Broken, But Not Beaten

[Mirage]

Day 14, late, follows 1000 Faces of Darkness. Open to team good.


Mirage, Bambi, Pyrite and Chalco make it to the food court of the shoddy space station without issue, thankfully. Well, other than the issue of someone spilling a drink all over Mirage's custom suit, but the spy was so tired and stressed, he only made minimal fuss.

They are currently in an alcove off the food court, one that allows them to keep their backs to a wall, but still provides a full view of the food court.

Mirage sent a call off over the radio when they got off the ship.

"They should be here soon."

Mirage will fret until some of his fellows get here, and actually prove they're who they say they are.

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi totally gets herself a big gulp cup of light chain hydrocarbon fuels to slurp while she's waiting. She swings her feet under the table idly. She's paying more attention than she looks like she is.

Pyrite, on the other hand, is trying to feed Chalco some delicate light-transmitting silicate-based straws, insisting, "But they're your favourite, dear! Don't you remember? You... don't remember." His shoulders sag, and he looks quite crushed - similar small dramas have played out with him and Chalco before, and at every turn, he's been greeted with failure.

[Perceptor]

Medical is about as prepared as medical can get, without knowing exactly what he will need. Therefore, Perceptor has opted to join those heading out to meet with Mirage and company for their retrieval.

Not that he'd intended to do otherwise, anyway. He is worried, and badly so, for Mirage and Bambi. More for Mirage, if he were being honest with himself. "Mirage?" he calls softly as he approaches the alcove where they are waiting.

Nothing immediately leaps out at him - no leaking fluids or sparking lines or gaping injuries... But even from a distance, Perceptor can tell that Mirage is at the edge of himself. His reserves, his strength, his own stubborn refusal to simply give up, and the strain is subtle, but there around the spy's optics, for one who knows how and where to look. Perceptor's anxiety ratchets up another notch as he closes the distance between them cautiously.

[Jazz [G1]]

Jazz is following behind Perceptor, a good bit back, playing the part of watchdog to Perceptor, and to the whole group once the pair get close enough.

"Man, you lot are a sight for sore optics," Jazz says, offering a bit of his trademark grin.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Skippable - I'll normally be posting after Bambi for sanity

Emirate Xaaron is along with Perceptor and Jazz! Didn't Emirate Xaaron touch Ultra Magnus while Ultra Magnus was suppose to be quarantined, too? Seems like Emirate Xaaron has a thing for hanging out with contaminated Autobots or maybe just a yen for running towards danger instead of away from it.

He observes, "There's something spilled on your suit, Mirage."

That, and Mirage clearly needs one of the Autobots that he can't stand at all to welcome him home.

[Mirage]

Mirage does not get a snack, because he's really, really not sure he can stomach non-standard fuels right now. He does, however, have one arm placed across the table. It shifts slightly when Perceptor, Xaaron, and Jazz show up*. Those paying very close attention to Mirage will note that he is not just drawn tight, he's actually trembling slightly.

"So there is Xaaron," Mirage says lazily in High Iaconian, "Terrible service on the flight back. I will certainly be lodging a complaint once I've had a chance to rest up a bit. Maybe you can help me, should I need to sue for the price of my suit, if I can pull you away from the teevee, that is." Xaaron was studying law and liked to watch teevee with Pee-Dee, yes? Common knowledge to some of the Autobots, but not to the average person.

"Now, just to cover bases and because I have no desire to visit that lovely hotel again anytime soon, I'm afraid I need some proof of identity.

*Mirage is using his tech to project an unarmed version of himself over an armed version.

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

If anyone knew Bambi well, she's pretty unusually clumsy right now, and her cup has obviously been partially crushed and has some claw holes in it already. However, no one really knows her that well, and Dinobots are normally clumsy.

She idly licks some of her Slurpee off her claws, tasting the air, too, as she does so. The three of them smell about right, she thinks, though Emirate Xaaron's the only one that she's really met. She taps her nose and nods to Mirage.

Pyrite visibly tenses, puts down the silicon straws, and grabs Chalco by the elbow, ready to bolt if this goes South.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Emirate Xaaron replies in... High Tarnish, actually, ticking off on his fingers as he speaks, "Fact: Mirage knows what my alternate form is. Fact: Mirage learned of this knowledge in a most unorthodox and memorable fashion. Conclusion: Surrender knowledge of my alternate form or face the consequences."

It is a cold, clipped, brutal, almost violent tongue, bam bam bam, like the rhythm of some dread machine, like the march of an army, almost entirely composed of logical clauses, more like a programming language than a normal language.

He jerks his head over at Jazz, who is apparently 'the consequences' today.

"If hypothesis is correct, suit over suit will be re-classed as low-priority objective as opposed to hostile suggestion."

[Perceptor]

Mirage is hurting far more than he's letting on; Perceptor is just the type to be able to be paying that close attention, and the trembling is faint, but quite visible to him. As for Bambi, no, he doesn't know her, but he's read her qualifications, and he isn't aware of anyone who would be able to earn those qualifications while being clumsy. Not without having some serious backing. Not something one equates with a Dinobot.

"Cadmium shells with mercury centers," Perceptor offers in Iaconian, describing one of the candies that Mirage had requested that he produce for him when the scientist had time. "Silicone truffles rolled in powdered Manganese."

Not even Xaaron would have heard about those, he thinks.

[Jazz [G1]]

Jazz glances at Xaaron's nod. He doesn't like the idea, really. Or this whole business with this shape-shifting thing. Makes everybody all untrusting and stuff and is a bigger buzzkill than Unicron.

"As fir me... Well, to tell the truth, I haven't gotten the pleasure of workin' with either of you two yet." Jazz shrugs a bit. "Though if Xaaron's the real deal, he knows about what job I'm pulling currently." Right now, that's just a cop! Jazz hasn't snuck into the 'Con casino yet.

[Mirage]

Mirage's optics narrow at Xaaron, but the spy quirks a sly smile.

He replies in an ancient Kaonic dialect, one used by those who ruled the citystate with iron fists. It is likewise harsh and guttural, formal and lacking in contractions, though Mirage forgoes the Shockwave-esque syntax.

(DW Shockwave doesn't talk that way, anyway.>_>)

"Correct of course you are in your assessment of facts and conclusions. The alternate mode of our esteemed commander is that of a tank. A tank with the most comfortable and accommodating barrel I have ever had the pleasure of draping myself upon."

"And I find myself now, as then quite satisfied."

Mirage relaxes, just a touch.

"And you Emirate? Or have I left you wanting too much to allow me back aboard your vessel?"

[Lynn Deanna Payne]

Bambi and the Rock Lords don't understand any of this. Bambi takes notes.

Pyrite murmurs to Chalco, "Dear, I'm going to have to look into booking us flights... somewhere. Off planet. I'll figure out how to pay for it later.

[Emirate Xaaron]

Emirate Xaaron can't help grinning, just a bit, as Mirage manages to be... irrepressibly Mirage, because it's either grinning or tearing Mirage's head off, and Perceptor wouldn't like that. How Mirage manages to be insolently, unashamedly flirty in that dialect...

Nice to know that Mirage's personality is intact, despite whatever might be broken.

However, Mirage isn't the only one here. "Conclusion: Mirage's identity is satisfactorily confirmed, Officer." He tilts his head over at Jazz. Jazz is not an officer here, but he is an officer. Then, he points at Bambi and the Rock Lords, "Conjecture: Identity of companions not yet ascertained; knowledge deficit requires rectification."

[Perceptor]

Perceptor frowns, irritated at the delay in helping Mirage and the others. Even if Xaaron does have a point. Alas, Perceptor doesn't have the faintest idea how to even go about verifying who the rock lords are, and the only thing he can use for Bambi is her CV that Botanica had forwarded on to him.

Hmm....

"Bambi," he inquires in Terran Sanskrit, a language only one who'd actually read her CV would know that she is familiar with... and only one familiar with Earth would even have the faintest idea even existed, "who are your two most direct supervisors?"

[Jazz [G1]]

Jazz frowns a bit, replying in his own Iaconian - "And just how will we know that the rocks are the real deal?"

Jazz- saboteur, smooth operator, and he who points out elephants in the middle of the room. He and Omega Supreme totally have a secret club for it.