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Post by Springer on Feb 12, 2009 20:31:50 GMT -5
Springer leans back a bit, preparing for a bit of exposition, as a Furman-written character tends to do.
"It seemed necessary at the time. Seemed like everything we threw at Thunderwing failed, so we were considering it a last resort. Thankfully, Jetfire did some sciencey discovering things and kept it from happening." Springer shakes his head a bit, then looks over at Arcee. "Decepticons drove you off, eh? We...drove ourselves off. Not us, the Autobots. Us, the Cybertronians. The war ravaged the planet and its resources, and made the planet nigh inhospitable."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Feb 12, 2009 21:34:35 GMT -5
Rodimus's mouth opens faintly as he considers this. "Aaaaaah," he breaths in. "So... Cybertron wasn't inhabitable in the first place?" The decision to destroy an empty planet, when it's home, is a tough one, but perhaps easier than the one to destroy an inhabited one.
"Thunderwing never really amounted for much in my reality. A contender for Decepticon leadership that never went anywhere. I understand that he was a lot worse in Nightbeat and Emirate's branch, but... the need to destroy a planet to stop him seems pretty far out there. Sure, he's a powerful Pretender, but he's still just a Pretender."
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Arcee
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Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Feb 13, 2009 22:45:00 GMT -5
Arcee shakes her head. "You two," she says, "your realities seem so much more complicated than mine. Once Megatron took over, there wasn't any kind of challenge for Decepticon leadership, except for a couple of tries by Starscream. Guess he really was the biggest stick around."
And dead, if there was any justice in the world, but she knew from Kup's accounts that it wasn't to be.
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Post by Springer on Feb 14, 2009 17:59:35 GMT -5
"It was habitable...just that we strained the planet too much with the war, screwed up the atmosphere. Now you can't even stay on the planet for a short time without using shielding due to the plasma storms." Springer then looks over at Rodimus. "Huh. Well, in my reality, he was a scientist. He foresaw the end-of-days before anyone else, and tried to get everyone to use those ...wha'dja call them, Pretender Shells? He tried to get everyone to use those for protection from the impending cataclysm, but everyone thought he was crazy to even suggest using such perverse things. Then he basically forsook everyone and poured all he had into completing his own shell. It destroyed his mind in the process, and he simply became an engine of destruction."
Then his attention turns to Arcee with a chuckle. "Complicated isn't the half of it." Wait'll she hears about the Infiltration Protocols.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Feb 15, 2009 18:56:50 GMT -5
"You know, I'm not sure I'd count 'can't stay on the planet for more than short times without shielding' as habitable," Rodimus points out almost absently as he rocks back in his chair. He frowns and considers. "You know, there have been rumors of energy types that are... less effective on Transformers with some level of organic integration, though. In fact, from what I understand, that was a key to surviving the Underbase slaughter that my reality narrowly avoided."
"Interesting to hear how the technology went in other realities... mind boggling, too." He shakes his head. "Pretender tech is almost mundane where I'm from. I was on the crew that stole it from the Decepticons, and probably have enough of the scats in memory to re-figure it out pretty quickly. It... it never endangered the user's mind, though. And while it offered some ability boost, it never made anyone a threat to an entire planet."
He shrugs and studies Springer for a moment, wondering how the other would handle it if they suddenly found themselves with a Pretender ally.
To Arcee, he notes, "Our Decepticon leadership tended to pass around on a regular basis, though it was back with Megatron by 2005. Still, there were any number that could be found in the top spot at any given time."
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Arcee
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Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Feb 16, 2009 1:03:58 GMT -5
"We've got something like that too," Arcee says, when Rodimus talks about interfering energies. "Corlonium crystals. Pretty rare, though. And I'm not sure if they're just deadly in general, or specific to us."
Pretenders, master technology, it's all, to borrow a phrase, Greek to her. Even with reading the files.
She nods further at his explanation. "And yet we still both built an Autobot City and lost Optimus. Weird."
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Post by Springer on Feb 16, 2009 1:14:49 GMT -5
Springer blinks at Rodimus, then holds his hands up. "No, no, you've got it wrong. Guess I explained it wrong or something. My fault." He waves his hand, as if wiping the slate clean.
"It was habitable before. Then the war broke out, and after a period into the war, after the resources were used up and we basically killed Cybertron, that's when the surface became hell to visit." Springer then looks over at his datapad. "Maybe I'd better proofread my reports more." Then he chuckles and shakes his head. "S'why I'm more suited to the shooting than the writing, I suppose."
Springer would be hopefully cool with a Pretender Autobot, as long as they weren't all freaky-ugly and powerful like Bludgeon and Thunderwing.
"Decepticon leadership...guess that depends from planet to planet. Megatron is the big guy behind them, but each infiltration team has their own commander."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Feb 16, 2009 17:51:28 GMT -5
Rodimus didn't assume that Cybertron had started uninhabitable!
That would raise all sorts of logistical difficulties right there.
"Okay. So... wait. Just to be clear. Was Cybertron, or was it not, inhabitable at the time Optimus agreed with you to blow it?"
"As far as leadership goes, what you're talking about is sub-command positions. Not quite the same thing. It sounds like over-all, your Decepticons' leadership may even be closer to hers," he gestures towards Arcee, "at least, in that it's over all pretty stable."
Towards Arcee he nods. "The mirror events are strange, but those ones are no stranger than the way we both managed to have groups that crashed on Earth four million years ago. But considering there seem to be some constants even with realities as far different as, say, Bumblebee's or Wedge's or Botanica's, I suppose we shouldn't be too shocked."
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Arcee
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Post by Arcee on Feb 16, 2009 18:53:12 GMT -5
"Yeah, you're right," Arcee agrees. She considers. "It's weird, really. Even for all the differences, there's some pretty strong constants. Optimus and Megatron especially. It's got to mean something..."
She shakes her head. "Either way, it's way above my head. Give me something to shoot any day over a cosmic mystery."
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Post by Springer on Feb 16, 2009 22:00:11 GMT -5
Springer looks at Rodimus, then grins. "Cybertron was indeed uninhabitable at the time we decided to blow it, with the exception of Bludgeon and his Thunderwing-worshiping cronies. And Thunderwing himself later on. Granted, they had the right equipment to be there for extended periods..."
Then Springer turns to Arcee. "So all the realities represented here have an Optimus and Megatron?"
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Feb 16, 2009 23:12:57 GMT -5
"We're not sure about Holi," Rodimus answers Springer. "We know he has a version of me, named Rodimus Convoy instead of Rodimus Prime, but he doesn't seem to recognize Optimus. It may just be a matter of time, though - we didn't know about Swerve's until Override got here."
Then he smiles, a bit fondly, at Arcee, absently running his finger over the back of the chair he's sitting on as he speaks. "Unfortunately, I'm not really in a position to leave the cosmic mysteries to 'other people.' These days, I am the other people they get left to. Considering the symbol the arrival points make, I get the feeling I'm pretty deeply wrapped up in the whole business."
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Arcee
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Post by Arcee on Feb 17, 2009 18:53:15 GMT -5
Arcee smiles in return. Say what you will about how they could fight like wild cybercats, when he wasn't aggravating her, Hot Rod could brighten her mood like nobody's business. The effect here was much the same.
And there was Springer, goofy, hard-headed Springer, but not quite Springer.
She realizes, in her own way, she cared deeply for them both. Her versions, anyway. Friendship and... Maybe more? She doesn't know. Only that this place only makes her more confused.
"Starscream seems pretty common too," she adds, "though not nearly as much. "
She nods at Rodimus's comments. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. Hot Rod..., er, my Hot Rod, always did have a knack for finding himself in the middle of things."
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Post by Springer on Feb 18, 2009 22:12:22 GMT -5
"Convoy? That's a bit of an odd title. Never heard that one, m'self." He shrugs, then watches the other two for a moment with their talk of Big Bads with a dash of cosmic.
"Only thing I want to do with the big mysterious things like that is just to be told who I need to point the gun at."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Feb 19, 2009 20:00:50 GMT -5
"Well, now that our alternates have gone home, it's mostly the guys with the pointy, purple symbols," Rodimus grins at Springer. As he essentially echos Arcee's sentiment from moments before, however, he's reminded of how distanced he is from Hot Rod's place in life. "There's a few odd ones... like creatures they call Predacons, who are to the Decepticons what the Maximals seem to be to us. As soon as we get a proper database up, you'll be able to see what we know of the other side so you can look out for them."
With that, he slides back off his chair and, with one hand, sets it aside. "Well, I think it's time I got back to work," he says, not adding, 'as much as I loathe leaving you two in here alone.' "If either of you need anything, let me know, all right?"
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Arcee
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Post by Arcee on Feb 19, 2009 21:32:04 GMT -5
Arcee smiles, though for a moment, she thinks she picks up on something more from Rodimus. But she dismisses the thought before it even fully forms. Surely, she's just seeing things.
"I think we're all right, but will do."
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