Ultra Magnus
Major
Disappointing Fellow Autobots Since the Age of Internment
Posts: 565
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Post by Ultra Magnus on Jun 17, 2009 17:58:27 GMT -5
That hand around his neck does precious little to faze Ultra Magnus. Shockwave has already gone to the trouble of having him dragged back here alive and shown far too much interest in keeping him as intact as possible to now do something so outrageous as rip off his head. Magnus doesn't expect that Shockwave won't harm him. That would be even more stupidity on top of what he's already committed. But he can survive a little beating and he can survive torture. Shockwave has to know that, and he has to know he can't intimidate Magnus, either.
Ultimately, his behaviour makes no sense.
"I'm not your security commander," Magnus states flatly, ignoring the scalpel. "And I owe you nothing." Except a good thrashing, but he grudgingly leaves that part out; instead he adds, optics narrowing, "But if you have to know, you shot me because I didn't like the way you reneged on our agreement for the Autobots. You sounded so surprised that I didn't accept their impending deactivation without complaint." And if Shockwave plays stupid, that'll be the end of the discussion. Magnus is already sure he had it planned from the start.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jun 17, 2009 22:30:09 GMT -5
Perhaps his behavior is a bit illogical. Even Shockwave himself, were he to step back and examine his actions, would deem them so. But the gunformer is driven first by a need to know what has- or what will have- transpired in Magnus's time, and secondly, he is most vexed at having one of his possessions turn upon him. True, Shockwave has -had, it is so confusing- contingency plans in place, and was fully prepared for Ultra Magnus to balk at some point. This however...is a bit much.
"Oh, but Ultra Magnus, you will always be mine, just as Cybertron will always be mine," Shockwave says, stepping away from his prisoner and once more seating himself. Magnus is talking, and Shockwave knows it is not because of threats. The security commander never could resist a chance to speak ill of himself, and in a way, he is now given permission to do that.
"Our bargain? Hmmm, ah yes, I promised a trial or some such, a chance at redemption1 did I not? Deactivation need not mean death, as well you know, and the situation had changed even before my removal, so yes, that is something I would likely have ordered once I learned they were recovered. There could still have been a trial, Magnus." And then they would be dead, for Shockwave would not leave such a vote to chance.
"But, I must point out now that I did not shoot you, but a future version of myself. It is by no means guarneted that I would do the same, as there are millions of probabilities amongst the universes."
OOC: personal extrapolation between myself and Ultra Magnus's player. The actual nature of their deal is not described in canon.
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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 Jun 18, 2009 21:05:38 GMT -5
"I'm not 'yours'," snarls Magnus. "I was never 'yours' and if you think otherwise, you're as delusional as you are a liar." He was the security commander under Shockwave's command, but he never belonged to him. "And no matter how you try to explain it, deactivation wasn't what we agreed to." Bull-headed? Perhaps, but the lives of friends, fellow soldiers, and family were on the line and Ultra Magnus had no plans to give any quarter. He could do no less for them.
He won't give any ground to Shockwave's semantics, either.
"Rattle off all the rhetoric you want." He scowls at the seated Decepticon. "It already happened."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jun 18, 2009 22:23:16 GMT -5
"And did I specifically say to you that under no circumstances would they be deactivated?" Shockwave asks flatly. "I do not believe so. That they would be remanded into your care, that until arrangements could be made they would be your responsibility, yes, but I do not believe I made any such promise regarding their independent function either prior to or after any verdict might be brought down."
"I would think you would have learned by now not to read into my words promises that are not there, Ultra Magnus. Do not accuse me of forsaking my word when I did not promise to the letter what you claim," Shockwave finishes, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms under his chest.
He studies the white ghost of a Prime hanging before him, actually giving more consideration to Ultra Magnus's words than it might seem. Shockwave sighs, an exasperated sound which Magnus has heard before- and likely directed at him. The Wrecker commander never was able to grasp such subtleties
"But it has not happened, Ultra Magnus, for me, and there is no guarantee that it will or would. I shall point out now, that you do still function. Do you honestly think that I, with my knowledge of your systems, would have been so careless as to leave you alive, if I feared your betrayal?" he asks softly.
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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 Jun 19, 2009 19:39:46 GMT -5
"If you think I'm the only one reading things that weren't there, you're sorely mistaken. Deactivation was never brought up as an option, either," Ultra Magnus fires right back. "You don't get to dangle a loophole over my head when that's all you have and be smug about it." Something Magnus, who is straightforward at least by comparison, finds grating. Especially coming from Shockwave.
As for the shot itself… Magnus isn't entirely sure he was alive after Optimus Prime left him lying there in the throne room. He remembers the world going to nothing, then the pain fading. But he still owed his duty to the Autobots and he couldn't simply lie back and forget that. He couldn't let Shockwave get away with trying to silence him. It was intermittent blackouts and dragging himself down the corridor after that. Then he awakened in the fields and that has ultimately brought him here. Disorienting is too mild a word.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jun 20, 2009 13:24:04 GMT -5
"They were war criminals, Ultra Magnus, declared so not by myself, but by the Council. Perhaps some of the others could have been persuaded to reason, but your brother is another matter entirely. Would you have me risk the safety of our people, the long-fought for peace of our planet, just that you would not have another black mark upon your already marred conscience? It is more than a loophole for me, you see. It gives you plausible deniabilty, as well. You can blame everything upon me, an not worry that you, yourself, were a traitor to your precious broher. I do try to take care of you in that regard, Magnus."
Shockwave considers the prisoner before, and considers his options. He cannot hold Ultra Magnus in secret indefinately. The Autobots know of his existence. A week, two perhaps, is all he has. Long enough, Shockwave thinks, to get all that he needs from his former commander.
Ah, and he needs to drain Magnus's energy a bit. Keep him weak, just this side of stasis lock. Better safe than sorry.
"You have not answered my question, Magnus? How do you explain your continued function?"
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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 Jun 22, 2009 14:57:48 GMT -5
Magnus won't even dignify the talk of protecting him with a response; Shockwave does nothing for anyone's benefit but his own. Not even for the former security commander he finds important enough to abduct and hold prisoner.
"Resumed function," he tersely says instead to that question. Guesses, instinct, and a gap in his memory are all he really has on what happened after that cannon blast punched a hole through him, but he'll take them. The thought that Shockwave did miscalculate is almost comforting.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jun 23, 2009 12:06:39 GMT -5
Shockwave's optic flickers.
"So interesting, that phrasing. It indicates that you feel you actually ceased viable function and somehow regained it. And that," Shockwave stands and again moves toward Magnus, "I find most intriguing."
He reaches out to casually stroke one finger down one white antennae, along that azure jaw to gently cup Magnus's face, tilt it slightly. The handle of Shockwave's laser scalpel is pressed against Magnus's face.
"I believe that I shall have to perform a rather thorough examination, Ultra Magnus. It will not be pleasant for you, I am afraid. Or perhaps it will. We shall see." He thumbs on the scalpel, the blade glowing inches from Magnus's optic. "I have quite a few frustrations of my own to work out, you see."
OOC: and scene fade
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