Soldiers and a Scientist

[Sentinel Prime]

Day 26, open to good guys who have a reason to stop by Chez Skyfire-Magnus-Prime

- - -

Sentinel Prime is laying on his berth, reading a datapad held up above his face, one arm slack over the side of the berth. He should probably be getting some shut-optic to defrag his poor tortured circuits, but at least here, if he passes out, he won't have Kup yelling at him.

Reading's better than staring blankly at the ceiling and the walls. Sentinel Prime's done a lot of that lately. The only reason it evens bother him is that it's a waste of time. He knows he should be more worried about what it says about his overall mental state, but he can't bring himself to be worried, and that's the problem in the first place.

At least The Ultimate Guide to the Shi-Lai Suicide Legions is an interesting read. Some crazy tactics, those aliens get up to. Sentinel Prime can't help but curl his lip in a sneer of disgust at what the Shi-Lai do to their poor ships...

Though it's not any worse than what they did to the Supremes.

[Skyfire]

The door hissed open to admit Skyfire. Frost covered the big white shuttle-former¹ from head to wing-tip to foot, and wisps of fog rose off of him as the warm room air met his frozen hull surface. He crossed over to his berth as mist continued to stream off him--a chunk of slush melted free and fell onto the deck with a 'plop'--and opened the storage drawer beneath it and started rummaging around.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, pulling out a datapad. "Found you!" Skyfire turned his head slightly. "Oh, hullo, Sentinel. Getting caught up?"

---
¹Not really, but 'exploratory starship-former' is too awkward.

[Ultra Magnus]

OOC: Magnus's background filler status okayed with Sentinel's player.

---

As Sentinel Prime is a quiet reader, Ultra Magnus has himself been in the process of defragmenting for a while, letting his body finish integrating the new armour. Long Haul did an amazing job with it; aside from simply being new, the specs match up so exactly that Magnus's subconscious systems react as though his original armour was simply removed for a time and then re-equipped. He's already in the process of waking rather slowly – a luxury he should avoid giving himself too often – and is just lifting his head from the berth when Skyfire's entrance breaks the quiet and rouses him. He bolts upright and very nearly comes up with his rifle in his hands; his disorientation is obvious in the baffled looks he turns on his roommates.

It passes quickly enough, defragged archives catching up and memory circuits realigning. Magnus blinks once, twice, then shakes his head. He double-checks his chronometer before looking from the still-warming Skyfire to Sentinel Prime and frowning.

"Are you still reading?" he asks, less baffled than he is amazed – and concerned. He's been out for a while and Sentinel was engrossed in all that text when Magnus settled in earlier.

[Sentinel Prime]

Sentinel Prime holds up what he's reading and corrects, "Getting ahead. These guys aren't threats to us right now. Might never be threats to us. But they're out there, and I'll be prepared."

He can't help but think that if Skyfire was simply a bit more organised, he wouldn't need to rummage around, and ugh, how does Skyfire deal with being covered with all that wetness? Sentinel Prime doesn't say what he's thinking, though, because Skyfire's bigger than him and knows where he sleeps.

Sentinel Prime glances over at Ultra Magnus. Sure is odd looking over and seeing that face in his room. For a moment, he considers putting up a whole bunch of posters of his own Ultra Magnus doing various heroic propaganda things out of sheer spite, but he reminds himself, there's a difference between pushing buttons to delicately elicit a desired reaction and keyboard mashing for the sake of it. His glance turns into a blank look, and he looks back to his reading, asking, "What? It's a good read. Better than those Pz-Zazzian legal codices, bleh. Some Shi-Lai tactics are very applicable! Not the suicide parts or the enslaving bots parts, but uh..."

He fumbles with the datapad's buttons for a moment, skipping to a different section. "...their Sonic Brigades are pretty neat, how they found out their enemies on this one planet were afraid of the sound of bumblepuppies barking, so they spliced that sound into the background noise to demoralise them."

[Skyfire]

Skyfire nods politely at Ultra Magnus and looks at Sentinel Prime curiously. "Pardon my curiosity, but who are the Shi-Lai? I don't remember them being around this neighborhood 9 million years ago, so I presume they are a younger race?"

The big white Autobot flexes his wings, and more chunks of ice fall off, to melt away on the floor. "Don't mind the mess, that's just frozen atmosphere," he comments.

[Ultra Magnus]

"What I meant was," Magnus says as he swings his legs over the side of the berth to rest his feet on the deck, returning Skyfire's nod with a duck of his own head, "you've been at that for a while. You should consider resting up." Really, the younger bot has been doing quite a lot of reading and quite a lot of work with very little relaxation time as far as Magnus has seen.

[Sentinel Prime]

Sentinel pages around in his reading and holds up a picture. Looks like a human, but the scale suggests that this 'human' is about height of an average Transformer, and the clothing is much different. Then he pages over to a picture of a typical Shi-Lai interceptor/destroyer. He explains, "What most mean by the Shi-Lai are those fleshlings there, but a great deal of their war machines are sapient, too, so I suppose you could argue that they're Shi-Lai, too. The fleshy Shi-Lai wouldn't accept that argument, though. They binary bond* their machines to keep them enslaved."

He makes an extremely sour face. "Losers. So they live in the Shi-Lai Cluster, and the book says they're mostly religious extremists bent on conquest. Do not play well with others."

This is one of the fascinating things Sentinel Prime has discovered about being 'open-minded' - when 'open-minded', it is still fine to look down on others, as long as they aren't open-minded. But it has to be done in a sad, pitying way. That is key. Perhaps some noble staring off at the horizon while crying about how the universe would be a better place if only they were more accepting of cultural differences.

(Sentinel Prime may not be understanding this concept correctly.)

He waves a hand dismissively and snorts at Ultra Magnus, "Who are you, my drill sergeant?" Then, he can't resist adding, "Actually, you might be a bit more helpful if you were, but you're busy, I get that."

- - -

* OOC: Mention of binary bonding being something developed independently of *masters approved by admin.

[Skyfire]

"Hmm. Interesting bunch. What's the reference number for that book in our database? I may want to download a copy to study. Binary-bonding? Like Blurr and Nightbeat's partners are? Also intriguing. I wonder if they can subject Cybertronians to the process--that could be a problem in the future," Skyfire mused. "Do they create their own war machines, or acquire them elsewhere, such as from the Quintessons? Also, what are they extremist about and why are they bent on conquest?"

Skyfire looks slightly askance (if he were human, he would have raised one eyebrow) at Sentinel's rather snide reply to Ultra Magnus. What was that all about? "In general, Sentinel, it's poor judgment to push your limits and reserves when you don't have to--because then you won't have those reserves available when you really do need them."

[Ultra Magnus]

Magnus's concern gives way to some irritation with Sentinel's flippant reply and he pays no mind to the discussion of the Shi-Lai. He's glitching about that abortive discussion of training again? He frowns and heaves himself off the bunk, berth creaking faintly with the shift in weight, then crosses the room in two stiff-legged strides. He all but slaps the datapad from Sentinel's hands, keeping it to himself and holding it near shoulder height.

"I don't know what's got your circuits crossed," he rumbles, switching into commander mode, "but I'm not about to stand around and babysit you. You want to improve? Pick up more techniques? Make yourself a better part of the unit?" He points at Sentinel using the datapad. "You won't get anywhere if you're exhausted." He leans down a little further and his frown deepens as he adds, "Now get. Some. Rest. The text will still be there."

---

OOC: Snatching datapad with permission.

[Sentinel Prime]

"It's not in the database. I bought it myself," along with a bunch of copies of other vaguely military-related texts, "but I can upload it to the database, if you want, and give you the call number then?" Sentinel Prime looks up at Skyfire, waving the datapad a bit. "I haven't talked to Blurr or Nightbeat about their binary bonding," because it gives him the shakes and flashbacks to Headmaster, who thoroughly violated him in ways he doesn't want to think about, so he won't, "so I don't know if it's different or the same. They build their own machines and then link their minds to them, ugh, so they have veto power over what the machine does. It's disgusting. Those poor machines... Anyway-"

He's about to talk about the extremism and the conquest and then address Skyfire's completely unfounded points about him needing his rest, but Ultra Magnus, completely unprovoked, or so he says to himself, has stolen his datapad! Sentinel Prime stares at him in shock for a moment. His hand is stinging from the slap. Then, his optics narrow, and he demands, "That's mine. Give it back."

It's not as catty or obnoxious as it might be, because Ultra Magnus is really a very big Autobot, and he's so very much like someone Sentinel Prime's used to obeying, especially when he does that voice.

[Skyfire]

"Yes, please do. I could use all the background on current cultures that--" Skyfire starts to say, and then Ultra Magnus happens.

"Er, what?" Something (namely, experience) makes Skyfire suspect that Sentinel Prime will not react well to Ultra Magnus's approach, nor will Ultra Magnus react well to Sentinel's attitude. Oh look, his suspicions are well-founded.

"Sentinel. Ultra Magnus." Skyfire raises his hands in a "whoa, slow down" gesture. "Dial your civility settings back up, both of you. The three of us are too big and this cabin is too small for hostility."

[Ultra Magnus]

Magnus says nothing on the ownership of the datapad; he glares at Sentinel Prime instead, optics narrow, then lifts his free hand in a stop gesture to Skyfire.

"Spare me the lecture, Jetfire," he says, then turn his attention back to Sentinel. Never let it be said he won't compromise, though he maintains the same stern air. "I can't train someone who isn't well-rested. Even my Sentinel Prime insisted on it. Get some defrag," he holds out the datapad for Sentinel to claim, "and when you have the time, let me know." Some degree of gentleness creeps into his tone. "I'll be there."

[Sentinel Prime]

Skyfire and Ultra Magnus seem awfully insistent that Sentinel Prime should sleep. The old paranoid thoughts hitch in his processors again, struggling to find a grasp. There is absolutely no reason for Skyfire and Ultra Magnus to murder him in his defragment, he reminds himself.

He snatches his datapad back out of Ultra Magnus's hand and clutches it to his chest like a child cradling some favourite stuffed animal stolen away by a bullying older sibling. Sentinel Prime advises Skyfire, optics narrowed, "I'll show you civil when you show me 'minding your own slagging business'."

"I'm not your Sentinel Prime, now, am I?" is his bitter reply to Ultra Magnus. Sure, hold him to some impossible standard, Sentinel Prime just loves being compared to others and found wanting. He lays himself out on his berth, half on his side, back to the wall, and he turns off his optics. Sentinel Prime's not resting yet, humouring his nagging paranoia, but he will be soon.

[Skyfire]

"Skyfire," the big white Autobot reminds Ultra Magnus. "Jetfire is two other people."

He looks sharply at Sentinel again; his optics narrow slightly. "I am minding my own business--this is my cabin as well as yours and Magnus's, Sentinel," Skyfire says flatly. "I have defragging to attend to, and I don't need my roommates at war with each other."

Skyfire starts moving things around his berth, adjusting it to the position most comfortable for all his bits of wing and drive pack and cockpit and other kibble that are hanging off his back and chest. Skyfire tends to set his up as a reclining couch, like an astronaut's chair, with a cutout for his back.

[Ultra Magnus]

Magnus is far less bitter than Sentinel Prime when he answers. He sounds sad more than anything – sad and ashamed, as if he's already failed Sentinel somehow.

"And I'm not your Ultra Magnus," he reminds the younger Autobot quietly and gently before turning back to his own bunk. Only a moment ago refreshed by his rest, he feels heavy and old, worn down again, and he sinks onto his berth with a tired sigh. He rests his head in his hands for a few seconds, then looks up at Skyfire, contrite. "I'm sorry," he says, "for the misnomer. You look… quite a lot like someone named Jetfire in my reality. It isn't a perfect resemblance…." He at least attempts a smile, one meant to soften the edge of his gaffe. "…But enough to fool these old optical circuits."