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Post by Perceptor on Jul 21, 2009 13:59:23 GMT -5
The only reason that the injuries do not get worse upon closer inspection is that it is Perceptor, and unless the object in question is on another planet at the time, there really is no closer inspection, short of a microscopic level.
Heh.
His expression, however, does grow more and more serious the closer that Ultra Magnus comes as he notes and classifies every slash and burn, every crack and amputation. This Autobot scientist is seriously unhappy by the sheel level of cruelty he sees in the injuries.
But then Ultra Magnus transforms, and Perceptor is confronted with his first view of the mech minus his ubiquitous armor. Logic dictates that he should have guessed what he would see. No trailer, no armor; it's fairly obvious.
It is not logic that has seized Perceptor at the moment, though, as he stares at the battered, dusty form before him, looking so much like a faded ghost of the nightmares awoken by their foray into the swamp. For one, long, awful moment, the world seems to stop as he awaits the rumble of condemnation from his dead Prime.
It is color, and that too familiar, unexpected voice that sets the world turning again. The red optics and the thin trickles of pink energon that leak here and there to mingle with other fluids that weep sluggishly from the myriad of wounds. It is the blue mask and the scuffed dots of other markings scattered across that plae form that speaks not with Optimus's voice, but with the voice of Ultra Magnus.
Isolated? Before his wounds have even been evaluated - how is he still standing, anyway - much less tended to? And he is concerned more about being isolated than about dying? Not on his watch!
"Ah, yes, of course," he drawls, curious anger flaring up hot and strong as he steps forward. "Because the easiest way of dealing with a potential security risk is to allow it to expire of its own damages."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 21, 2009 14:02:17 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron actually attempts to hurry to Ultra Magnus's side, and he looks ready to offer himself up as someone to lean on when Ultra Magnus makes his demand.
Mildly, he looks up at Ultra Magnus, who rather resembles a pale shadow of his old friend, Optimus Prime, rather than the robot that he commissioned from the Matrix Flame and let go to Earth, and he inquires, "Are you contagious? Bugged? Mentally compromised? Something else?"
Emirate Xaaron certainly doesn't seem afraid or angry or upset, just very, very calm and neutral. To the other Autobots and Maximals, he calls, "Medical has an isolation cell that should suffice for Ultra Magnus's needs. Whoever is going inside, see to it that it is prepped. Outside, start cataloguing what they'll need inside. Kup, Rodimus Prime, Grimlock - escort Ultra Magnus inside, so long as he isn't bugged, and everyone else, make way!"
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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 Jul 21, 2009 14:24:07 GMT -5
Dim red optics narrow speculatively at Perceptor. Ultra Magnus has no intentions of dying, but he can't say that confirmed security risks wouldn't be handily disposed of by letting them rot alone somewhere. He refrains from saying as much, shrugging off that anger and looking instead to Emirate Xaaron. Nothing like Xeon, indeed, and even a little baffling in the way he rushes forward to lend a shoulder to someone he should, by all logic, be having thrown into the brig. Magnus didn't expect even the lack of guns being trained on him, much less this.
"…I… can't be sure there's nothing on me that shouldn't be," he admits, gratitude and relief – especially at that escort order, though he inwardly flinches at Grimlock's name – unvoiced but revealed in the way he sags slightly toward Xaaron, as if at any moment he'll need that support. He was conscious for everything Shockwave did, but he wasn't always aware and he doesn't even know if he can trust his own system diagnostics. "And I don't want to put anyone else at risk if there is." He's done enough of that already.
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Grimlock
Major
There's no crying in Basebrawl!
Posts: 637
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Post by Grimlock on Jul 21, 2009 14:43:32 GMT -5
Grimlock slowly lowers himself to the ground, a small distance away. He's a mite confused, as this Ultra Magnus does not look like the one he knows, but he sounds like him. Strange, that. Either way, he's here to help him as ordered.
He rumbles a bit. "If something there that not should be, Perceptor find it and fix it."
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Post by Mirage on Jul 21, 2009 14:46:16 GMT -5
Mirage had automatically stepped closer to Magnus once he transformed, also offering support should the semi need it. The spy hadn't fully realized the extent of Magnus's injuries...how is he even standing?
Perceptor's rather snappish and droll comment garners a sharp look from the spy. And one snappish reply in return.
"He's been through the Pit in a handbasket, Perceptor, and been Shockwave's plaything on top of that. Even I know he needs to be isolated so put that intelligence of yours to some use. Xaaron isn't going to deny him treatment. But we can't let him on board until we know he doesn't have a damn bomb in that shattered chest of his, or some such."
To Xaaron he says, in a much more deferential tone, "I assume you'll want a briefing. While they settle him in, or afterward?"
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 21, 2009 15:04:25 GMT -5
"Shockwave."
It's a tone of voice Ultra Magnus might know well, one frigid with cold, calculating anger and the resignation of certainty. Perceptor should have known that Shockwave had been the root of all of... this. It is enough, seeing the extent of the damage, to stir up feelings of true hate in the normally placid scientist.
"Yes, one of the quarrantine wards," he agrees, optics narrowed as he begins pulling tools from subspace. He pauses long enough to toss a look of inquiry at Magnus, seeking permission before beginning his work.
Mirage's outburst he simply ignores, choosing instead to concentrate on Ultra Magnus, and radioing in to whoever is repping the isolation ward what supplies he can already see that they will need. He does, however, add, "I will examine your structures for major threats, however I have neither the equipment, nor the time, to complete as thorough an exmaination here as is needed, considering Shockwave's hand in this... damage. Anything that he has installed," because it's a given as far as Perceptor is concerned, "will almost assuredly be too subtle to find short of a complete systems refurbish. Something which you quite clearly require, anyway. Any explosive devices significant enough to pose a danger to the entire ship, however, should be easily enough found."
He is working as he is explaining, crimping off fluid leaks and isolating small electrical shorts as he seeks through Ultra Magnus's all too visible internals - and he has to clench his jaw tightly at just how visible those internals are.
"In case of other, less... obvious... threats, Xaaron, I would recommend that the fewer of our medical staff exposed to Ultra Magnus until his syetems have been fully cleared and he has been vetted, the better."
ooc: poking, prodding, and pestering of Magnus's systems done with permission.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 21, 2009 16:00:56 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron glares at the ground for a moment. Primus, protect him from bleeding-fuel pump medics who think that he would let Ultra Magnus stand around and bleed out because he is... what, a whimsically cruel tyrant? Who enjoys randomly wasting resources for no reason? After he went through all the trouble of deploying Mirage and Rattrap to ensure that the Decepticons did not retain Ultra Magnus, Emirate Xaaron is not willing to allow Ultra Magnus to die any time soon. There is much that they can learn from him, and perhaps he can even be made a proper Autobot again, in time.
Along those lines, giving Ultra Magnus the third degree certainly wouldn't do much to convince Ultra Magnus that the Autobots are delightful people to work for, would it?
Emirate Xaaron answers Mirage, "We can walk and talk." He taps the aide of his head, indicating over radio. "Stale intel can be worse than no intel at all."
To Holi, he inquires, looking down, "Don't suppose you can create a communications suppression field?" It would be dreadfully handy if Holi could. "Perceptor may not be able to find all the bugs before we take Ultra Magnus inside, but we can at least prevent them from relaying any information out."
Emirate Xaaron looks to the non-Perceptor techs remaining and asks, because Perceptor is busy, "Any of you able to jury-rig up a communications suppression field on the fly?"
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Jul 21, 2009 16:09:13 GMT -5
Holi pauses and sort of stares blankly at Emirate Xaaron for a moment when the Autobot leader makes that request. Suppress communications?
"I – I can try, sir!" he finally says. He's guessing by context that Emirate Xaaron would like it to centre on Ultra Magnus, which means Holi will have to stick by the much, much larger Autobot while he works on a jamming signal. He finds somewhere he'll hopefully be out of the medics' way before he gets to work. It looks like boarding will have to wait!
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jul 21, 2009 21:35:01 GMT -5
Oh, good. Mirage's lecture means that Kup doesn't have to make any comments about letting sympathy for the enemy (or potential enemies) endanger friends down the road.
Because Kup doesn't want to go there. But he can, if he thinks it necessary.
"All right, Em'rate," Kup answers Xaaron, keeping his shock over Magnus's unarmored appearance to himself. He strolls nearer to Magnus almost casually as Perceptor works. He doesn't draw his weapon - that would make it easier to grab, after all - but there's a definite wariness to his expression.
Rodimus, on the other hand, remains carefully silent as he moves near the others. He studies Magnus, and in his own face there is a strange combination of anger and sympathy. As he spots the other wavering, however, he slips in to offer his shoulder, doing his best to stay out of Perceptor's way. "If there's danger, and I'm escort, I'm already exposed," he says, voice soft but certain. "And if you topple over, that'll just make Perceptor's check harder."
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Post by Mirage on Jul 21, 2009 23:44:12 GMT -5
Mirage gives a sharp nod as Xaaron indicates they move to radio contact. "Of course."
The medics and escorts seem to have Magnus in hand, and so Mirage leaves him to them. He moves nearer to Emirate Xaaron.
//It took some time, and I am sorry for the lack of radio communications after I was sent back out. But radio silence seemed best; if I found him, I did not want to lead any pursuers to him, you see.//
//We have talked little. He is, as you see, gravely wounded, and has kept his strength and focus on the drive, not conversation. He recognized me, though.// And that is a big point, for while he has looked similar to many other Mirage's, only Kup recognized Mirage's form as his Cybertronian form.
"He is in a worse state than the alternate Swerve was. And I did not think that was possible," he murmurs, "If this was all Shockwave's work...how could any follow one so depraved?"
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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 Jul 22, 2009 21:31:09 GMT -5
Ultra Magnus hardly bats an eye while Perceptor makes free with the patches to his wounds. It seems grossly invasive, but the whole routine has really lost its impact over the past few days. He's just glad that reason is prevailing and people are actually willing to grant him that confinement until they can be sure he isn't an unintentional liability to them.
What really makes his head swim and threatens to take the ground out from beneath his feet in a mix of shock and regret is the sight of Stakeout trotting up to handle communications – no, not Stakeout. The colouring is wrong and Xaaron calls him Holi. Micromasters. Wasn't being faced with Crunch's body right after he woke up bad enough? There have to be Micromasters here, too?
Magnus takes the opportunity to focus on Rodimus instead, glancing at Kup as he turns away from the Micromaster. They aren't sure of him. Good. He doesn't want them to be complacent; they can't risk it.
"I'm sorry," he says to Rodimus with the deepest sincerity, for what it's worth. He's putting Autobots at risk because he's too cowardly to die now, like this. He could have let himself go back on the floor of Shockwave's throne room, but something had brought him back; he simply knew that his duty wasn't done. Now here he stands, stripped of his armour and half-dead again. Is this what he was meant to do? "…And I am not going to topple over," he adds in a low, raspy mutter; he doesn't lean on the offered shoulder, but like he did with Xaaron, he sags slightly toward Rodimus in unspoken gratitude, as if he may need the support later even if he isn't sure he deserves it. He wants to ask just who decided to give Hot Rod's cousin the Matrix, but he doesn't have that privilege, so he leaves it at that for now.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jul 22, 2009 23:18:34 GMT -5
Rodimus frowns faintly, but doesn't push the matter. He remains close, however, spying the slight 'sag'. Looks like Magnus may not be as certain about what he said as he sounds.
Not that he sounds that certain, either.
"All right, then," Rodimus proclaims, crossing his arms in faint annoyance. "But if you do fall, I'm holding you responsible now."
Hopefully someone will take that as the joke it's meant to be and people will lighten up, but given Rodimus's dead-pan delivery, who knows?
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Post by Perceptor on Jul 23, 2009 8:34:06 GMT -5
Perceptor snorts indelicately, adding, "Additionally, please keep in mind that I am only emotionally soft, not physically, and that I make a very poor landing cushion." Rodimus had deadpan, so Perceptor is running with dry. Hey, it helps distract him from his crankiness and his irritation - at the situation, rather than anyone (besides Shockwave) specifically - with Magnus's injuries and his insistance upon sequestering before repairs. He doesn't really want to think about exactly why it irritates him so much. (But he is not losing another one in this frame, dammit!)
"Nicely done, Holi," he praises as he continues to work. "Do you believe that it is within your scope of ability to devise a similar jamming field to encompass one of the quarrantine bays in Medical?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jul 23, 2009 13:17:31 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron looks down at Holi and inquires, "So it's working?" Perceptor seems to be implying that it is, but he'd like some confirmation right from the Micromaster's mouth.
He replies to Mirage over radio (hopefully Holi isn't jamming Mirage and Emirate Xaaron!), //The means may be questionable, but the ends do not disappoint. he is not with the Decepticons, at least physically. Perhaps he will have news of the future for you, if we can sift the truth from the lies.//
Emirate Xaaron folds his hands behind his back, posture erect. Lowly, he adds verbally, explaining to Mirage, "It's really the simplest thing in the world, if one is patient. Start with an enemy. There always has to be someone, something to scapegoat. Not necessarily a particular person or group - it could be an idea, a concept. Demonise the enemy. Remove any traces of sympathy the populace might have for him or it. Attribute everything that has ever gone wrong to the enemy. Ask for sacrifices from the populace in the name of fighting this enemy, in the name of keeping them safe - because you care about them, you truly do, and you know what's best for them. Take away their freedom of speech, because the enemy might speak freely, too, and poison the airwaves. Monitor all communications, trying to catch the enemy. Edit the news. Edit history. All to keep the enemy from tainting the populace's thoughts. Restrict your populace's access to weapons to defend themselves, because they clearly don't know what's good for them and might hurt themselves - and the enemy might use those weapons. However," he smiles sharply here, "make sure that your soldiers and police are very, very well-armed, indeed. All the better to protect your innocent populace, which has agreed to hand over their freedom for security, meter by meter, because it's all happened so gradually and made so much sense at every turn. Make heroes of your military and encourage your people to join, so that they can show their patriotism." He drops to sotto voce and holds up a hand to his face, as if asiding, "Really, you'll just attract the bullies and those who want power over others." Back to his normal speaking tone. "Soon enough, you'll be able to have your hounds break into private property, you'll be able to make people simply disappear, and yes, you'll be able to torture your own men, because ah, it is all so very reasonable and expedient, and it is a sad necessity that must be done in order to keep everyone safe from the enemy." His smile turns ghoulish. "You'll even be able to convince build-mate to torture build-mate. For the good of the many. So freedom dies."
Then, Emirate Xaaron's smile turns sad, and he shakes his head, his expression returning to neutral. What's worse, knowing that he can think like that, or the fact that he can think like that at all? At least he can catch himself when he goes too far down that path or allow others to steer him away. For now.
His optics narrow thoughtfully as Ultra Magnus looks a bit more wobbly when he sights Holi. Definite reaction over seeing Holi. Odd. A general issue with Micromasters or with people who look like Holi in specific? Emirate Xaaron will have to watch out for that, maybe get arrange for Clipper to walk past Ultra Magnus's isolation cell or something. Clipper does run errands for command, so it wouldn't be implausible for her to ask him to fetch some item for him when he's inevitably talking with Ultra Magnus.
He's walking as he's talking.
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Post by Mirage on Jul 23, 2009 21:30:43 GMT -5
Mirage continues to keep pace with Xaaron. Perhaps his step falters a touch when Xaaron so calmly explains how to go about becoming a tyrant and breaking a people. Perhaps it is just his own exhaustion catching up with him. Regardless, the Emirate has gone up a few points in the spy's estimation.
Mirage is well on his way to resolving to do less to raise Xaaron's ire.
He nods to acknowledge Xaaron's comments, then again uses the radio.
//They have a ship.//
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