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thehellarchives · 2 years

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Stars

I was scanning through the skies

And missed the static in your eyes

Something blocking your reception

It's distorting our connection

With the distance amplified

Was it all just synthesized

And now the silence screams

That you are gone, you tuned me out

I've lost your frequency

——Frequency, Starset

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Who. Who is calling. Perceptor can't quite tell.

A voice so faint, fainter than a speck of dust in the ocean of knowledge and conciousness. Perceptor would very much like to drown in that ocean for days on end, but he was, however eventually being pulled out from concentration by the voice's——now he can recognize as Brainstorm's——volume getting higher and higher with just a pinch of worriedness.

“——ceptor? Percy? Are you even listening to what I am going to tell you? Hello? Cybertron to Perceptor, come in, Perceptor.” Brainstorm pranced around the lab like that earthly organic yet fictional creature who lives at the end of a rainbow. Now “Brainstormchaun” is trying to get Perceptor's attention by pinching the sides of Percy's faceplates.

“Ow. Ow. Ow. Yes Brainstorm I am listening, I am listening now, please put down your hands, they're causing discomfort——ouch!”

Brainstorm laughed out loud when he stopped pinching Percy's faceplates and poked them instead, before finally stopping when he heard his lovely collegue yelp in surprise.

“Owwww...yes,Brainstorm. What in the name of the Allspark are you trying to tell me here.” Perceptor asked in frustration as he rubbed his faceplates.

“Oh nothin' . Just an experiment.” Brainstorm answered lazily. He wasn't going to have some stupid experiment for a talk subject anyway.

“Really? You care to elaborate?” Perceptor's optics flared to another level of brightness. The slightly tired embers now glowing like a newborn star.

“Uhhh...you sure you wanna hear it out？” Brainstorm's CPU was spinning. Yes he indeed caught Perceptor's attention, but how in the name of Primus is he going to answer THAT, when there is actually none in the first place?

“Yes please. I want to hear it.” Perceptor the master of obliviousness said. Brainstorm can practically feel the air solidify when Perceptor simply stared into his optics. Brainstorm knew it's just a harmless stare but...

There! Something genious just flashed past! Brainstorm held onto that thought.

“Well...the subject of the fascinating experiment is...'Pinch Perceptor's faceplates and observe the results' .” He quickly made his exit before Perceptor finally realized what he just said and went after him.

“Brainstorm! That is hardly an experiment!”

“Buuuuut you have to admit I used the scientific method——hypothesis:Perceptor will resist.”

Perceptor hissed.

“Resistance is futile——”

“Brainstorm!”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

And that's before the war. Brainstorm thought. The time when Percy shined so bright in the night skies of the scientific community, every speech made and paper submitted a priceless jewel, some even participated in Brainstorm's later experiments on the time machine...

But the time right after Kup was healed back at Kimia, Things didn't really went as it should be.

In short——Brainstorm and Perceptor had disagreements. Things got heated pretty easily.

Hell. Brainstorm closed his optics. He didn't even remember the reason why they started to tear each other apart.

“What in the name of Primus made you think I don't like your progress in science?” He remembered Perceptor yelling.

“Hell, I don't believe in Primus, I'm fragging constucted COLD you damnable idiot!”

Brainstorm winced. That's the first time he spilled out his secret.

“Listen——I cannot alter your thoughts, espeacially thoughts aimed at yourself from yourself. So if you really think I don't like your way of doing things then so be it. ”

Yeah. Perceptor wasn't one of those mechs who's good at arguing, Brainstorm thought and regretted the past——at that time when he continued yelling at his fellow scientist, who recoiled almost instantly, cringing away from the sound.

“So you've decided. To turn away and treat me like I shouldn't be here, like I shouldn' t be a scientist from the top of all things, and you look DOWN on me. You DARE look down on me.”

“No Brainstorm listen I-”

“Stay the frag away from me.”

“Brainst-”

“GET OUT! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE MY SUPERIOR OR NOT! OUT, NOW!”

Brainstorm screamed, fighting back coolant behind his optics.

Brainstorm saw the light in Perceptor's optics fade. From an anxious blaze to a sorrowful glow and finally died down into nothing but blank. But Brainstorm pretended not to care about it. Serves him right, he thought back then.

He didn't know Perceptor would wither away like a dead flower in the Autumn wind, a lone comet traveling in the cold universe.

Until he got too close to the raging sun and the ice melts.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

One shot through the spark, and a scientist fades into the vast darkness. Except for he didn't. Perceptor was more than ready to walk the path into the peaceful afterlife, only to be pulled back into the harsh reality where all mechs treat him like mockery.

So he rebuilt himself. Brainstorm leaned back against his seat. Perceptor rebuilt his frame and personality and again shone his light, brighter than ever, when he took out Monstuctor in one shot, when he managed to find Aequitas by analyzing the vibration frequencies of the walls.

Perceptor was a supernova trapped inside the frame of a scientist-turned-sniper.

Then the black hole emerges, when Overlord called him a gun-fondling battle-stat.

Perceptor never said about forgiving Brainstorm, not even when he woke into a nightmare conducted by his processor and screamed like hell was on his heels.

Not when Brainstorm rushed over to see Perceptor trembling, looking down on his hands, coolant falling from unseeing optics.

Not when Perceptor whispered his regrets into the night, knowing they'll never reach the allspark where his comrades lay still and quiet, silence draping over their frames like velvet.

And Brainstorm walked away every single time knowing both Perceptor and himself would like to hide their inner feelings deep inside.

And Brainstorm walked away.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

And Perceptor was slowly fading. Every time the traumas down within hacked his processor, his optics lose more of the light they used to contain.

Until one time Brainstorm finally minded to look Perceptor right in the optics, trying to seek his spark——and found there's nothing there.

No magnetic field, no overwhelming emotions, no nothing. Perceptor's optics were blank voids, darkness that engulfes any light dared to enter their realms.

And Perceptor said nothing as he turned away from Brainstorm, making shallow excuses and left again, creating more and more and more distance between them, shattering Brainstorm's spark.

And Perceptor's spark was probably already torn into pieces, so small they can shatter no more.

A distance far enough for Brainstorm to ping Perceptor's comm lines and feedback nothing but static.

He asked everyone else on board, then they realized they can never reach Perceptor when their lines also had nothing but static.

Perceptor tuned everyone he knows out. They've lost his frequency.

END.

#transformers #perceptor #Brainstorm #angsty things #maccadam

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lordmartiya · 3 years

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lord Martiya’s Lilanette Week 2021, part 3: Science Fiction

@lilanette-week

@lilanette

One thing she had been grateful to Lila for was her talking Chloe out of her mother’s toxic influence. She hadn’t succeeded in time to prevent the whole Miracle Queen debacle, but now she was back trying to become a good person, and even taking therapy (something Lila also sorely needed, but even if she could be talked into it there was the problem of how it would reflect on her mother’s image in the weird diplomatic circles). As an addendum, now Sabrina was in their friends group, something Marinette was usually happy for… But not right now.

“How did Sabrina guess I’m Multimouse?!” Marinette complained to Lila after they were alone.

“Her father is a police officer, one trusted with commanding groups during important operations – she’s grown around secrets just like me, she was bound to get suspicious. That, or she saw the Mirage you used to divert Chat Noir’s suspicions, and kept the secret because, well, she’s a cop’s daughter. Still, I would have expected her not to tell the others when Juleka asked about your break-up…”

That was when the Ladyblog signaled that a perfectly normal-looking punk biker had been caught trying to find the heroic Volpina and then sent flying the police officer that had confronted him about it.

“Didn’t think Alya would hesitate calling him an Akuma.” Lila said.

“After that monster in London?” Marinette asked.

“Well, let’s see what we have.”

___________________

“Let’s see… He followed the Mirage me in the Bièvre and swam back to the surface, then shrugged off impact from five rakes, a brick to the head, and even an anvil… What can we say?” Volpina asked the two other heroes as she put away the piano at their insistence.

“That you carry the weirdest things in your Miraculous?” Ladybug asked back.

“That Rena Rouge could have done a lot more had she known about what you put in there?” Chat Noir deadpanned.

“I liked the Loony Toons, so what? But aside for that?”

“It’s most likely an Akuma.” Ladybug admitted. “Though we need to talk about what else you may have in there…”

Then Mr. Pigeon arrived on a swarm of pigeons and started carrying away the not-Akuma, ranting of how he had squashed a pigeon when throwing away the anvil, while the surprisingly resilient biker tried to fight back.

“I stand corrected. Now what-Volpina?”

Volpina had pulled out a binocular and started cussing like only a Roman of Rome and few others could. Then she pulled out another thing.

“What the-an RPG-7?!” Chat Noir shouted.

“Of course not, it’s an AirTronic PSRL-1, it’s made of better steel and has better optics, though it can use the same ammunition.” came Volpina’s reply as she removed the rocket and replaced it with a larger one.

“Put that thing down!” was Ladybug’s demand.

“You’re right, Mr. Pigeon and his flying rats don’t deserve this, and I need to interrogate that overgrown mushroom before killing it. Though I really wanted to finally use the thermobaric rocket…”

With that Volpina put the weapon back in her flute and cast the illusion of a tower of peregrine falcons, scattering the pigeons and making both Mr. Pigeon and his would-be victim fall down – the latter making a metallic noise when hitting the ground. Then, as Paris’ heroes dealt with the Akumatized villain, she grabbed the biker’s weird medallion and punched through his chest, revealing him as a metallic exoskeleton for a much slimmer individual, that looked perfectly human aside for the green skin and hot pink hands.

“You’re not an Evree!” Volpina accused the green man.

“Am I really that ugly?” he replied.

“No, but I couldn’t see your face – only the Evree tracker medallion and that you just wouldn’t give up.”

“Had the owner in my escape pod, before I could eject him in space.”

“Did you finish it off?”

“I fired my thrusters in his face.

“What are you talking about?”

Volpina and the green man looked at the two other heroes and the now free Mr Ramier, the latter of which had made the question while the former two were appalled at just how the Vixen and the green man were talking of killing someone, that and the apparent overkill.

“Nothing you should worry about, Mr Ramier.” Volpina replied. “Though my colleagues may be interested.”

_______________________________________

The talk had been moved at Gustave Eiffel’s apartment over the Tower, of which Ladybug and Chat Noir had the keys. And there they learned that the Evrees that had been fought by the United Heroez and Volpina weren’t just some alien pirates but a full alien invasion of planet-looting emotion-eating fungal lifeforms that moved around the cosmo with a mothership the size of a small moon. The ones that had repeatedly raided New York had been vanguards, trying to establish a beachhead and sabotage US defenses to allow a full-scale invasion without facing the US nuclear arsenal – that they could have weathered had they not decided to try and avoid the losses that would have caused, and that they had been stopped right as their emperor had been about to deploy their full force.

“And that is why I came here to talk with you, the broadcast I intercepted spoke of your role in defeating the invaders.” the alien – whose world had been conquered by the Evrees – explained. “My world fell, we lowered our orbital defenses for a few minutes as a sign of peace after signing the commercial treaty, and before we could reactivate them they had already overran the capital.”

“My role was small.” Volpina admitted. “Yes, I beat up a few of them, and was in the strike team, but I was the distraction, Doorman got us in and out, Feniks and the Russian soldiers were the ones that deployed the hundred megaton bomb – didn’t think the Russians were crazy enough to rebuild that monstrosity, or generous enough to provide it free of charge – and Jade Turtle saved everyone more times I can count with his shields, and wrecked his back doing so.”

“Master Fu did what?!” Chat Noir shouted.

“Considering the situation, I’m more surprised he didn’t Cataclysm everything.” Ladybug stated.

“He did that, and before he could leave my uncle decided to retire me and gave him my Miraculous.” Volpina confirmed. “Found out he was the Guardian only then…”

“I don’t know what happened, but from what I found out it was you to talk the surviving commanders into turning on each other.” the alien pointed out.

“Honestly, I just helped preserving our nukes, they were weakened enough humanity’s combined missiles would have done the job. Anyway, happy to have given justice to your people.”

“They conquered my world 36 of your days ago.”

“Cosa?”

“They had another planet spaceship and emperor, and it was them who invaded my world. We had an evacuation plan in place just in case, three colony ships – the Xabra they got in orbit, the Xenia escaped but I don’t know where, and my ship, the Antra… We were coming here to warn you and give you our technology, we knew you were better warriors than us, but they had an infiltrator on board and got us near Saturn. I’m the only one who escaped, with a full database… And-”

“And I can get you in contact with those who can actually make use of it.”

____________________

It had been quick – a call to the Italian embassy in Paris, and they had been able to bring the alien (who, when someone finally asked his name, had identified himself as doctor Xarion, First Counselor for Energy for the planet Xerba) to the Élysée directly to the French president. Even after his stunt in New York, Papillon didn’t rate that high. Then the three heroes had gone back to what they had been doing before Xarion’s arrival… Or at least tried, as Lila was on the verge of a panic attack.

“Lila, what is it?”

“The Evrees!”

“What about them? You and the United Heroez already beat them once, and-”

“And next time they won’t toy with us! They’ll get serious from the start! And then they’ll-”

“A time traveler told me we’re going to win.”

There. She had said it. Marinette hadn’t wanted to reveal Bunnyx’ existence, but she just couldn’t bear to see Lila in that state. Also, she totally had to snap her out of it before she got Akumatized. And that was the most important part. Seriously.

“It… Is it true?” Lila asked.

“The Rabbit Miraculous has the power of time travel, and the Holder, Bunnyx, arrived chasing a villain created by a future Papillon and told us a few things. Including that we’re going to defeat an alien invasion.”

Lila looked Marinette for a few moments, processing what she had just been told. Then, surprising both of them, she grabbed Marinette jacked and pulled her so she could stamp a kiss on her lips.

“Oh…” the Italian said as what she had done dawned on her. “See you tomorrow, OK?”

With that, Lila bolted, leaving Marinette to stand for about half a minute before she realized what had just happened.

#lilanette #lilabug #ladypina #volpinette #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #miraculous lb #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #lila rossi

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surveille · 3 years

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@skystar-secret-santa gift for @overlordraax. Sorry it’s so late! I meant to do a proper fairytale but ended up not having time to do any of the stuff I wanted, so um. I hope it’s okay.

There were worse things to be than a dragon. One of those things was a cold constructed Seeker so Starscream didn't hold a grudge.

A few years after being magicked from one into the other he had mastered his new body, moved into a crumbling old fortress far from the city, and all but forgotten about hunting down the tiny slagger who'd changed him in the first place. It wasn't the life he'd dreamed for himself, but there was something to be said for the ability to terrorize the countryside just by going out for a flight.

Truth be told, the dragon shape was almost more comfortable than the one he'd come online in. He liked the power of it, the broad sweep of its wings, the knowledge that he was now three times the size of the self-important hacks who used to look down their nasal ridges at him. He liked the smart figure he cut in crimson and black and the way the plating stayed glossy without polish.

He was a bit disappointed, though, at being so fine and having no one around to admire and pay attention to him. So it wasn't an entirely bad shock when he came loafing out of the sleeping chamber one evening to find a shuttle wielding a sword in his entrance hall.

There were probably worse things to be than a dragon slayer. Faced with an actual dragon, pre-slaying, Jetfire couldn't have named a single one but there were probably a few.

The beast was as large as he was, possibly even larger. Its elongated body gave it an advantage in height, its slender neck arched in a threat display as it stared down at him with slitted, crimson optics. Smoke wafted from between its bared fangs.

Jetfire clutched his borrowed sword. Much as he would have liked to back slowly out the way he came, he had to remember why he was here. It wouldn't do him any good to solve the problem of crystal blight in the area if the farmers were all killed by a dragon. His armor was stronger than theirs, he had to do this for them.

He took a deep invent and eased forward with painstaking slowness.

“I really don't want to kill you,” he murmured, voice pitched as low and soothing as he could make it. “But that poor minibot didn't deserve to be eaten.”

The dragon cocked its head. “Is this about the minibot I grabbed? Primus, you can have it back if it's that important to you! It was the wrong one anyway.”

Starscream waited a full minute for the shuttle to either say something or close his mouth. It was a pleasant-looking mouth but he wanted to get this matter of killing cleared up as quickly as possible. When nothing happened he retreated cautiously into the fortress' main hall.

“I'm just going to get your minibot out. Make yourself comfortable. Relax. Put down the sword. I'll be right back.”

“Wait!” the shuttle called. “You mean he's still alive?”

“I wouldn't be keeping him in my house if he wasn't.”

“But you- You're not a real dragon. Are you?”

Starscream considered the unintentional trick question. By most scientific values of 'dragon' he did in fact classify as one. Only two significant differences set him apart.

“I am an intelligent being. That's all you need to know.”

The minibot was tiny and orange, stuttering in terror, and Jetfire couldn't help but wonder who the dragon had mistaken him for and what a mech like that could possibly have done to warrant the kidnapping.

With the little mech safe in his cockpit and his thrusters warming for lift off, he watched furtively out of the corner of his optics as the dragon sauntered out of the decaying building into the sun. The sleek curves of its plating almost glowed under the light.

Now that he no was no longer afraid of being boiled alive in his armor, Jetfire could appreciate how remarkable it was. A wonder unknown to modern science, if it truly was a dragon. It had always been considered hard fact by the scientific community that dragons were incapable of intelligence or speech, yet here was one with both! Not just a mimic, either. But potentially a beastformer.

Could he ever forgive himself for not at least trying to find out the truth?

“I'm sorry if this is too forward, and feel free to refuse. But I wonder if you would let me study you?”

The dragon stared. Its tail twitched gently at the tip.

Jetfire soldiered on. “Nothing invasive and you could back out at any time. You see, I'm a scientist with the Iacon Academy--”

“You? A scientist?”

That tone of astonishment was nothing new but it stung every time. Even coming from a wilderness-dwelling mech-creature who couldn't possibly know how hard Jetfire fought to be allowed to call himself that, it still stung.

“Yes,” he said, a bit more crisply. “Me. A shuttle scientist, and I promise I'm very good at my job. My work has been thoroughly vetted--”

“Oh, I'm sure you're wonderful,” the dragon cut him off again. It was staring all the more intently, emotion flickering behind its optics like a banked flame. “You must be to have made it so far in Iacon. The Functionist rust-lickers.”

The shuttle was silent. He looked confused, almost stricken by the compliment.

“Well,” said Starscream, “in that case, yes. You can study me as much as you want. If you can get the equipment out here you can even take scans and samples. Is it still true that no one's studied a live dragon, only carcasses?”

“Yes, as far as I know.”

“Excellent, you'll be the first. Make sure to note that down when you write the paper. I'll answer any questions you--”

“Are you a real dragon?”

Starscream exhaled a thin plume of smoke, narrowing his optics. The shuttle looked earnestly back, all scientific curiosity. Fine. If that was what he wanted to know, far be it from Starscream to deprive him of the most absurd and unscientific tale ever told to a sparkling at naptime.

“Not exactly. I was onlined in a Seeker frame. A minibot turned me into this dragon a few years ago because I was rude to him or some slag. Don't ask how he did it, all I know is one minute I was yelling at him and the next I was transforming and he was spouting off about my 'true love' and kisses curing all. Or something. I wasn't listening. Then he disappeared and I haven't seen him since.”

The shuttle's expression of deep interest hadn't faltered through the recital, which was flattering. “Interesting,” he said, which was slightly less so because Starscream knew what that meant.

“It doesn't matter,” Starscream assured him, before he could ask about mental health histories. “It's the body you'll be looking at and as far as I can tell it's pure dragon.”

“All right. Well, my name is Jetfire. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, if that works for you?”

“Starscream. I'll be here.”

Hidden somewhere in the vicinity at least, in case he changed his mind and decided dragon slaying had been the way to go after all.

To his great surprise, the shuttle offered him a hand. He smiled as he did it, as if realizing how strange it was to clasp hands on a deal with a dragon, but he didn't withdraw, even when Starscream took it carefully in one paw. He had a nice smile. Friendly. No one had ever smiled at Starscream like that before.

The dragon watched with that strange intensity as Jetfire lifted off and waggled his wings in farewell before turning toward the minibot's home village. Explaining this to the mechs there might be difficult but he was satisfied that he'd done the right thing. Everyone was safe, no one had to die.

His colleagues could continue studying the blight. Jetfire had something else on his mind.

Whatever the truth of his origins, Starscream was a fascinating being and Jetfire couldn't wait to start mapping him out. Maybe he would feel comfortable enough to talk more while they worked together.

Giddy with the joy of escaping a dragon slaying with his life and a new project, he pushed his thrusters a little harder. There was nothing better than being a scientist.

#skystar secret santa 2020 #dragonformers #starscream #skyfire #fanfic #happy christmas!#thanks for flying the skystar flag high!

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anon-e-miss · 3 years

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Instransigence 9

There had been no movement on any of Mirage’s cameras, and Jazz could not decide if this was a positive or a negative. Perhaps it was a mix of both. Barricade would not be talking for a long time, if ever. In the mean time Jazz had questions he wanted answered. Nightstalker was dead, and the mnemosurgeons had not found much. The rusting processor of a dead mechanism was not a treasure trove that could be simply picked clean. It was generally only the last moments of a life that could be pulled out. All they had pulled out of Nightstalker was the thrill of the chase, and some deeply dark desires. There was no doubt in Jazz’s processor that Prowl’s attackers, at least that one, had intended on raping him before they killed him. He thought better of sharing that bit of information with Smokescreen.

He did not caution Smokescreen to watch his speed as they drove to the base in the early joors of the light-cycle. Jazz kept pace with his rookie, driving just a few kilometres over the speed limit. They did not come across any enforcers looking to fill their quota of tickets. Their number were probably in chaos. The Autobot Security Force had descended upon the Enforcer Command and were digging through every workstation and every vault in search of any evidence of a Decepticon infiltration. Ironhide would give his report to Prime and Prime would forward it to Jazz, and Jazz would pick it clean. That was not the only thing Jazz wanted to pick clean. He was certain there was something stashed in Prowl’s memory banks that could be of use. Likely many somethings, but with a recall like Prowl’s the small things and the subtle things could be easily... not so much forgotten as overlooked.

That would probably have to wait until Prowl was off the blockers. Jazz had an almost fond memory of Smokescreen. The dislocation had been an accident, just one of those things that happened during basic training. Though they had only been halfway through the second quartex of basic training, Jazz had already mentally tapped Smokescreen for Spec Ops during his observations. He had been there when an overly excited Tagonian had knocked a minibot recruit off the platform. Smokescreen had performed a wicked dive to catch him before he toppled off the edge. Jazz had been impressed by his moves. He had been less impressed by the Tagonian who had knocked Smokescreen and Volks both over the side as Smokescreen had been pulling the minibot up. One thing was for certain, that mech was not going near one of Jazz’s operations with a ten metre pole.

The dive had confirmed for Jazz that he had wanted Smokescreen for Spec Ops, and he had gone to see Smokescreen in the medbay only to find the young mech out of his Primus damned mind. Had his medic been any but Ratchet, Jazz would have been reasonable to accuse them of overdosing the Praxian, but it had been Ratchet had he had explained that Smokescreen systems were sensitive to blockers. More sensitive that Ratchet had expected, though Smokescreen had warned him. Jazz had stuck around with the young mech until he had been called away by Hound. By the time he had gotten back, Smokescreen had been picked up by the friend he had commed when he had been dosed out of his helm. Someone designated Ore... Not Ore, Jazz realized now. Origin. Prowl.

Smokescreen had not returned to training until his doorwing had fully healed, a full quartex. Though he had returned to the parade grounds with his unit he had only stayed long enough for Jazz to come and fetch him. When Jazz had taken him back to his office, he had realized quickly that Smokescreen had assumed he was in trouble. Completely by accident Jazz had discovered the identity of the base’s betting ring’s founder. In just one quartex it had taken off. New recruits and seasoned soldiers all enjoyed the underground pool, and recognizing the value of a little distraction, Jazz had left it be. With that discovery and with a look and Smokescreen’s grades, Jazz had adopted Smokescreen as his personal project, rather than shunting him off to one of his seasoned agents. The Praxian was a special talent. He would serve Spec Ops well with a little time and training, and Jazz would be sure he got both.

“He’s groggy,” Ratchet declared when the pair arrived and found the medic waiting. “And grumpy. He woke up in the dark-cycle with some pain so I gave him another small dose. You don’t burn through them as fast, Mechling.”

“No,” Smokescreen replied. “They hit Origin hard but he burns through them fast. They hit me hard too but then they keep me on my aft for mega-cycles. Can I sit with him?”

“Sure, Smokescreen. I’ll give you a few breams before I come in to do another exam.”

“Shouldn’t you recharge?” Smokescreen asked. The tone suggested to Jazz that this was a question Smokescreen had asked before, though not of this mech.

“You just fuss over your Origin,” Ratchet replied. “Go be a pain in his neck.”

Jazz chuckled as Smokescreen scampered off to Prowl’s room. Ratchet had not requested to see the energon he had brought. Maybe Ratchet did not actually care, but Jazz doubted it. Smokescreen had merely distracted him with that sassy observation. From the cant of his doorwings, the young mech was plenty pleased with himself. He definitely had the makings of an operative, though Jazz had somewhat more complex plans in mind for Smokescreen. His rookie was studying psychology at the Academy of Science and Tech here in Iacon. When he had finished his degree he would have a whole different perspective to their operations, to their enemies. He had a two more vorns yet of studying to go before he finished his Bachelor’s. Smokescreen had suggested he was interested in getting his Masters, even a Doctorate, if he could get the scholarships. There would be no need of that, not of the degree but of the scholarship. Jazz had tapped Optimus for a little bump to his department. Though he did not know it yet, Smokescreen’s education was now covered. Jazz had no doubt this expense would pay the Autobots rich dividends in the end.

“Ya didn’t comm Smokey,” Jazz said as he lingered with Ratchet as the medic polished a wrench.

“There was nothing to comm about,” Ratchet replied. “When I checked in on him he was online. He refused a blocker and I left him to stew. When I came back a joor later he took the blocker.”

“Don’t suppose he mentioned what he was stewin’ on?”

“No. I’m hoping he’s considering what I said about that mnemosurgeon. You’re probably hoping he was stewing on your investigation.”

“I’d take either,” Jazz replied. “Apart from the wiring, what’d that fragger hit?”

“Memory banks, the slash and smash has long healed,” Ratchet replied. “I don’t know what they were trying to accomplish. The base of the helm isn’t a conventional route for that surgery.”

“Wasn’t a surgery,” Jazz said. Ratchet stiffened and he slowly set the wrench down. There was fury in his optics.

“What did the mechling tell you?”

“His origin came home and claimed to be overcharged. He was stumblin’. Smokey mighta gone to his berth believin’ it but he saw the energon drippin’ down Prowl’s neck.”

“It would have been a sight,” Ratchet hissed. “He should have gone to the medicentre. He was stumbling because that wiring relates to his motor relays. If his self repair systems hadn’t grounded the wires, if they’d shorted, it would have been catastrophic.”

“Fatal?”

“Probably.”

“Don’t suppose ya told ‘m that.”

“We had a talk. I’d have had better luck trying to reason with a rock.”

“Smokey said Prowl told’m neither o’em behaved well that dark-cycle.”

“What do you think he meant by that?”

“Don’t know. Date gone wrong. Coulda been anythin’.”

“A date?”

“I told ya it wasn’t surgery.”

“Frag.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s worse, you know,” Ratchet said as he lifted his abandoned wrench back off the counter and set to polishing it again. “There’s no arguing the fragger had the best of intentions. It couldn’t be anything but straight up rape.”

“He told Smokey neither o’ them behaved well.”

“At least on some level he blames himself for it. The fact that he’s an enforcer...”

“Probably figures he shoulda been able to stop it,” Jazz guessed what Ratchet was thinking. He remembered what Smokescreen had said. Worrying what else the fragger had done to his origin. Smokescreen was still worrying. “Probably felt too embarrassed to sit down wit another enforcer to file a complaint.”

“Could it have been another enforcer?” Ratchet wondered out loud.

“That would fit. Smokey didn’t know the fragger’s designation. Don’t sound like he ever got serious wit anyone after his ‘genitor.”

“It’s been three vorns. He’s had three vorns to convince himself he had some part to play in what happened to him. Three vorns for it to fester. I doubt he’s going to give us a designation.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, ‘m thinkin’ the same thing.”

#intransigence #maccadams #anon-e-miss writes #tw mindrape #tf prowl #tf jazz #tf ratchet #tf smokescreen #victim blaming #ficlet

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primroseprime2019 · 3 years

Text

Masters and Students

"Such a shame." Starscream said as he watched the Space bridge explosion, "But I applaud you, Megatron. You certainly made a grand exit."

Echo clenched her fists tightly as she left the control bridge and Soundwave walked over to Starscream.

"Ah, Soundwave, cue the audio/visual. I wish to address the troops." Soundwave only nodded.

All over the screens and throughout the halls, the troops had heard Starscream give out his message.

"The loss of Megatron, leader of the great Decepticon uprising, is certainly a blow to our cause. Yet we mustn't despair of his tragic demise. But instead embrace his ultimate sacrifice and build upon the foundation he laid with an even mightier hand."

A Vehicon had spoken up, "With all due respect Commander-I mean Lord Starscream."

"Yes, yes, what is it?" Starscream said.

"If we failed to conquer Earth under Lord Megatron's command, what hope do we have now while the Autobots still defend it?" The Vehicon asked.

Starscream sighed and replied, "Allow me to be crystal clear... I studied for millennia under our former Master. Thus I am equipped to lead you. I, Megatron's true heir, Lord Starscream, Emperor of Destruction!" The crowd of Vehicons looked to each other and talked to one another. Starscream let out a scoff and had Soundwave cut the feed and audio.

"What use are troops who can't rise to the task of inflicting unspeakable destruction in my name?" The Seeker huffed.

"Maybe it's because they actually have loyalty towards someone who's led them for years," Echo spoke up as she stalked towards Starscream, her optics blazing with fury, "you're too cowardly and hardheaded to be a leader!"

"I suggest you watch your tone, Echo," Starscream growled. "Make me, you sorry excuse for a Decepticon!" Echo snapped, her digits turning into claws.

Soundwave stood between his sister and Starscream and Echo stared up at him, her wings shaking with bitterness towards Starscream. Soundwave shook his helm at his sister, silently telling her not to start a fight that she did not want to finish.

Echo clenched her fists tightly before she turned and walked out of the room. Starscream huffed and turned away from Soundwave, "now with that out of the way... Legend tells of one capable warrior, one who exists here upon this very planet, one who can be student to my master."

◊◊◊◊

Optimus sighed as he stood, overlooking the rock formations that surrounded him. It's been a week since they disabled the Decepticon Space Bridge, which resulted in Megatron's demise.

"Optimus, why so glum? This planet – all planets – are finally free from Megatron's tyranny!" Ratchet cheered.

"I do not disagree, Ratchet," Optimus admitted, a very large part of him content in knowing that his family would be safer than they were when Megatron lived, "It's just...a small part of me hoped to change Megatron's mind. Not extinguish his spark."

"Optimus, his vileness was not slain by your hand! But by his own twisted arrogance!" Ratchet protested, earning a hum of displeasure from the Prime, "I'm sorry. I know the two of you have quite a history."

"But the Megatron whom I once fought aside perished eons ago; the day he chose to become a Decepticon," Optimus rumbled before quickly changing the topic, "The Decepticons may be in disarray. But they aren't without leadership. And while Starscream is no Megatron, he is far from predictable." Suddenly an explosion shook the base.

"Decepticons! We're under attack!" Ratchet exclaimed and he and Optimus ran to the source of the explosion. Only it wasn't an attack. It was Rafael's volcano science project.

"It's not an attack Ratchet. It's my volcano," Raf said as he waved his hand against the smoke that started to fade away and his volcano deflated, "or was."

"Hold still, Bulkhead," Miko said as Bulkhead held a small model of the Solar System, "Jupiter needs its red spot. Whoopsie!"

"What... in the Allspark is going on around here?" Ratchet demanded. "Our projects are due tomorrow," Jack said.

Arcee picked up a part of the motorcycle she and Jack were working on. "Maybe it needs one of these doohickeys," she said.

"You're a motorcycle Arcee," Jack said with a smirk, "shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?" "You're a human, Jack," Arcee shot back, "can you build me a small intestine?"

"Burn!" Miko and Paige said and Firestorm snickered. Jack huffed.

"Well you can't make these projects in here," Ratchet said, "you're making a mess!" "But the science fair's a big part of our grade," Raf said.

"Yeah," Miko agreed, "if Bulkhead doesn't help me finish this model of our Solar System-" "Oh?" Ratchet interrupted, "and what does Bulkhead know of your solar system? Or Bumblebee of your volcanoes? Or...?"

"Arcee of our motorcycles?" Jack asked, earning a look from his guardian.

"Precisely," Ratchet said, "we're not Earthlings and they're not scientists." "But the Autobots are their guardians, Ratchet," Optimus said, "would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their schoolwork?"

"Well maybe our young friends should learn more of Cybertron," Ratchet huffed. Raf looked over at Paige, "what are you and Primrose working on, Paigey?"

"I'm just holding the flashlight," Primrose said. "I'm painting the galaxies and the constellations," Paige said as she sat on the far side of the main hangar, painting a rather large canvas. Primrose held a Cybertronian-sized flashlight and shined it down on the painting.

"Plus I’m making another project, but you can’t see it yet. Also, Ratchet," Paige said, making the Autobot medic look at her, "if you want- and if it's not too much trouble, can you teach me about Cybertron?"

"Really? You actually want to learn?" Ratchet asked, surprised. Paige smiled and nodded, "what's wrong with teaching a Galatrian about Cybertronian history and culture? Nothing, I'm sure. Plus, I've been meaning to learn about your planet."

Ratchet stared at Paige, completely shocked. "Someone's actually made Ratchet speechless," Firestorm chuckled, "I'm impressed. Ow!" He held his helm when a wrench suddenly decked him in the helm and he glared at Ratchet.

"Alright. I'll teach you," Ratchet said with a soft smile. "Yay!" Paige said happily. Primrose squeaked in surprise when some paint was flung her way and it landed on her faceplate.

"Whoops! Sorry Prim," Paige said with an apologetic smile.

"It's alright. The messier, the better," Primrose chuckled.

◊◊◊◊

Starscream, Soundwave and Echo were currently in the canyon looking for the warrior that Starscream had spoke of earlier in the warship. Though it had struck Echo as odd that they would look in a place such as Earth. And as much as she would've loved to beat Starscream into a bloody mess, she was also glad that Soundwave was here to stop her- most likely electrocute her in a way.

"Starscream." Echo said calmly, getting his attention, "This warrior that you talked about earlier, why in the name of the Allspark would they be here on Earth?"

Starscream said, "During the Great War, so much energon was hidden on this forsaken rock, that our departed master sent some of Cybertron's greatest to guard it-True warriors now lying in stasis, waiting to be reawakened."

"When you put it like that, it actually makes the most sense," Echo said.

"Yes," Starscream replied, "Though it was such a folly that late in life Megatron searched for distant space for warriors, rather than here beneath his feet." Soundwave was still trying to figure out where the warrior was; despite him not saying anything Starscream had said, "What do you mean you can't pinpoint his signal? I know we're close! Boost the power to your sensors!"

Soundwave did this and they found what they were looking for.

"Is that it?" Echo asked. "Yes," he said, "there." With that, he, Soundwave and Echo transformed into their aerial forms and flew up into the air.

◊◊◊◊

Raf was rebuilding his volcano. But he wasn't really paying attention. He was paying more attention to Bumblebee's stories from the war, particularly when Bumblebee mentioned that he hasn't made warrior class.

"Really, Bumblebee? Then how do you make warrior class?" Raf wanted to know, causing Bumblebee to bleep some stuff about experience getting in the way, "But I've seen you in action! You're awesome!"

That was when Optimus decided to intervene, placing his servo on his adoptive son's shoulder whilst saying to Raf, "I second your opinion, Raf. But Autobot lifecycles are much longer than those of humans. And though it may be hard to believe, our young scout still has much to experience."

"Well experience is the best thing to have," Paige said as she walked over to Optimus, Bumblebee and Raf. She was wearing a white shirt, along with some overalls and she was wearing her sketchers shoes.

"You done with your painting already?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yeah. I took it outside on the roof to dry," Paige said, rubbing her hands on the pants of her overalls, 'I think Cliff would've loved it.' She jumped when the monitors started going off.

"Exposed Energon! And it's on the move!" Ratchet proclaimed.

"And since we're not moving it, guess who must be!" Bulkhad challenged.

"Decepticons," Arcee answered as she stood next to Optimus.

"Without Megatron?" Miko asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, Megatron's legacy will live on as others rise to take his place," Optimus sighed gravely. "Why am I suddenly being reminded of wolves?" Paige asked aloud, making Optimus look at her curiously.

Optimus turned to his team, "Autobots, you have projects to complete. Ratchet, I may acquire first aid."

Ratchet was a bit hesitant at this, and turned to the three kids currently working on their projects.

"Science fair is a big part of their grade." Ratchet said to his leader, "Perhaps I'm best suited to remain and advise."

Optimus agreed to this, "Very well." He said, before turning to his scouts, "Bumblebee, Primrose, let us see about this energon in transit."

"Can I come?" Paige asked. "No," Optimus, Bumblebee and Primrose said in unison, making the fourteen year old girl squeak.

"You know it is too dangerous," Optimus said firmly. Paige frowned, "well I'm Dauntless enough to face danger!"

"This isn't Divergent," Jack called out. "Watch it, Jackson!" Paige said, glaring at the sixteen year old boy who put his hands up in surrender.

"What would your mother say?" Primrose asked in a playful tone. Paige opened her mouth but closed it and she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

Bumblebee buzzed with laughter as the ground bridge opened. Paige let out a meow of protest and she kicked invisible dirt with her foot. Optimus gently rubbed her head before he, Bumblebee and Primrose went through the ground bridge.

◊◊◊◊

Echo watched as Starscream and Soundwave pulled out what was a stasis chamber as she stood back. After they pulled the the stasis chamber out from where it was, they took a step back. "Soundwave, the cube." Starscream said.

Soundwave took out a container containing a single energon cube. He handed it over to Starscream; he placed it in the slot that was provided. The capsule had started to activate.

"The energon infusion!" Starscream said, "It's working!" They were soon blinded by a blue light.

In the distance, Optimus, Bumblebee and Primrose walked out of the ground bridge. They heard sounds just nearby. "Do you guys hear that?" Primrose asked.

"This doesn't feel right," Bumblebee said. "No Bumblebee, it does not," Optimus said, "hold your position and await my command."

Primrose and Bumblebee both nodded.

The stasis chamber opened and reveal the warrior inside; Starscream had stepped forward.

"Awaken warrior!" He said, "Rise and serve your new master!" Echo could tell that he was as large and giant as Megatron was; his color scheme was of green, white and red, and his optics glowed red. And a part of her was glad that he was another Seeker.

He spoke with a booming voice, "Skyquake only serves one master." "Excellent." Starscream said, "Your loyalty and devotion will set a fine example for the troops," he sent Echo a glare, "among other things. No need to be timid, Skyquake. You may bow."

Echo felt her right optic twitch and she ground her denta together to hold herself back. Soundwave placed his servo on his sister's shoulder and gave a light squeeze.

"You fail to grasp my meaning." Skyquake said, "I am here on a mission assigned to me by my one true master- Megatron." "Yes. Him." Starscream said, "Sadly Megatron is no longer with us."

"Impossible." Skyquake said.

"Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept? Skyquake, I located you. I awakened you. Thus I, Lord Starscream, am your one true master!" Starscream snapped.

Skyquake growled, stepping towards Starscream who quickly stepped back. "It has been quite awhile Skyquake." Optimus spoke up, getting his attention.

Skyquake turned to him. "Optimus Prime." He said, "I haven't seen you since the Battle of Technar. Megatron ordered me to annihilate you."

"That was a long time ago." Optimus said.

"That may be, Prime, but my orders still stand," Skyquake said.

"Is this ancient war still worth fighting when so many comrades have been lost and worlds destroyed? If you want to be a true leader, Starscream, then stray from Megatron's path and lead the Decepticons towards peace," Optimus said firmly.

"I would be willing to consider a truce..." Starscream said, "If you are willing to bow before me... Optimus Prime."

"Again?" Skyquake said angrily, "Bow to this!"

Skyquake swung his arm and with one hit, Starscream was sent flying right into the wall. Echo widened her optics in surprise before she transformed into her aerial form and flew up into the air with Soundwave and Starscream following.

"Skyquake, this is a new era. On another world. Side with the Autobots and help me end this conflict forever," Optimus once again pleaded the newly-awakened Decepticon.

"I will NEVER side with a Prime!" Skyquake proclaimed as he ran towards Optimus.

Optimus never saw the next hit coming. So when Skyquake threw a punch at him, he didn't block it. Instead, he let it knock him into a nearby archway. Skyquake picked Optimus up by his shoulders and threw the other around.

Above the ensuing battle, Starscream, Soundwave and Echo watched everything unfold. "What need have we for peace when we have Skyquake?" Starscream asked rhetorically to Echo and Soundwave.

"With some disapline, he will learn to respect his new master," the Seeker continued, "And once it becomes known that Skyquake destroyed the great Optimus Prime under our command, all Decepticons will greatfully bow to us."

Bumblebee and Primrose watched the fight between Optimus and Skyquake become intense. A little too intense for Primrose's liking. Optimus unlocked his blaster and shot at Skyquake twice.

The large Decepticon Seeker pulled out his own blaster and fired at Optimus. Each rapid shot hit the Prime, knocking him back but he still stood on his pedes. Having seen enough, Primrose and Bumblebee ran forward.

"Bumblebee, Primrose, no!" Optimus shouted. Bumblebee fired at Skyquake's back, catching the large Seeker by surprise. He whirled around, his blaster reloaded and ready. With each fire he made, Bumblebee avoided being hit. He jumped from wall to wall within the canyon, avoiding fire. Eventually, one hit Bumblebee, sending him crashing to the ground.

Primrose jumped forward and she grabbed Skyquake's blaster. Skyquake grabbed Primrose and threw her aside.

"Do not miss a single moment, Soundwave!" Starscream instructed, "We shall need visual documentation of Optimus Prime's demise for the historical record!"

Optimus and Skyquake punched at each other, both bots often missing and hitting again and again. When Skyquake knocked Optimus back, Bumblebee and Primrose got up beside their leader.

"He can't transform yet?" Bumblebee asked, confused. "Skyquake has not yet acquired a vehicle mode," Optimus said.

Skyquake charged at the three bots. "Fall back!" Optimus exclaimed. Before Skyquake could swing at the three Autobots, they quickly transformed into their vehicle forms and drove away.

“So time has made you a coward, Prime?" Skyquake called after him as he fired a few more shots from his blaster.

◊◊◊◊

"Let's see. Where is it?" Ratchet muttered as he used his blowtorch to assemble Raf's volcano.

"Um...what is it?" Raf wanted to know.

"You'll find out," Ratchet answered.

"But Ratchet, shouldn't I be doing the work?" Raf protested.

"Zep-yip-yip-yip! Don't touch! Just watch and learn!" Ratchet said sternly as he shooed the twelve year old boy away.

"So we're just gonna help Jack and Miko finish theirs..." Bulkhead trailed off as he referred to himself and Arcee.

"Without my supervision?! You want them to be right, don't you?" Ratchet asked, causing Arcee and Bulkhead to look at each other and give small shrugs. "Then watch a master at work!" Ratchet said eagerly.

"Control freak," Miko murmured. "That's the understatement of the century," Jack huffed as he walked over to Paige who was messing with some wires. She had some scissors in her hand.

"Paige?" Jack called out. Paige jumped and she hit her head, making her yelp and she shouted in pain when the scissors cut her arm.

"Fudge nuggets it all! Jack, don't sneak up on me like that- especially when I'm lost in thought!" Paige snapped. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Jack exclaimed.

Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, Raf and Miko hurried over to them. "What happened?" Ratchet asked.

"I accidentally scared Paige and she cut her arm," Jack said.

"Not to mention, I hit my head," Paige said. "What were you trying to do?" Bulkhead asked.

"Well I was trying to untangle some wires in the main wall because I figured that might give you some trouble," Paige said, "I had a toolbox stashed away."

"Let me see," Ratchet said as he activated his human form and he gently held Paige's arm, "it's a small cut, nothing major. I suggest you let me handle those wires from now on." He started to wrap her arm in some bandages.

"Sorry," Paige said, "thought I could help." "I appreciate that," Ratchet said with a soft smile and he looked at Paige.

She stared at him, her light brown eyes connecting with his light blue eyes. He stared at her, his face meters away from hers. He felt his human heart pounding against his chest and he felt his cheeks warm up.

Miko looked between the two and a sly smile appeared on her face. Paige's phone started buzzing and she picked it up out of her pocket.

She gave it to Ratchet who looked at the text message and his eyes slightly widened. The text was from Marcus and it said: 'make a move on my daughter and your spark is mine.' A shiver ran up the medic's spine and he sighed softly.

"Protective Dad?" Jack asked. "Yep," Paige giggled, "my parents have protective daddy and mommy senses- and they tingle."

"Remind me again as to why and how your parents know about us yet Ratchet and Optimus know them?" Bulkhead asked curiously. "They thought it'd be a good idea to tell me about my home planet," Paige said, "although it sounds weird, coming from me. Plus, Mom said that Ratchet and Dad met when Cybertron still had it's Golden Age. I don't know how to explain it myself."

◊◊◊◊

"We've lost sight of them! Soundwave, why aren't you tracking them?" Starscream screeched, "What? What is it?"

Soundwave was showing Starscream something else. A different map. It wasn't of the area they are currently watching Skyquake's battle with Optimus and Bumblebee. But a map of Earth and the space that surrounds it.

"A second Decepticon life signal? But Skyquake is the only sleeper buried in this area!" Starscream scoffed in disbelief as he studied Soundwave's map closer.

But Echo noticed something perculiar about the life signal. She knew that area well. After all, they were there just days ago.

"The sight of our destroyed Space Bridge! You're not telling us that life signal belongs to Megatron?" Starscream gasped as the realization dawned on them both, "but he was microns from the detination point! Nothing could have survived that blast! Your sensors must be faulty! Ignore the contact! Delete the coordinates!" Echo gave Starscream an icy glare which was quickly unnoticed.

"What am I saying? Of course it must be investigated! If Lord Megatron is up there, I shall bring him home. Soundwave, Echo, remain here and monitor the outcome. When Skyquake snuffs Prime's spark, I must bare witness," Starscream instructed.

With those words said, Starscream jumped into the canyon below. Once he was close to the ground, he transformed into his alternative jet mode and flew away from the canyon. Soundwave and Echo just stood by and watched him leave.

"Must bare witness," Soundwave repeated before he deployed Laserbeak and she flew up into the air.

◊◊◊◊

"Tango 6 Alpha to Station Command. We're picking up transmissions from unidentified technology. Possibly hostile. We are moving to investigate."

"Negative, Tango Six Alpha," Agent Fowler interrupted the communications between the two respective personnel, "This is Special Agent William Fowler intercepting. Strike your report from the record and abide origin coordinates. I'll take it from here."

◊◊◊◊

Down in the canyon below, the chase appeared to be working out in the favor of the Autobots. Primrose continued to drive around the canyon with Skyquake hot on her trail. However, Primrose eventually reached a dead end. Once she did, she transformed into her bipedal form.

"It will be a shame to crush you, young Prime. But it is my duty," Skyquake remarked.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of a truck horn behind him. He turned around and saw Optimus approaching him in his truck mode. Immediately, he started firing shots from his blaster. Whilst taking hits, Optimus transformed into his bipedal form and punched Skyquake in the face.

"Excellent strategy, Primrose," Optimus complimented his scout as Bumblebee drove up beside them.

Skyquake began to get up. "Skyquake, stay down," Optimus instructed as he retaliated with his own punch.

Bits of shrapnel broke off from Skyquake's face due to Optimus' punch. Skyquake fell to the ground weakened. Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee stood above him. He appeared to be defeated.

"Fowler?" Optimus gasped as he looked up and saw a familiar fighter jet.

While Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee were distracted, Skyquake looked up at the jet with a sinister grin. His eyes glowed green as he took in the appearance of the jet.

"Agent Fowler, fall back!" Optimus pleaded Fowler through their radio connection.

In his eyes were the designs of the fighter jet he had just scanned. Skyquake jumped above Optimus. Before either Optimus, Primrose, Bumblebee or Fowler could do anything about it, Skyquake was no longer in his bipedal form. But instead, he was in his recently-acquired alternative mode. His alternative mode was the jet Fowler was flying and Skyquake had scanned. He flew towards the skies at high speeds, intent on finishing his enemies once and for all.

"Well, I'll be a bald eagle!" Fowler remarked as he noticed Skyquake flying next to him.

"Air superiority achieved," Skyquake proclaimed as he fired shots at Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee below him.

Immediately, Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee started running for cover from Skyquake's shots. Needing more speed to do so, they transformed into their vehicle forms and sped away.

"Stealing plans for classified military aircraft will NOT be tolerated on my watch!" Fowler proclaimed as he fired shots at the phoney classified military aircraft.

To Skyquake, Fowler was now his new target of destruction. He fired a group of missles at the government agent. And they are no ordinary missles.

"HEAT SEAKERS!" Fowler gasped.

Fowler was now thankful of his intense compulsory pilot training. With his special maneovers, he managed to avoid the missles. When he reached a dead end, he pulled up immediately. Below him, the missles flew into the rocky cliff face and exploded upon impact.

"I still got it," Fowler boasted rather proudly.

◊◊◊◊

Bits of shrapnel from the Space Bridge explosion remained in space, floating around Earth's orbit.

"No one could have survived this." Starscream said as he looked through the rubble. "As I suspected faulty sensors, the last thing I need now is rumors that Megatron is still..." A painful moan interrupted him and Starscream hesitantly found the source. Megatron's burnt body was present and still in one piece. Every bit of him was charred and black and he had scratches everywhere from his body. There was a large whole in the center of his chest, right where his spark should be. "Megatron.." Starscream said amazed. At the slightest touch Megatron reacted.

"AAARRGGHH!" He roared as he grabbed at Starscream, who's optics went wide with fright. He wasn't sure if Megatron recognized him or not, but just as quickly as the attack started it ended with Megatron going limp again.

"But how?" The seeker said puzzled, until he saw a familiar purple glow. "Dark energon." Starscream leaned into Megatron's unconscious form. "Everyone believes you are deceased, who am I to disappoint them...master." He slowly pulled out the shard and Megatron groaned in pain before collapsing again. "And this time stay dead." Starscream snapped before pushing off his body. Suddenly he heard the chittering sound of Laserbeak nearby as the minicon flew over to Starscream and Megatron.

"Soundwave!" Starscream gasped as he hid the Dark Energon shard, "If you are listening, I have found Lord Megatron. And he is...unwell. We must transport him to sick bay...immediately!"

◊◊◊◊

Down in the canyon, the chase continued involving Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee on the ground and Skyquake and Fowler in the air. Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee narrowly avoided every shot Skyquake fired. One missle came too close for Optimus' liking. It sent him flying through the air. Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode to prevent potential self-harm.

But Skyquake ignored the Prime. He continued going after Bumblebee and Primrose. They continued to drive through the canyon with Skyquake flying close behind them firing shots from his blasters. Eventually, Primrose drove around a corner and Bumblebee drove up a hill at high speeds, causing him to fly over the top of the hill. Midair, Bumblebee transformed into his bipedal mode and ran across the hot, sandy ground underneath his feet. Skyquake flew above the gap of the canyon.

Bumblebee jumped from the edge of the canyon and landed on top of Skyquake. Immediately, the jet began flying out of control, randomly knocking Bumblebee into cliff faces in the process. From the ground, Optimus witnessed the events between the two. And he immediately knew that Bumblebee would need further support.

"Agent Fowler, we acquire immediate assistance!" The Prime said.

Bumblebee was punching Skyquake and ripping out bits of wiring vital to his bodily functions. Bumblebee's actions sent Skyquake into a crash dive, rapidly approaching the ground below. Immediately, Fowler was hot on their tail.

Bumblebee looked to Fowler and buzzed and beeped his thanks.

"Anytime, fella. Ground floor's coming up fast!" Fowler remarked.

Bumblebee jumped from Skyquake and landed on top of Fowler's jet. Immediately, Fowler pulled up to avoid crash-landing alongside Skyquake. The smoking Decepticon jet continued his crash dive towards the ground.

From the ground, Optimus watched as Skyquake landed nearby with an exploding bang. The burning jet skidded along the desert ground before coming to a stop a few feet away.

"Happy landings, 'Con," Fowler wished cockily.

Fowler flew his jet near the edge of the canyon so Bumblebee could jump off. Once Bumblebee was off of the jet, Fowler flew away. Bumblebee stood by the edge and observed the still-smoking remains of Skyquake. Eventually, he climbed down to meet up with Optimus and Primrose. Together, the three watched as the red optics of Skyquake went dark and his spark gave out.

"Had Skyquake chosen to stray from his master's path, we might not be burying him today," Optimus remarked.

Primrose stared at Skyquake's body and she clenched her fists tightly. Bumblebee glanced at her.

Soundwave and Echo watched the three Autobots from their spot on the canyons. Echo looked to Soundwave, a familiar look in her optics.

Soundwave only transformed into his aerial form and flew up into the air. Echo watched her brother for a moment and she looked back at the Autobots and Skyquake. She shut her optics tightly, holding back tears that threatened to form before she transformed into her aerial form and flew after Soundwave.

◊◊◊◊

"Bumblebee, putting yourself at risk was perhaps not the wisest of strategies. But you performed admirably," Optimus complimented Bumblebee after Ratchet finished checking him over for injuries.

Bumblebee bleeped to Optimus his thanks for the compliment as he stepped out of the chamber. Ratchet laughed gleefully as he heard the sounds of car horns from the hallway. Bulkhead and Arcee had returned with the kids. Jack and Paige hopped off of Arcee while Miko and Raf climbed out of Bulkhead and the two transformed into their bipedal forms.

"There you are! Well, how were my – I mean, our – projects received?" Ratchet asked eagerly.

"Well...," Raf trailed off.

◊◊◊◊

"Miss Nakadai, what planet would that be?" Mr Capizzi asked, referring to the model Miko displayed.

"Um...Cybertron?" Miko answered nervously.

Just as she answered the question, the metallic planet fell off the wire holding it up and rolled around the classroom, causing many kids to jump up in fear.

◊◊◊◊

"It's large, Mr Darby. But is it operational?" Mr Capizzi questioned nervously.

Jack hit the button and the machine went wild. It even left the classroom to terrorize the kids who were unfortunate enough to have free period at this time.

◊◊◊◊

"I hesitate to ask, Mr Esquivel. But is it active?" Mr Capizzi whimpered.

To answer his question, Raf pressed the button that activated the electrical volcano. It almost destroyed the entire school.

◊◊◊◊

"Well, on our planet, you would have been awarded the highest honor!" Ratchet snapped before walking away grumbling, "Absolutely no credit whatsoever."

"Speaking of highest honors," Arcee smirked as she glanced at Paige.

"Why are you guys looking at me?" Paige asked nervously.

"I don't believe it. My best friend has forgotten that she was awarded the highest grade in the entire school!" Jack exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Ratchet screeched before promptly fainting.

"I only introduced and showed my painting and constellations and galaxies to the teachers," Paige said, blushing and smiling shyly, "especially my favorite constellation: Orion and Cassiopeia."

"So what are you guys going to do next year?" Primrose asked them with a smirk.

"They should've strayed from Ratchet's path," Bumblebee bleeped.

"Indeed, Bumblebee. Our human friends would have been wise to stray from Ratchet's path like Paige did," Optimus agreed.

"Hey. You made Ratchet faint! I LIKE THIS GIRL!" Bulkhead proclaimed, causing everyone except Optimus and Ratchet to laugh.

"What happened to your arm, Paige?" Optimus suddenly asked, noticing the white material covering Paige's arm.

"She was surprised by something and cut her arm with a pair of scissors," Jack said, "Aunt Tasha had to put some alcohol on it and wrap it up even more."

"What?!" Optimus exclaimed. "I'm okay," Paige quickly reassured him, placing her hand on his digit, "you're starting to act like my Mom."

Optimus only vented, blowing gentle and warm air against the girl, making her laugh and she hugged his digit.

After the events, Optimus gave Paige a lecture about safety and she half listened and half smiled at the Prime. She was thinking of the last night memory of her parents talking to her about her second planet and how it had become desolated when Cybertron became dark.

"So you met Orion Pax and Megatronus when you were at least my age?" Paige asked her dad curiously. Marcus chuckled and gave a small nod.

"I was at least twenty-one when the War started," Marcus said, "Orion Pax became Optimus Prime. And Megatronus became Megatron."

"So... what are we?" Paige asked, looking to her mom. Tasha smiled softly, "we're Galatrians. And we're very special Magic users. We got along with Cybertronians very well. At least... up until the War began. Galatrians, along with many other Magic users, were either captured or killed by Decepticons and many went into hiding or just disappeared."

"There were many Magic Users we had met just like your parents," Ratchet said, "there was one named Kaitlin Elisabeth Prime."

Paige blinked in surprise and she looked to Optimus who gave a solemn smile. "What was... what was she like? Did you meet her?" Paige asked.

Tasha and Marcus nodded. "We did. She was an amazing and brave Irilian. Even Megatron loved her and she loved him," Tasha said, hugging her daughter close, "and I bet she would've loved to meet you."

Paige smiled softly and she looked at her markings. "What magic can I do?" She asked curiously. "You can do what many Galatrians can do," Marcus chuckled, "your eyes may be light brown but when you use your powers, they change to ruby red. Those are your Galatrian eyes."

"Show us some magic Paigey!" Miko said excitedly. Paige smiled nervously before she closed her eyes in concentration. The markings glowed sapphire blue and apparitions of Sky Children appeared around the base.

Tasha chuckled and shook her head with amusement. Paige smiled softly as a Sky Child walked up to her and gave a happy musical sound.

Paige giggled happily and clapped her hands together with delight. Optimus smiled softly.

After Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead took their charges home, Paige had fallen asleep on the couch and Tasha drove into the base, silently parking her truck on the side.

"Optimus?" Tasha called out, making the Prime and Ratchet look at her.

"Paige insisted on sleeping over tonight," Ratchet said. Tasha chuckled softly, "I see. I actually wanted to talk to you both."

"Of course," Optimus said as he knelt down in front of her.

"If Megatron was found by his... followers, is it possible that he knows about my family?" Tasha asked. "That will not happen," Ratchet said firmly.

Tasha looked over at the still sleeping Paige, "my daughter is no Kaitlin. She's no bright blue dragoness. She's no Valentine."

"Megatron may or may not know that," Optimus said, "he knows the history between you and him. He knows the history between him and your mother." Tasha gripped her arm tightly at the mention of her mother.

"I am not losing anyone else," Tasha said darkly, "I don't care what it takes. I will fight Megatron till my last breath."

"Let us not focus on that now," Optimus said firmly, "focus on your daughter. The only child you have ever brought into this Earth- she needs you."

"And she needs you," Tasha said firmly, placing her hand on Optimus' digit, "just as you will grow to need her." Marcus picked Paige up into his arms and walked over to the truck.

Tasha turned and walked after Marcus but she paused. "Optimus," she said, "no matter what happens... do not let Paige's darkness take a hold of her."

Optimus stared at her for a moment before he gave a small nod. With that, Tasha got into the truck and she drove out of the base.

◊◊◊◊

"The troops will be pleased to hear of our success in rushing Lord Megatron into stasis. Let us hope that our master pulls through," Starscream said. Echo stood in the medlab, staring at Megatron coldly.

Her leader was hooked up to life support cords. No matter what, she was going to guard her leader. Especially from Starscream.

◊◊◊◊

Starscream and Soundwave walked into the control bridge. Starscream paused when he saw a cloaked figure.

"Reveal yourself!" Starscream snapped, "Decepticons, attack!" The Vehicons didn't move an inch.

A dark chuckle came from the cloaked figure. "I'm surprised you think that they would follow your orders, Starscream," the voice said, "you truly have forgotten who I am."

The figure removed her cloak and Starscream widened his optics. A bright orange and white femme with yellow highlights turned to them, her fiery orange optics glowing.

"I have heard of Lord Megatron's... steady recovery," she said calmly, "and while he is in recovery, I shall lead the Decepticons... unless anyone has a problem with that."

Soundwave didn't say anything but the femme somehow knew his answer. The Vehicons in the control bridge stayed silent. Starscream's wings twitched and he lowered his helm.

The femme smirked and turned back to the large screens, clasping her servos behind her back.

#fanfiction #transformers prime #my ocs #self insert #the girl among the gods

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muesliforbreakfast · 3 years

Text

Fabian Tactics

Part 1?

This one got a bit of traction on the sub, but is actually more of a salvage job of stuff I’ve had written down for YEARS but couldn’t get to work.

What are they running? Picture the Frontier Buccaneers by Johnsonting except with like a thick mesh cape type thing, and the rifle looks kinda like an RM277.

This doesn’t really matter, but I did a bunch of worldbuilding I’ll probably never get to use :’(

On an unrelated note - Look at this one by the same artist. If this dude had an EF88 I would actually lose my shit.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cadet Ralek was the only one in his company behaving himself before the lecture. He came from a military family. Growing up he was steeped in discipline and tradition. But that wasn't his only reason for attentiveness. This weeks modules were focused on counterinsurgency, and todays lecture on the greatest insurgency of all, on that Ralek's uncle had been on the losing side of nearly two hundred years before. The Terran insurgency.

“HOLD FAST!” An NCO called, at the front of the lecture theater. The hall, full of chattering cadets fell silent as they all braced their upper limbs on their desks, whilst some officers went through their rituals, transferring command of the cadets over to the officer, who introduced himself.

“I am Second Lieutenant Orion, of the Federation Marine Corps. As part of today's module we have a very special presenter – Corporal Felix, of the Terran Heer.”

The class perked up at that – Terrans no longer had an army of their own; they hadn't had one for one hundred and seventy four years. The exact date that every race had been accepted into the Galactic Federation had been drilled into each and every one of them. They watched as an old, frail man was wheeled into the lecture theatre, ashy, paper thin skin hanging from his face. Civilian clothes in the Terran style, with several medals pinned on the left of his chest.

O1 Orion bowed politely and they whispered to each other. Then he pinned a microphone to Felix' lapel. He began to speak, with the thin, frail voice of a man nearing the end of his twilight years.

“Good evening cadets. I'm getting straight to the point because there's just one thing the Armed Forces of the Federation want you to learn from me. And because I want to deliver it to you. Before I drop dead.” The old man struggled to get enough air between his words.

The class laughed nervously. The old man gathered his strength, eyes closed, breathing slowly.

“We Terrans had inferior numbers and technology, and we were fighting a war of extermination, but we still beat the Empire. How did we do it? You.” Felix pointed at a cadet in the fourth row, with a bony, wavering finger. A Kelress, who looked like a four foot red panda.

“Sir, because humans are physically tough and aggressive apex predators, sir.”

Only the Ji Te who were in the theatre laughed at that. Only some of them. And only a little.

“Don't fucking swear at me, cadet. I'm a corporal, and I'm retired,” The whole class giggled that time, “You. You think that's funny. What do you think?” He said, as his frail finger pointed at one of the closer Ji Te, a hulking reptiloid in the second row.

“Because humans are sly, intelligent and patient, mister Felix. Your kind came up with tactics we simply couldn't counter. Over time frames we didn't anticipate.

“You could and you duh...did, cadet....... The empire was fighting a war of extermination; they blocked out our sun. And it only took us three years.”

The class had no answers to that. Felix pointed at another of the Isae in the room.

“You. Have you got answers for me?”

“I agree with the other cadets, Mister. But I would like to add, humans are willing to do anything to survive. Uh. Mister Felix,” The Isae replied.

“Mmmmm... A better answer. Maybe I should ask someone who knows,” The old man pointed at one of the Terran cadets scattered throughout the lecture theater, “You, young lady. What do you think?”

“Mister Felix,” she began, “In guerilla warfare and insurgency operations, all you need to win is to not lose. Classic Fabian tactics that go as far back as the Punic wars. Classic Maoist tactics of the 20th century. Deny the enemy resources and deny them battle unless it's at a time and place of your choosing. As long as someone survives, you haven't lost. Mister Felix.” The old retired corporal seemed to relax somewhat. He paused for a long while. His threat of dropping dead seemed like less of a joke by the minute.

“Straight from the pam. Good drills cadet.” He finally said, before pausing again.

“I was barely nineteen when the empire invaded. I was fresh out of basic training when the sun shield went up... I was lucky... I was evacuated by arkship less than a year later. By then we had been on less than starvation rations for months.”

The class exchanged looks. They were all thinking of the human reputation.

“What do we taste like?” Cadet Ralek couldn't help but ask.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Private Felix' section was running Personal Radios and Line of Sight communicators but for now they were doing it old school. Hand signals. They were patrolling their sunless planet, towards the location where the latest enemy incursion had been reported. As point man he was the first to see the glow of the enemy in the distance.

>Take cover

>Enemy contact front

>Enemy Squad 8-2-0m North North East

>Come here

His squad slowly lowered themselves to cover, and his squad leader made his way over to him.

“What do you see?”

“One of those wide slow walkers, being protected by a team of hunter-killers, I count 9. They're using spotlights and floodlights, they may not have optics.”

“They might have a team on overwatch that does”

“What do you think they're doing?”

“Science or harvesting, or drawing attention...” His section commander paused for a moment, “This kind of walker goes back to their smaller bases with a load, drops it off then leaves again... Stay here on overwatch, radio silence. Wait out for further instructions.”

His squad leader flashed hand signals, and left two of his squadmates with him, while they watched and waited.

Around half an hour later they had their orders.

Recon. Then kill them all, destroy the walker. Booby trap the bodies, hide and observe. Develop the situation.

His section commander flashed the hand signals for their orders. The squad took their positions across the walker and they awaited the signal.

A purple beam silently lanced from the squad commander's Modular Infantry Laser Rifle; the beam both squealed and thudded as it burst through one of the hunter-killer robot's bodies. The robot had barely begun to fall when each of the squad members rifle also lanced a robot body with their own beams. The robot corpses clattered and rattled lifelessly to the ground. The squad's aim then played across the legs of the walker where they attached to its thorax. It dropped to the ground with a prolonged thud, and then silence aside from the hydraulics within the walker trying in vain to move its legs. The squad took an all round defensive position around the area while the squad commander finished off the walker, his rifle punching a hole through the side for him to throw a plasma-grenade into. That done, they placed trip bombs under the HK bodies, accounted for everyone then moved off to their predetermined form up point less than half a kilometer away.

The whine of a dropship's engines steadily increased in volume over their whispers – the HK team's backup had arrived, in the form of another sixteen HK's, one of the nine foot tall crocs and a twelve foot tall mechsuit. The croc and the mechsuit was a lot of firepower. The squad quietly deployed from their form up point, crawling low and slow through the withered scrub towards the site of their previous victory. It had become easy to move quietly in the sunless dirt with the plants long dead. Their Matte Adaptive Camouflage absorbed a variable amount of light from the EM spectrum, from low energy IR to high energy UV. On their sunless planet, they were basically invisible.

A sharp crack filled the dark, and the croc dropped to the ground, briefly flailing in the dirt.

<honorless/shameless><brutes/thugs> have trapped bodies leave bodies be, take positions, bring <leaders>

The HK team had positioned itself in a perimiter around the fallen walker, the mech-suit stood lifelessly by it, and a pair of the three foot slugs were sliding towards the wreckage. One began to cut into the side of the walker with a plasma torch, while the other examined the legs that had been sheared off by laser beams. Not even the robots attended to the croc, which seemed to have bled out.

Felix looked to his squadmates and commander for orders.

>Squad rifles target HK's on my signal fire at will

>Squad heavy weapons target Mech on my signal three high impact rounds

>Extended File 10m spacing

Felix took his position in the formation and they began to close in on the invaders.

The squad commander's beam lanced out across the battlefield, scorching a hole through a robot body, and the squad unleashed a controlled burst of hellfire. In less than four seconds the hunter-killer team had been annihilated. Four seconds after that the mech-suit had been shorn it half at the waist by repeated high impact lasers.

The squad closed in on their hapless victims.

“Felix! Ballistic rounds on the slugs, fire at will! Heavy Weapons! Peel that Mech, kill the pilot! Alpha! Suppress! Bravo! Security!” The Squad commander was yelling now.

“Ten four!” He acknowledged his order, then drew his vintage Browning GP-35 as he closed in on the invaders.

mercy <owner/master/ruler> mercy let me live mercy

His universal translator filled his helmet with the slug's pleas for mercy. He sauntered to their cowering forms, their desperate clicking and screeching audible over the translation of their words.

He pumped three rounds into each.

“We eat tonight.”

At the mech, his squad had used their lasrifles to shear off the mechs arms and an ablative armour panel. A feeble, raccoon like creature about four feet tall had sprayed out the viewport with its small kinetic machine gun, but Zahn had responded with a short squirt of pepper spray. When the spray of kinetic fire stopped he simply reached in and dragged it out by the throat, its soft velvet fur ripped out through its ruined uniform as it raked past the broken viewport. Its screeching and whining unintelligible even to the universal translators. He drew his clearing knife and sliced across its throat, before driving its head against a corner of the broken mech once. Then twice. It fell limp, as if deflated, with the last sound it heard being Zahn's voice echoing into the dark “We eat tonight!!”

The Squad regrouped at the edge of a re-entrant, in the shallow valley the walker had been traversing.

The Commander quietly addressed the squad.

“I've called it in – we won't be rationed in for another week. Their reinforcements will be here within two hours, probably less, so we need to hustle. Zahn, Vorhut, store the badger and slugs. Forget the croc it's ruined.” The members of the squad fell out as they received their orders. “Kaiser, Ulan, Water and ammo. Felix, Erik. One AA mine and AP mines on that ridge there. The rest of you all round security. Ten minutes, Then we move.”

Felix and Erik both clambered up the hill with a sense of urgency, uncomfortably warm in their heat and light absorbing camouflage armour, despite the temperature being close to zero. They both hadn't eaten in days. Despite the bitter, earthy taste and the slimy, gelatinous yet tough texture, Felix was looking forward to his share of slug.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“You Isae taste absolutely vuh... vile...” He stammered out, then pointed at the Ji Te, “But you... You taste like salmon.”

#HFY #Humanity Fuck Yeah #Fiction #An Exercise in Writing

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andtails · 4 years

Text

A Prelude to Chaos Control - Chapter 4: In the City

Click here to start from the beginning. You can also read this story on FanFiction.Net or Archive of Our Own.

*****

“I sure am beat.”

Sonic sat in Knuckles’ modest kitchen, resting his legs up on the table as he chugged a blueberry sports drink, sweat rolling down his fur.

“You said it,” Knuckles replied, entering the room with a training towel around his neck. “I haven’t had that much of a workout in a while.”

“Maybe I should come by more often then?”

“Just not too much.” The echidna and hedgehog chuckled while continuing their banter, relaxing after a few hours of sparring in the clearing surrounding Knuckles’ home.

“I wonder how Tails is doin’?” Sonic asked himself, standing up to get a good view of the Master Emerald shrine from the window. Sonic watched as Tails continued his work, typing away on his laptop, which he had wired to multiple points on the large gem.

“Do you think he’ll actually be able to pull it off?” Knuckles asked, peering out of the kitchen window alongside the blue hedgehog, taking a swig of his cherry sports beverage.

“Knowing my little bro, I have confidence that he’ll accomplish whatever he sets his mind to.”

“But still,” Knuckles interjected, “the thought that one can simply detect chaos energy with some machine seems a bit farfetched, don’t you think?”

Sonic turned his head toward the red echidna. “I don’t pretend to know much about all this science stuff. All I really know is that the emeralds can provide a significant power boost in combat, and finding a way to obtain them faster would place us at a great advantage. If anyone in this world can solve this puzzle, it’ll be my lil’ bro.”

“You sure seem to have a lot of confidence in him.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Sonic replied, his face tightening as he sat back down at the table. “Ever since we met, Tails has gotten me out of countless jams and helped thwart Eggman’s schemes time and time again. I don’t think I’d be here today without his genius mind…or his friendship.” Sonic placed his arms on the table, looking up at the red echidna. “Yet despite this, he still places a lot of pressure on himself to be perfect, and he takes any mistake as a personal failure.”

Sonic’s voice began to shake as a slight hint of moisture formed over his eyes. “If I had one wish in this world, it’d be to help my little bro, but I just don’t know how, ya know?”

Knuckles, not used to consoling a friend or having these sorts of interpersonal conversations, stood there and looked at the hedgehog. He observed as Sonic turned his attention back to the window, watching the orange kitsune working diligently on his experiment.

This is so unlike Sonic. He must really be stressing out if he came to me, of all people, to talk about his feelings.

“But, what am I sayin’?” Sonic said in a joyful manner, a smile appearing on his face as he got up from his seat. “I’m sure that Tails’ll get the detector working, and we’ll have all the emeralds back in no time.”

“Ahh, okay, then…” Knuckles wasn’t sure how to respond to Sonic’s rapid mood swing.

“Why don’t we go check on him?” Sonic offered as he began walking to the door, taking a last gulp of his drink before throwing the bottle in the trash can along the way.

“Hey, you know we recycle here, right?” Knuckles pointed to the recycling bin next to the garbage can. The recycling container was labeled with three arrows that formed a triangle.

“Oops, sorry man.” Sonic ran a hand through his quills in embarrassment before fishing the bottle out of the trash and placing it in the proper bin. As he headed to the exit, Knuckles placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I may not be the best at this sort of thing, but if you ever need to talk some more, I’m always here.” Sonic looked over his shoulder and gave the red echidna a thumbs up and a smile before leaving the cabin.

*****

Tails stared at his laptop, tinkering with a software application that he had programmed to help analyze the unique energy readings emitted by the emeralds. He carefully studied the monitor, double-checking the software parameters while munching on his box of Mobian Scout™ mint chocolate cookies, allowing dark crumbs to fall onto his keyboard.

“All right, here goes nothing.” Tails clicked a few remaining keys before wiping his face clean of cookie crumbs and following the trail of wires leading from his laptop to the Master Emerald, which stuck to the mystical gem with suction cup-like energy readers. The objective was for the emerald’s chaos energy to transmit through the cables and reach the laptop, where Tails’ application would convert the readings into digestible data for further analysis.

Tails watched as the Master Emerald began to glow with a green aura as streaks of static covered the large gem. Meanwhile, the laptop was beginning to hum louder than usual, its small fans spinning faster to prevent the computer from overheating. The program displayed lines upon lines of numerical data as points on a continuously expanding chart shot up and down.

“It’s working!” The orange kitsune waved a fist in the air in excitement before grounding himself back to the task at hand, anxiously dividing his attention between his laptop and the Master Emerald. It was at this time that Sonic and Knuckles arrived back to the shrine, climbing up the stairs to greet the young fox.

“Hey Tails, how’s it goin’?” the blue hedgehog asked, waving at his younger brother. Instead of waiting for an answer, though, he shifted his focus to the glowing emerald, taking a step back in surprise. Knuckles swiftly stepped sideways to avoid Sonic’s sudden movement before noticing the emerald himself.

“Tails, what’re you doing!” Knuckles yelled, approaching the mystical gem with anger in his eyes. “Can’t you see the Master Emerald is in pain?”

“Huh?” Tails looked at the red echidna in confusion. “What do you mean? I’m only gathering data on the emerald’s chaos energy.” As if not hearing Tails’ explanation, Knuckles approached the gem intending to remove the cables. Before he could, though, a bolt of static shocked his hand, causing the tough echidna to step back, his face tensing up as he growled in pain.

“Knuckles, are you hurt?” Tails asked, approaching him with an outstretched hand.

“No, I’m fine.” Knuckles turned away, tending to his bruised hands before shooting a glance back at the orange kitsune. “So, are you gonna stop this madness?”

“I really don’t know what you mean, I was just—” Tails’ explanation was cut short by the static growing in size around the Master Emerald, the gem’s glow now a piercing light that blinded the trio as the shrine began to shake under their feet.

“Tails,” Sonic said, balancing on one foot as he swung his arms to steady himself. “You gotta stop this!”

“Right.” Tails flew over to his laptop, as walking was now out of the question, and pressed a few keys. As the application closed, Tails looked in bewilderment as the Master Emerald continued to glow violently, the intensity of the static getting stronger. “No, this is impossible! The reaction should’ve subsided by now!”

In a desperate attempt to remedy the situation, Tails tried yanking the cables off the emerald, theorizing that the gem was still transmitting data to the computer, even with the program shut down. Despite his attempts, the suction cups remained in place, firmly rooted to the Master Emerald. Tails moved closer to the green gem, still yanking at the cables, with one in either hand, making no progress.

“Why did I have to fasten these so tight?” Tails struggled to say as he used as much force as his little body could muster to remove the cords. As he gave a final tug, a steady stream of static pulsed out of the Master Emerald, striking Tails on both hands, covering his body in a wave of light.

“Ahhhhh!”

To Sonic and Knuckles’ horror, the orange kitsune remained frozen in place for several seconds, glowing brightly to give them a view of the skeletal outline beneath his skin, before falling to his knees. Tails’ body tumbled sideways, facing the Master Emerald, as he fell out of consciousness.

*****

Tails slowly opened his eyes, blinded by the mid-afternoon sun pouring through the bedroom window of Knuckles’ cabin, to find himself in bed. Sonic was staring intently into his eyes, shifting in his chair as he noticed his younger brother regaining consciousness.

“Tails!” Sonic grabbed his hand. The young fox winced at the pain in his palms. “Ohh, sorry little bro.”

The kitsune raised his head up and looked down at his hands, gloves replaced by white bandages. He attempted to make fists with his hands, but while he was able to successfully move his fingers, pain still shot up his hand, tears forming in his eyes as his lips trembled. Drying his eyes with his right arm, he looked at the concerned hedgehog sitting next to him on the side of the bed.

“How long was I out?”

“About two hours.” Sonic pointed at a clock on the wall, which read two in the afternoon.

“I see,” Tails replied, resting his eyes for a bit, allowing his hands to drop down to his belly, the position that seemed the most comfortable to his injured paws. “And the Master Emerald?”

“The giant rock is fine,” Sonic replied, a small smile returning to his face. “Knuckles is tending to it now. You should’ve seen the look on his face when you got shocked, though. He was so scared!”

“If he was frightened, I can’t imagine how you reacted!”

The two brothers laughed in unison.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, big guy.”

Sonic peered down at the injured fox as he rustled his hair. Tails looked up at the blue hedgehog, wondering if he was imagining the moisture that appeared to be forming in Sonic’s eyes, as if he were about to cry, or if it was merely an optical illusion from the sun’s reflection.

“I’m…sorry…” Tails said, looking down at his palms again, his fingers twitching as feeling returned to his hands.

“Hey, you’ve got nothin’ to apologize for,” Sonic replied, stroking the back of the fox’s head.

“Did I really cause pain to the Master Emerald?” Tails looked back up at the blue hedgehog, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I don’t know for sure,” Sonic replied, holding Tails’ hands, delicately enough to not cause pain, “but nobody believes that you did it on purpose.” The blue hedgehog’s calming voice and rational response helped cool his nerves, fresh tears no longer building up in his eyes. The young kitsune’s face loosened as he looked out the window.

“I’m sure Knuckles is upset with me, huh.” Tails watched as the red echidna shined the Master Emerald, as if attempting to restore the mystical gem after being sullied by his experimentation.

“He was much more concerned with your well-being than that stupid rock,” Sonic replied. “But if you think you’re up to it, we can get you out of bed and walk around, maybe go see ‘im too.”

Tails wiggled his toes to confirm his feet weren’t asleep before pulling himself out of bed. The hedgehog helped steady the orange fox as he placed his feet on the ground before letting him go. Tails wobbled a bit, grabbing onto Sonic’s shoulder before regaining his composure. After releasing him once more, waiting several seconds to make sure he could stand on his own, the young kitsune was able to keep his balance without anyone there to prop him up.

“Now let’s see if you can walk.” Sonic stepped out of the bedroom, beckoning Tails to follow him. Instead, he lost himself in thought, no longer in the company of his big brother.

I don’t understand…how did I survive such a shock with little more than burnt hands? Surely the intensity of the electricity should’ve paralyzed me, or worse…

The young kitsune stood there, pondering his miraculous recovery, his finger to his chin as he continued looking out the window, the sun warming his orange fur.

“Is something wrong?” Sonic asked, poking his head back into the bedroom to check on his little brother.

“No, I’m fine.” Wishing to delay no longer, Tails moved his legs, still wobbly as if his nervous system were still rebooting. Slowly taking a few more steps, however, the orange fox regained the ability to move normally, briskly following Sonic out of the cabin.

The bright sun, light wind, and refreshing aroma of the outdoor air seemed to calm Tails’ mind. He breathed deeply, allowing the air to escape his lungs slowly as he looked across the pristine clearing. He took it all in, forgetting about his injuries and scientific failures for a few moments before turning his eyes to the Master Emerald Shrine, where Knuckles was still shining the large gem with a white rag.

Not wanting to push his luck, but still eager to test his body’s limits after recovering from the electric shock, Tails jogged toward the shrine. Deciding that his legs were okay, and his balance unhindered, he began to spin his namesakes to increase his speed. Thankfully, his tails, or the rest of his body, didn’t seem to be drastically impacted by the accident, just another mystery that rivaled the age-old question of how he was able to rotate his appendages like helicopter propellers in the first place.

Sonic watched as Tails picked up speed.

Man, that little guy recovers fast!

Meeting each other at the foot of the shrine, the two brothers walked up the stone steps to greet Knuckles, who had since dropped his rag and sat down for a break.

“How are you doing, Knuckles?” Tails asked, his voice shaky. He was nervous to confront him after the incident with his Master Emerald.

“Not too bad,” the red echidna replied, looking up at the young kitsune from his seat on the ground. “I should be asking you the same thing.”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Tails smiled as he placed a hand behind his head before pulling it away, forgetting that his palms were more sensitive than usual.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier,” Knuckles said, standing back on his feet. “I just hope you realize why I got so upset.”

“No, no, I should be the one apologizing for hurting the Master Emerald. I feel like I deserve the punishment I received.”

“That’s not true. I may be the guardian of the Master Emerald, sworn to protect it at all costs, but that doesn’t mean your pain was deserved. Besides, I’m sure the Master Emerald recognized you were not actually trying to cause harm.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Tails itched his muzzle. “Hey, Knuckles…does the Master Emerald have…sentience?”

“What does that mean?” Knuckles raised his hand to his chin, attempting to decipher this new word.

“You know…feelings…thoughts…like you and me.”

“Ohh, I see. Well…yes, the Master Emerald does have feelings, and I can use my connection to the emerald to sense these emotions, but it has never spoken to me in words. I felt the emerald’s pain during your experiment, but it didn’t say that you were causing it…it didn’t need to.”

The young fox approached the Master Emerald once more, the gem glistening in the mid-afternoon sun. “If you can understand me, I just want you to know that…I’m sorry...” He placed an injured paw on the large gem as he looked down at the base of the emerald. Surprisingly, his hand didn’t hurt from touching the mystical gem.

Knuckles and Tails stood there in silence. Only the rustling of the wind and the chirping of distant flickys could be heard as they lost themselves in thought. Sonic, who was on the other side of the Master Emerald, came back around and approached his younger brother.

“Hey Tails, you’re gonna wanna take a look at this.” The fox looked up and followed the blue hedgehog to the other side of the shrine, a charred laptop resting on the ground.

At first, the orange kitsune blankly stared at the damaged laptop, coming to the realization that all his hard work, not to mention his injuries, were for nothing, until he realized that not all hope was lost. The fox turned to his smartwatch, pressing a few buttons to reveal a projector-like display that floated over Tails’ wrist, allowing him to interface with its menu by swiping with his hands.

“Aha!” Tails raised a fist in the air and jumped for joy. “This is why I always run back-ups! My laptop saved all the Master Emerald readings to the cloud in real-time. I should be able to work with this.”

“That’s great news!” Sonic said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tails looked up at his older brother with a smile, content that the work he undertook, and the inadvertent risks that he put the Master Emerald through, paid off in the end.

Their celebration, however, was cut short as the projector’s image of numerical chaos energy data shifted to the face of a small, serious-looking Mobian.

“Hello, come in, Tails,” said a gravely, deep voice from the other end of the call. “This is General Pitliff.” Sonic and company saw him talking into a headset covering his large, gray ears, a green hard hat and military fatigues blanketing his small, furry, puffy body. If not for his stern expression, the frown on his face, and his petrifying stare, the chinchilla would have almost looked cute.

“Listen up,” Pitliff continued, placing a small paw over his exposed ear. “Robotnik is up to his dirty schemes again.” He paused as a car exploded in the background. “We need you and Sonic here to defeat and, hopefully, apprehend the evil doctor.”

“We’re on it,” Tails replied, giving Pitliff a salute with his arm.

“I knew we could count on you.” Pitliff entered a few digits into his smartwatch. “All right, I just sent you the coordinates, the heart of Seaside City. We’ll fend him off until you get here, at which point we will divert our focus to assisting the injured while you take care of Robotnik.”

“Understood,” Tails said as the general ended the call. He turned his attention to Sonic and Knuckles. “Alright, let’s go and kick Eggman’s butt!”

“Hold on a second.” Sonic raised his arms, signaling the young fox to pause as he was about to fly down the stone steps of the shrine. “Is it such a good idea for you to go rushing into battle with your injuries?”

Tails stared at the bandages on his hands. He winced in pain as he attempted to form tight fists.

“I’m…I’m alright, Sonic…honest.”

“I dunno, little buddy. I’m not so sure you’re in a condition to fight.”

Tails stared at his older brother, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. “But I’m your pilot. We can defeat Eggman together, like we always do. And besides, now that Eggman is back, we don’t know what he is planning, or if he has any Chaos Emeralds.”

Sonic looked up at the blue sky while tapping a finger against his chin, pondering Tails’ plea to help.

I am concerned for the little guy, especially with his injuries, and I could just fly the Tornado 2 by myself, but that’d absolutely crush his self-confidence.

“As long as you stay in the plane, I’ll allow it.” The hedgehog folded his arms and lowered his head, closing his eyes as if in deep thought. “I care too much about you to put you in harm’s way.” Sonic’s voice cracked as he looked up at Tails, a smile returning to the blue blur’s face. “But if you promise to keep yourself safe, we could definitely use the air support.”

Tails could’ve sworn that the hedgehog’s eyes were starting to moisten.

He really is concerned for me, huh? Well, all the more reason to make him proud!

Sonic raised a gloved pinkie finger, and the young fox grabbed hold of it with his own bandaged pinkie finger.

“Pinkie swear!” they said in unison.

“Hey guys, not to interrupt your conversation here, but shouldn’t we be heading to Seaside City?”

“You’re right, Knuckles.” Sonic replied. “Let’s go!”

With that, Team Sonic dashed through the clearing and the wooded path, making their way back to the Tornado 2, untouched from their arrival earlier that day.

Tails hopped in the cockpit as Sonic and Knuckles planted their feet on the left and right wings, respectively.

“You sure you’re gonna be comfortable leaving the Master Emerald behind?” Sonic asked as Tails readied for takeoff.

“I don’t like being away from the shrine, yes, but a few hours should be okay. Eggman is the biggest threat to the Master Emerald after all, so I’m still defending the Master Emerald, even if I’m away from the island.”

“I guess,” Sonic replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Hey Tails, are we about ready yet?”

“Almost.” Tails’ fingers were still numb from his injuries, lightly burning as he twisted the knobs and pulled the levers on his control panel. “I know what should make it better!” He reached into his glove compartment to find a new pair of white gloves, replacing the ones destroyed during the incident. “These should provide some padding to help dull the pain.”

He slipped the gloves on gently, careful not to undo the bandages around his hands, before bringing the biplane to life. He spun it around, twisting it 180 degrees on the grassy runway, and rolled forward, picking up enough speed to take off and retract the aircraft’s wheels. The young kitsune looked down at his gloved hands, now lifting the plane as it brought the gang up to a higher elevation.

“Yeah, I think these gloves’ll do nicely.” He grinned to himself as he glanced at either wing, making sure that his two companions didn’t fall into the ocean below. Next, he clicked a few buttons on his smartwatch to transmit General Pitliff’s coordinates to the Tornado 2’s built-in GPS. “Alright!” Tails said to himself. “If we go a little bit faster, we should reach our destination in about 15 minutes.”

And with that, Tails cranked up the speed, the hedgehog and echidna wobbling a bit before regaining their composure, as Team Sonic soared through the sky, on their way to confront Eggman once more.

*****

Seaside Hill was a tropical paradise, sparsely populated by Mobians and primarily visited by tourists eager to enjoy the pleasant waters, warm sun, and ancient architecture the getaway had to offer. Over the years, a city formed nearby, although not close enough to disturb its natural wildlife or pollute its pristine waters. As time passed, the city expanded further away from the coastline that made the region famous. Eventually, a multi-lane interstate highway was constructed through the heart of the city. Tall buildings were developed to house various multi-national corporations that established their roots in the sprawling economically lush business district. New suburban communities seemed to sprout up like wildfire, eager to fill the residential needs of workers who wanted to live away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Indeed, the city was growing at a rapid rate.

The perfect target for Eggman’s nefarious schemes.

As Team Sonic neared the coordinates provided to them by General Pitliff, they spotted the sight and smell of smoke filling the air and a large figure hovering high above the city, higher than the tall buildings of downtown as if waiting for a new challenger to appear from the skies. As the biplane got closer, they got a better view of this entity: a large, silver, mechanical raptor with long talons, a wingspan the length of a semitruck, a razor-sharp beak, and menacing red eyes that glared at the party.

“Why hello there, you miserable pests!” The sound of Eggman’s bellowing voice echoed out of the raptor’s beak. Now approaching within striking distance of the creation, Tails began to circle it, hoping to learn of the evil doctor’s intentions while developing a plan for taking down the raptor.

“All right, Eggman,” Tails said, speaking into his headset, allowing his voice to be heard through external speakers. “What are you up to this time?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, my furry little friend.” The robot hovered in place as the biplane made its second lap around. “All right, I’ll get right to the point. Hand over whatever Chaos Emeralds you may have in your possession or else I’ll continue terrorizing Seaside City with my Elemental Egg Eagle!” As if on cue, the mechanical eagle let out a deafening cry that sounded nearly identical to the real thing. The orange kitsune’s muscles tensed at the menacing sight before him, but Sonic didn’t seem too worried.

“Elemental whatchamacallit?” Sonic asked, placing his hands on his knees while laughing. “You need to build a robot to help you name these things because you’re lacking in the creativity department!”

“I’ll have you know that it took several days to come up with the perfect name!”

“Doesn’t sound like it to me,” Knuckles replied, pounding his fists together in anticipation for the battle ahead. Sonic followed suit, stretching his arms forward while still maintaining his balance on the unstable wing at his feet.

“Let’s say we show Eggman a thing or two.”

Not waiting for a response from the red echidna, Sonic leapt forward, rolling into a ball as he charged toward the robotic eagle. Knuckles did the same, gliding towards their foe, his arms outstretched in front of him. The two allies made contact, but they ricocheted off the mechanical beast, not even leaving a scratch. Tails expertly caught the two with his biplane, one on either wing, as he continued circling around the eagle.

“Now it’s my turn!” Tails declared, pressing a button on his steering wheel to release a torrent of bullets. Unfortunately, these also bounced off the robotic beast, seemingly having no impact on their foe.

“Wooahhooohoohooo.” Eggman’s jolly laughter was almost as deafening as the eagle’s cry. “Surely you didn’t think that such trivial attacks would stop the Elemental Egg Eagle!”

By this point, Sonic and Knuckles had recovered from their first attack against the raptor and tried again, both launching off the biplane’s wings simultaneously. This time, however, the eagle dodged the attack, soaring upward with a flap of its wings. The blue and red blurs collided, just hard enough to throw Sonic out of his spherical form, as they plummeted to the city below.

Once again, Tails jumped into action, putting his plane into a harrowing nosedive as he swooped down to capture the heroes on the leftmost wing.

“Aha! You fell right into my trap!” Eggman yelled from above.

Tails looked behind him to see what was, perhaps, his worst nightmare, the very thing that he feared most: lightning. The bright streak approached the biplane, originating from the eagle’s beak, hitting the tail of the plane. Electricity sparked along the back of the aircraft, but it didn’t reach the cockpit or the wings thanks to the weather-proofing shock absorbers installed throughout the Tornado 2.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, Eggman!” Tails yelled. Before the young fox could reverse his nosedive, however, an emergency alarm rang from the plane. He looked behind once more to discover the fire scorching the plane’s tail. “Damn it!”

“Woah, Tails. Language!” Sonic yelled as he and the red echidna clasped onto the wing, their legs dangling upward as the plane careened to the ground below. Tails ignored this comment, instead trying to steady the plane for an emergency landing.

“Bad news, guys. Looks like we’re gonna have to take this battle to the city.” As Tails announced his plan into his headset, he frantically looked around the cityscape for a suitable place to land his biplane. The tall buildings scattered throughout the downtown area directly below were, perhaps, suitable for a helicopter landing, but he needed a long strip of road to safely land his aircraft without any casualties.

The kitsune found an abandoned stretch of the interstate, a section just long enough for him to land the plane and allow it to roll to a safe stop. Wasting no time, the fox took the plane out of its nosedive, allowing the Tornado 2 to lose altitude as a steadier pace. He steered the plane, positioning it horizontally with the highway below.

“Brace yourselves!” Tails yelled, deploying the wheels as his friends regained their composure from the nosedive. They bent their knees and balanced on the biplane’s wing like a surfboard, using their hands to keep themselves from falling off as the aircraft’s wheels made contact with the cement surface below. As the plane slowly lost speed, the orange kitsune dodged a few burning police cars before the aircraft ground to a halt, almost colliding with a school bus that obstructed the entire stretch of the interstate.

“Great landing, Tails!” Sonic called out, giving the pilot a thumbs up, which Tails returned before opening the hatch protecting the cockpit.

“Woah, hold up there, cowboy.” Sonic looked up at the cockpit, his younger brother about to jump out. “Remember what you promised earlier.” It took a few moments for Tails to recall that he committed to staying in the plane.

“But I can fight, Sonic! You’re gonna need all the help y—”

“Pinkie…swear.” Sonic interrupted the fox’s argument with a stern voice, staring sharply at the pilot. “I’m sorry, but with your injuries, you’d only be a liability on the battlefield. Come on, Knuckles.”

The two jumped off the wing and ran down the interstate, approaching the mechanical raptor that had since descended and hovered in place a short distance away. Sonic dashed off too quickly to see the tears welling-up in Tails’ eyes. He tried to dry them with his gloved hands, but his emotional agony seemed to exacerbate his physical pain, causing him to groan in discomfort. He slumped in his chair, looking down at his feet as tears rolled down his muzzle, dripping to his legs.

“A liability, huh? Is that what you truly think?”

The young fox was too emotionally blinded to realize that Sonic’s comment was narrowly referencing the situation at hand – his injuries making him a more vulnerable target – instead of a poignant attack against his overall usefulness.

“No…” Tails’ voice was scratchy as he spoke through his tears. “I can do anything I set my mind to. I can help you defeat Eggman and prove that I’m no liability.” Drying his tears with his left arm, he jumped out of the aircraft. The fire on the plane’s tail extinguished itself naturally, so the young fox didn’t need to worry about further damage to his prized biplane.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?” Tails said to the Tornado 2, patting its metallic body as if to reassure the aircraft that he’d return safely.

He turned around and ran toward his friends, activating his namesakes for extra speed. The trip only took him a few minutes, even while dodging the debris scattered along the road. Hiding behind a destroyed car to remain undiscovered by Eggman, Tails peeked around the vehicle to find the evil doctor giving one of his famous, albeit annoying monologues.

“Isn’t my Elemental Egg Eagle an eggzzellent invention? It has the speed and agility of a raptor with an impenetrable body and the ability to produce not one…not two…but THREE elemental attacks. As you’ve already witnessed, electricity is one of them. Want to guess what else we have in store?” The eagle, resting its mechanical talons on the cement road, opened its beak while charging a new attack. “Get a load of this!”

The mechanical slave unleashed a stream of fire in Sonic and Knuckles’ direction. Sonic dodged with relative ease while Knuckles left little room for comfort. After jumping to the side, he noticed a warm feeling above his head. A few seconds later, he realized that his fur was on fire. He ducked and rolled around frantically to put out the miniature blaze, leaving a patchy burnt spot near his dreadlocks.

“Ahaha, Knuckles…you should look at yourself in the mirror!” The blue hedgehog laughed as he pointed at the red echidna, unable to control his emotions as Knuckles’ anger grew hotter than the flames he just extinguished. Suffice it to say: unlike Sonic, Knuckles didn’t chuckle.

“This is no laughing matter, you oaf!”

Little did Sonic know, Knuckles was correct. Eggman used this opportunity for the eagle to recharge, its beak gaping open as it gathered the energy necessary to release another flamethrower attack. Sonic quickly stopped laughing and braced himself for another dodge, Knuckles doing the same. Before the bird could launch its attack, however, an orange kitsune ran towards it, passing Sonic and Knuckles by as he held a dummy ring bomb in his outstretched hand.

“Get a load of this you fiend!”

Tails threw the ring directly at the eagle’s beak, landing in its mouth and falling down its throat. The machine’s eyes grew wide, realizing that a foreign object was obstructing the elemental weapons housed in its throat. It tried to gag it out, but it was no good; the bomb stuck itself to the first surface that it touched, making removal almost impossible in the short period of time before detonation. The eagle put its head down, as if conceding defeat, before the beak exploded, shooting shrapnel everywhere as the eagle collapsed to the ground, its wing twitching as if it were a real bird on its last legs.

“Noooooo! Curse that meddlesome fox! Get up, you worthless bucket of bolts!” Miraculously, the eagle obeyed; only its mouth and beak were damaged, so the rest of the mechanical raptor was still intact. The hole in the bird’s face left by the explosion revealed the three elemental cannons that deployed their respective attacks. The two on either side were too damaged to be of use, but the middle weapon was in working order.

“Freeze that fox back to the ice age, or else you’ll be joining your brothers in the junkyard.” Not needing to be threatened again, the eagle began charging the attack, a white mist forming around the hole in its face.

“Now fire!” At a speed even faster than its flame attack, the injured eagle released a stream of ice. The young fox had no time to dodge; the attack hit him directly in the chest, launching him back as the cold stream followed him, the green Chaos Emerald slipping from his utility belt and landing on the cement below.

“Not…the emerald…” Tails struggled to say as his body flew through the air, passing Sonic and Knuckles in the opposite direction before colliding with the side of a school bus. The ice continued its onslaught against his furry body, entombing him completely in a frozen chunk of ice against the bus, save for his head and a single arm.

“Ahhh, I’m…stuck…” Tails tried to wiggle himself free, but he lacked the energy and power to break the ice.

“Tails!” Sonic ran back to him, concern in his eyes as he approached his younger brother. “I’m gonna get you out of this.”

“No…Sonic…” Tails said between labored breaths, his body experiencing a tremendous amount of pain from the cold penetrating his fur and piercing the skin below. He used his head and eyes to turn Sonic’s attention to his free hand, a dummy ring bomb around his wrist. “Take…this bomb…and throw it into…its gullet. That…should weaken it…enough for you…and Knuckles to…bring it…do—”

Tails spoke no more, dangling from the side of the truck.

“Tails…” Sonic placed a hand on his furry face, unresponsive to his gentle touch.

“Tails!”

*****

Click here to read chapter 5!

#sonic the hedgehog #Miles Tails Prower #tails #Tails the Fox #fan fiction #Fan #fiction #Fic #Sonic X #action #Adventure #brotherly

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officialcolumbiauniversity · 4 years

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impostor syndrome in STEM

This is a post I wrote before Columbia required students to move out due to the pandemic.

February 25. I thought I’d write about this because I was reading a blog post about impostor syndrome to make myself feel better and remembered I have a blog. And people would probably like to hear what I’m thinking.

I spent all of yesterday in lab, which if you don’t remember from my last post is brand-spankin’-new and super fancy and is all sorts of out of my league knowledge-wise. My PI and I chatted about what project I’d start working on, and afterwards I stuck around to ask him questions about the laser lab because I realized that I wasn’t really asking questions when it was him and the grad students with me. So I felt safe asking the questions I did, which included “why don’t we have to lint-roll our entire body if we have to dust our shoes before entering the lab?” (the answer was efficiency) and “what’s the point in having two lenses if one makes the laser smaller and the other just makes it bigger again?” (the answer had something to do with focusing and cleaning the beam) and other questions that I thought were inane and stuff I should have been able to understand from the papers I read. He was very nice about answering all my questions and walking me through a dumbed-down version of optics in general.

I told my PI after that I don’t ask a lot of questions in lab because I can’t tell the difference between questions that I should know the answer to and waste everyone’s time, and questions that would actually create productive discussion. And he responded that there’s no such thing as a dumb question, which of course I already know since professors say that all the time. But I didn’t realize until this morning how much I do believe there is such a thing as a dumb question, and that I ask too many of them.

The thing is, I truly feel as though I’m not smart enough to make it as a scientist. I feel like everything I think of has already been thought and answered, and I can’t remember the last time I had an original thought. I feel like I ask questions that a tourist would ask, not questions that someone about to get involved in the research would ask.

I think that this blog makes me look like a STEM major who knows what they’re doing and is enthusiastic about their career as a scientist, wherever it may take them. But I just want to make it clear that I am not effortlessly enthusiastic about it: most of the time I’m paralyzed by fear about not making it into a top 10 chem grad school and then either becoming a lab tech for the rest of my scientific career or going into a different field and wasting this expensive-ass degree. I have a sub-3.0 GPA, and it’s preventing me from applying for fellowships that literally everyone seems to do, like SURF in the bio department, which sophomores and freshmen get effortlessly. I’m terrified for this summer because if I don’t figure something out soon I’m going to waste the last summer I have, the only summer where I can actually create connections and a network to figure something out post-grad. And obviously I can’t apply to grad schools with a 2-something GPA. I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.

But it’s not just my GPA that bothers me. These classes I’m taking, like right now I’m taking linear algebra and physics, should be easy As. I love both subjects and I feel like I’ve mastered the material we’ve covered so far and I feel confident solving p-sets. But when I go to pick up my graded p-sets, I have to flip through everyone else’s 15/15s and 41/42s to find my 9/15 and 38/42. These are classes that I’m over-prepared for, classes that are filled with freshmen, classes where professors go out of their way to help everyone get the highest grade possible. And to see myself get average and below-average grades is bewildering and beyond disheartening.

I try to make myself feel better by reminding myself “science isn’t about good grades it’s about being a curious and thorough researcher,” but then I come into the research lab and can’t think of a single other question than ones about the technicalities of the lab set-up. I ask about mirrors and lasers and why the room is always dark, when I feel like I should be asking questions about -- well I honestly don’t even know. Like the math or concepts or something. I ended up dropping a class that I was really excited about taking this semester, because it’s a grad course and I felt uncomfortable asking questions so I just fell too far behind. Other students asked really thoughtful questions and I just asked questions about notation.

So, yeah. That’s how I feel a majority of the time. I wonder every day what makes me cut out for my major, and if I’m trying hard enough. I don’t even know if I should be going into academia, because I’m not exactly excited by the idea of being plagued with impostor syndrome my whole career, no matter how many other people also experience it.

But I haven’t ever stopped trying in my major. And I guess that’s my point, at least of this post: I’m hopeful that science isn’t about having the grades or knowing everything, in the long run. I’m hopeful that whatever I have right now is worth something, and that I’ll be able to build a career I love on top of it. But the purpose of this post was just to let you guys know that for many undergrads here preparing for STEM careers, there’s no amount of prestige that can get rid of these insecurities. For example, even if I did get into my dream grad school (Stanford), I’d be constantly worried that I fluffed my application to make myself look good and they let me in unwittingly. So, no, being in a major I love doesn’t protect me from all the post-undergrad anxieties.

Update: it’s March 29, the day I’m posting this, and as you well know COVID-19 is in full swing in the US. Columbia was quick to send all students home, and ultimately decided that this semester would be graded on a pass/fail basis for all students, with no exceptions. If you’re unfamiliar with the system, the key piece of info is that Pass grades have no weight on your GPA, but Fail grades do (as a 1.0). Many people argue that a mandatory P/F system is beneficial to students who can’t study under their current situations, and I agree with that. I personally can’t study effectively in my situation. But I’m also panicking over the fact that I won’t be able to boost my GPA this semester, leaving me with a shitty GPA for yet another year (if we return in the fall). Many internships I was in the process of applying to will be revoked, if not because of the pandemic then because my personal statement claiming “my GPA by the start of this internship will have been brought up by my efforts this semester” will be absolutely inaccurate. Applying to grad school in the fall is a laughable wish; I’ll need to take a gap year most likely, since I won’t be able to land a job. What I really need is for Passes to weigh as 4.0s, but I doubt the university will do that. Anyways, that was just an update on the GPA part of the rant above. Hope y’all are staying safe.

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oosteven-universe · 4 years

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Hardcore Reloaded #3

Hardcore Reloaded #3 Skybound/Image Comics 2019 Written by Brandon Thomas Illustrated by Francis Portela Coloured by Leonardo Paciarotti Lettered by Thomas Mauer Agent Drake is hot on the trail of the men responsible for assassinating the President. Too bad the body he just hijacked has been poisoned and he’s surrounded by a team of rogue Hardcore operators… I am such a fan of this series. Science Fiction Action Thrillers don't get the credit they deserve. Sure most folks like the space opera or the horror or those combined but this is done in such a way that it makes the impossible seem possible and that in and of itself is scary as hell to me. Black Ops groups that are so far off the books that the President doesn't know they exist are the stuff of legend. Rival groups trying to put the other down and be the only ones doing it, or sabotage and stealing secrets those are things we readily accept. Transferring in and out of people by taking over their minds that's a bigger stretch of the imagination but ya know what these folks right here make it look feasible. That is the kind of power storytelling has. Now this call me Layla person is scarier than the Joker, okay at least looking and if I spoke what was on my mind I would offend way too many people. Which is a shame cause I really wanna be shady right about now and I am all kinds of upset that whom we met wasn't even really her. I will say this much when folks such as Layla and her people have the kind of power at their disposal that we see it makes them arrogant, cocky and sloppy. Hopefully sloppy will come sooner rather than later but you understand what I am talking about. It is why those with few to no moral centre usually end up defeated, dead or their brains fried to a crisp making them a vegetable and I have lined whom I wish to receive what lol. I think the way that this is being told is exceptionally brilliant. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is being laid out beautifully. Finally getting to see this organisation instead of their actions makes this more exciting and that Brandon doesn't feel the need to drag it out is great. The character development we see is phenomenal and I mentioned earlier how we view these new characters and that's really due to how well they are being fleshed out. The pacing we see is superb and and as it takes through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way it helps create this electrifying ebb & flow to the book. Francis is one of the most amazing storytellers around. His ability, talent and skill in being able to bring this to life is mindbogglingly good. Sometimes we forget what truly makes an artist stand out and here we see that early and often, those monitors with the visuals from the drones is crazy in it's detail and reader recognition. How we see backgrounds being utilised and how they work within the composition in the panels to bring us depth perception, scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book is fabulous. Again seeing the escalator brings about an optical illusion to the eye and this kind of control over the linework is scary in how masterful it is. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show his masters eye for storytelling. Paired with Leonardo was a stroke of luck and genius because the man understands how colour works and how to utilised the various hues and tones within them to create the shading, highlights and shadows perfectly. Two master of their craft in visual storytelling, if you question that in any way look at the camouflage. Forget Cruise and his Mission Impossible films we need to see these on the big screen, I've already cast it in my head too. This is a beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated book that not only engages the reader by what we see and what we don't see but it captures the imagination and enthrals the reader.

#comic books #comics reviews #Skybound Entertainment #image Comics #brandon thomas #francis portela #leonardo paciarotti #thomas mauer

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writewithurheart · 5 years

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The Next Generation

for @writetheniteaway (a belated birthday fic) from your prompt: Prompt: “I want Spidey, Groot, and Shuri on a dream team with Morgan as the tag along.”

...

Summary: Morgan Stark is 16 and working on her masters, which is great, but she still can't do what she wants most. Peter Parker is living the life he always wanted, with a healthy dose of girl troubles. Maybe? Or maybe not? He isn't realy sure what's up with SHuri and MJ. Groot is Groot. And Lila Barton is just about fed up with all the nonsense, thank you very much.

Read on AO3

<That’s great, but who has eyes on the sorcerer?>

She absolutely supposed to be paying attention. Morgan Stark knew that. She’s sure Professor Foster is talking groundbreaking astrophysics, but to be fair, she’s already completed the rest of her assignments for the semester and all the required reading. She absolutely deserved a study break, and class was always so slow anyway.

What Mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her.

Morgan adjusts her earpiece and quickly activates the T.O.N.I. implant so she can pull up the information on the New Avengers’ current battle. Tiny Optic Neural Interface responds to her fingers tapping on the desk, just quiet enough to be unnoticable or to pass for a neural tic.

She sets the program to track the sorcerer and quickly taps into the team’s suits using the backdoor her dad built into Peter’s. The information pops up at a map, blinking green dots to represent the team, and a swarm of red to represent the bogeys.

From the camera feed, they look normal civilians with some glazed over looks.

<Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Where are we on breaking this spell?> Peter’s face pops up in the corner of her optical overlay to coincide with his voice.

<I’m not so sure it is a spell. Whatever it is effects their brainwaves.> Shuri falls back from the fight to type something into her wrist display.

A crash and muffled curse bring Lila on screen. <Whatever it is, we need to end this before more civilians get hurt.>

Morgan pulls up the information Shuri has collected so far. While the Panther looks for a way to end the sorcerer’s control, Morgan frowns at her display. Not all the civilians are attacking. There are plenty running away in panic.

Quickly she runs the images back to the point of origin, when the first civilian attacked. She slows down the video. The sorcerer in question emerges on video first walking out of Hammer Industries. Or rather, he’s thrown out by two burly security guards and what look like a couple of lawyers. She speeds up the video even as the man’s information pops up on her display: Arthur Reynolds. Age 43. No history of metahuman activity.

It’s only as he gets closer to Stark Expo 2035 that civilians start to act odd. They start rioting and attacking each other. Morgan pulls up as many specs as she can on the aggressors. Visuals give no indication as to similarities between them.

Then she notices the finger twitch.

Morgan pauses and glances at her own hand. Oh.

He’s got something that resembles T.O.N.I. Not a sorcerer after all then, which means…

A couple taps later and she can confirm that all the aggressors are owners of Hammer’s latest gadget: an implant that links your phone directly to your neural system. Stark passed on the technology as it actually implanted a device that was potentially unstable into your body. They used her father’s nanotechnology to create a similar device that apparently didn’t have the same hackable back door.

She glances around her lecture hall, like tuning back in to the world after hours spent in her lab, and catches Doctor Foster hold up a card that says “see me after class.” Morgan nods and drifts back to her display.

Hammer tech, as always, causes her no trouble. Their system works on a subscription basis. Everyone susceptible to the attack is laid out in a grid that she can see worldwide. The virus itself is fascinating. It basically uses neural overlays to send the body incorrect signals or in some cases hijack their systems altogether. All in all, it’s pretty damn close to sorcery.

But still completely human.

She shuts it down and then ends the neural display. Her comms are still open so she can hear the team in their final takedown. All in all: a job well done.

Now if only they would let her join the fight.

She could argue that she’s older than any of them were when they wore their first suits. Hell, she’s arguably more educated too. How many of them are working on advanced engineering and science degrees?

Okay, maybe a bad point. Shuri probably has her beat there.

If she’s old enough to attend college, she should be old enough to make her own decisions. Peter was fighting Thanos at 15. Shuri was the same age and a genius. Groot’s age is irrelevant because he’s a space tree. Lila was fighting at seventeen.

Yet somehow she’s the one left behind. Legacy, or not.

She fiddles with her metal bracelets as lecture hall empties. When they’re only two students left, Morgan stands and walks to the front desk. “Doctor Foster.”

“Morgan.”

She’s got a couple inches on Doctor Foster. Her tone of voice, however, reminds Morgan that this woman once dated a god.

“Is there somewhere you’d rather be than my class?”

Morgan sighs. “No.”

“I get that you’re a Stark and you’re probably too smart for this, but that doesn’t mean you can do other things in my class.”

“Got it, Doc.”

Foster frowns. “What are you doing here, Morgan?”

“Biding my time,” she answers honestly. “Can’t put on the suit, can’t work in the lab, can’t fight until I’m eighteen. I designed my own suit at twelve, trained with the Winter Soldier at fourteen, I can hack an advanced system in class at sixteen, but they won’t let me fight. So I’m here, waiting.”

Doctor Foster sighs. “Your parents just wanted you to have a normal childhood.”

“I’m a genius who’s dad died saving the universe from a madman. Normal was never an option.”

…

“That was so cool! How did you manage to do that, Shuri? One second the civilians were all like ‘aaaaarrrrggghhhh’ and then they were like ‘ahhhhhhh’. I mean, amazing.” Peter gushes as he pulls off his mask.

“I am Groot!”

“Exactly!”

Lila Barton stares at the two of them, then at Shuri who is frowning at her display. She drops into her chair and crosses her combat boots on top of the table. She pops a piece of gum and flips through the logs in the computer system. If Shuri didn’t do it, there’s one person who could. Lila has a feeling Shuri’s been covering for the brainiac. Sure enough, the logs change just as Shuri announces:

“He was using Hammer neural relays. I just crashed the system.”

“Awesome,” Peter says.

“Apparently he was trying to prove a point to Hammer, that his invention was dangerous.”

“I am Groot.”

“Sending the data to the authorities now,” Shuri announces. She shuts down her display with a triumphant smile. “The New Avengers strike again!”

Lila rolls her eyes as the others exchange high fives, but lifts hers for an obliging fist bump with Parker before he disappears to shower before his very exciting lunch date with MJ. Groot heads for the garden where he’s probably flirting with some flowers or something and Lila twists to straddle her chair to stare down Shuri.

The princess does an admirable job of ignoring her. She fidgets with her designs and alters calculations that Lila can’t begin to understand. Except Lila is the daughter of a spy, the goddaughter of an assassin, she learned circus tricks at her parents’ side. She’s good at seeing through facades and Shuri’s been flipping through schematics without reading them.

Lila pulls a throwing knife from her thigh holster and starts to clean under her nails. It’s an Aunt Nat trick she likes to use.

“I suppose I shall rejoin my brother,” Shuri says abruptly.

Lila sighs, not looking up from her nails. “Why are you covering for little Stark?”

“If she wants to help, we should not push her away.” Shuri crosses her arms over her chest. “I fought Thanos at her age.”

Lila chews her lip. “And I was an expert marksman, but I didn’t join the team until I was 18. It’s like enlisting in the military.”

“That’s what I do not understand,” Shuri says with a frown. “She is a genius, she’s had to grow up faster than any child. She grew up in the thick of things as much as we did. She should not be sidelined.”

Her hand stills. The knife feels heavier in her hand. She might be Hawkeye but the Widow hourglass stares back at her from the handle of the blade. It’s part of Lila’s inheritance - Aunt Nat’s knives, the video diaries, the training, her legacy. “Her mom said no. Not until she’s at least 18.”

They both know it’s the company line. Neither of them have outed Morgan’s contribution to Pepper. Hell, it was one of the team’s worst kept secrets. Except Peter probably had no clue. He tends to be a little blind when it comes to his surrogate sister.

“We all wish to protect our loved ones…” Shuri says quietly.

“And if Pepper knew we were enabling,” Lila cuts in, “she would skin us alive. Heck, Peter would-”

“Peter would hold his tongue if he knew what was good for him,” Shuri responds firmly.

Lila raises an eyebrow. She’s not touching that will a ten foot pole. Peter and Shuri dancing around each other was cute, once upon a time. Then Peter had a girlfriend that Shuri was “absolutely fine” with. Maybe it’s because Lila remembers her parents and Aunt Natasha and the way their relationship blurred lines. She sees the way Shuri mixes well with both MJ and Peter and wonders why they don’t just get over societal restrictions and love each other openly.

If MJ’s flirting is any indication, she agrees with Lila.

“Looks like the fight got a little nasty.”

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Lila grins at MJ, not the she noticed Lila, her eyes too busy looking Shuri over for injury. Shuri’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Oh, looks worse than it is. Peter’s just taking a shower.” Shuri uncharacteristically avoids eye contact. She waves her hands and looks for an exit. “He’ll be out soon. I just have to-”

“Sure you’re okay?” MJ runs her hand down Shuri’s arm and then cups her cheek to get the genius to look at her. “Looks like you’re starting to bruise.” She brushes her hand over Shuri’s temple and the girl looks like she’s going into shock.

“I-I-I’m good.”

MJ smirks. “Then you probably need some lunch. Wanna join Pete and I?”

“Oh, um, I’m not hungry.”

Lila smirks as Shuri’s stomach audibly rumbles in direct contradiction. MJ just grins like the cat that caught the canary and pats Shuri’s cheek. “Get changed. We leave in twenty.”

Shuri looks to Lila for support and she just grins. “Don’t look at me. I’ve got class.”

With the helpless look of someone who can’t come up with an excuse (probably because she doesn’t want one), Shuri straightens her spine and attempts some form of control. “Very well. I shall join you. But I warn you: we Wakandans eat vast quantities after combat.”

She sweeps from the room with all her royal dignity and MJ drops into the seat beside Lila. “They’re both idiots.”

Lila returns her knife to it’s holster. “Yup. What’re you going to do about it?”

MJ sighs. “Lock us all in a room?”

“FRIDAY can jam the elevator, but they could probably hack their way out.” Lila shrugs. “I would just lay one on Shuri. Okoye says she’s like her brother: they freeze up around their crushes.” Lila rises from her chair and winks at MJ. “Have fun.”

MJ grins as she considers the new information. “Oh, I will.”

Lila regrets nothing.

…

“You need to be more careful.”

Morgan drops her pencil on her open pad of graph paper and frowns at the brunette sipping a non-descript coffee across the table. Lila Barton is, of course, wearing a bright purple hawkeye shirt, jeans and combat boots.Her aviators even have a slight purple tint. Her bare arms are littered with scratches from the earlier fight. A couple even have Avengers themed band aids.

“No one’s going to just grab me off the street,” Morgan counters, going back to her sketch of a dimensional portal. “TONI is programed to alert me if a threat approaches.”

“I could be a threat.”

Morgan snorts.

“Also not what I was talking about. I meant this morning.”

Her pencil continues to draw straight lines on the paper, assisted by the overlay in her glasses. She planned it out in class, even though it’s technically homework, and her teacher is a peon who insists on all work being done with pencil on paper. Highly unnecessary in Morgan’s opinion, but what does she know.

“I was in class this morning,” she deflects.

Lila hums. “Right. And you never multitask.”

“Say, if I did intercede,” Morgan concedes as she adds another line, “you wouldn’t be able to prove it.”

Lila nods. “Shuri erased any data you missed.” She leans forward. “Look, Shuri and I get it. You want to be out there, but your mother has to agree.”

Her pencil skitters across the page, creating a jumpy line. “Mom won’t agree.”

“So bargain,” Lila says. “Don’t ask to be in the field, ask to be back up from the tower. It’s what you’re doing anyway. Train with the team. You’ve got two years and you’re already prepared.”

Morgan rolls her eyes. “You don’t think I’ve already tried that?”

Lila leans on the table and clasps her hands. “Pepper is scared. She needs you to reassure her. If you want to do this, you need to do it right. Your mother knows she won’t be able to stop you. She’s just trying to protect you for as long as possible.”

“I don’t need to be protected.”

An agitated hand taps on the table. “Our parents will always try to protect us. It’s their job.”

Morgan has stopped drawing but hasn’t looked up from the paper, not yet. She hates this feeling of helplessness and she hates disappointing her mother. She leans back. “How did you convince Clint?”

“I recruited my mom, convinced them I could handle myself. Not to say it was easy. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Dad put me through every test, made me train with the Winter Soldier for months and then I was still on probationary status for close to a year. I think Dad wanted to scare me off.” She stretches out, legs straight as she slouches back. “You can offer that.”

“Yeah, training with the man who murdered my grandparents won’t worry her at all.” Morgan closes her notebook. Her plan is already online. If her teacher throws a fit with that, well, she did already did the homework at 3am while half asleep.

“That’s a load of shit and you know it. Bucky is the best trainer we’ve got.”

She shrugs. “I’m already training with him on weekends and breaks.” Morgan shoves her notebook into her bag. “Mom wants me to get this degree before we talk about this again.”

Lila purses her lips. “Then maybe she needs to know what you’ve been doing.”

Morgan smirks. “Why do you think I left any trace at all? If Shuri didn’t keep deleting them, maybe she’d be coming to talk to me.”

Because that was the plan: for her mother to find out while she was being useful. Shuri and Lila were trying to help her operate in secret, which was nice. It made them great friends, but it didn’t help her agenda.

“If I get Mom on board, then it Pete will have to accept it. Right now, the two of them are blocking me.”

“Probably because they’re worried you’ll follow in your father’s footsteps,” Lila points out. “Not intentionally,” she says quickly, “but they don’t want to lose you.”

Morgan rolls her eyes. “And we’re going in circles, which we’ve been doing for the past year, and it leaves me biding my time until I turn eighteen. Which Pete is a hypocrite for enforcing. Mom, I understand. Did you know I could be legally emancipated?”

Lila stares, unimpressed. “You’re not getting emancipated.”

“But I could,” she points out victoriously. She lifts her cup in a salute and takes a sip. She grimaces at the cold liquid and puts the cup back on the table.

“You’re not.”

“Want to get lunch?” Morgan asks suddenly. “I know a great place around the corner. Not too fancy. Great for a first date.”

She watches Lila’s face at her offer. Lila blinks and then looks at Morgan. There’s a moment when she looks pleasantly surprised before she relaxes and rolls her eyes. “Maybe in two years, jailbait.”

Morgan grins. “Can I hold you to that?”

Lila purses her lips in contemplation. She stands and leans forward into Morgan’s space. “Ask me again in two years.” She winks and saunters away.

Her steps have a bounce, her smile never leaves her face, and Morgan finds herself walking to the Tower instead of to class. She uses TONI to pull up all her recent activity in a log to show her mom. Maybe it is time to have that talk.

#The Avengers #avengers: endgame #future fic #morgan stark #lila barton #shuri #peter parker #michelle jones #future avengers #because i got the writing bug

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cyraniadebergerac · 5 years

Text

The Waning Star (Scene 1)

“Why do you make this so difficult, Star? I’m only making sure the academy has no cause to kick you out. I’m looking out for your best interests here.”

“My best interests?!” Starscream screeched within the confines of their cramped, two bedroom apartment’s living room, his large wings shooting straight up. “Skyfire, they’re my Trine, my brothers by spark, if not by heritage. It's in my best interests to not lose them through inactivity. I haven’t even seen them since coming to Iacon.” The white and red Seeker sat back onto the dingy, blue, narrow chair with a groan, his wings dropping down over the armrests. The evening sunlight filtering through the large window overlooking Iacon’s glittering, golden cityscape washed over him. “I understand that the workload and other obligations and opportunities make it so I can’t visit Vos during the holidays. I could understand waiting till I settled in until inviting them up. But that concern is irrelevant now. They deserve a chance to at least visit!”

“Star, Star, Star.” Skyfire sighed and leaned over the smaller Cybertronian, gripping Star’s shoulder with his smooth, white servo. “It’s hard enough for the both of us here being flight frames, this being grounders’ home turf and all. It doesn’t help that you’re the first Seeker, if not warframe, to attend the Iacon Science Academy. You have to be careful, though. One wrong twitch and you’re out of here without any of your masters completed or certification to undergo deep space exploration. Having other Seekers come out here will definitely cause twitching.”

“And the afts can’t handle the fact that I know other Seekers?!” Starscream pushed the Shuttle forward and stood up. “I’ve been holding my glossa when anyone makes remarks about the ‘flightiness of Seekers’ or other such things that are truly wrong. I’ve been putting up with you being my quote/unquote minder to make the administration happy. I’ve gone more than three months without going ‘trigger-happy’ or getting into brawls. Heck, I’ve been skirting ground sickness because of the flight restrictions you suggested. The academy can handle my trinemates for a few solar-cycles and they’re stupid if they---.” Starscream hissed as Skyfire’s servo crumpled his sensitive wing, sending painful daggers shooting through his frame.

The Shuttle tutted. “Is pain really the only thing you warframes understand?” His grip tightened, causing Starscream to gasp. Skyfire leaned down and grabbed his fellow student’s chin to lock optics. “Anything you do that threatens your place here also threatens mine. I haven’t withstood years of scorn and disbelief that a Shuttle has the processor storage space to get into university only to have an upstart warframe like you ruin my chances. Your trinemates are not to come here or otherwise distract you from your research and classwork. You may be remarkably bright for a Seeker, but that doesn’t negate the work you’ll need to do to keep up. If your trine ever comes within this vicinity, I’ll make sure they never make that mistake again.”

“You touch my Trine and you’re dead!” Starscream unsheathed his claws and made as if to swipe. Skyfire let go of Star’s chin, deftly caught the deadly servo, then sighed.

“You really want to do this Star? Who would the academy most likely believe if you were accused of unprovoked vicious assault with intention to maim or kill?

Star’s ruby optics narrowed into a glare, but he held still. The Shuttle was right, regrettably. Starscream ex-vented for some micro-klicks, cooling his fury, before resheathing his claws and casting his optics downwards. Skyfire had the power here, for the moment.

The Shuttle smiled. “I’m glad we have an understanding.” He let go of the Seeker’s wing and headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll grab the first aid kit. Wouldn’t be good to show up in class tomorrow with a wing like that.”

Starscream slumped back into the chair and glared at the retreating figure. Skyfire had won for now, but this wasn’t over yet. Starscream could survive this, bide his time under Skyfire’s rule. He’d be rid of him and any other “minders” once he’d graduated. He’d show them then. In the meantime, he’d just have to wait. No chance of outside help for this. He was on his own.

#starscream #sg starscream #skyfire #sg skyfire #whump #emotional whump #wing pain #fanfic #my writing #cyraniadebergerac #critique welcome #start of a full hurt/comfort fic #that I'm stuck on #maccadam #shattered glass #transformers #transformers shattered glass #waning star

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wemariuniverse · 6 years

Video

youtube

I’ve already mentioned Carl Sagan here probably twice. I’m super curious about science (mainly astrophysics). In this video (in Portuguese), the amazing brazilian voice actor Guilherme Briggs performs this excerpt from Sagan's Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. It talks about the photo of the same name, Pale Blue Dot, taken by Voyager I on February 14, 1990.

Below you can find the link for the english version.

I find this a gift for mankind. I hope you guys can enjoy it as much as I do.

https://gizmodo.com/5513783/the-world-would-be-better-if-everyone-watched-this-video

The spacecraft was a long way from home.

I thought it would be a good idea, just after Saturn, to have them take one last glance homeward. From Saturn, the Earth would appear too small for Voyager to make out any detail. Our planet would be just a point of light, a lonely pixel hardly distinguishable from the other points of light Voyager would see: nearby planets, far off suns. But precisely because of the obscurity of our world thus revealed, such a picture might be worth having.

It had been well understood by the scientists and philosophers of classical antiquity that the Earth was a mere point in a vast, encompassing cosmos—but no one had ever seen it as such. Here was our first chance, and perhaps also our last for decades to come.

So, here they are: a mosaic of squares laid down on top of the planets in a background smattering of more distant stars. Because of the reflection of sunlight off the spacecraft, the Earth seems to be sitting in a beam of light, as if there were some special significance to this small world; but it's just an accident of geometry and optics. There is no sign of humans in this picture: not our reworking of the Earth's surface; not our machines; not ourselves. From this vantage point, our obsession with nationalisms is nowhere in evidence. We are too small. On the scale of worlds, humans are inconsequential: a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump of rock and metal.

Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings; thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines; every hunter and forager; every hero and coward; every creator and destroyer of civilizations; every king and peasant, every young couple in love; every mother and father; hopeful child; inventor and explorer; every teacher of morals; every corrupt politician; every supreme leader; every superstar; every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings; how eager they are to kill one another; how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity—in all this vastness—there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the only home we've ever known.

The pale blue dot.

#carl sagan #the pale blue dot #science

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superseraphim7 · 6 years

Text

Trump’s Administration Has Been Briefed About UFOs; According To Steven Greer

donald trumpWhat do presidents know about UFOs? Well, if you’re an avid researcher of the topic, you’ve probably realized by now that presidents don’t really have a “need to know” about these things. The “military-industrial complex” that Eisenhower spoke of, which has become as uncontrollably powerful as he feared, has completely taken over operations that not even the president knows about. Many from within political realms who’ve held esteemed positions have spoken out about this fact.

Take Paul Hellyer for example, a former Canadian Defense Minister, who gave lecture at the University of Toronto in 2008 where he said it is “ironic that the U.S. would begin a devastating war, allegedly in search of weapons of mass destruction when the most worrisome developments in this field are occurring in your own backyard.” He was referring to black budget special access programs, which receive no oversight from Congress. This means that not even the government knows about the developments happening in this area, all for “national security” purposes.

It is ironic that the U.S. should be fighting monstrously expensive wars allegedly to bring democracy to those countries, when it itself can no longer claim to be called a democracy when trillions, and I mean thousands of billions of dollars have been spent on projects which both congress and the commander in chief know nothing about.

To The Stars Academy

It’s almost 2019, and the topic of UFOs has exploded into the mainstream, especially with former rock superstar Tom Delonge gathering defense intelligence officials, world-renowned scientists and more to relay this information to the public via the ‘To The Stars Academy.’ They’ve already released multiple videos of UFOs, and have publicly stated that there are programs within the government that study this phenomenon.

They have Luis Elizondo, a former director of a government ‘aerospace threat identification’ program. This was all disclosed via establishment mouthpieces like the New York Times and the Washington Post. They’ve also admitted to recovering materials from these ‘unidentified’ objects. You can read the latest updates about what’s going on with that and mainstream UFO disclosure, in general, below.

Black Budget Projects

The black budget is something we easily get information about, and for those who try to bring out information it is difficult to investigate. One example is the efforts of journalists Dana Priest and William Arkin of the Washington Post in 2010. Their investigation lasted approximately two years and concluded that America’s classified world has “become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, and how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.” You can read more about that, and see more examples, in this CE article.

Here is one of many statements from people who have been “in the know” so to speak. There are thousands of verified quotes on this subject, and we now have the electro-optical data and evidence to back up all of this witness testimony.

We have, indeed, been contacted – perhaps even visited – by extraterrestrial beings, and the US government, in collusion with the other national powers of the Earth, is determined to keep this information from the general public. (Second Look, Volume 1, No 7, Washington, DC, May, 1979)

What are the intentions of the cabal when it comes to UFO disclosure? We’ve been lied to about so many things by them, that it’s become hard to believe anything we hear from mainstream mouthpieces. Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, who I believe are establishment puppets, have brought up the subject, acknowledged it, but have refused to share any information on it. They did so in cryptic, often comedic ways on popular television, on the Jimmy Kimmel show. It’s hard to know what to make of their comments, or even their overall knowledge about this.

So What About Trump?

Has Donald Trump been briefed? Yes he has, according to Dr. Steven Greer. Greer is the founder of The Disclosure Project, an initiative that has brought forth hundreds of military/defense/political personnel from all over the world, with verified credentials, to publicly share their testimony about their experiences with UFOs and extraterrestrials. He also released a film last year, called “Unacknowledged.” It was one of the most popular, if not the most popular film on Itunes & Netflix in 2017. It’s highly recommended if you are new to this subject and don’t already know much about it.

Greer has amassed great credibility for his claims. For example, many years ago he claimed to have had meetings at the Pentagon with some very high-ranking people. After this, Apollo astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell admitted that he also attended these meetings with Greer. What came out of these meetings is that not many people knew the details of this topic, nor wanted to discuss it. Wikileaks documents have also been released which saw astronaut Edgar Mitchell communicate with US politician John Podesta. You can access those documents and read more about them here.

He’s been able to develop relationships with individuals he has interviewed from various branches and ranks of the military as well as within the intelligence and defence communities.

In my opinion, Podesta, Clinton, Obama and Bush are all cabal puppets. Therefore, anything they say about terrorism, national security, or UFOs, is probably lathered up with some ‘disinformation’ soap. Without this point, if we completely disregard it, there is still more than enough evidence to show that they are simply following the will of their masters. But that’s a topic for another article, back to UFOs!

Greer says he has briefed people close to Trump about the UFO/extraterrestrial issue in this interview. He has also claimed to have briefed past presidents, like Obama and Clinton, and provides those documents on his website, Sirius Disclosure. It seems credible, especially when his claim to have had high-level meetings within the Pentagon was verified by Dr. Edgar Mitchell.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has so far not answered any questions that have been asked about UFOs. Will There Ever Be A Full Mainstream UFO Disclosure?

Given the fact that this topic seems to be controlled by a small group of very powerful people who gets to decide what humanity can and can’t know, I’d say that as long as this group maintains power, the reality of UFOs and extraterrestrial beings will be hidden from humanity in official channels. A censorship plan has also been spoken about for years by those within. Roscoe Hiellenkoetter, the first director of the CIA, for example, pointed out decades ago in the New York Times that, “through an official campaign of secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.” He went on to state that they are operating under intelligent control.

That being said, there is a serious effort by multiple nations, and perhaps those within this power structure as well, to reveal these truths to humanity. This is evident by all of the whistle-blowers with verified credentials who have shared their experiences, as well as the release of evidence in the form of radar trackings and electro-optical data.. There is a serious push for mainstream disclosure, this can’t be denied and is quite evident by the article linked earlier. Establishment mouthpieces are slowly disclosing this reality.

In 1979 Spanish General Carlos Cavero told the world the following:

“Everything in a process of investigation both in the United States and in Spain, as well as the rest of the world. The nations of the world are currently working together in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon an international exchange of data.” (via Richard Dolan, “UFOs & The National Security State”)

Why Any Disclosure At All?

Why would the New York Times, CNN and the rest of them share any of this truth? Can we believe what they say? Perhaps not everything they say is false, but for years we’ve seen major geopolitical issues completely twisted by the mainstream media, and evidence of ‘perception manipulation’ that is fostered by their close relationship with US intelligence agencies. There is also the testimony of multiple award-winning mainstream media journalists who emphasize how mainstream media outlets are paid by governments, corporations and intelligence agencies to present a specific narrative.

Is the establishment trying to lay the foundation for a ‘war against aliens’ like they made a ‘war against drugs’ and a ‘war terror?’ Or are we seeing the white hats within these groups push for the disclosure of information? All this remains to be seen, but we must understand why this topic would be extremely difficult to disclose and to be honest, it’s probably a mix of both.

For one, you have the energy question. These crafts are clearly not using petroleum. Have we harvested technology from these crafts? If released, what would that mean for the oil industry and our economy? Who would benefit, who would lose? What about the historical questions, the scientific questions? What about our laws of science and what we understand about ourselves and perhaps human origin? What about the idea that there are intelligent extraterrestrials surveying, visiting, and interacting with people here on Earth!

Tremendous Implications

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the disclosure of this information leaves no area of humanity untouched. As you can imagine, it has tremendous implications and it’s something that would change the world forever. I am sure the existence of extraterrestrials and the fact that we’ve been visited and are being visited, is not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discovery.

Most important will be the impact on consciousness, the deeper investigation into metaphysical realities, and the validation of non-material science. One can expect that disclosure will impact our understanding of who we are and why we are here, and perhaps there is some sort of spiritual lesson to be reaped from the realization that we are not the only ones. There is a CE podcast featuring CE founder Joe Martino, myself, and a “contactee” who discuss this exact topic. You can listen to that, it’s linked at the bottom of this article, for more information.

The Takeaway

Humanity is just now waking up, and ready to take the steps necessary to move out of infancy. Understand “them” will help us to understand ourselves. We are all connected in some strange form, and the future is exciting. It’s a topic that, most importantly, we DON’T have to be afraid of or react to with fear, despite the fact that that this type of reaction seems to have been programmed into us. We need to deprogram ourselves from what Hollywood has presented us with, and start to examine the actual evidence and what’s really going on here.

I don’t believe you have to be afraid to discuss or talk about this topic with your peers and your family anymore. It’s no longer taboo, and the more we speak up, speak out, and generate discussion, the closer we get to finding out what’s really going on. It’s definitely an exciting time to be alive.

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uafairbanks · 6 years

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Stacy Bowen’s family has owned The Fur Shop for some 40 years. The cream-colored store in Utqiaġvik sits on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Crammed floor to ceiling with animal skins, costume jewelry, fabric bolts, souvenir sweatshirts and fresh flowers flown in from the tropics, the eclectic shop is a commercial hub for the northernmost city in the United States. From its perch on a bluff overlooking ice floes, seabirds and marine mammals, the shop serves an isolated community of about 4,000 people, most of them Iñupiat Eskimos. It’s a place to drop off laundry for cleaning, buy toys, wire money and order home delivery of water “We go where the customers take us,” said Bowen. While the Fur Shop is a commercial lifeline for this remote Arctic community, its physical location is precarious. Were it not for a retaining wall anchoring the bluff, The Fur Shop might have washed into the sea last September when a ferocious storm ate away many feet of coastline adjacent to the shop. The storm caused millions of dollars in damage to roads, wrecked buildings and archeological sites and prompted a disaster declaration from the governor. It wasn’t the first time Utqiaġvik suffered such major devastation and it’s unlikely to be the last. As temperatures in the Arctic rise, sea ice is disappearing. Shore-fast ice forms a protective barrier for coastal Arctic communities like Utqiaġvik. As the ice retreats, coastal Alaska communities are becoming more vulnerable to natural hazards such flooding, destructive wave action and loss of human life. Bowen has seen the climate drastically during her many years in Utqiaġvik, formerly known as Barrow.“The weather is definitely not the same as it was 20 years ago. It’s been a big concern not just because of erosion but because of subsistence and our way of life,” Bowen said.Utqiaġvik’s Iñupiat residents rely on bowhead whale and other sea and land animals for food and culture. As the Arctic heats up—twice as fast as anywhere on Earth—the behavior of animals is changing, putting Iñupiat food security at risk. To boost Utqiaġvik’s ability to manage climate change threats, Alaska Sea Grant is supporting research driven by local citizen scientists. The work is being done on the beach just below The Fur Shop and elsewhere along the town’s shoreline. Project leaders are building local capacity and providing training to volunteers who use survey instruments to monitor and document changes to the coast. The project, which began several years ago, focuses on observing and forecasting storm surges, flooding and erosion. The goal is to provide local risk managers with information they need to better protect the community.Much of the work is taking place along the beach where homes and critical infrastructure are located, including a utilidor, pump stations and a defunct landfill.The utilidor is an underground artery that runs over three miles through permafrost, carrying vital services to Utqiaġvik residents, including water, sewer, telephone, fiber-optic cable, and electricity. If a storm were to take out the utilidor, longtime Utqiaġvik resident and archeologist Anne Jensen says the town would be faced with an immediate public health crisis.“You’d have 4,000 people who all of sudden couldn’t wash their hands,” Jensen said.CULTURAL HISTORY WASHING AWAYA short walk down Stevenson Street from the Fur Shop sits a row of houses. Some are abandoned, their owners having fled before disaster struck. Others remain occupied. A large house on this stretch of two-lane dirt road stands out for its relative grandeur among Utqiaġvik’s typically weather-beaten structures. It’s the home of one of Alaska’s most prominent men, Oliver Leavitt.Leavitt is a whaling captain and director of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. He’s one of the founders of this Native-owned corporation, one of Alaska’s most successful companies, reporting $2.4 billion in revenue in 2016, according to published reports.Leavitt’s spacious house is located mere feet from the edge of a bluff. On a sunny day in July, a barbeque sat on the lawn between the house and the steep drop-off. The lights were on. It’s unclear if the house will survive the next big storm. Leavitt could not be reached for comment.Protruding from the sandy soil of the bluff beneath Leavitt’s home are pieces of wood, remnants of sod houses occupied by Utqiaġvik’s ancestors thousands of years ago. A sign warns the public not to collect any archeological remains from the site or risk of facing fines of up to $250,000 and fives years in prison.“Their cultural heritage is going into the ocean,” said anthropologist Anne Garland, who is leading the volunteer training. She’s with Applied Research in Environmental Sciences NonProfit, Inc. On the beach below the Leavitt home, Garland was working with University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) professor John Bean on the Alaska Sea Grant-funded project. On a Sunday afternoon in July, temperatures hovered in the mid-30s. As a seal bobbed in icy water offshore, Garland and Bean trained a small group of community volunteers to take shoreline measurements and calculate features of waves, wind and water levels . Accompanying them were two graduate students.Cheryl Magee is studying electrical engineering at UAA. Anuszka Mosurska will soon begin a PhD program at the University of Leeds in England, focusing on the human dimensions of climate change. With Magee and Mosurska’s help in holding the survey instruments, Bean gave some basic instructions.“Okay, push the leg down into the sand like this. Not too hard,” Bean said, showing Jason Russell how to install an automatic level upon the black sand beneath them.Russell is a library archivist who is learning how to measure the profile of the beach. Once he has mastered the technique, Russell will be assigned a transect, or a stretch of the study area. He will be asked to take measurements once a month or as soon as it’s safe after a storm. “Having these precise data points, you can start to generate predictive models to see which areas need additional funding,” said Russell.Documenting how much shoreline loss occurs each year gives local risk managers the data they need to take protective actions or apply for federal dollars for hazard mitigation.FORECASTING THREATSA man-made berm is the lone structure holding Utqiaġvik back from the Arctic Ocean. Other sections of town are in the direct line of the sea. When major storms barrel ashore, the accompanying waves and storm surge attack the berm, prompting bulldozers to fan out on the beach and push new sand into place. It’s an endless fight against the elements. As temperatures warm and the sea ice melts, the battle to save the berm grows ever more intense.So far, the North Slope Borough has been unable to secure funding to get a seawall built, a more permanent structure that would protect the utilidor and other critical structures.Estimates for a seawall range in the hundreds of millions of dollars and upward. While the funding search plays out, researchers hope to develop a system to better forecast how the changes in climate and coastal erosion will effect Utqiaġvik. In addition to using trained volunteers to calculate beach geometry and storm surge heights, a high-tech video camera will be installed on a public building to collect imagery of wave conditions and sea levels.The data will be used to strengthen Utqiaġvik’s erosion forecasting system so managers will know where the greatest threats exist during any given storm. It’ll also be made available to the State of Alaska’s Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.Garland, who has been working with the North Slope Borough’s Office of Risk Management, says coastal erosion is identified as the number one risk Utqiaġvik residents face.“If the sanitary landfill gets washed out, that affects the entire Arctic Ocean. If any of the utilities goes down, there’s a cascade effect. It’ll be very hard to recover from that whether they’re on the shoreline or not,” Garland said.Micheal Judkins is one of the Utqiaġvik residents who has been trained as a shoreline monitor. The transect he’s working on near The Fur Shop retreated at least 30 feet last year, Garland said. While he is contributing his time taking shoreline measurements, Judkins is resigned to the vulnerability his town is facing. “There’s not much you can do to reverse the inevitable,” Judkins said.He’s not expecting much help either.“I don’t think the federal or state governments care about it. If they cared, something would be done about it.”That said, Judkins had a message for people outside of Utqiaġvik.“Some people look at it here as a wasteland. But if you come here you’ll see, there is life everywhere. It’s teeming with life,” Judkins said. [X]

#climate change #Alaska #climate refugees #Arctic #Alaska Sea Grant #Queueniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

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