|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 9, 2008 22:02:40 GMT -5
Day 14. Scene open to all Autobots at the refugee site. Emirate Xaaron's presence assumed with player permission.
The intersection of several tunnels, some distance away from old Autobase, is where the refugree Autobots have set up camp. The intersection itself serves as a central meeting meeting area. Along the side of the tunnel in one direction, in an area that's been closed off as best as could, is the section where repairs are being seen to, but of concern here is the gathering point.
Rodimus Prime is exhausted. He's been assisting in the repairs himself - he's had to. There are only so many techs around, and no one with the appropriate skills can be exempted at a time like this. However, they've finally reached a point where more hands isn't really helpful, where repairs are at wait points while supplies are being fabricated, and with only so much in the way of source materials, only so many people can do the fabricating at once.
And then there's the scarcity of energon in this situation. They'll have to do something about that.
Despite all the problems, however, the Prime has been doing his best to put on a brave front. If he doesn't let what happened get to him, he helps to prevent it from getting to the troops, and he can't afford to let what happened shake him up. He's been through worse, his Autobots have been through worse, and they have come back.
But to come back, however, plans need to be made. Strategies need to be discussed. And to that end, Rodimus now scans the camp, looking for any sign of silver and gold. Once he finally spots it, he trods tiredly over and leans (subtly, or so he thinks) one shoulder against the wall.
"Ah. Emirate. I've been looking for you."
|
|
|
Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 10, 2008 10:46:10 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron is back to his usual shiny self, but his armour is still warped and dented. He is able to walk under his own power, and he's a noncombatant who doesn't do anything particularly useful on a day to day basis, which means that his repairs are rather low priority.
There is also the fact that he's a bit picky about who works on him.
Still, Emirate Xaaron can't let the Autobots and Maximals see that he's hurt. He owes them a smiling face and a radiant glow, so his aches and pains are all quietly shoveled under the floor paneling.
He looks over Rodimus Prime, grinning, and he does notice the lean. There is subtle, and there is Emirate Xaaron. Worry not, he won't comment on it. Briefly, he reaches out to shake hands or to clap a hand on Rodimus Prime's elbow, but he thinks better of it. This is not his Prime, and he remembers that vaguely nauseated reaction he had the last time he touched Rodimus Prime.
Instead, he turns the hand gesture into a flourish and asks, "Ah, yes. What do you need?"
For ever he must be sought out for some need, and it is his life to serve.
|
|
|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 10, 2008 11:24:58 GMT -5
Rodimus glances around the area, but he's mostly just looking for something to sit on. Worst comes to worst, he'll take the floor. It is a camp of sorts, after all.
"Mostly, I just felt that we needed to go over what was, erm, learned the last battle, and to decide what we're going to do about the next." He sighs and looks towards the area where the injured are being tended to. "These tunnels won't keep us safe for long," he predicts gloomily. "They're too... they're less complex than the sewers and tunnels and underground of Cybertron. I suppose because they were dug out and not built up."
|
|
|
Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 10, 2008 20:40:28 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron just stands, hands folded behind his back. He's spent of much of his life sitting. He might as well think on his feet.
He nods solemnly and agrees, "We will need a new base of operations. Something a trifle more reinforced, perhaps, than a parking garage." Of course the cars all loved it. He's not a car. "We are at an obvious disadvantage."
Emirate Xaaron moves one of his hands forward and makes a fluttering dismissive gesture with it. "But the last battle. Individual troops will need to be debriefed before we have a complete picture, of course, but we can do and overview now."
And she still hasn't so much as pinged on the airwaves.
|
|
|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 10, 2008 21:28:18 GMT -5
Rodimus dips his head in a nod. "I think the two worst factors in our defeat were the weakness of the base, as you said, and the fact that we were... so unprepared for how powerful he was."
Rodimus doesn't specify who he's talking about. He doesn't feel he has to. While he doesn't sit yet, he does sag a little against the wall, both due to exhaustion and the subject matter. "Connected to that was the fact that people kept throwing themselves at him when they should have been avoiding him, waiting for backup. Part of that would be shock and part of it... well, we're Autobots. And Autobot descendants. When a companion's in trouble, it's automatic to try and help them. We need to make our attempts more organized. No head on confrontations - run in, strike, and get out of there, keeping in mind that he probably will know we're coming."
"That's probably not enough, though. Taking into account him, the rest of his Autobots, including their Omega Supreme, the Decepticons... we don't have the resources to just keep him occupied. We have to neutralize him."
|
|
|
Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 11, 2008 22:25:44 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron rubs his face, and mutters, "We're always playing catch-up. The moment we start to pull ahead or even just break even, something new knocks us back."
It's unclear whether he means here or his prior reality. It applies to both equally, and it's actually a rather apt statement of the whole problem with the Autobot war effort. Primus knows that Emirate Xaaron has tried to make advances; tried to get one step ahead of the Decepticons.
Emirate Xaaron fixes his optics on Rodimus prime, and he inquires, "You seem to be very certain that he'll know we're coming. Any particular reason why?"
|
|
|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 12, 2008 8:11:32 GMT -5
"By that I mean that once we get in close, and I think that he'll be able to sense someone, say, trying to attack him from behind or similar because sometimes, I can." Rodimus finally gives up and sits down, leaning against the tunnel wall.
"When I'm more... passive about my connection with the Matrix, at best I'll only get quick flashes of those around me, and that, rarely. But if I'm more focus, if I'm actually trying to reach out with my senses, I can key in on Transformer life force pretty well. It's still not one hundred percent reliable. I'm not impossible to sneak up on in that state, but it gets a lot harder."
He looks up at Emirate Xaaron and concludes, "I'm assuming he has the same ability. He fired directly through a wall at me, and really only missed because I noticed he had stopped moving to fire. I don't know how reliable his ability to sense nearby lifeforce is, but since it would be worse for us if it's completely reliable, I'm going to assume that he is."
|
|
|
Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 12, 2008 17:02:06 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron looks rather thoughtful. He is capable of sensing life forces, reliably, but only when he's very, very close to someone. It's not useful for, say, detecting a surprise attacker. He's only ever used it to verify if a body is really dead or not. Emirate Xaaron has never had any idea why he possesses such an ability - he doesn't have any advanced scanning technology, no hardware to explain it.
It would appear that Primes of his world have such an ability but are possessed of greater range an sensitivity, and that it derives from the Matrix. For some reason, Emirate Xaaron finds himself a bit disturbed.
He pushes the feeling away and muses, "Things can be done with such a foe, you know. He may be aware that someone is coming, he may even be aware that someone is coming, but there are ways to spoof an enemy - Holi coming and Holi coming with a thermonuclear bazooka are not quite the same thing. Oracle standing and Oracle hovering over the one hole in an intact floor..."
Emirate Xaaron smirks and again folds his hands behind his back.
|
|
|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 12, 2008 19:03:23 GMT -5
"Well, I don't think hovering's going to solve the problem," Rodimus grins, the right corner of his lips just a touch higher than the left. Then, the smirk fades, and he narrows his optics. He glances around, checking to see if anyone else has wandered near, and once he's certain they haven't, he murmurs, "You know, when... he was in control of me, he could hover. If the other Rodimus is pulling from that part of the Matrix..."
Then he shakes his head and turns to look at Emirate Xaaron. "And that brings up something else," he murmurs, voice still low. "I could sense his Matrix. It was..." he shudders slightly. "It was poison. I could feel it reaching for the worst parts of me." The parts that came out when Galvatron threw Blurr's head at his feet, when he tainted his own Matrix. "But... there was something in it, something that disturbed him. Which makes no sense."
Rodimus looks up at Emirate Xaaron, the confusion reflected in his expression. "Why should a Matrix that poisoned bother him?"
|
|
|
Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 12, 2008 19:58:27 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron could hover and teleport when possessed by Primus. It might be a shame that they do not know that such abilities can be derived from their own god, but if Emirate Xaaron was in a position to know such a thing, he wouldn't exactly be himself.
Emirate Xaaron just shakes his head sadly and replies in a hushed voice, "I don't know." Why should he know? "But we may be able to use it, even if we can get him to hesitate for just a moment."
|
|
Grimlock
Major
There's no crying in Basebrawl!
Posts: 637
|
Post by Grimlock on Jun 12, 2008 20:07:47 GMT -5
Hover, schmover. Grimlock can fly, and he doesn't need any divine intervention to do so.
Clomping up from one of the pathways, Grimlock spots the pair, and changes his direction to head over. "Hey! Me Grimlock just passing through. Makeshift, Tracks, and Override wanted me to tell that they off exploring tunnels."
|
|
|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 12, 2008 20:25:06 GMT -5
Rodimus's right hand balls into a fist, which he pounds into the palm of his left hand. "We need to do more than make him hesitate. We need to... to... depower him somehow. I think I might be able to-"
And then Grimlock comes clomping and stomping towards the pair. Rodimus looks up at Grimlock and dips his head. "All right," he replies. Tracks, huh? Probably did it to get away from Grimlock.1
Then he narrows his optics. "Wait. Override?" Oh, wait. There was something over the frequencies the day before, wasn't there? "Oh, yeah. He's the new one from Swerve's planet, isn't he?"
1 Although Earthforce is its own little subcontinuity, it's easy to imagine that all Marvel Grimlocks tend to dislike Marvel Trackses.
|
|
|
Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 13, 2008 9:26:58 GMT -5
"Just what do you think that you could-" Emirate Xaaron starts, sounding dubious even now.
Then Grimlock arrives.
Emirate Xaaron politely nods his head in greeting and offers, "Good cycle, Grimlock. I do hope that they do not encounter too much trouble." No trouble would be too much to ask. They are Autobots, after all.
He corrects, absently, "She." Emirate Xaaron only knows because he was corrected on that matter very recently. "The leader of Swerve's planet, apparently.'
|
|
Grimlock
Major
There's no crying in Basebrawl!
Posts: 637
|
Post by Grimlock on Jun 13, 2008 17:59:54 GMT -5
Tracks didn't seem to not like Grimlock. In fact, he seemed interested in talking to him later about their future.
Grimlock nods to Xaaron, and then nods again at what he says. "Him shiny-bot right - Override a girl, like Arcee."
|
|
|
Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 13, 2008 19:37:06 GMT -5
'Like Arcee.' Now Rodimus will be looking for a slender pink robot.
Meeting Override is not going to help with Rodimus's issues with determining gender, is it?
"The planetary leader? Hnh." The Prime... really doesn't know what to say to that. Besides, "I hope that doesn't cause any difficulties."
//I can feel his Matrix, and, except for all the poison, it's the same kind of energy. I'm thinking I might be able to cut off, or at least strangle, his access to it,// he explains to Xaaron over the radio, completing the thought that was begun earlier.
|
|