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tachyon-omlette · 1 year

Text

MORE of mech pilot au Eda via a scene I vividly visualised and decided to convey through writing (mech pilot au belongs to @cuppajj)

mostly this contains a bit of unnerving happenings coupled with me thinking a lot about other potential technicalities. my grasp on characterizations are loose, I just wanted to get this scene into words and out of my brain

•••

Even though Optimus largely handled Unicronic encounters, especially with regards to combat - he was Prime, and being at ground zero during such an incursion was set and accepted precedent - the division which handled any intel regarding Unicron or his thralls was under the command of Ultra Magnus. He'd accepted this post graciously, accepting that it was his duty to not only handle knowledge of Unicron in such a way that it would be used to keep Cybertron safe, but also to delegate responsibilities regarding that knowledge to subordinate officers and scientists for further study and strategizing.

Only after he was appointed did he learn that researchers under the command of Nominus Prime had discovered a deactivated Unicronic Titan on the far side of the moon, and Nominus ordered them to retrieve and study it. Underground. On Cybertron.

Thus, Ultra Magnus found himself deep underground in a hidden and airtight-secure bunker, standing in the control room of its largest holding chamber, staring up through bulletproof glass at a partially-dissected Titan which at first glance he nearly mistook for Unicron himself.

The Titan was offline, optics dark, posed to be sitting and held in place by several floors' worth of scaffolds and platforms connected by lifts. Many of the platforms housed consoles, providing feedback from the various probes delicately implanted or wired into the colossus, and it was therefore common for the scaffolds to be abuzz with activity, scientists of various specialities crowded around the consoles and exchanging observations. All of them seemed to not be unnerved by their proximity to something that could potentially have cataclysmic consequences if ever brought online - or if they were, their curiosities took greater precedence. This was likely for the better, for the greater good.

"Incredible, isn't it?" came a voice from just behind him - Perceptor, he recalled, who oversaw the scientists studying Unicronic intel, including the Titan. "Its armor is stronger than anything we've encountered from Unicron, and self-repairs efficiently enough that any damage is practically negligible."

"What about its arm, then?" Magnus asked, meaning the Titan's left arm, which had been separated from the main body and connected only through a tangle of massive cables.

"We were able to trick its systems," Perceptor explained, consulting one of the monitors which kept track of its neural activity and system maintenance protocols, "albeit through a rather demanding procedure. So long as the limb's supply of molten metals is kept steady and it isn't disconnected from the neural network, its subconscious routines will still regard it as fully attached."

Ultra Magnus's attention stayed on that monitor, watching the data-streams fluctuate minutely... until he began to take notice of something. Those wavelengths were sub-conscious, yes, but they were still changing, bordering just beyond unconsciousness in a manner too discreet to be of much concern but too blatant for Magnus not to be concerned by it.

"Not to worry, sir," spoke Perceptor. Magnus had likely been staring at the panel too long. "There have never been any indications of conscious activity while the Titan has been under study. It's been observed to be in hypersleep, and any fluctuations are merely archival review."

"It's dreaming?" Magnus simplified.

"Put simply, but yes."

Magnus's gaze hadn't left the data-stream. When Cybertronian mechs dreamed, there was a pattern to it, a set cycle of data review and sorting for storage purposes in the event it had to be retrieved later. This Titan wasn't Cybertronian, but there still should have been some sort of pattern, indicative of repitition; no such trend was present, shortlength waves rising and falling with no predictable behavior. It wasn't dreaming.

It was thinking.

~~~

synthesis complete.

systems nominal...

do they suspect anything?

I can't see... is anyone around? I don't want anyone to get hurt.

no way of knowing.

preparing to eject...

~~~

Without warning, the data-stream spiked.

A low creaking noise rang loud in the holding chamber - loud enough to be heard in the control room.

"Get everyone out of there."

"What -"

"Now!"

The chamber resounded with deep metallic groans and the muffled screech of half-dessicated hydraulics as the ancient plating and joints of the Unicronic Titan jerked and shifted, its massive helm bowing as it slowly, slowly began leaning forward. The steel scaffolds and platforms surrounding its upper body trembled and warped, yielding easily to its greater strength as the scientists atop the platforms scrambled for the lifts; those beneath were showered in rusted flecks and plumes of moon dust, equally desperate to flee for fear of being crushed either by the Titan or a falling platform. Their shouts and cries went unheard, eclipsed by the sound of ancient machinery reawakening -

The cables that still tethered its left arm to its body drew taut, and it stopped - its upper torso was only a few meters away from the large platform containing the main consoles. Thankfully, it hadn't leaned far enough that it had damaged any of them.

There was a moment of tense silence afterwards. The collective stress and fear in the control room was enough to make the air within seem heavier as all within watched the stranded scientists all managed to reach secure platforms, paling at the Titan's halted motion. It had scared the hell out of everyone, certainly, and dislodged a few probes along the way, but it hadn't gotten anyone killed. Not yet.

Magnus's attention was abruptly drawn back to the Titan by another series of noises from its chassis. There was a scraping of old and slightly oxidized metal plates as the circular panel in its chest - the subject of much debate, as many of their specialists had theories as to what it was for yet had no present way of proving any of them - bloomed open. An operator to his left let out a shaky, fearful breath.

Teeth. Rows and rows of massive metal teeth, sharp blades set into tracks that one could only assume might rotate if the damn thing was awake, lining a dark metal tunnel that ended at a set of equally massive industrial-grade shredders. Magnus had never stared down the maw of Unicron before - no one did and survived to tell the tale - but he was fairly certain this was as close an approximation as it got.

"Primus below," Perceptor breathed.

Then those nightmarish shredders began to retract, blade-teeth folding smoothly into their seams, row by row until every sharp edge had been tucked away. No one had time to question it before a hydraulic hiss, amplified by the maw's conical shape, made everyone jump and was followed immediately by a lump of black and silver being ejected onto the deck below.

~~~

ejection successful.

preparing system transfer...

initializing ancillary frame...

did I make it right? is everything okay?

only one way to find out, I suppose.

beginning transfer...

~~~

As the maw closed - its sharp implements remained sheathed - two things became instantly evident: one, the silver-and-black lump was a person, or at least person-shaped, and two, it fell from the maw of the Unicronic Titan.

It didn't look injured, but it wasn't moving.

"Is that..." Magnus spoke, "its pilot?"

"That's not possible." Perceptor said, in disbelief.

The Titan's data-streams all spiked at once, then went dead altogether, setting off a cascade of alarms.

The body of the Titan's pilot - assuming that's who they were - spasmed once, violently, flipping them fully onto their front. Their shoulders rotated in the wrong direction (causing a few quiet yet horrified noises from several technicians), planting their hands on the platform, and they pushed themselves up.

After that, they rose to their feet rather seamlessly, albeit unnaturally, appearing to almost be pulled upwards by some unseen force. They staggered, finding their balance, and their dense black hair obscured most of their face but didn't hide the dark hollows where their eyes should've -

Then their eyes - optics - came online. They were purple, and bright enough in that first moment to be piercing. They stared blankly through the control room's window.

The monitors in the control rooms went black, their alarms silenced.

One, then, came online, displaying a message.

//apologies if I frightened anyone.

//is there someone I could speak with? I have many questions.

YOU have questions? Ultra Magnus thought.

#transformers #humanformers #transformers au #ultra magnus #perceptor #transformers oc #oc: eda of unicron #i will NOT be rereading this i shall die like a fool /lh #this isn't particularly elegant but i just wanted the one scene. the fact that there was so much around it and that i had to involve other #characters is NOT my problem #also i know magnus & percy have human names too but since you said pilots are often referred to by their mech's name i just went with that #im tired im hungry i want this out of my drafts. but i think it's alright. the scene i wanted came out nicely & that's what i really wanted #jj i apologize if some of this isn't lore-accurate but i had a lot of thoughts and wasn't sure how I'd ask them withoit spoiling the fic #or being annoying #love your mech pilot au excited to see more content excited to MAKE more content if it's alright by you #i also love making eda weird whenever possible. many thanks for providing another opportunity to do so /gen

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