept 26, 2010 18:06:39 GMT -5
Of course the doors slid open then. Murphy's Law said it would.
Managing not to tip over and dump herself on the floor, Oracle got back to a somewhat more stable position before looking curiously at the mech that had just entered the room. She knew who he was, hard to miss his arrival back at the launch of the Event Horizon, but she hadn't seen him since really. Interesting, that.
The nod brings a brief smile to her face and she looks curiously at Magnus as he crosses the room. "Evening. I don't believe we've spoken before, I'm Oracle." If she's recalling, this was the one that Mirage referenced as confirming Shockwave was from their reality. While this doesn't mean Magnus knows the other, it makes her wonder if she can get any information out of him concerning how to end that particular individual. This whole sparks diffused through the frame...not helpful.
Plus, while she wasn't sure lessons were the order of the day, that fighing instruction he had offered interested her. She wondered how a style compared to what she did.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 27, 2010 17:21:54 GMT -5
Magnus glances up from his cube when Oracle greets him. He doesn't say anything at first and he'd like to think he can't really be blamed for feeling awkward. Having worked with supposedly former Decepticons, Ramjet among them, hardly means he's comfortable with them now.
Sitting on the other side of the mess would be rude. Sitting uninvited at Oracle's table would be rude. What to do, then?
"Can't recall that we have," he finally answers, hanging back at the dispenser.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Sept 27, 2010 19:42:05 GMT -5
It wouldn't have occurred to Oracle that it would be rude to join her at her table once she had greeted Magnus. But on the other hand she can see him reticent about sitting anywhere. So she shrugs internally and gestures to a free seat at her table. "You're welcome to join me, assuming you'd like to. I wouldn't mind the company or the conversation."
At the same time she's doing her best to look non-threatening and welcoming. Not looking dangerous is an old act, trying to appear approachable not so much, but she's had a lot of practice letting people see what she wants them to. She highly doubts Magnus is suddenly going to think she's a pacifist or anything but maybe he'll quit looking like he's about to get shot at. Of course, being visibly unarmed might help with that appearance...
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 28, 2010 19:06:47 GMT -5
It's reluctance rather than reticence that keeps Magnus hanging back. He'd like to think he's been improving on the social front, but it seems he hasn't come as far as he'd hoped. Or maybe a Seeker, no matter how polite and non-threatening, wearing the Autobrand is just that bizarre.
"I don't know that I'll be much conversation," he admits frankly, a note of apology ringing under the tired old self-deprecation.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Sept 28, 2010 19:23:10 GMT -5
While she won't make a judgment on why Magnus is still standing over at the dispensers after she invited him to join her, Oracle will for the moment simply take his excuse at face value. He sounds like he means the apology, even if there's a note there as well that makes her frown slightly.
"I don't bite, really. And I do have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you, if you'd be alright with that. Which while possible to do across the room, might get a bit awkward." She grins a bit in amusement and shrugs. "If I was dying for sparkling conversation I'd do something like go find Mirage anyway. I assure you I can live without an engaging discussion, but that doesn't mean you have to hover over there even if you won't join me." At that, she gestures to the otherwise empty room. If he still won't sit with her, maybe he'll at least sit and not look so indecisive.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 30, 2010 10:30:35 GMT -5
Magnus tries valiantly – and succeeds for the most part – not to make a face at the mention of Mirage. Does that dilettante never stop worming his way into every aspect of shipboard life?
"Questions?" Magnus wonders, distracting himself from thinking more on the spy and how sideways that conversation went. "About what, exactly?" He makes his way at a slow amble between tables toward Oracle. He pauses at the table adjacent to hers and leans against it.
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Sept 30, 2010 11:22:03 GMT -5
Making a mildly amused face at the flit of expression she sees at the mention of Mirage, Oracle can't help but find it funny. It's Mirage, she's called him a social butterfly before after all.
Watching Magnus walk closer, she almost sighs when he stops still a short distance away. It's a start though, and at least he's not still acting like she's about to explode or something. That not being a trick in her repertoire. "Well, several things, depending on how much you're willing to share I suppose. Though for one, I'd like to get another perspective on the Wreckers. Springer told me you were a member so I figured it wouldn't be amiss to see what other opinions there were from the inside." She's going to be very annoyed if all she gets is more warnings though. Springer about wore that one out.
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Sept 30, 2010 11:35:28 GMT -5
Magnus's posture is quite casual if not wholly comfortable – a far cry from the ubiquitous stiffness that dominated every waking moment after he arrived – and he mulls over this first question while he takes a judicious swig from his cube.
"That's a rather broad line," he says. "I gather Springer already told you about his Wreckers. Mine… weren't quite the same thing, but there are similarities." He sets down his cube for the moment and loosely crosses his arms. "Where would you like me to start?"
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Sept 30, 2010 11:46:09 GMT -5
Lacing her fingers together under her chin and leaning forward with her elbows on the table, Oracle shrugs. "It is a broad sweep of a question, but really I don't know how to narrow it down and not loose at least some of what I want to know." She wants to know what being a Wrecker means to him as much as what they do, really. And asking that outright might be a bit too much, so she'll learn what she can from what Magnus chooses to say before she broaches that.
"He told me a bit, though mostly about when they might be called in, which tells me about what they did, but not so much else. As for where I'd like you to start?" The expression on her face shifts to a sort of rueful humor. "Well I won't say the beginning, we might be here for a while if I asked that. But what about how were your Wreckers different? And how were they not?"
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Oct 4, 2010 22:42:27 GMT -5
"Ah." Magnus tilts his head slightly as he mulls over his next words, then sips his rations. "Well," he murmurs, "my Wreckers were an elite task force as well, and comparing rosters, made up of basically the same group of Autobots." Coming from his time in his reality, an Autobot-only roster is significant, but he doesn't explain that. "We took on the challenges no-one else could and… the casualty rate was higher than average. Those are the basic similarities." Here he pauses for a moment, dwelling perhaps too long on that last mission and the soldiers lost to Menasor. Briefly – very briefly – he has to ask himself if their lives truly are on his shoulders or if he's just punishing himself.
He is, of course, ultimately to blame. He was in command, after all. Magnus heaves a shallow sigh, hardly a whisper from his ventilation, and looks up from his drink.
"Where it differs goes back many vorns," he continues. "The Wreckers in my reality started as a warmongering splinter faction of the Autobots. Springer's pet project, you could say – he and some like-minded bots disagreed with Autobot command and decided to go their own way. When I took command of them much later, it was during Shockwave's rule of Cybertron. He made the Wreckers a police force, essentially. We were peacekeepers of the highest order and it was our job to handle anyone who wanted to reignite the war." Even when anyone meant other Autobots, but he's sure that point has been made clear enough already. He tries not to linger on it, adding, "We didn't wait for it to become a lost cause. We stepped in to keep it from getting that bad."
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Oct 4, 2010 23:05:18 GMT -5
So far it sounds a lot like what Springer said. Same general idea, apparently even the same basic lineup. Which makes sense considering Magnus is talking about what's the same between the two versions of the team at the moment.
Then he keeps talking, and if Oracle could have she would have gone pale. She really, really didn't like being reminded of the fact the Shockwave they had gotten in this universe had ruled his Cybertron at one point. It made her distinctly uneasy, but other than a minorly restless shuffle since it wasn't like she hadn't heard about it before, she stifled her outward reaction. Knowing about it before didn't make the fact any more pleasing though. "Sounds like a bit more proactive way of dealing with things." She was pleased her voice came out both steady and calm. "Still, I don't imagine it was easy."
Only pausing for a moment now that he had opened the subject, somewhat, Oracle tried to think of how to ask her next question without it coming out wrong. "It sounds like you worked closely enough with Shockwave to possibly know something useful about him." Her tone became almost hopefully plaintive as she continued. "I don't suppose you know of any weakness' he might have?" Because not knowing even that much about someone that scared her almost silly made Oracle very unhappy. It was something of a reminder of a past she despised even thinking about. "I know your reality doesn't have centralized sparks," highly inconvenient that, "but is there anything?"
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Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Oct 6, 2010 9:50:11 GMT -5
For several long moments, Magnus stares at Oracle, optics narrow with speculation set off by the line of questioning and that last comment of hers. She knows about the way sparks like his – and Mirage's and Shockwave's – are suffused throughout their beings and intangible? Was it something Mirage told her, then?
"We did work together," he begins slowly, keeping his tone neutral only with a great deal of effort. "But we weren't close. And what I know about him from working with him amounts to knowing his methods of government and some of his tactics." He pauses. "And how much he can't stand Micromasters. Physical weaknesses? I don't know him that well."
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Oracle
Minor
The future is always in motion.
Posts: 426
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Post by Oracle on Oct 6, 2010 16:56:33 GMT -5
"You don't have to be close to have watched someone for a weakness." It wasn't said in either a dismissive or conciliatory way, Oracle was really just stating a fact as she saw it though she did look disappointed with the information that well, Magnus didn't have any for her. "Unfortunately knowing his tactics probably isn't going to be too much of a help for me, though it can't hurt." She smiled thinly. "Not that you look happy with the topic, so it can certainly be skipped, I just like to know things about those that seem to have taken an interest in me." Still rather displeased with that fact here, as her expression very clearly states.
Her vents cycled in a soft huff of sound, and she shook her head. "I only even know as much as I do because Mirage was kind enough to explain what he meant by hard to kill when I was putting together my list in the database." She was not going to explain where she found out about them being hard to kill, almost poking holes in Mirage was not one of her fonder memories.
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