Light from the Looking Glass

[Starscream-3]

The abandoned tourist beach on Gillanan 3 is having its first light-and-sound show in a long, long time. The air crackles and shimmers, as a blue glow seems to pour out from... nowhere.

And then the nowhere becomes somewhere, as the light seems to create a rift in reality itself. It grows larger and larger until it's big enough for being of huge proportions to step through.

Which is exactly what happens.

Walking through is none other Starscream. A Starscream, anyway. His optics take in the environment around him. It is familiar to him, but the look in his optics is not one of opportunity and conquest, but of concern.

Confidant that the portal works, he turns and gestures to his fellow Decepticons that it's safe to pass through.

As the Decepticons make their way through, Starscream addresses them, calm and resolute,

"Decepticons, time is not on our side. From what Spinister has learned from the Autobots still stationed on our Gillanan III, Rodimus has allied himself with... versions of ourselves. If we have any hope to defeat them, it is to seek out this world's Rodimus Prime.

"Remember, these are not the Autobots and Maximals we have battled, so park your grudges in the garage. Finally, keep in Radio contact at all times. We do not want to get confused with the other Decepticons."

Starscream points in the trajectory of Autobot HQ. "The Autobot's headquarters should be in the same location as our home world. We are travelling there now..." he pauses, his look taking on a more grim look, "And praying to whatever life source you come from that we're not too late."

OOC: Decepticons-3, assemble! This is the intro thread. I'm going to leave this thread open to get as many through as possible, with the intentions of making a bee-line for Autobase, the order for which will come in my next post. If you don't want to do that, that's fine and recon parties/whatever can happen too. IM/PM me to discuss.

[skystrike-3]

“Man, that was utterly bizarre.” Skystrike said as he stepped out from the portal, looking up at Starscream afterwards. “Wasn’t that bizarre?” He glanced back through the portal then quickly got out of the way before anyone else came through and bumped into him. That and the thing was kind of scary although he’d never, ever, ever admit that out loud to anyone.

The seeker checked to make sure that all his limbs had come through as well before finally looking up when Starscream started his speech. Apparently the portal was just the beginning of all the bizarreness. By the end of it all, Skystrike was wearing a distinctly disturbed look, the corners of his charcoal lips turned down in a frown.

“We’re here to rescue the Autobots?” Crossing his arms, the berkut scowled as he surveyed the area suspiciously. “That is wrong on so many levels.” He’d been expecting the world to have some difference to theirs; yellow plants, blue dirt, fuchsia sun, maybe green skies. Something. This was a place where the Autobots were good and the Decepticons were evil after all, there had to be something about that landscape that was different.

But there was nothing, not even the trees were in a different position. The normalcy of it all was beginning to annoy him somewhat. It was like stepping out of a secret trap door only to find your backyard again.

[Shortround-3]

Shortround followed Skystrike out of the portal and looked upon the landscape. Oh joy, Autobot Headquarters. Shortround wished for nothing more than to get into another fight, to tear Autobots limb from limb and make them regret their every mistake...

But no. The mission came first. After Starscream had finished talking, Shortround glanced at Skystrike. "I do not like it either Skystrike..." he muttered, before turning to face the the Autobot Headquarters. "But then again, I don't like anything about this whole incident" he added, glaring towards the city. Alternate Decepticons... He couldn't help but wonder what his own alternate would be like. Maybe some passive pacifist coward who would flee from his rampage.

[Fleetwind-3]

A pastel yellow and cream Seeker darts through the portal without a moment's hesitation, takes several steps away from the group and leaps into the air before he realizes that they aren't actually going anywhere yet. He hovers and turns partway back to listen to Starscream's speech, and then he turns more fully back, comes to attention while still hovering, grins, and says, "You know you can count on me, sir!"

At the others' grumbling, he holds his hands up imploringly. "If it helps just... try not to think of them as Autobots? Because they aren't, not like we know them, and they need our help! Besides, being here isn't just for them. Rodimus Prime isn't the type of enemy you can just ignore and hope goes away! If we let our Autobots build up a power base here, we're done for!"

---

OOC: Skippable.

[Needlenose-3]

Needlenose steps from the portal and quietly scans the garish horizon as he listens to the others. He inclines his head. "Fleetwind's right. It's not proper to hold these Autobots accountable for the sins of our own. We should reserve judgment on them until we've actually seen what they're like."

He turns towards Starscream, bows his head. "Ready and waiting, Lor- erm, Starscream," he corrects himself, remembering Starscream's preference not to be addressed by the title 'lord.'

---

OOC: Skippable

[Cannonball-3]

Cannonball comes through the portal shortly, a bit of a scowl on his face. This isn't the Cannonball everyone is familiar with, though! He's white, his optics and lights are blue, and he has naval markings rather than garish tattoos. Plus, his eyepatch is on the wrong side!

"Right madness, I tell you. Good Autobots, evil Decepticons..." He shakes his head, stepping away from the portal, nearby Starscream, raising his hand in salute. "Cannonball, reportin' fer duty, sir."

[Scourge-3 (RiD)]

Scourge saunters in behind all the eager beavers. Going through first is the way to walk right into a pit trap. He hunches over a bit, hands on his abdomen, and he mutters, "Won't catch me doing that too often."

Maybe Scourge can find an area that Skyfire hasn't ransacked yet and make this trip worthwhile. He straightens out a bit, but only a bit - he has something of a permanent slouch to his posture, as if he was wholly allergic to formality and proper stance. Scourge raises a hand to shield his optics and looks around. He comments, "Y'know, just because these Decepticons are evil doesn't make the Autobots here good. They could all be evil."

Someone has to be the cynic.

---

OOC: Skippable.

[skybyte3]

A fin slices through the portal, the head attached to it poking out, no sign of a body or shoulders just yet. First thing is first, Sky-Byte looks upon this not-so-new world with wide mismatched optics before making a slight face and stepping out of the portal. So much for some poetic and picturesque differences. He even had a bit of a sonnet prepared for this momentous crossing. Doesn't seem to be a need for it though.

With a natural confidence, Sky-Byte strides after Starscream and stops a little behind his commander. "We shall follow you wherever, my lo--er....sir--Starscream." His sweeping bow comes to a jerky halt as Sky-Byte looks up at the Decepticon commander with a cheesy apologetic smile.

"Do we have an immediate way to tell our Autobots and these new Autobots apart?" Sky-Byte taps his chin lightly and looks around. Hopefully, the option will be something other than 'wait for them to charge at you'. But he shall make due with whatever his liege tells him.

OOC: Skippable

[Blackout-3]

A short, scrabbling form covered in sharp points and planes skitters through the portal on six short legs, claws and tail twitching and filling the air with excited chittering. Scorponok dives into the ground, tunneling down a bit and flying back up like some insectile dolphin at play.

A heavier step follows as Blackout steps through, moving aside to allow others to make their entrance. "These supposedly good Autobots have little reason to trust us, either," he notes. "We must be cautious."

OOC: Skippable.

[Eye-Fire 3]

Another mech walks out the portal. He seems to limp occasionally, but seems to be unaffected by it. His scope also seems to jitter randomly every few seconds and his fingers twitch idly as he walks.

Moving aside so others may exit, he surveys the beach. Yes, its like he remembers it. He'll have to change that at some point...

His audio receptors pick up what Starscream is saying, but it takes him and he thinks for a moment. He'd better hang back and let the others do the talking, he tends to either misjudge people or put across the wrong image.

"Do I have per-per-per-permission to shot anything that looks mean and unfriendly sir?" He says, his voices volume wandering about a bit.

[Dead End-3]

Dead End jumped through the portal and landed lightly, one hand reaching for the two-handed katana slung across his back. He quickly evaluated the situation; no one was attacking the beach head, much to his surprise.

He slipped through the crowd to stand at Starscream's back, where he belonged when the Prince was on the ground, giving his ruler a slightly reproachful glance. Starscream should have let Dead End go through first to make sure it was safe, not risked himself.

Dead End glanced around uneasily, violet optics glittering. "My prince, we are too exposed; this beach is far too open. We cannot stay here."

[Midnight-3]

A big, blocky black and dark blue Seeker stepped through next, then scowled at the comments he heard.

"Yeah, right. Y'all got any idears on how we're going to tell them Autobots from our no-account red-badged trash?" Midnight folded his arms, two heavy lasers pointing akimbo. His head turned this way and that, taking in the air and the terrain.

"Ah hear ya, Skystrike!"
---
skippable

[Duskwing-3]

Duskwing jumped through and floated gently to the ground; he was still thrilled by his new lifters and liked to play around with them any chance he got. He stopped in front of the portal (incidentally standing in the way of new arrivals) and stared, swiveling his head and twisting his torso from side-to-side.

"Huh. Don't look no different. You sure we really went anywheres, boss?"

---
skippable

[Starfighter-3]

Something vaguely Starfighter-shaped stalks through the portal next. Seekers as a whole are a bit hard to tell apart from a distance, but if you were to contrast this one with the Starfighter of this world you might simply assume it was a coincidence of paint job. The jet brawler has his head held high, looking at this new world with a scornful expression and wondering which part of it wants to try and take him on first.

There's no enemies, but there is someone in his way. Which, if he's in the right mood, is the same thing!

"Naw, Duskwing, we just walked through a really sparkly patch of fog. Now get your aft out of my way!"

[Optimus Prime]

The banter began as questions about the adopted inhabitants of this planet and logistics, it's turned into distraction. Starscream needs them to focus. "All right, that's enough." The voice is calm, but firm and controlled. "As I was saying, the Autobots have a base of operations, and it's the same location as the ones from our world. The Autobots we are looking for--which intel informs us are noble beings--will be there. Convincing them will be something up to them to do.

"Either way, Decepticons..." Starscream points in the direction they'll soon be flying. "Rodimus Prime was our responsibility, and we need to bring him to where we came from. He shouldn't be interfering here, and we need to prevent him from wiping out these Autobots. If we don't... he'll return to our own world soon enough, only with an army twice as strong."

Starscream takes a few steps forward, and turns back to face his soldiers. "Time is running out. Decepticons, transform, and take off!¹"

Starscream transforms into the form of an earthen F-15 jet, and blasts off.

---

¹Two things regarding this little thing that Starscream said. First of all, it's meant to be the Decepticon version of 'transform and roll out', so hopefully the Shortrounds and Cannonballs and other non-fliers won't be offended by it. Secondly, I came up with this line well before I heard Animated Megatron say something similar, damn it.