Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on Aug 10, 2011 20:17:32 GMT -5
Month 7, Week 3, Day 1, Open to Team Autobot
"You knew them best, Optimus. Why don't you give the eulogy?" Emirate Xaaron had said. Optimus can see the sense of it, but he's not sure he can actually do it without breaking down. He'll give it his best shot, of course.
The hangar bay seems . . . empty, echoing. Regardless of how many 'bots have actually shown up to pay their respects. The only two he can bring himself to care about right now aren't here. The holograms of them beside the podium are a poor substitute.
Optimus's footfalls seem loud in his own audios as he walks down the center aisle toward the front, between the chairs that have been brought in. He doesn't think he's ever seen the hangar this clean.
OOC: Emirate Xaaron posed with permission.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Aug 10, 2011 21:14:22 GMT -5
Among the Autobots here to pay their respects are Rodimus Prime. He stands to one side, and lifts his head as Optimus moves towards the front, then lowers it again, optics dimmed.
He and Xaaron sent them. He's supposed to be the field commander. It isn't the first time he's sent someone to their deaths, and he's sure it won't be the last. He even knows, on an intellectual level, that the time comes when everyone has to have their first battle - there were quite a few experienced soldiers in that team, and he can't keep someone out of a fight just because they've never fought before.
But part of him still thinks, I sent children to die.
I should have been there.
And so he keeps his head bowed.
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Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
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Post by Override on Aug 10, 2011 21:24:40 GMT -5
Override is here as well! Sentinel was, after all, her commander. He had even put her in charge of a team, and while her team came out whole, it isn't the one that actually accomplished the mission goals. Elita-1, meanwhile, was a teammate. Sure, she was... kind of a bossy thing, but Override certainly wouldn't have wished... this on her!
It's a bit odd. This is her first experience with death in battle... and yet death on the race track is familiar enough for her to take it in stride.
She watches Optimus, waiting respectfully for him to speak.
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Post by Impactor/"Imp" on Aug 10, 2011 21:36:18 GMT -5
Impactor stands on one side, opposite Override. He had been the one to report Sentinel dead. Perhaps he's haunted by the thought that if he had just been a little faster, this could have been avoided?
No, no he isn't. He's seen enough death to know that that sort of thinking can tear you apart over time, and Impactor has a hard enough time staying together, anyway. Besides, it's stupid to waste time thinking about you would have done if knew what happened later on. You don't know. That's the point. If you did, something different would have happened, and then what? You beat yourself up over that?
He does think that Optimus took way too long to kill Elita, but that's a pretty understandable mistake for a rookie.
He probably won't even mention it to the young Prime.
He looks more or less straight ahead, though his gaze is respectfully lowered as he waits.
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Post by Kup on Aug 10, 2011 21:58:23 GMT -5
Kup stands next to Rodimus, hands clasped lightly in front of him, head lowered. His jaw is set. Children! They were just slagging children! Kup's had enough and far more than enough of burying students even as he lives on.
And now he's got two more.
He clenches his fist.
And this time, he can't even pound those responsible to scrap. He'll have to hit the hard light sim later.
OOC: Rodimus, Override, Impactor, and Kup all skippable. Long Haul's on medical watch.
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Post by Carolyn Blake on Aug 10, 2011 22:35:41 GMT -5
Arcee stands close on the other side of Rodimus Prime, her head likewise bowed in respect. She cuts her optics toward Rodimus. Arcee can't read minds, but knows Rodimus well enough to guess that he's blaming himself. Hot Rod wouldn't have, she thinks. But she's coming to learn more to separate the two in her mind.
She reaches a hand over and twines her fingers with the Prime's. Slight, silent comfort, but all she can offer right now.
OOC: touching with permission. Skippable.
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Post by Mirage on Aug 10, 2011 22:53:30 GMT -5
Mirage is present, of course. He stands near the other Elite Guard members. They were, after all, a team- a team which has lost two of its own. Mirage dislikes being on the team. He certainly disliked Sentinel Prime, nor was he that fond of Elita, truth be told. Still, neither of them deserved to die like they did.
Most of all, that poor child up there did not deserve to go through this.
OOC: Botanica can also be assumed to be present since I player her. May post her in later. Both are skippable
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 11, 2011 20:54:23 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron stands fairly near the front, his hands folded behind his back, his gaze steady and up at Optimus. He supposes that he could be considered at fault. Emirate Xaaron was the one who pointed out that they needed an xeno relations squad. He put Sentinel in charge of it. Did he judge the lad incorrectly? Certainly, it was perhaps a bit nepotistic on Sentinel's part to take Elita-1 along. Sentinel should have denied her application, really. Then again, her versatility could have been useful.
To think, that the girl he trained with, who copied his cannon and armour, would...
Well.
Some never outrun their fate. His gaze drifts over at Impactor for a moment.
Some do.
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Nimbus Tsura
Major
Secretary to Mr. Breakaway
Sky-Painter Extraordinaire
Posts: 735
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Post by Nimbus Tsura on Aug 11, 2011 21:11:33 GMT -5
Skyblast looks terribly abashed, and he takes a spot in the back, away from the light. He was a jerk to Elita-1, and whether or not she deserved it, he can never apologise for his actions now, if he wanted to.
OOC: Skippable.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Aug 12, 2011 16:32:57 GMT -5
Skyfire... should be here. He would be here--but some of those Blight-infected, razor-like shards of Reaver went deep indeed, and there were so many of them. He's still in Medical, getting the shards removed and the Blight treated.
--- Not in thread at all. Skip
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Post by Gertrude Huldon/Guzzle on Aug 12, 2011 16:33:55 GMT -5
Guzzle is here, as well. He stands somewhere he can't really be noticed, but where he can have a somewhat decent look. The deaths didn't phase him as much as they should. None really do, except for those who are close to him. He barely knew Sentinel and Elita, and as crude as it sounds, the only thing he really cares about is that they lost two Autobots.
But he knows Optimus did. He casts his gaze at the firetruck, and it is all too obvious that the three of them were close. That...That is something he can relate to. And it is Optimus to whom his thoughts go.
__________
Skippable.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on Aug 13, 2011 15:48:52 GMT -5
Optimus Prime takes his place behind the podium, placing his hands on it as he starts to speak. "We lost two Autobots recently, Sentinel Prime and Elita-1. They were good 'bots. More than that, they were my friends.
They both made mistakes in life. Sometimes they could be hard to get along with. None of us is perfect. Sentinel Prime was an exemplar of the society all three of us were brought up in. He valued order and security, and was deeply suspicious of anything that wasn't an Autobot. That's why he was named Sentinel. He could often be callous, abrasive, but it came from a good place. I know that he truly believed in his principles, and only wanted what was best for all of us. If his actions sometimes seemed less that commendable, it was only because his idea of what was right was different from everyone else's, and he refused to deviate from what he believed was right." Optimus isn't strictly sure this is true, but he thinks it's at least somewhat correct, and he isn't going to speak ill of the dead, especially at their funeral.
"Elita-1 was very young, just a cadet. She arrived here before what might be considered the most important event in her life, her transformation into the Decepticon Blackarachnia. This place was a second chance at life for her, and she went after that chance with the same fire and determination with which she pursued everything. If she was a bit overzealous in pursuing the things she wanted . . . we were all young once.
Understand that I make no excuses for my friends. They're beyond needing them. I only seek to try and explain their actions. Regardless of how they may have lived, they died heroes, sacrificing their lives to preserve others in the finest Autobot tradition. I hope they find peace in the Well of All Sparks."
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on Aug 13, 2011 19:20:06 GMT -5
Jetfire stands at attention with his brother and the other Elite Guard members, listening to Optimus's speech. He does his best to keep a straight face, but every so often his bottom lip quivers. He's almost surprised at how much losing Sentinel Prime hurts. He hadn't missed Sentinel much when they'd just been separated by him being tugged into another dimension. That was different, though. It was before Sentinel Prime had played silly games from them, and before he had told them the truth. And separated wasn't dead. Jetfire thinks there might be other Sentinels out there in the multiverse, but after everything that's happened, none of them will be his Sentinel Prime. Not really.
In contrast, he hardly knew Elita-1 at all, but she was an Autobot and a member of the Elite Guard, and Jetfire thinks that any death among his companions is one death too many. She'll be missed, too.
OOC: Jetstorm mentioned with permission.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Aug 13, 2011 19:35:30 GMT -5
Rodimus takes Arcee's hand as she offers it. He glances at her and smiles faintly, then lifts his head to watch the other Prime, his smile fading once again.
After a few moments, he drops Arcee's hand, perhaps feeling awkward to have gained in this strange new universe, when so many others have known so much loss.
OOC: Still skippable.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Aug 15, 2011 21:31:02 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron observes that Optimus is quite good at his own particular firetrucky brand of spin. That'll come in handy later, he thinks. Perhaps it is a thing of evil that Emirate Xaaron considers the utility represented here, but someone must; there are many who will genuinely grieve.
Emirate Xaaron saves his grief for when there is peace again. Only then can he indulge in such luxuries.
Skippable.
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