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fisitronisms · 5 years

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Good Eye, Sniper || On Perceptor

“When Perceptor and physics make eye contact, physics blinks first.” Getaway, Filling in the Blanks

He talks too much until he doesn’t talk enough, he’s almost too bright and for that, was almost once extinguished.

How does one go from a walking trivia machine to an ice cold gunner?

Let’s talk about Perceptor, The Least Warlike Autobot.

Originally, Perceptor was a security mech under Sentinel as well as a brilliant scientist- not exactly Oohrah Soldier Material, to be sure!

But his bright and chatty ways changed drastically after being pulled into a Pretender Project, the rebuild of one Kup. Within a short span of time, he went from being a leader in science and technology to nothing much more than a babysitter- the cigarette pack that kept Kup’s processor in line, and something of an IT service for the Wreckers.

He was tolerated, maybe even liked! Until, of course, that fateful mission on Turmoil’s battleship; Where, mid sentence, his chest was blasted through and he hit the ground, surely about to die.

And this is where the change from a chatterbox to a stone cold Sniproscope begins.

Part 1: The Technicalities of “Dying”

After this incident, Perceptor upgraded himself, going from merely a scientist to an ice cold sniper capable of taking out a combiner with a single shot to it’s torso (x). He becomes cold, distant, emotionally detached almost- And if you think about it, it stands to reason this would be the route he takes when faced with his innate personality.

Perceptor is passionate. Specifically about his work- a running gag through several continuities, including the G1 cartoon, is that he can lecture and speak and ramble about something he is truly interested in with almost no stopping- unless someone tells him to shut up.

Turmoil, the Decepticon who shot Perceptor through the spark, falls into that “tells him to shut up” category. In Spotlight: Drift, we see the moment Perceptor meets death- The moment Turmoil shoots him through the heavy doors he is trying to keep locked while the Wreckers try to slice through the wall for an extraction mission.

This moment, specifically. See what he says upon seeing the smoking hole in Perceptor’s body? “Shoot your mouth off, give your position away. Amateurs.”

And then, in the very next panel, a shot to Perceptor’s eye while he, apparently, screams in pain and probably terror. Now, judging by the angle of the shot, its not a clean one- what was no doubt intended as a quick end instead was most likely just added suffering, his spark beginning to slow and fail and fade and half his vision fritzed or worse- gone completely.

And then everyone left.

Now here is Perceptor, nearly dead and on the way out- his sight halved and fuzzy and his spark nearly obliterated. And at the end, he’s alone. The Wreckers moved on, attempting to finish the mission while battling Turmoil’s forces only to be separated briefly.

And then, he’s not alone, and he’s falling, and then he’s on the Trion in a CR chamber nearly in pieces.

Imagine how that affected him, when he came out of the CR chamber- a culmination of years upon years, no doubt, of being just a bit too wordy. It’s even reflected in MTMTE years later, when Rodimus (bored or agitated by Perceptor’s scientific terms, it’s hard to tell) cuts him off to tell him to use layman’s terms.

That aside, for Perceptor- he was nearly killed and then immediately mocked for his chatterbox tendencies. Speaking nearly got him killed, explaining was nearly the end of the line for him.

And when he comes out of the CR chamber, he changes- and not just physically.

He had already been a bit standoffish, no doubt at feeling a bit unwelcome among more active soldiers while being mostly a scientist, but now its cemented that not only is his BODY not up to par for war- but he himself is not either.

And we see, when he rebuilds himself, that his “explanations” are a single sentence, maybe less. Drift gets a “Much obliged” when Perceptor blankly quips that it was due to Drift that he is alive.

Nothing like the miniature lectures or chatter of before.

We see it when Monstructor is taken out by a single perfect shot to the joined-area of his torso, “Just doing my job.”

Operating on single sentences or less; the difference is astounding. But, considering everything that led up to it, not shocking.

The only deviation to this behavior (pre-Lost Light) is on Garrus 9, the prison planet Perceptor was requested to go to along with Kup, Springer, and several others.

The deviation of behavior, specifically, is the explanation of Aequitas’s function.

And this explanation is still rather short, and only at the behest of Verity. There’s no jargon, no tangents, to explanations within explanations or invitations for further discussion- its short, straight, and to the point. It’s blunt, clinical, and worded with a kind of finality that begs a conversation to move on away from the punctuation that threatens to fridge it.

But Perceptor’s initial near-death experience is not the ONLY factor in what his personality, what HE himself became- just the first step.

Part II: The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Near death experiences change you, it’s just a fact. There’s always a part of someone that gets left behind when healing from one, a little bit of their innocence or softness that is given up.

Perceptor is no different.

Perceptor always has been, and always will be, a scientist. He looks at things from a “logical” standpoint, he believes what his eyes show him.

And what his eyes showed him was being left behind, in more ways than one.

The first time being, of course, on Turmoil’s ship- no doubt it was assumed he wasn’t going to survive, not with an injury like that, not in a place like that- But he did. He made it back, because Drift pulled him out.

Looking over Perceptor’s Wrecker history, that would be the last time that someone did that it seems.

The first incident we’re going to look at is one that happens not long after Perceptor’s rebuild- Actually, immediately after taking down Monstructor.

One of the first direct reactions to Perceptor’s rebuild, not counting Kup’s discomfort and dismissal of Perceptor’s suggestion he rebuild into a soldier (not even specifically a SNIPER, just a soldier, just to have more survivability in wartime).

Blaster is hinted at being good friends with Perceptor; Primarily in Spotlight: Blaster, where Perceptor not only repairs Blaster after an assasination attempt gone awry, but helps him discover the assassin’s identity- Beachcomber, being mind-controlled by Bombshell.

Perceptor was injured when the trap had been set, and it looks to be a shot to the chest- Ironically, the same injury he repaired on Blaster, shown here:

Which was almost mirrored when Perceptor was shot by Turmoil.

And yet, Blaster’s reaction to Perceptor repairing and, in many ways IMPROVING, himself was to accuse him of “defiling himself”. To tell him his job was “a scientist”, considering Blaster’s job was once a radio host, that seems a mite hypocritical.

The second rejection to look at comes, also, from All Hail Megatron and the battle against the Swarm.

And here’s Ratchet, with an awful thing to say about someone you had a close working relationship with before they. You know. Nearly died and had to rebuild themselves from the ground up with frankly minimal support.

Acting like becoming capable of defending yourself and surviving a war somehow diminishes one’s intellectual capability.

And because Ratchet does nothing by half, he follows it up with something even WORSE. So, that is two people Perceptor considered friends who clearly... may not value the relationship as much as Perceptor might.

An important distinction, however, is while Blaster announced his opinion for the entire unit to hear- Ratchet’s comments were made in a more private setting, directly to Kup.

So, there’s that, at least.

But, these are just comments- rude, yes, but Perceptor has no doubt heard worse?

A fair point, to be sure! The problem comes in the form of Garrus 9. As many things do.

Gun-fondling battle-stat.

A special kind of derision, that- something that could be a reminder of what people really think of Perceptor. It makes one have to wonder- what would hearing another annoyed title being laid on him do? And by THE enemy, no less?

A reminder that his worth is entirely conditional. He is not necessary so much as convenient- He was convenient for Prowl, he was convenient for Kup, convenient for the Wreckers...

After long enough being optional, one stops trying to be irreplacable.

Part III: Old Gravemarkers

So, looking at the previous points, it’s safe to say that Perceptor isn’t in the greatest headspace at any given time. From the shot that killed an Insecticon scout and prompted Cliffjumper to ask “When did Perceptor become scary?” to his infamously showing activation of tactical explosives; its very safe to say that not all is well with our favorite science-sniper (as Verity once called him, in Last Stand of the Wreckers).

Down to the flat, cold way he voted in favor of killing Impactor, around to the almost clinical way he addressed crewmates in the beginning of MTMTE.

But, the most painful part is, he starts getting better. He begins to interact with others, mostly Brainstorm, and slowly seems to start shedding the frigidness he developed after his near death and his rebuild and after all the backs that got turned to him.

But then, Overlord comes back.

And it’s gently suggested that Overlord went looking for him, as illustrated below:

Could this be a reference to earlier in the issue, where Perceptor is seen carrying Tripodeca back after a terrible run in with the phase sixer?

Or is it something deeper than that- Overlord remembering Perceptor as the sniper that shot off his hand, that dared to go against him? Remembering Perceptor as one of the Autobots who set him up for absolute failure?

It’s entirely possible, and even plausible, that Perceptor internalized this incident (like many other things, no doubt) and it was one of the reasons Getaway felt he would be suitable to be involved in the mutiny. Perhaps this was a driving factor in seeing Perceptor spend a majority of time with Brainstorm.

Perhaps the behavior shown by Perceptor in MTMTE is the result of him simply forgetting how to interact with people- after so long in sniper perches and wondering if you’ll be dead in thirty seconds some things fall by the wayside, maybe socialization is one of them.

At the end, though, the things Perceptor later becomes known for: Being cold, distant, blunt and to the point even when using jargon, being almost uncompromising; after thinking about what he’s lived through, well....

It makes a little more sense, doesn’t it?

#transformers #perceptor #blaster #ratchet #overlord #wreckers #lstow #all hail megatron #meta

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secretsolenoid · 6 years

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This is an anonymous gift fic for @fuzipenguin, entitled ‘Kingdom of the Sun’. Fic is under the cut; rated Mature for some NSFW content.

Sideswipe could remember the eastern forest so vividly in his memories. He could remember when the lands were green and bright with colors and bountiful with wild things. He remembered when crops flourished when mecha prospered in the lands. He remembered the town so boisterous with festival and song, so warm with community and love. He remembered the castle that perched on top the highest eastern hill, remembered each of the hundred rooms, both large and small, even those hidden from view. He remembered the lush perfectly trimmed gardens, the acres of fruit trees, the hearty laughter of the kings that ruled. He remembered these things so vividly yet...never lived a single one of them.

Sideswipe had grown up a general's son. Adopted from who, Kup never said but Sideswipe always had some big dreams of where he came from. Too big Kup often remarked but Sideswipe wouldn’t have it. It was too odd to have a general of a kingdom’s army never once visit the castle. Even odder to have kings of said kingdom never show their faces. One day Kup would have to tell him the truth about him and the kingdom but as it stood it really didn’t matter. The two were family no matter what circumstances.

And what a family. Sideswipe wasn’t Kup’s only son,not by a long shot. With as many wars that had seen the kingdom many soldiers had died, leaving some of their heirs with no one left in the world. Kup being the mech he was took in as many as his army pension would allow. Sideswipe had many brothers and many of them being older he had big expectations to live up to. His eldest brother Springer already a general in his own right and Bumblebee a squire to the emperor's personal guard. Drift was already working with the village healer. Impactor taking over as lead miner. The list never seemed to end. For Sideswipe at least, there was an end to it however. Him. It always ended with him. Right at the bottom. Kup nor any of his brothers would ever think of him that way but Sideswipe knew it was true.

He wasn’t that worried about his place though. He knew he’d find his greatness in time. Till then he had no problem simply being a town guard. It was an honorable position as Kup would say and it let him get to know and help the locals like none of his brothers really could. There were a few more boons than just that though...just not ones he could so freely brag about to his brothers. They were quite important to him though.

Leader of the guard, Hound, was like a second father for one. The hardy middle-aged mech just as wise and skilled in the art of defending the people without the need for glory. He was certainly less frazzled than old Kup that was for sure. He was a mech who should have his own conjunx, his own sparkling but chose a quiet life of privacy. Rain and snow, dark and perilous, Hound prowled the streets of their village and struck down the everyday evils. Drunken brutes, thieving rats, contracted killers, Hound could take them all. He was quite a mech.

He, unlike most of those in the village, also had a fascination with the dark wood. Every night when they weren’t on shift the two would make the treacherous journey down. The mist from the valley river clouding their vision and numbing them to the bone till they could barely stand. Despite knowing that one poor step could likely kill them though the two had never failed to get to the cursed forest. Hound looking for a monster, for new tales he could write down and tell again to the local new molds. Sideswipe looking for….something his spark told him he needed.

Hound never failed to find a monster, some nights he even returned with something more than just a story but Sideswipe was always left longing no matter what inch of the forest they explored. Something in his spark told him he needed to go further, to go beyond the woods but even Hound refused to explore the ruins of the mad king’s castle. The haunted keep of the mighty tyrant who had almost ruined the empire. A believer of stories himself Hound was positive should anyone disturb the place, or try to claim it for themselves the mad king’s lost spirit would return in full force to reign again.

Sideswipe had followed Hound’s warnings for years since he first started going to the woods with the mech...but tonight he decided he needed to follow his spark. He needed to know what was waiting for him in the keep of the great warlord. Was it his lineage? Was he a fallen dark prince raised to be better? Sideswipe could only hope. Kup deserved a castle. It would certainly make holidays much more bearable with all that space.

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

It was a minor holiday. Not one spent to be with family but one for young mecha to find each other, appreciate each other, and potentially spark a relationship. In the past, Kup and Hound said the festivals were bright and scented with the warm season flora and fine fuel, risked with lingering snow, and littered with game stalls. With the darkening of the kingdom, the Iugum festival was a bit more somber but there were still games, dramatic plays, good fuel, and some of the hardier flowers that had survived over the years. All lit by warm outdoor forges and bright lamplight. All ending in a magnificent fireworks display that lit up the night. Sideswipe had managed a few dates over the years but tonight his date was with destiny.

The journey down the valley was no less or more treacherous than it usually was but for some reason, the world around Sideswipe seemed so much darker than it usually did. His optics could barely pierce the fog and even the light of his crystal torch seemed to do no good. Far too many times Sideswipe wandered too close to the river’s edge, nearly plunging in like a rock to be swept away and killed by the violent current. So the usually unsettling stillness of the mad king’s woods was calming by the time he arrived.

The odd flora that managed to thrive there glowed fiercely in the dark mist, the only sign that he was finally safe for the moment. Sideswipe leaned heavily on a tree as he caught his breath, the cold really starting to seep in and numb his digits. Looking to the sky he could just see the moon beyond the clouds. Back home it would hang brightly in the sky crowded by stars but in the dark forest, it could barely be seen through the trees. For a moment Sideswipe doubted his quest, he could be back home, arm hooked around any femme or bot who caught his fancy. Pressed together to share warmth, and likely a few kisses. The two could be buying fuel and sweets to share then sneak off to one of the local ins to rent a bed for a few hours.

It was a warming thought but Sideswipe chose to be cold and damp. Pushing himself from the tree and pulling his hunting knife from his travel pouch. The monsters in the dark woods weren’t all that dangerous but they were monsters and anything could happen.

Despite knowing every inch of the woods Sideswipe quickly found himself getting lost, turned around, and frankly panicked. He knew the woods. He’d no longer needed even Hound’s keen directions to get him to where he wanted to go and yet Sideswipe found dead end after dead end instead of the gates to the mad king’s keep. A bit of a skeptic he didn’t want to believe it was some dark forces keeping him from the place. It was absurd to think, it was the mist, the cold, the hunger, his creeping doubt turning him all around. Nothing more and nothing his map couldn’t fix. He hadn’t used the map Hound had drawn up for him since the second year they started coming to the woods but Sideswipe was determined to get into the Tyrant’s castle.

It took what felt like ages even with the map but soon the slick near black walls of the mad king’s keep slid into view. Sideswipe hopped the gate, expecting some sort of lingering protection, hell even a magic ward or something...but he fell to the damp earth with ease. All his struggles nothing but made up troubles thanks to his personal doubt. So what if he didn’t find anything in the castle, so what if he was no dark prince, he was still the first mech to set foot in the mad king’s keep and survive in over three hundred years! He would be a legend if Hound and Kup didn’t kill him and he didn’t unleash the wrath of the Tyrant king for another millennium.

The front door of the castle was rightly barred but getting in wasn’t much of a challenge. Sideswipe scaled the overgrown vines to a balcony landing and smashed in a window. Inside his pedsteps on the frosty stone echoed loudly in the empty keep. At every turn he expected a guard or some hulking creature to rush him but his only companion in the massive castle was dust and a few glitchrats who could not be scared by Primus himself.

Not knowing where to go and knowing how easily he could get lost in the keep for hours perhaps even cycles Sideswipe let his spark guide him. Down spiraling staircases and winding halls dark with disuse, through overgrown tunnels and decrepit walkways, till he came upon a strange open room. Being outside the arena had gathered snow but that was the smallest detail to remark upon the place.

The most remarkable would be the statues. A dozen if not hundreds of them scattered around the place. Like a museum or a fancy garden except here, energon stained the walls of the arena and swords and axes littered the gutters. Sideswipe had heard the tales of the mad king’s duels, his Colosseum, where he dared any and all young heroes from across the empire to come and dare to dethrone him. None were successful. None ever returned to their homes dead or alive. Is this what happened to them? Turned to stone decorations? How?

It seemed insane but as Sideswipe moved carefully through the throngs of statues, faces of legend struck out to him. The Phoenix son Rodimus, the gunmen's trio from Vos, the invincible Magnus, all struck down. All made useless by the Tyrant. Morbidly Sideswipe wished he could have seen the mech in his heyday before the Emperor struck him down. How terrifying he must have been to witness, to watch him not only slaughter heroes but ruthlessly configure them to stone.

Distracted by his daydreams Sideswipe nearly tripped over a fallen piece of statue. An arm. As he looked down at it his spark burned. Taking in a sharp breath Sideswipe hissed through his clenched denta till the pain subsided. This? This statue was what called to him? He didn’t even know who it was.

Despite that, Sideswipe’s eagerness quickly consumed him. Frantically searching the ground through the snow he managed to find more and more pieces. The wind or some animal must have knocked the statue down and broken it. What a terrible thought. To be a living statue broken in pieces.

He didn’t have much with him, and the stone was so wet it would have been impossible to piece the mech together, yet madness spurred him. Dragging the pieces inside Sideswipe settled them in the dryest room he could find. Using whatever long rotted wood he could scavenge to light a fire to make it even dryer. With some finely aged energex and vintage honey from long extinct voltstingers he mixed a glue and got to work.

There were a lot of pieces but somehow time hadn’t done nearly the damage it had done to everything else in the keep. There were a few pits from rain, nicks from birds but nothing that diminished the slowly emerging beauty of the statue...of the mech he was piecing back together.

He couldn’t have been very old when he was struck down, likely just as old as Sideswipe. He was certainly shaping up to only stand just an inch or so taller. Not a bot of impressive structure by any means so Sideswipe could only fantasize what great skill he must have had to dare take on the mad king.

He was beautiful by the end, likely made only more so thanks to the long grueling night Sideswipe spent fixing him. The young guard couldn’t help but trace his digits over every harsh line and soft curve of his frame, wishing he had more than just the light of the slowly dying fire to see him.

Sighing as he fell back on the small bed that took up most of the room Sideswipe pulled a cube of fuel from his bag and took in heavy gulps as he admired his work from afar. What to do now? His spark pulsed heavy in his chest...but there was nothing left to be done and he needed to get back to the village. Should he risk taking the statue home? Take it back outside to stand with the rest? He truly didn’t know but something told him his job wasn’t done.

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

Sideswipe had to leave the mad king’s keep and his lovely statue, but he returned every chance he got. Mostly just to admire, to calm the pain in his spark but sometimes ideas struck him. He could make the statue better. More alive. So he brought paints and fresh clay to fix the damage that had been done.

It was rough going, Sideswipe was no artist and any he knew wouldn’t dare step a ped into the keep. Also, nothing seemed perfect. He mixed what had to be over a hundred colors, tried just as many designs but by the end of the long cycles he would rinse everything away and sulk home to do his shift. Weeks went by, months, even a year. Many thought he’d found a sweetheart in the kingdom over and he was more than happy to let them believe so so they wouldn’t catch on to what he was really doing.

Determination and patience persevered though and one night Sideswipe found himself satisfied and embarrassingly... enamored. The way the fire and weak lamplight struck every angle of the statue created such a beautiful scene. One of ancient stories, fairy tales, where beautiful mechs who were struck down and imprisoned could be brought back to life by loved ones. Silly as he knew it was Sideswipe couldn’t help himself. As soon as the paint was dry his digits found the statue, again admiring every curve, every strong sculpted line. His lips inevitably found the statues, no matter for how brief a time.

Nothing came from his kiss, Sideswipe didn’t expect it, why should it? He was no prince, no hero, just a guard in a small village. Any yet…

Suddenly the statue began to crack, Sideswipe swearing up and down as he instantly feared his work would crumble to dust before his optics. Only light spilled out from the cracks, becoming brighter and brighter till it filled the room blinding Sideswipe and knocking him back on his aft.

When the ringing in his ears faded and his optics cycled back into focus the focused on a living breathing mech. He stood, looking just as dumbfounded as Sideswipe felt. His gaze darted to Sideswipe, his look piercing from rage then soft. “Who...what happened?”

Sideswipe could only stumble over his words still in just as much awe. “I-I-I don’t know. I don’t even know who you are. I think you may have lost against the mad king? I d-d-ont know!”

Optics narrowed to a glare, indignant the mech had made his way toward Sideswipe. “Don’t know me? Me! How dare you- Did you say the mad king?” Fear suddenly filled those beautiful optics. “Is he still here? How did you get past him!”

“No, no! He’s gone! D-dead. This place has been empty forever. The emperor-”

“The emperor? That lazy bastard! He wouldn’t do a damn thing!”

“Y-yeah so they overthrew him! Orion took his place.”

“Orion? I don’t know any Orion. How long have I been gone? You wouldn’t know- Are you from the kingdom east of here? Does it still exist?”

Sideswipe was thrilled to finally have a question he could answer. “Y-yeah! It’s...well it’s not gone. Could be better but we’re making it work.”

“Are the-” The other mech fell to his knees before he could get the rest out, already overwhelmed and shaking from the panic. “My sires, my family- That lunatic-” Sideswipe rushed to his side.

“The kings are fine...but...are you saying what I think you are? Are you...a prince? I didn’t even know there was a prince!”

“You- you don’t know me?” the prince crumpled with dismay. “Why should you I failed. I failed my people, my fathers, myself. I don’t deserve remembrance. I don’t deserve anything!”

“No, that’s not true! They never leave the castle!”

“FROM SHAME!”

“No!”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW?! WHO DO YOU EVEN THINK YOU ARE!”

Sideswipe backed off a bit, the prince had every right to be upset...but the thought of it made his spark burn with guilt. “Because...you never could have won. Let me show you something.”

________________________

Even the meager moonlight that slipped through the thick clouds looked beautiful as it reflected off the prince’s frame. Even as he stood there horrified looking at the garden of warriors who had fallen at the mad king’s brutal servo. Sideswipe tried to stay as quiet as he could, this must have been such a shock. To have lost so much time. He wasn’t expecting the Prince to turn so swiftly, to grab him, to hug him close.

“I’m sorry. Y-you saved me. No one found me- N-” Sideswipe slipped his arms around the Prince’s waist as he felt the mech shudder against him. “Tell me, my hero. Your name.”

Sideswipe felt his spark shoot to his intake. Forcing him to swallow it down. “S-sideswipe. I-I’m no hero, I’m just a guard-” The prince grabbed his chin.

“Sideswipe, I can’t say with what but if you would kindly escort me to my home you will be rewarded handsomely. Station, fortune, anything you would desire is already yours. I’ll make sure of it.”

“O-oh. okay.” Sideswipe didn’t mean to sound so somber. Fame, fortune, it sounded amazing and he would be ungrateful to turn his nose up at it….but part of him only wanted his statue back and it must have been obvious.

The prince grabbed at his arm, his tone suddenly heavy like velvet. “Is there something...specific you desire?” The prince was looking at him now, his optics barely staying on one spot as they admired his frame.

“I-it’s too selfish. I-”

“Let’s go someplace comfortable Sideswipe.”

__________________________________________

Sunstreaker looked like a mech out of time lying draped by Megatron’s personal covers. Thick pelts from long fled mechanimals, and fine fabrics that the kingdom could no longer afford to make. The muted sun that drifted in reflecting off his slick gold paint, making him shimmer and glow. The prince glowing even when the sun was long sealed away by the clouds.

He was a sight that belonged in a painting, not pressed so closely to a mech like Sideswipe’s chest and yet there he was, recharging peacefully as Sideswipe fondled his ornate helm and worried what excuse he would give to Hound when he finally returned to work after the five cycle trip it would take to get to the kingdom capital. He was so worried in fact that he didn’t notice the prince awake, only felt him start to move when he was more than conscious.

Sunstreaker wasted no time slipping from the covers to take his place on Sideswipe, slowly grinding his bared array against his hero’s. “Morning hero. I had a lovely dream. Would you like to make it a reality for me?”

Sideswipe grabbed Sunstreaker’s aft, running his thumbs along the curve. “Are you sure it wasn’t just a memory?”

“Fuck me again just in case.” Sideswipe felt his plug pop free, knocking against his panel. Who was he to deny his prince?

“Of course.” Sliding back his panel Sideswipe’s plug slid through warm buzzing valve lips. He felt them quiver as his base node brushed against Sunstreaker’s own. The rest of the mech shuddering in the same ecstasy.

“Sideswipe~” With a quick rutt Sideswipe seated his plug in Sunstreaker’s valve, spreading him, filling him so perfectly the mech could only moan and cry for Primus.

“My prince.”

________________________________________________________________

Weak from his years of imprisonment and left dizzyingly drunk off the only fuel the keep had offered them Sunstreaker was not strong enough for a long journey. Sideswipe knew if he spent any longer in the castle though Hound would send someone to look for him.

So he took the burden upon himself to carry the prince when he could no longer stand. It wasn’t such a burden to carry the mech he’d likely spend the rest of his life with but five cycles up and down hills was still an undertaking. Thankfully he was a hero.

As the two stepped out to the dark wood Sunstreaker looked upon what had become of the lands with mourning in his optics. “I don’t understand. This place used to be so bright.” Reaching out to a bush filled with dull flowers, the tips of his digits brushed the petals. They livened to a brilliant neon blush. “That’s better.”

Sideswipe couldn’t help but smile as his spark swelled with joy. Not just from the wondrous sight but from pride. He’d finally found his glory. As the mech who’d finally brought sun back to the kingdom.

#fic gift #anonymous #fuzipenguin #sideswipe #sunstreaker

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afterspark-podcast · 6 years

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G1 Episode 5: Transcript

Episode Show Notes

[This can also be found on AO3!]

Stinger

O: Why don't you tell me one or two of your favorite Transformers ships and why?

S: Half the ships are dead.

[Intro Music Plays]

O: Hello and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast- an episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls!

S: And I'm Specs!

O: And today we're going to be talking about episode number 5, Roll For It. Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Yeah.

O: So, last time on the Transformers: Spike was kidnapped, Bumblebees’ memories were dicked with, the Decepticons “perfected” the Space Bridge, and Megatron went on an unscheduled trip to Scenic Cybertron.

S: And that's “perfected” in quotation marks.

O: [Laughter] It didn't go well- is what we're getting at here. Anyway, like any good episode we open with two Jets and Soundwave flying through the sky.

S: And Soundwave’s in robot mode, though it would be super weird if he was flying as a boombox.

O: I swear that happens later. [Laughter]

S: Probably, I mean it would be funny but it would be weird.

O: As they're flying Starscream is espousing about being, “The new leader of the Decepticons!” Uh, He almost hits Soundwave while flying because he's a jackass.

S: Soundwave appears to momentarily consider changing sides because his Decepticon symbol is mis-colored red for this shot.

O: They're normally purple for those of you who don't know this off the top of your head.

S: So purple.

O: [Laughter]

S: They attack a dam, blasting through a plate-glass window.

O: Okay, I think it was like a hydropower plant bu-but to me that translates over as a dam, right? So why are they so obsessed with dams? This is the second time, right?

S: It's just a convenient plot point.

O: Clearly. People freak out and call in a Decepticon sighting, like. Do you think there's a hotline? I feel like, at this point, there's like a hotline to the Autobots that are like, “Holy fuck, there's Decepticons here.”

S: Either that or 911 has actually started, you know, putting together a code for a giant robot attacks and then it gets forwarded to the Autobots.

O: I'll believe it. I'll believe it.

S: Yeah, probably.

O: Anyway, the best part about this that is the security guards attempt to take out giant transforming robots with handguns.

S: Not even like fancy-ass handguns.

O: No, no- they're just little handguns!

S: And then the Decepticons have terrible aim and blow up some barrels and crates but, mysteriously missed those pesky little humans.

O: Starscream proclaims himself as amazeballs. I.E. he's doing an amazing job. No, he's not. And orders Soundwave to begin collecting Energon.

S: And here they have is tape deck open but you cannot see the inside of his chest like, it doesn't exist- there's just a blank blue void.

O: [Laughter.]

S: That matches the rest of, or, well there isn't a void is what I'm getting at.

O: [Laughter] There's no hole. Anyway, Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper, and Brawn show up-- quoting I think Cliffjumper, “Just your friendly, neighborhood Decepticon Wreckers.”

S: Honey, you guys ain't the Wreckers.

O: [Laughter] Right!?! Uh, so the Wreckers are something that will show up in other media later. They’re basically kind of like the Autobot Brute Squad. Sort of?

S: Sort of? Yeah, they're the Autobot-- They're not special operations but they're like the special hit squad or something. It starts out with Impactor and like, Rack and Rule [Rack’n’Ruin]--something? And then the triple-changers. uh, Springer, Sandstorm, and Broadside get added and--that's, that’s neither here nor there. It's not at all relevant to this. So...

O: Basically, it's kind of funny with the phrasing because the Wreckers as, like, a group of Autobots is a thing that exists later. So it's mildly weird that it's used here.

S: In multiple ver-- multiple iterations in this--

O: Yeah, it's a thing in multiple iterations just not, like, in this specific version of G1. So everybody fights and then Optimus and Starscream end up in a tug-of-war match, which only ends when they accidentally blow up all the Energon on the Decepticons were stealing.

O: Yep. And then Brawn, the immovable object, gets a bunch of movable objects thrown at him.

S: One of which is Cliffjumper!

O: Um, Soundwave being the only intelligent one here orders a freaking retreat.

S: And then Starscream flies off past a super pretty rainbow. It's very pretty, honestly. Why did they put so much detail in that?

O: My question is what happened to the other two Seekers in this scene. Like, they just completely disappear- we don't see them flying out of the factory or the plant or whatever.

S: They snuck off for makeouts?

O: [Snorts] Possibly. Soundwave because he can't turn into a jet and, presumably, completely forgot he can fly- makes the goofiest escape imaginable. Running really awkwardly outside, nearly tripping, and then through what looks like a volleyball net?

S: It really does.

O: Presumably it's not, and is supposed to be a fence, but we say volleyball net because, like, the actual, like, grid or net part doesn't stop--start until a good ten feet off the ground---

S: Because it's not--

O: It's like up to his knee!

S: And it's not connected to anything else?

O: It's very strange. I don't know what it's for and I would love to see the freaking, like, show notes for this to know what the heck was going on here. It's a very very strange fence.

S: I'd like to see the show notes for like everything that's happens because this is a trip.

O: So, something that I've heard about said about Jem and the Holograms is like, they'd write something and the animators would do something very strange with it so, like, I look at a lot of the stuff here and I’m like, “Is that what happened?” I'd really like to know or did they just say Soundwave ran off and trips or something-- like what did that look like?

S: Could be. And then Prowl and Bluestreak give chase?

O: Where did they even come from? We didn't see them with the other Autobots, so they just show up the hell out of nowhere. Uh, so they show up, they hit Soundwave who flies into the air, turns into a boombox, and is promptly caught by Starscream.

S: In-in his belly hatch. Is this where he sticks all the Energon?

O: [Laughs] Soundwave is riding cargo, with the Energon. Poor Soundy, he's having a bad day. [Laughs]

S: And then Bluestreak shoots both Starscream and Thundercracker.

O: Okay, but where did Thundercracker come from and where is Skywarp?

S: Uh?

O: Eh? Anyway, when we get back to the Autobots, Optimus Prime is there with Prowl and Bluestreak. When it cuts back, Prowl is standing and Bluestreak is in car mode but Bluestreak is the one shown talking in the next shot. So--

S: Like, you can see his face.

O: Yeah, it's clearly Bluestreak.

S: And it's not like one of the things with-- from Robots in Disguise (2001) where, there's his face in the little stupid dash thing--yeah.

O: Yeah, it was Bluestreak, he was the one standing up there but not in the long shot. Prowl and Bluestreak pursue the Decepticons. Uh, Thundercracker insults Starscream's leadership capabilities as they escape.

S: And now back on Cybertron, Megs wants to go home because Starscream is an idiot.

O: Shocking no one. So, Megatron contacts Starscream and orders him to attack a lab as planned to get the antimatter-- to get an antimatter formula, apparently.

S: And we're back to astroseconds. 5 billion?

O: Why!?!!! Why would you count anything in seconds, Megatron!?!

S: Astroseconds, cuz we’ve got to be dumb robots.

O: [Spluttering] I’m just like--I’m just like, “WHY!?!”

S: And then Shockwave seems way more energetic today. I mean did Energon actually come through? I didn't think anything came through with Megatron.

O: Eh, it could--did, did some of it make it through or is it the fact that his bass--his boss is back? You decide. So, uh, evil Ray of Doom and poof Megatron is back on Earth.

S: Where he is promptly greeted by Laserbeak and Rumble.

O: Laserbeak actually lands on his arm? I still think it's weird he's pretty reasonable with the cassettes a good chunk of the time, given how much of an ass-hole he is to pretty much everybody else.

S: And then Rumble gives them an update, and oh my God, Rumble is so tiny!

O: He is! Like, so, uh, if you ever play the video games it is hysterical if you have fight Rumble because it's like fighting a leprechaun that comes up to your knee. [Laughs] And you're just like oh my God, die!

S: Oh, that's amazing.

O: It- it really is, I'm just sort of like, “Why am I having so much trouble with this thing?” I don't even remember if it was Rumble or Frenzy, but fighting both of them sucks! Anyway, so we cut to a lab, Bumblebee drives up. Bumblebee is apparently wheelchair-accessible.

S: He's really ahead of his time cuz, well, uh, I wasn't expecting a Volkswagen Bug to be, uh, wheelchair accessible, but it's frankly awesome that they did that.

O: Yeah, I like that clearly he had configured himself slightly differently to help Chip out. I think that's actually cool. Um, they're greeted by a guard with really long legs.

S: Just, it looks like you got designed by Clamp. Clamp legs.

O: Super long legs. [Laughter]

S: Yup, and then Reflector observes the guard entering his passcode in the lab. It looks like he's actually taking photos of--

O: Of like when he's pressing the buttons.

S: Yes.

O: And he says it was as, “Easy as a piece of oil cake.”

S: Maybe we should be keeping track of these crumbs of Cybertronian culture, I mean...

O: Do they bake cakes? Like, do-do-

S: Do they--

O: How does that work!?! I want to see a recipe, god dammit.

S: I feel like someone's made reference to oil baths but I mean none of the stuff in here is super consistent.

O: Tch--but that was, that was--Presumably oil baths weren't edible.

S: I know.

O: Or weren't meant to be edible?

S: I know but it's like, variance of oil, is like, this oil for food, is this oil for--

O: Water!

S: I don’t know!

O: It's like, oil bath, mineral bath, same thing. So we're introduced to Chip, a fourteen-year-old, we think, boy in a wheelchair. He will be another recurring human character in the series. We couldn't seem to confirm his age on the TF Wiki [but] he's Spikes’ best friend, so presumably they are the same age-ish?

S: Maybe, at least close in age? He is really adorable and is one of the more appealing characters in the series and he is also super freaking smart.

O: Oh yeah!

S: I think he's smarter than the robots? Honestly?

O: We'll see that later. I-I don't think that's an exaggeration. [Laughter]

S: And Bumblebee agrees with me! And okay, it's kind of creepy, maybe, he's totally petting Chip in one of these shots.

O: [Laughter] I mean it's clearly like, a thing of endearment but yeah, you have the Giant Robot who's like, ruffling the guy's hair. [Laughter]

S: Yeah.

O: As we said, Chip is super smart and, apparently, has had a hand in the antimatter development going on in the lab they've arrived at. He is then handed a bendy floppy disk that will, apparently, allow his home computer to communicate with the lab computer.

S: Which is called, ”Betsy Brainiac,” and it's also Autobot Orange-- the entire interior of this lab is like, Autobot Orange.

O: Of course it is. [Laughter] Uh, as they're leaving they are attacked by Laserbeak.

S: And so they were in the desert but now they're suddenly in a city!

O: Yeah, it's very strange, uh, they escape into, like, an underground parking garage? [Laughter]

S: Yeah, yeah- that scene change was really weird.

O: It was very-- it was not fluid, not at all. [Laughter]

S: Yeah and then Laserbeak reports back to Megatron.

O: I'm serious this is the second time, just in this episode, that Laserbeak has landed on Megatron's arm. I don't think he does this with anyone else but Megatron and Soundwave, correct me if I'm wrong.

S: Eh, as far as I can remember I don't think he lands on anyone else but I haven't watch the full series in a while.

O: I'll make note of it happens again, because I can't remember off the top of my head. Meanwhile, all the Reflectors pose like a weird robot boy band behind Megatron during all of this.

S: This is... surprisingly not the only time some Decepticons look like a boy band. Apparently--

O: I'm not shocked by this at all.

S: They look just like striking some cool poses--look like they're going to lay down some sick beats, I guess.

O: [Laughter] So uh, Chip is dropped off at home where he attempts to warn the lab that they are about to be attacked by Decepticons, presumably.

S: And as Spike and Bumblebee are driving off we get to see Bumblebees’ bright pink seats, again. They tell the Autobots, presumably, that the attack is going to happen and Optimus is heading towards the lab.

O: Meanwhile, Bluestreak and Prowl have caught up with the Seekers and Soundwave who are cannibalizing some Earth jets for parts.

S: I guess they're making repairs? I feel like repairs should work differently from this. It really just looks like they're sticking a new wing on Thundercracker.

O: Yeah, it just-- it just sort of felt weird when like, Prowl and Bluestreak walked in as they're just, like, attaching jet parts to each other. [Laughter] It's very strange.

S: [Laughter] Where did they get the paint?

O: I don't-- [Laughter] I don't know. [Laughter]

S: I mean are--so the way that jets generally work is that there are fuel tanks in the wings. How did they keep the fuel tanks from bursting?

O: I mean, so kinda--just.

S: I also don't know if that's how it works with military jets, but I’d assume so?

O: Eh, maybe. Regardless, I do want to point out that the Decepticons don't really have a doctor so, it's kind of, like the fact that they're repairing themselves-- one) I find kind of amusing, but two) it was also like, does that make Starscream their doctor? Or is Soundwave--

S: A combination

O: -or something?

S: Or combination Soundwave/Starscream, we see what they do in Fire in the Sky?

O: That's true. So it's kind of weird. Uh, later iterations we'll actually get a few doctors, um, one of our favorites is Knockout, obviously. Uh, we don't really get one here, they don't really have doctors oh, so it is kind of like who does repair them?

S: I think the, um, Constructicons are technically considered their doctor when--er doctors when they show up.

O: Yeah, that would be one way to do it, oh, okay.

S: I don't know if they're actually--well, Hook, I think, is a surgeon. Not sure about the others but Mixmaster could probably--

O: Yeah, I wasn’t--I wasn't sure if Hook being a surgeon was, like, a fanon thing that had become really widespread or he was actually labeled that way in the show, but--

S: I don't remember, uh, let me look this up cuz yeah it could definitely be fanon.

O: I like, it showed up in a fanfic I was reading and I, and I honest to God don't know if it, if it's in the actual canon or not.

S: Eh, okay he considers himself an artist, Master Craftsman, let's just-- let me just read the, uh-

O: Fair enough.

S: -the wiki to you.

S: The snob of the Constructicons Hook considers himself an artist he looks upon the rest of the Decepticons almost as peasants, underneath him to a degree. Though full of himself, Hook is a master craftsman, having truly earned his insufferable ego. His high standards that he holds himself and others to means he takes extra care to ensure that even the most simple of jobs is completed to the nth degree of perfection. It doesn't say that he is the-- is a medic but, ermm--

O: So I think it's safe to say we're not sure if it's something that will show up in canon, or not but it is pretty prevalent in fanfiction or in just, like, the fanon with the Constructicons, so we're not actually sure.

S: I guess, yeah, Soundwave and Starscream, they get to be the medics.

O: At least for now.

S: A fight ensues.

O: As it always does.

S: So much fighting.

O: We cut to Megs, Rumble and Reflector who are using the passcode to gain entrance to the lab and I have to ask, why didn't they just blast through the freaking wall?

S: That, pfft, I mean, God, we see them blast through--

O: Yeah, just wait for it.

S: Walls, windows, and everything.

O: Uh-huh, just wait for it. [Laughter]

S: So back with Chip, he's attempting to contact the lab via his home computer.

O: Apparently this is a really nice setup for the time, although I couldn't tell you either way.

S: And, well, you can see a bunch of college flyers on Chip’s wall like, at least one of those looks like it was a fancy tech college or some sort of research college. Apparently the dude's got his future planned if he isn't already taking pre-college courses.

O: Or went through college because he's super smart, you decide.

S: Um-hm.

O: Anyway, remember that thing I asked about why the Decepticons didn't blast through the wall? Now Megatron blasts through the wall. And Megatron demands the antimatter formula from the scientist. [Laughs] He calls him a flesh creature.

S: The scientist deletes the formula, but Meg's calls him out on his bullshit by using his [sigh] psychic hands to determine that he uploaded the formula to someone else I.E. Chip.

O: I have no idea if he'll ever use this random ass ability again.

S: I mean, I doubt it. If they had wanted to be consistent they could have just use that stupid chest tentacle that--

O: Let's not talk about the chest tentacle, ahh! [Laughs] Um, Prowl and Bluestreak continue to fight the Seekers, Soundwave and, uh, now Ravage.

S: Yep, and then Prowl shoots Ravage who goes and hides behind Soundwaves’ legs.

O: Save me Daddy! Uh, Soundwave shoots Prowl, taking his battle computer offline.

S: No one else has one of these, but Prowl, apparently.

O: Prowl uses his ear antenna to hunt for another online computer so he can use it to help fight.

S: Battle buddy!

O: This allows him to link up to Chips home computer--

S: Somehow.

O: [Laughs] Chip remote controls Prowl through the fight.

S: Honestly Chip would own at competitive video games now. He’d probably be amazing, either that or he would totally own at BattleBots.

O: [Laughter] Oh my God, I would love to see that! Although er-- ironically I just like the idea of Transformers building tiny robots to fight like, at, like, human competitions.

S: That would be incredibly entertaining and I could kind of see Wheeljack doing it.

O: Oh yeah! For shits and giggles? Like, I know they don't have the Holo forms, uh, like they do in the comics here but I could totally see him showing up and being like, “This is my robot!” and just like, you know blowing humans’ tiny puny little minds. [Laughter]

S: I could see, I could see Swindle like, setting up some sort of betting thing.

O: Oh god, he would! [Laughter]

S: Yeah, and then Bluestreak looks like he got drunk and lost his chevron here for a bit.

O: Uh, basically his colors are all fucked up.

S: Chip has Prowl use another jet to shoot missiles at the Decepticons.

O: This is a normal people jet, uh, I'm not sure why this is more effective than just, you know, shooting them, but they retreat so, ehh?

S: Oh, oh we forgot, we forgot Prowl is riding the jet here.

O: Oh yeah, like, he like, I mean like, he's fucking straddling the jet, somehow- like, reaching into the cockpit making it fire missiles. I'm like, I don't know why that was Chip’s first instinct but okay.

S: It's amazing and then the-- the Decepticons escape and hunt down Chip, because of course. [claps hands]

O: And Chip, our resident squishy badass, rips up the floppy with his bare fucking hands, that had the formula on it, having memorized the formula himself.

S: And then Ravage just, crashes through Chips’ bedroom wall like the freaking Kool-Aid Man and proceeds to kidnap Chip, wheelchair and all.

O: Door! Technically Ravage did burst down the door, not a wall, he's not a complete heathen, thank you. [Laughter]

S: That's true. That's true.

O: He's oddly careful while doing all of this, uh, besides going wheelchair first through a window, of which Chip is completely unharmed.

S: I wasn't expecting controlled defenestration today.

O: [Laughter] Ravage aims to please. Uh, I- I just think it's weird, uh, the Decepticons are sort of oddly careful with Chip through all of this, like, yes I know they just crashed through window but beyond that like, they basically just, you know drop him into, uh, I think Starscream? And they're off.

S: Yeah, something like that and then Soundwave reads the teenage boys’ mind in order to get at the antimatter formula.

O: Oh, the things he must have seen. I don't even want to know!

S: [Sighs]

O: Autobots then sneak into the lab using the power of Illusions and Rumbles’ own goddamn stupidity.

S: Why are you a rolling rock, Hound? Why? And I mean you can see, you can see Mirage’s footprints.

O: Yeah, it's very strange. Mirage turns invisible and Hound is pretending to be a rock. This is how they get past Rumble.

S: That's rolling! And I think they talked to him?

O: Yes, basically, he- I think, Rumble said something to the effect of, so it must have been nothing and I want to say Mirage uh, was like, “That's the most intelligent thing you've said all day,” and he's like, “Hey!” But he still can't see anybody. So Soundwave then hacks into the computer by shooting a little laser beam from his hand.

S: He goes all rainbowy while doing so, we never see this again.

O: Why?

S: Um, I think.

O: I mean, welcome the recurring theme of this podcast.

S: Yeah.

O: The Decepticons have managed to create antimatter.

S: And then Hound confuses Megatron through the power of Holograms and possibly throwing his voice.

O: Yeah, I would hope so, like, to me I feel like they should be able to tell where the voice is coming from otherwise. Bumblebee and Spike do make it in and they rescue Chip.

S: Bumblebee cradles Chip rather tenderly. I don't know if Chip would have been thrown out of his wheelchair at this point?

O: I think he was. That's why he picked him up but I maybe wrong. So to escape, Bumblebee sort of transforms around Chip and Spike and then books them out of there.

S: By driving up the stairs.

O: Stairs are, uh, of no consequence to a giant alien robot, thank you. They're promptly followed by Hound and Mirage.

S: Who also drive up the stairs.

O: With no problems, yes.

S: I have issues with the Formula 1 car doing this, but okay.

O: [Laughter]

S: Meanwhile the Decepticons fail to hit anything or anyone relevant.

O: And then we get another environment animation sequence and then all three vehicles crash through a window and make a graceful exit from three stories up, surprising the hell out of Rumble. Rumble is also having a bad day.

S: A very, very bad day.

O: It'll get worse.

S: And then Hound is suddenly blending in with the environment, he's apparently decided to go camo.

O: [Laughter]

S: Because he’s very tan instead of green here, oh no, he's cosplaying Swindle!

O: [Laughter]

S: Like two seasons beforehand.

O: [Laughter]

S: Optimus bursts into the lab with Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, and Ratchet in tow. Are they in- Are they in his trailer when this happens and then do they get released from the trailer?

O: Yeah, I think that's how that went. Anyway, while doing this, they hit Rumble in the process. As we mentioned Rumble is having a very, very, very bad day.

S: Yeah. Yep. And then Megatron throws the antimatter, blowing up the entire lab?

O: But not really? It's still standing, I don't really understand.

S: Oh-oh before this we just saw the Autobots burst through walls to confront Decepticons and like, each Autobot has their own individual hole except what appears to be Ratchet.

O: Who we think is actually supposed to be Ironhide through, like, this entire scene but he's colored like Ratchet.

S: Yeah cuz, err, I don't know, later when we get back it seems like Ratchet’s been back at the Ark the entire time, but let's get back to what we're actually at.

O: Back to our--back on our shit.

S: [Laughter] But yeah, so a lot more Autobots exit the lab then we saw entering.

O: And Optimus says, “we’ve suffered losses but we've not lost the war.”

S: Who died Optimus? Who died?

O: I'm convinced, Sunstreaker’s paint job was the only casualty.

S: Yeah, and his arm.

O: [Laughter] Poor Sunstreaker.

S: Yeah and then when the Bots get back to base they act like Ratchet’s been there the entire time like, like I said.

O: Yeah, Ratchet’s just like, “Woah guys, what are you doing? You got blown up!” Uh, so Chip starts to beat himself up, uh, over the, you know, the Decepticons getting the code but Wheeljack’s like, “Buddy, we can use your brain for better uses, let's go blow shit up.”

S: He's so understanding, Wheeljack, he's just, so understanding.

O: I think he just wants help with his mad scientist experiments in the basement.

S: Probably!

O: [Laughter]

S: I mean people give him lots of shit for blowing shit up but we haven't actually seen him blow a whole lot of shit up.

O: Yeah.

S: Except for that one bomb he made we're doing that.

O: Um-hmm. This is about the time Megatron and the Decepticons decide to attack the Ark.

S: And off go the Lamborghinis to fly! And thus Sunstreaker and Sideswipe commit atrocities against jets.

O: Jet Judo! Also, weirdly enough Sideswipe doesn't appear to be wearing a jetpack, but Sunstreaker is?

S: Um, I don't really remember who's supposed to be wearing the jetpack but canonically Sideswipe does have one. I just don't remember who has it in this scene.

O: Like I said I'm pretty sure it was Sunstreaker and I was like, “How is Sideswipe flying and why does Sunstreaker have the jetpack?” But whatever.

S: I don't know.

O: We get some decent animation here as the brothers fight the Jets.

S: There's like some really nice, it’s-it's really nice--

O: This is where the budget went, hello.

S: Um-hm. And nevertheless when they get shaken off by the Jets they have those extremely convenient parachutes like, like what Mirage had after his thing.

O: They all survived! Uh, Megatron then shoves? Absorbs? Antimatter into his chest. What the--?

S: Do The Voice!

O: Oh, okay- I can do that. [terrible Megatron impersonation] “Beware, Autobots! I am about to transform into the most powerful weapon in the universe!” He says, uh, as he turns into gun mode. Which I have to ask, what the fuck even is antimatter!?!

S: Gun Viagra?

O: [Groans] Moving on! Starscream starts shooting Megs at the Autobots.

S: And Hound is trapped by rocks, again? This might be a running theme-

O: [Laughter]

S: -But I don't know he just seems like he's buried in the rocks now like, like.

O: And this is time number three, right? Or is it just two? Starscream continues to fire.

S: And then Brawn hides in a ditch to toss his boss at Starscream. ‘Cause Starscream is on the ground and--

O: Instead of flying--because he's a jet. And no, we're not sure why this was the plan they went with, either.

S: I guess they're just working with their environment since there was that incredibly inconvenient ditch, but I mean how did Brawn get in there? Did he go like the long way around and sneak? How did, how did Starscream not hear him or [claps] see him, or something? Because I feel like Starscream was pretty close to the ditch.

O: [Huff of laughter] Eh, he was too busy getting Megatron off. [Laughter]

S: [Laughter]

O: I knew I’d sneak one in there somewhere. Anyway, Optimus knocks Megatron out of Starscream’s hands. Megatron then gets picked up by Skywarp. Meanwhile, Skywarp is accosted by humans who put on Wheeljack’s device and that device gives them control over Skywarp’s body.

S: They-they just stick it to his leg, like--so how it goes is Spike comes running over with what looks like a freaking jackhammer and then Skywarp picks him up and is like, “Squishy, I'm going to shoot you,” and then Chip wheels over, sticks the thing on his leg, and is like, “No, you're not!”

O: And then they're basically remote controlling skywarp. So Skywarp begins to fire at the Decepticons and random landmarks with Megatron. Uh, Megatron returns to his robot mode because the antimatter he shoved in his chest is about to reach critical mass. [Sighs]

S: Of course it is! Um, so of course this means he's got to start dumping [deep breath] dumping the cubes out of his boobs.

O: Predictably, uh, the cubes explode and the Decepticons retreat, Megatron vows revenge as the episode ends.

S: [Sighs]

O: [Laughter]

S: Is-is this the bit where they just fly away looking really tired, or is that the next episode?

O: I think that's the next one, like, the next episode basically ends very, very similarly, like with a fight with the Autobots vs the Decepticons, again, at the Ark. They start to blur together after a while let me tell you. [Laughs] So--

S: We have some recommendations, there's three fanfiction recommendations and then one piece of art, actually animation that Owls has to recommend. So let me go into the, uh, the fanfiction and then we will get to the animation.

O: [Laughter]

S: So the first recommendation I have for you today is “Always the Wrong Lid” by Bibliotecaria_D, which is sort of an alternate universe of G1, it's more taking everything that happens in G1 and treating it seriously, uh, I guess. It's rated K, Gen, there's no pairings. So, the characters-- Chip Chase, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave, Reflector, and Shockwave. And in summary, “It's an alien look at human racism, and bodily fluids.” There's an awful lot more in there than that. Um, so our main character that this rec- that this recommendation is based on is Chip Chase and then it's a One-Shot.

S: Um, the next one is “Lockout” by MariaShadow, which is G1 cartoon, rated K, Gen, no pairings. Character- main character is Prowl and then, I believe, there's some human original characters. So, main character’s Prowl and in summary, “Prowl endures for stress leave, and competes in a chess tournament.”

O: [Laughter]

S: Um-hmm, and, er our theme here is Prowl, because yeah, we got to see Prowl do some pretty neat tricks with Chip piloting him.

O: [Laughter]

S: And it's a One-Shot.

S: And our last recommendation is “Snap, Crackle, Pop!” by ShyLight. It's G1 cartoon, rated T, it's General, so there's no pairings. Uh, the main characters are Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and the Decepticons and Autobots. So in summary, “Sideswipe hates teleporting and therefore, by association, hates Skywarp. Sunstreaker unleashes an unholy wrath upon the Decepticon base due to a misunderstanding. No jetpacks or GPS systems were harmed in the making of this fic-- beyond repair, anyway.” And so the theme for this was, Skywarp, Jet Judo and so on and so forth. Also teleporting and things ending up not where they're supposed to be, or people, I guess. And this one is a complete five parter, I think? It's complete. And so those are the fanfiction recommendations done, let's go over to the art and animation.

O: So just a reminder, uh, anything we talk about on here you can find links for on our Tumblr. We're not spelling out names and stuff, but all the links should be pretty easy to find so if you're interested head over there, that way you can, you know check out the lovely fan art, or the fanfic. We're also going to be trying to reblog a lot of the fan art, if it's on Tumblr so that it's easier to see, basically. [Throat clear]

O: So our fanart for the day is Masterpiece Reanimated and this, is someone who has reanimated scenes from Generation 1 but using the Masterpiece figures. We’ll be including a link to a specific scene that was actually from today's episode and honestly it does a better job with continuity than the actual scene, which I find kind of hysterical.

S: It's amazing.

O: It is. So if you remember kind of where we opened up where are the uh, the Jets were in the--

S: Dam?

O: Dam--hydropower plant, or whatever. Uh, basically they do that entire section up until, I think the jets fly off, uh, which also means we get Soundwave walking through the volleyball net- fence whatever and it is delightful, I highly recommend it.

S: And transforming and being caught by--

O: By Starscream-- they did such a good job, you should go watch it! Um, anyway they've got a YouTube, a Twitter, and a patreon and we will post links for all of those so you should go check that out because it was really fun to watch and they actually have more videos but I thought er, we thought this was the most um, applicable one for today. Since it was a scene from the actual episode.

S: Um-hm. Like I specifically look it up to show you.

O: It was hilarious, I loved it! So join us next time for episode 6, Divide and Conquer, where Optimus Prime nearly dies for about the fifth time, um, and the Autobots have to get onto Cybertron to retrieve something to fix him with the help of Chip and there's a lot of random things that happen. Including but not limited to: glue guns, Shockwave can't hit shit and, uh, acid rain.

S: And that just about wraps it up for us today. Remember to check our Tumblr at Afterspark-Podcast.Tumblr.com for any additional information, show notes, or links that we may have mentioned. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at Aftersparkpod (all one word) and SoundCloud and YouTube at Afterspark Podcast. Till next time!

S: I'm Specs!

O: And I'm Owls!

S: Toodles!

[Outro Music Plays]

#transcript #afterspark podcast #g1 episode 5

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smstransformers · 7 years

Conversation

Lost Light Apartment Careers

Rodimus: Police officer. Trying to work his way up to being captain. Think's he'll never be as good as Orion Pax. Is correct.

Minimus: Police officer, a sergeant who doesn't stop working and won't accept a report if it isn't absolutely perfect.

Prowl: Police Officer, Detective, partners with Chromedome. One of the best detectives in the precinct, but not very well liked. Has gone through many partners due to everyone's hatred towards him. They usually end up requesting a new partner. Chromedome is his latest one, and everyone bets on how long he'll last.

Springer: Police officer, currently captain. A bit tense and doing his best to remember what Kup taught him. Makes some mistakes but is a good captain.

Chromedome: Police officer, transferred to a new precinct so he can be closer and live with Rewind. Only moved in with his boyfriend recently. A bit weirded out by Prowl.

Rewind: Data Analyst, loves his job more than anything and will analyze data out of work. Records everything, much to everyone's annoyance.

Whirl: Security guard/bouncer. Will fuck you up. Has gotten fired for starting bar fights, and not stopping them like she's supposed to. Lets underage people in clubs, even though she can tell when somoene has a fake ID.

Megatron: Used to be the leader of a gang, ex-hitman ect. Should be in jail, and thinks his gang has scattered and is no more, unfortunately, this is not the case. Now has picked up a job as an English teacher at a public school. Refuses to give up information to the cops about his gang, even though it's a case they haven't been able to solve in years.

Drift: What does he do? How does he get so much money? No one knows.

Ratchet: Head surgeon at the local hospital, also owns a clinic near the apartment block that offers free medical care to those who can't afford it. He works A LOT. Spends more time at the clinic and the hospital than he does at home.

Tarn: Took over as leader of the gang after Megatron left. Has much rage at Megatron's abandonment, and is looking for him everywhere. Will not stop if anyone gets in his way. Lots of white collar crime, and will plan heists and kill/torture people for money.

Pharma: Is almost equal to Ratchet in rank, but not quite. Is incredibly resentful about it because he thinks he is the better doctor. Scoffs at Ratchet's medical clinic, and spends most of his time at the hospital, or secretly hooking up with Tarn. And sneaking out organs and other body parts to give to the DJD.

Sideswipe: Translator and businessman, owns the building. Travels a lot for work, and can speak a lot of languages because of it. Usually, brings Sunstreaker with him when he travels. Dropped out of high school to pursue career, and it worked out quite well.

Sunstreaker: Freelance artist. Has illustrated for books and done animations, but loves paintings murals.

Skids: Still studying at university, has multiple majors. Gets perfect scores in them all. Could probably graduate uni early, but he enjoys learning. Has a job as a cashier to bring in cash for rent. Also roommates with Nautica, who's also studying and works as a cashier alongside him.

Fortress Maximus: Doesn't have a job yet, living off government compensation.

Perceptor: Scientist. Metallurgy and electrical engineering. Loves his job, and spends most of his time working.

Brainstorm: Weapons engineer. A literal Tony Stark. Wants to work with Perceptor, but gets rejected every time. Has also gotten kicked out for trying to sneak into Perceptors lab. Develops new and dangerous weapons, but keeps the most dastardly ones for himself.

Cosmos: Astronomer.

Waspinator: Unemployed. Hovers around and lives in the alley.

Soundwave: Used to be a part of Megatron's gang, but abandoned it as well. Now works as a computer software engineer.

Swerve: Works a bartender, trying to save up to open his own bar. Is failing, always ends up spending saved up money on drinks, video games or excessive amounts of junk food.

Rung: Psychologist. Most of his patients are also his neighbors. Likes to volunteer his time at public schools to lend proper help to struggling students

Cyclonus: History professor at the local university. Hates all her students. Scariest teacher ever.

Tailgate: Quit her job as a garbage woman, and is currently looking to either study, or find a job that doesn't involve cleaning up trash.

____

If I missed anyone just pop them in my ask and I'll answer it :)

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verdigrisprowl · 7 years

Text

Operation: SPIRNGO. Part Two.

Soundwave hosts another meeting with Whirl, Prowl, and Tarantulas, this time to finalize the plans to repair and upgrade Springer.

The current plan: they’re going to infiltrate Debris, take out Roadbuster, and set up false readings so it looks like Springer is still in his berth; and then they’re going to bridge him to a locked-up lab in a half-abandoned Decepticon base where (they think) experimentation was done on how to create Phase Sixers, so they can use the old equipment to bond their small ununtrium sample to Springer’s torso.

They’re moving out within a week.

ItsyBitsySpyers 6:54 pm With Tarantulas too isolated, Prowl too imprisoned, and Whirl too topsy-turvy to host any meetings, it fell to Soundwave to once again provide the meeting place.

So there he sat, waiting at his usual Business Table, hands politely crossed and door locked because everyone coming could bridge themselves in. Or come as an avatar. Whichever. Whirl 6:57 pm Whirl bridges in near the ceiling, since he has to arrive in alt-mode, but he angles neatly towards the floor and lands rather neatly by the Business Table. He gives Soundwave a single nod, sits, and then just waits, silently. ItsyBitsySpyers 6:57 pm Whirl gets a single quiet nod as well. FakeProwl 7:01 pm Prowl's avatar appears exactly when the meeting is scheduled to start, and not a second earlier. If there's a seat left at the table that isn't next to Whirl, that's the one he takes. And then silently waits as well. ItsyBitsySpyers 7:03 pm Prowl gets a hello ping in private in addition to his nod because habit is habit. Now all they need is Tarantulas. FakeProwl 7:03 pm He doesn't move, and doesn't glance up from the random spot on the table he's decided to focus on; but he does silently return the ping. Whirl 7:06 pm After waiting a few moments he lifts his head, looks around, and eventually turns to Soundwave. "Is Tarantulas coming?" He doesn't actually sound annoyed. He doesn't sound anything; his voice is flat and dronelike. Tarantulas 7:07 pm Speak of the devil! There's a ka-clunk as someone tries to open the doors from outside. Then comes some knocking, which quickly escalates into banging. Soundwave gets a flurry of pings from Tarantulas. ItsyBitsySpyers 7:08 pm Soundwave just vents softly and puts his face in one hand before waving the other in the general direction of the doors. They're unlocked now. FakeProwl 7:09 pm Prowl glances at the door, but doesn't move to get it. Soundwave's place. Soundwave will get it. Tarantulas 7:12 pm Tarantulas goes to bang on the door some more, since Soundwave didn't ping him back, and he ends up stumbling and falling forward through the opening doors. Good job, spide. At least he manages not to fall COMPLETELY flat on his face, but it's definitely not a dignified entrance. ItsyBitsySpyers 7:13 pm Soundwave just. Shakes his helm into his hand and tries not to laugh. Serious topic, serious people, serious meeting. Also it's rude. Whirl 7:13 pm He swivels his head to stare, and then just nods towards the Business Table. Time to sit, spider. FakeProwl 7:15 pm A glance; and then it's back to that interesting spot on the table. Tarantulas 7:15 pm ...It would have been less awkward if they HAD laughed. Erk. Fluffed and ruffled, Tarantulas weaves his way over, hovers, then takes a seat where he can best half-curl-up in shame.

"Why did you lock the Primus-forsaken doors!?" ItsyBitsySpyers 7:17 pm [[Because he expected everyone would bridge in for secrecy reasons.]] He looks up and puts his hand back on the table. [[Never mind that. Are you ready, or did you need more time?]] Whirl 7:19 pm "I think we all waited long enough," he says flatly. "All right. I've touched base with Tarantulas and Soundwave. Where are you at, Prowl?" Tarantulas 7:20 pm A huff from Tarantulas. He certainly hadn't thought that through. FakeProwl 7:22 pm He blinks slowly. What, him? What was expected out of him? "I contributed everything to Tarantulas." A sideways nod. "What do YOU want?" He doesn't mean for it to sound aggressive. He honestly doesn't know what Whirl's expecting to get out of him. Whirl 7:26 pm "To make sure we're ready." Whirl returns his attention to Soundwave and Tarantulas. "All right. Tarantulas had a little talk with me about the procedure." A "little talk" that lasted several hours, courtesy of Whirl's relentless grilling.

"And Soundwave and I have gone over the security. We can get to him, and we can do what we need to do. You said we were taking him somewhere, right? What's the story on that?" Tarantulas 7:28 pm OH. Yeah. That. "HAVE you found somewhere with a sufficient chamber?" ItsyBitsySpyers 7:29 pm Soundwave holds a feeler up in protest.

[[He can -almost- do what he needs to do. But more on that after this.]]

Turns his head to look at Prowl. Whirl 7:30 pm Nods. Noted, Soundwave. FakeProwl 7:34 pm Prowl meant, specifically, what does Whirl want that Prowl can actually contribute.

But Whirl eventually got around to asking a question that Prowl could actually offer an answer to. (And then EVERYONE was looking at him. Primus.) "I have. The Constructicons were able to locate a Decepticon base which contains a lab that, while not actually the site of the creation of a Phase Sixer, WAS run by Rossum shortly before the first Phase Sixer was created. An investigation of the lab that was under Rossum's command revealed that it contains equipment that's similar to what Tarantulas has theorized would be necessary for the procedure. It's likely the Decepticons experimented with a prototype of the project there. The Constructicons were able to find this lab because they know someone who's still stationed at the base, but they tell me that shortly before the Surge, the base was reduced to a skeleton crew, and the unused labs are locked up." Whirl 7:36 pm "So, there are still 'Cons actively there? Should we take care of them before we settle in? Skeleton crew shouldn't be hard to put down." Tarantulas 7:37 pm Tarantulas looked instantly concerned. "There'll be mechs there in the building with us? Is that what we were planning on?" Fret fret. No risking his precious adopted son. ItsyBitsySpyers 7:37 pm [[Leave them be. If they do not harm us, they do not need to be harmed.]] FakeProwl 7:38 pm "I'd rather avoid them. Skeleton crew or not, any fight would risk damaging the equipment. Besides, the lab we'll be using is at the far end of a wing that's locked and not patrolled. I have a map." Tarantulas 7:39 pm "Do you have the specs for the lab as well?" To toss Tarantulas's way, of course. Whirl 7:40 pm He looks to Soundwave, briefly, and then to Prowl. There is no expression on what passes for his face. "...all right." "We'll all need that map, just in case, obviously. So, we've got a place to take him to do what we have to do--Soundwave, you said you had something else to add?" FakeProwl 7:42 pm "I've got the message that the Constructicons got from the person they asked about the labs. It doesn't contain specs, but it does contain a few pictures. And the map, of course." ItsyBitsySpyers 7:42 pm [[He will want that.]] FakeProwl 7:43 pm Ping to everyone. Have a map of a top-secret Decepticon base-slash-military research facility. "This map is, of course, classified." Tarantulas 7:43 pm A slightly disappointed noise from Tarantulas and some muttering about having to improvise, but he doesn't seem too upset. Soundwave 7:43 pm [[And, yes. He does have something to add.]] [[First: He has gathered most of the programs and trinkets he will need in order to deal with the majority of their security measures. What he still lacks is the medical data. He knows -how- to feed their equipment false readings. He does not know what those false readings should -be,- and we cannot afford unnecessary delays.]] Turns to stare Tarantulas down. [[You will give him what you have on Springer. This is not debatable.]] Whirl 7:50 pm He also turns to stare at Tarantulas. He’s not staring him -down- but he is joining the stare. Tarantulas 7:51 pm A slight squint from Tarantulas while he hesitates, then: “…What - what exactly do you need? Which readings?” Prowl 7:52 pm “It might be easier to steal that data from the Wreckers. Tarantulas would have no data on what readings Springer would give off now, with his current array of upgrades and mods.” Tarantulas 7:53 pm (False, but Prowl didn’t have to know that.) Soundwave 7:55 pm [[If he knows enough to plan the surgeries with a minimum of on-the-spot learning and to Whirl’s satisfaction, he knows enough.]] And Soundwave knows Tarantulas has some sense of what a modern Springer is like. He’s known that from near to the start. Incoming requirement list. [[But if it would put you at ease, he will see if he can recover something without being traced.]] Whirl 7:57 pm “Better to get them both, right? Cover all possibilities.” Prowl 7:57 pm “The fact that he knows enough that he’ll be able to quickly fill in the gaps of what he doesn’t know once he DOES have access to Springer’s body doesn’t mean he knows enough sight unseen to be able to fool whatever scanners are hooked up to Springer. Better to have both.” Soundwave 7:58 pm [[Both, then. But he insists on the base now.]] Prowl 7:59 pm A nod. Fine by him. Tarantulas 8:00 pm Tarantulas receives the list, skims it, groans internally, and slouches a little more. “I - yes, I can provide what you need. I’ll send you a packet when we’re done here and I have a moment to sift through his medical files.” ItsyBitsySpyers 8:39 pm [[Let him think, now. Security measures, medical data, location, surgery, ununtrium, Ravage and Roadbuster's stasis, potential threats... was there more?]] FakeProwl 8:40 pm It takes Prowl several seconds to process that. (Several seconds more than it should.) And then, he turns to give Soundwave a blank look. "Why are Ravage and Roadbuster in stasis?" Tarantulas 8:41 pm Roadbuster? W-what? Tarantulas totally forgot Roadbuster wasn't dead in this universe, but - what? Whirl 8:43 pm "Not Ravage. Just Roadbuster." Whirl pauses, glances to Soundwave, and then back to Prowl. "Y'know, maybe we should just begin at the beginning. Run through everything as we know it?" ItsyBitsySpyers 8:43 pm Soundwave motions to Whirl. By all means. It'll save him the time of writing. FakeProwl 8:44 pm For a moment his gaze wavers back and forth between Soundwave and Whirl as he tries to figure out which one of them is about to explain, before he gives up and looks back at the table. Whirl 8:44 pm He cycles a long, deep breath as he gathers his thoughts. "All right. This is the plan as I understand it:

"First thing we need to do is get into Debris and get Springer without being detected. I've told Soundwave everything I know about the security, but we gotta be prepared to think on our feet, because it's several years old." He glances up and pauses when he sees Prowl staring at his table.

Whirl separates his claws and cranes his neck forward, thumping a single one on the table in front of him. "Prowl. Pay attention." FakeProwl 8:48 pm Prowl jerked back from the thump. "I'm—? I am?" Whirl 8:50 pm Whirl stays that way for a moment, his helm thrust forward, staring blankly. "And once we're inside, we need to isolate Springer." As he speaks, he gradually straightens back into a normal position.

"Odds are good it's going to be Roadbuster assigned to looking after him. We need him out of the picture, so Soundwave suggested we knock him out while he's asleep--to make sure he doesn't wake up before we want him to."

At last, he interlaces his claws again. "We've got Ravage on that." Tarantulas 8:52 pm (Good thing Soundwave's not in Tarantulas's head right now. There are definitely memories of Roadbuster's last moments flickering through his mind.) FakeProwl 8:55 pm It takes much longer than it did for Whirl to straighten up for Prowl to stop leaning away from him. "How?" ItsyBitsySpyers 8:59 pm [[Frenzy is... acquiring... some emergency anesthetics from the hospital. Ours,]] he adds, in the hopes it'll keep Prowl from protesting much. [[It should be simple enough for Ravage to sneak into Roadbuster's quarters and install them. They're designed to be user-friendly.]] Whirl 9:01 pm "Mostly, it's just for insurance. I'd rather not fight anyone on Debris if we can avoid it." Especially Roadbuster. But he's not saying that aloud. FakeProwl 9:03 pm A moment of silence (too long a moment) as Prowl contemplated that. "... It's extremely risky. If Roadbuster detects Ravage before he gets the anesthesia in, or if the anesthesia doesn't kick in quickly enough once it's injected, he could kill him." ItsyBitsySpyers 9:04 pm [[It is.]] Believe you him, he thought about it. A lot. [[But if Roadbuster comes to check on his charge without us realizing it, the three of us will be in more danger.]] FakeProwl 9:09 pm "So why not send somebody who isn't at risk?" Prowl asked. "If one of you with a holomatter projector installed is on Debris, I can project through it. I can resize my avatar and recolor it to camouflage with the background, and if Roadbuster DOES detect me—what can he do to me? Pop my hologram?" Whirl 9:10 pm Whirl tilts his head slowly, but doesn't say anything for now. The others can speak up first. Tarantulas 9:10 pm "That's - that certainly sounds doable." Better than what Tarantulas was about to suggest, a.k.a. that he should do it instead. "I've been meaning to update your avatar anyhow, a few edits should be a piece of oil cake." FakeProwl 9:13 pm Edits? Hm. Doesn't matter now, he supposes. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:16 pm Soundwave just. Stares. At Prowl. For a good long little bit. Roadbuster can do an awful lot of things that will permanently send Prowl away if he squawks about the attempt to the wrong mech.

On the other hand, it means the chance he'll lose a deployer while helping Prowl's creation and a known enemy of Unicron's will be slashed by at least a third.

Deployers come before others. And it's. Prowl offering that is--

He looks down at the table and bobs his helm.

[[Thank you.]] ItsyBitsySpyers 9:18 pm And then, belatedly:

[[...If Whirl agrees.]] FakeProwl 9:18 pm A small nod. Whirl 9:18 pm Whirl's perspective on the matter is somewhat similar. Moreso than the sound logistics of the plan, along with the fact that Prowl can't really do anything to Roadbuster while he's a hologram are good reasons to agree--not to mention the fact that Prowl can change his avatar in a way that could not only make him unidentifiable, but invisible.

But at the end of the day, he's more inclined to be agreeable for the simple fact that he likes Ravage, and doesn't want him to get hurt. This message has been removed. "Yeah. Sounds good." These words are delivered with the same dronelike flatness that every other word has been. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:20 pm His helm turns just enough to the side to make it clear he's talking to Whirl, but he's mostly still looking down at the table.

[[...Thank you, too.]] Whirl 9:21 pm His antenna twitches, but that's the extent of his response. "Right. So, after we knock Roadbuster out, Soundwave's got some plans for the surveillance." FakeProwl 9:23 pm His lowered gaze redirects slightly in Soundwave's direction. Tarantulas 9:24 pm Tarantulas leans slightly toward Prowl as an aside. "Don't forget to shuffle your avatar specs to me sometime soon, then?" FakeProwl 9:25 pm A small nod. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:34 pm What? Yes. Right. He does.

[[...Trade secrets. As long as you are all quiet, wait to enter until he has cleared you, and do not leave the designated area, he should be able to hide our entrance from them. They will be unable to see, hear, or sneak up on us while he is within his own frame.]]

[[Do not disturb -anything- you are not responsible for touching while he is in Springer's mind. He cannot be there and account for other mechs' errors at the same time.]]

And the deployers can only handle so much. They don't communicate with different systems the same way he does. ItsyBitsySpyers 9:35 pm [[He must also be last to leave.]] FakeProwl 9:36 pm Do what he's told to do, don't do anything he isn't told to do. Simple. A nod. Whirl 9:37 pm Whirl also nods. "Right. You got it." And now his helm slooowly turns to regard Tarantulas. He stares. Your turn to agree. Tarantulas 9:39 pm Geez, what's with all the STARING today?

"But of course." ItsyBitsySpyers 9:40 pm Well, for one thing, he expects Tarantulas to be first to mess up the "don't touch anything" rule. Whirl 9:41 pm Nods. "Good. So, after we secure Springer, we're going to move him, yes? To this place of yours, Prowl?" Tarantulas 9:41 pm "It's hardly HIS place, hyeh." FakeProwl 9:42 pm Is there any need to reply to Tarantulas's comment? He supposes not. Everyone knows the place doesn't belong to Prowl. "Yes." Whirl 9:43 pm "And we're going to not only fix him, but basically soup him up so that he's a lot harder to put down next time." He knows there's more detail to this, but he already went over it with Tarantulas. Tarantulas 9:45 pm "NEXT time? There will be no next time." Whirl 9:45 pm "That's the idea." FakeProwl 9:45 pm Tarantulas didn't directly answer Whirl's question. "Yes." There, question answered directly. Tarantulas 9:46 pm Tarantulas nods. Whirl 9:47 pm "And after that... if everything goes well, he'll be good as new. Now, are we planning on keeping him under and returning him to Debris? Or are you lot going to try and talk to him after? What's your plan?" ItsyBitsySpyers 9:48 pm [[If Springer returns to Debris, it cannot be with his help. He will be too tired to ensure the same level of security.]] Test runs. Lots and lots of test runs. FakeProwl 9:50 pm "There's no point in trying to sneak him back in—if we're knocking Roadbuster out, once he wakes up they'll know that something happened to Springer. That's an argument neither for nor against returning him to Debris; but if we DO return him to Debris, there's no need to worry about maintaining the same level of stealth." Whirl 9:50 pm "So the question is: do you want them knowing you were involved?" FakeProwl 9:52 pm "That's a completely separate question. But I see no benefit to their knowing of our involvement and multiple benefits to their not knowing." ItsyBitsySpyers 9:52 pm [[Springer will know he was involved. There is no way around that. But he would prefer the others did not.]] FakeProwl 9:52 pm "He'll remember?" ItsyBitsySpyers 9:53 pm [[He might. Even if Springer doesn't remember, he -will- be standing there.]] FakeProwl 9:54 pm "So blindfold him." Tarantulas 9:54 pm Tarantulas gives a small laugh. Whirl 9:54 pm "I'm not going to be there when he wakes up." ItsyBitsySpyers 9:55 pm Soundwave huffs softly.

[[He doubts a Wrecker will take well to being blindfolded in a room filled with strangers.]]

[[Where will you be, Whirl?]] FakeProwl 9:56 pm "It would be best for none of us to be there when he wakes up. However, we do need to ensure he CAN wake up before we return him. Is there any reason why we can't wake him up just long enough to ensure that he'll be lucid, and then immediately anesthetize him?" He tilts his lowered gaze slightly toward Tarantulas. Medical questions are his field. Whirl 9:56 pm "Nearby, maybe. Just outside the door. Near enough to make sure you don't do anything drastic. But not... there. With him." Tarantulas 9:58 pm Tarantulas hums. "No, I - I suppose there's no reason why not. But -" Nngh. That's the last thing Tarantulas wants to do. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:00 pm [[That would work even better. He is fine with that.]] Thank Primus. He'll have to try to obscure his mental projection, and that'll make him even more tired, but... at least he won't have to fight off a Wrecker who knows an ex-Decepticon has been in his head. Whirl 10:02 pm "As long as it doesn't do any damage, I've got no problems. So, just to clarify--I'm a little foggy here--you're going to verify that he -can- wake up, and assuming he's all good, where do you plan to leave him...?" FakeProwl 10:03 pm "I suppose we might as well open a bridge to Debris and roll him through. Either that, or find a safe abandoned facility leave him in, and comm Debris with the coordinates so they can go pick him up." Tarantulas 10:03 pm "Can I -" Tarantulas starts, then stops. "What - what if -" ....No, he shouldn't. Damn it all. Whirl 10:04 pm "What?" Tarantulas 10:06 pm Tarantulas fudges what he was going to say. "There's - there's no way to follow up on him medically, should something happen - I think - he should stay in - in our custody." Whirl 10:06 pm "We'll return him to Wrecker custody." "They'll handle it from there." FakeProwl 10:07 pm "As much as I'd prefer for us to be able to safely follow up on him medically, we'd be essentially keeping him prisoner while he recovers. That's unacceptable. Returning him is the best option. If need be, we can spy on him to ensure that everything's going well." ItsyBitsySpyers 10:08 pm [[...He can leave something for that.]] Whirl 10:08 pm Whirl nods at Prowl. That's reassuring to hear, even if he only sort of believes Prowl's being genuine. "Besides, Springer's a huge public figure. Once he's back up, word'll get out. His recovery's not going to likely be a secret thing--no." "No, Soundwave. We don't need to spy on them after this. We're already pushing it." Tarantulas 10:09 pm "He - a prolonged stay could be voluntary! With a backup plan for if he chose not to remain." There's a tiny bit of a whine in his voice. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:09 pm ...All right. He'll bow to Whirl on that one. Whirl 10:10 pm And now he returns to staring at Tarantulas, his helm thrusting forward again. "No." FakeProwl 10:11 pm "For his stay to be voluntary, he'd have to know who's keeping him. Not only does everyone in this room except for you not want that, but Soundwave would be endangered by it." Tarantulas 10:12 pm This message has been removed. FakeProwl 10:13 pm He turns toward Whirl. "I DO think we should spy on him, if only for a bit. We don't necessarily need to bug him but we need to know if something does go wrong that only we know how to fix. If there ARE complications, there's no way Debris would willingly release that knowledge." Whirl 10:14 pm His optic contracts a bit, then expands. Then contracts again. It's anyone's guess what THAT means. "...you have a point. But if you do this, then I get the same info you do. All of it." Tarantulas 10:14 pm "But we wouldn't NEED to spy on him if he were in custody, which I'm - there's certainly a way we could work out such a thing." More a question than a statement. Whirl 10:16 pm "Out of the question. He belongs with the other Wreckers. End of story." FakeProwl 10:16 pm "We're not going to keep him captive a second longer than is absolutely necessary to repair and upgrade him." FakeProwl 10:18 pm To Whirl, he nods. "You'll get the same info." Prowl isn't even sure if he's telling the truth. (And certainly nobody else would be able to read that off of him; for someone with an actual, fully-functioning face, he's been no more expressive than Whirl to night, either physically or verbally.) Whether or not he's telling the truth doesn't matter; in either case, agreeing to Whirl's terms is the only acceptable answer. Tarantulas 10:19 pm "We're - for goodness' sake, we're kidnapping him, performing invasive surgery on him, invading his MIND, and then knocking him back into stasis so he doesn't even know who did it - the LEAST we can do is - is -" ItsyBitsySpyers 10:20 pm [[Do what? Tell him what we did so the list of suspects can be immediately narrowed to the most obvious?]] FakeProwl 10:21 pm "We're doing what we have to do to fix him and make him safe. We're not going to do a single thing beyond that." Tarantulas 10:22 pm Tarantulas is internally choking. How in the world can he try to argue what he wants without spilling too many beans in all the wrong directions? Whirl 10:22 pm "He's not going to be traumatized by it. He won't need anyone to--to coddle him afterwards. He's Springer. Trust me--I've known the guy for millions of years." Tarantulas 10:23 pm "I wouldn't coddle him! I'd - I'd /inform/ him." FakeProwl 10:24 pm "There's nothing he needs to be informed of." Whirl 10:24 pm "He doesn't--exactly. Honestly? It's best that we just let him get on with his life." "He's missed enough as it is." FakeProwl 10:25 pm A small nod. Tarantulas 10:27 pm "Just because we're going to be infringing upon some of his patients' rights doesn't mean we have to do so with all of them! He - he deserves to know what he'll be!" ...Who he is. Whirl 10:28 pm "You can leave a note, or something. I don't know why you think that kidnapping him is somehow infringing on his rights LESS." Tarantulas 10:29 pm Weakly: "He can't ask questions that way." "....You're.... nevermind." Whirl 10:30 pm "We'll have a bug. Send him an anonymous message or something." FakeProwl 10:30 pm "He doesn't..." ... Prowl falls silent. Whirl 10:31 pm "He doesn't what?" Tarantulas 10:31 pm Tarantulas will come up with a new plan. It's pretty obvious to him he's not getting anything he wants right now. FakeProwl 10:32 pm He doesn't answer Whirl's question. And, after a moment, he stands up, and starts quietly pacing behind his chair. Whirl 10:33 pm He doesn't press it, but he follows Prowl's progress with his helm as he paces. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:34 pm [[Some things are not meant to be questioned.]] [[He has his life back. He was not harmed. He will be watched, one way or another.]] FakeProwl 10:34 pm The pacing continues. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:36 pm [[If he truly needs to know something, it will get to him another way.]] Tarantulas 10:37 pm Tarantulas's ire is rising, but he - he can't. Instead he feigns defeat. "Do what you will. Cart him back off to Debris. I - I can assist with that myself if necessary." Whirl 10:37 pm "If he goes missing, I'm coming after your ass, spider. This is the part where you get fair warning." ItsyBitsySpyers 10:38 pm [[But he must be let go to find who he is. Even deployers leave, after a while.]] Tarantulas 10:41 pm "Don't, with the cliches," Tarantulas suddenly snaps. Whirl 10:42 pm Whirl stops watching Prowl to look at him. For a moment, just a moment, something almost like anger enters his voice. "I'll do whatever I damn well please. You heard me."

It's gone almost as quickly as it appeared. FakeProwl 10:42 pm Prowl stops walking. And, staring at the floor, speaks: "Imagine waking up one day to be informed that your body has been irreversibly modified without your consent." A moment of silence. He's sure that's a hypothetical that most of the room can strongly sympathize with. "Now imagine if, on TOP of that, nobody can tell you who did it, how they did it, or why they did it. What reason do we have that's adequate enough to justify doing that to him? How is it BETTER to do that to him?" Tarantulas 10:44 pm ...Did Tarantulas win Prowl over. Did he just. FakeProwl 10:44 pm "I don't want Springer to know we're involved." He turns slightly toward Whirl. "You don't want him to know." And toward Soundwave. "YOU don't want him to know. But how is the fact that we DON'T WANT HIM TO KNOW more important than what that lack of knowledge will do to him?" ItsyBitsySpyers 10:45 pm Soundwave's tempted to lean across the table and swat Tarantulas for calling what he said a cliche. Tarantulas didn't even know enough about deployers to fully understand what he was getting into when he agreed to help with Zori. He wouldn't know whether they do or don't leave.

But Prowl is there, and Whirl is there, and violence won't help.

So he sits and listens to Prowl instead, and curses to himself. Whirl 10:46 pm "He'll be alive, which is more than he was before we stepped in. Yeah, it's not the gentlest way to do things, but you can't always be gentle."

He waves a claw. "Look, if you want to drop him a line and say, 'Hey, you want to know what this is all about? Come see me.' or whatever, that's fine. But let him come to you. Kidnapping him and holding him somewhere, -away- from his allies, isn't the right way to do it. Let HIM come to you." Whirl 10:47 pm "Besides, you're basing all of this on the assumption that you all can be trusted to do what's best for him when you have him in your custody. I absolutely don't trust you--" A nod to Prowl. "Or him." A not to Tarantulas. "And I trust none of you more than the Wreckers." FakeProwl 10:48 pm "No, no, I'm absolutely not talking about keeping him our custody. That's COMPLETELY off the table. Just—making sure he doesn't have to WONDER what happened to him." He took a deep vent, and let it out. "Yes. I think... Leaving him with the option of making contact himself is ideal." Whirl 10:48 pm "Yeah. I'm completely fine with THAT. That's not a problem at all." Tarantulas 10:48 pm A prolonged vent from Tarantulas. Damn, and he thought he had Prowl there for a moment. "At the very least." ItsyBitsySpyers 10:50 pm [[He should not be told until he asks because knowing before he is ready may lead to -all- of us being killed. The Wreckers cannot trust a member of their own who has had a Decepticon in his head. If they cannot trust him, and he continues to fight with them, it risks his life. And if we are - whatever would happen - as a result of him knowing before he is ready and able to handle the data, then there is no-one left as experienced as we are to help him should something go wrong.]] [[He will agree to the method of contact, but that is because he already did. He said the information would get to Springer one way or another.]] FakeProwl 10:52 pm A nod. "We stick to the original plan, then. We drop him off either in Debris or in a safe place where they can pick him up. And we leave him—and him alone—a way to contact us and find out what happened, if and when HE decides he's ready to find out." Whirl 10:53 pm Whirl also nods. "Sounds solid to me." Soundwave's points were good ones to begin with, but he cemented Whirl's acquiescence to them by hinting that alternatives could put Springer in danger. "There's honestly no need to drag me into it, though. There's nothing I could tell him that you guys can't--and I'm not a doctor." "He still doesn't need to know about my involvement. It's not that big of a deal." ItsyBitsySpyers 10:55 pm [[He deserves to know that you wanted to help. And you deserve to be recognized for your loyalty.]] Finger tap. [[You are... rarely given the credit you are due.]] FakeProwl 10:56 pm "... Which one of us is he going to be given a line to contact, then?" Whirl 10:56 pm "I can tell you're trying to appeal to my pride, Soundwave. It's not going to work." ItsyBitsySpyers 10:56 pm [[Then your senses are off. He is merely speaking his mind. He's known to do that.]] [[He offers to observe, but the contact should not be his. If one of you wishes it disguised, he can arrange that.]] Whirl 10:57 pm His antenna pins back and he just looks away. Soundwave should honestly be thanked for his kindness, but Whirl doesn't know how to handle that even when he's in a good state of mind. "And what would you suggest, Prowl? -I- be his liaison?" FakeProwl 10:58 pm "I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking." As not only an Autobot, but also the very Autobot that everyone would EXPECT to do exactly this sort of thing, Prowl would be the most reasonable option. But Prowl doesn't want it. Prowl is holding out hope to find a reason to cease existing, and being Springer's one and only contact put a kink in that plan. Whirl 10:59 pm "Well, it can't be me, because he's going to notice pretty quickly that I'm not there. And he's going to be told WHY I'm not there. And he's not going to want to talk to me." Tarantulas 11:00 pm "Why does it have to be someone he KNOWS?" FakeProwl 11:01 pm But as an ex Decepticon, Soundwave couldn't be chosen. And if given half an opportunity, Tarantulas would take advantage of a direct line to Springer to tell him things he shouldn't know. Only Whirl and Prowl are options. Whirl 11:01 pm "It would probably be a little less disconcerting. Sorry, Tarantulas, my vote is Prowl. We used to work more or less under him--it wouldn't be a huge adjustment, in the end." FakeProwl 11:02 pm A slow nod. It was, in the end, the only logical option. Tarantulas 11:02 pm "If - well then, why does it have to be only ONE person?" Whirl 11:03 pm "I never said that. I don't have any issue with you speaking to him, or anything." FakeProwl 11:03 pm "If anything happens to me before Springer makes the call—the line will have to redirect to you, Whirl." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:04 pm Soundwave watches Tarantulas from the corners of his optics. He can smell personal tension on Prowl and Tarantulas' horizon later for that one. FakeProwl 11:04 pm Yeah, well, hopefully Prowl won't be around for it.

He returns to his seat, and resumes staring at that same spot on the table. Whirl 11:05 pm Whirl pauses, and then cycles a deep breath. "About that. That brings me to something else--timetable. We need to get this show on the road, because I might not be available soon." "And, you'd better hope that nothing happens to you, because if I become unavailable I'm not likely to become... un-unavailable." Tarantulas 11:05 pm "I - what?" ItsyBitsySpyers 11:05 pm Prowl will forgive Soundwave for hoping that hope doesn't come true.

He's listening, Whirl. Do go on. Whirl 11:07 pm He doesn't intend to go on. That's it. FakeProwl 11:09 pm Oh, Primus. Don't tell him they're BOTH suicidal. Prowl looks up at Whirl, and for the first time that night something actually emotive slips into his gaze—something a little bit conspiratorial, a little bit sympathetic. The corner of his mouth twitches.

And he drops his gaze again. "So Tarantulas can be second back-up." Tarantulas 11:10 pm "You can't just - that doesn't -" ...Don't argue, Tarantulas, you're getting what you want. Shh. Whirl 11:11 pm Whirl meets his gaze, but it's anyone's guess what he thinks of that. "Guess so." Another pause. "So try not to beef it, I guess."

Now he looks to Soundwave and Tarantulas. "How soon do we think we can move?" ItsyBitsySpyers 11:14 pm [[He can be ready within the week. He needs only to account for the medical data and set up his absence from work to look like he is still there.]] Whirl 11:15 pm "A week should do. Yeah. You guys?" Tarantulas 11:15 pm A moment's hesitation, glancing sideways at Soundwave. "Technically I'm prepared as soon as I've prepped for the particulars of the given lab and have my materials in line, which should be - well. Days, at most." FakeProwl 11:15 pm "I can move at any time. Literally any time. Give me the word and I can arrange a non-fatal workplace accident in under ten minutes." Tarantulas 11:16 pm "Not - not a REAL one?" FakeProwl 11:16 pm "I'm hardly going to get out of work with a FAKE broken leg." Tarantulas 11:16 pm A cringe from Tarantulas. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:16 pm [[Please, do not put yourself in the hospital again.]] [[There are cleaner ways of withdrawing you from the public optic.]] FakeProwl 11:17 pm "I'll ensure it's something Hook can fix." Although he doubts Hook will be WILLING to fix it. No need to share that detail until after Springer's been resurrected. "... Well, if you can arrange something fast enough." Whirl 11:18 pm "Prowl's got an entire team of people looking out for him--he'll be fine." Tarantulas 11:18 pm "Please, Soundwave." He's imploring you. FakeProwl 11:19 pm "Don't inconvenience yourself. You should be preparing for Springer, not wasting time ensuring that I'm as comfortable as physically possible as I skip work to help wake him up." Tarantulas 11:20 pm A quick turn toward Prowl. "No, no, we can use your upgraded, updated avatar instead, you don't have to get YOURSELF hurt." FakeProwl 11:21 pm "I don't have an avatar of my real body and you're not going to waste time making one just for this." Whirl 11:21 pm "It's not that big a deal, you two." Whirl's not even spiteful, a broken leg hardly registers as any sort of injury in his mind. That is a plan he'd be happy to do himself, were he in Prowl's place. "There are multiple people heavily invested in Prowl's well-being besides the two of you, you know." he looks between them with a brief, knowing look. "Let's focus on the important thing, which is the mission." FakeProwl 11:22 pm "Agreed." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:23 pm [[He does not want Prowl's attention hampered by the pain of a broken leg, or the medicines required to dull that pain.]] [[Roadbuster and a safe entrance depend on him not being drugged.]] [[But, yes. The mission.]] Whirl 11:24 pm "A broken leg doesn't hurt THAT bad. We're used to being roughed up around here." FakeProwl 11:25 pm "I can shut off my pain sensors in each limb separately." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:25 pm Debates saying that Prowl spent much of his time OFF the field, but is tired of arguing that. And, that answers that, he supposes. Fine. If he can't stop Prowl finding ways to hurt himself now, he'll just - do something about it later. [[Fine. Move on. Is there anything else?]] FakeProwl 11:25 pm "AND it's nearly impossible to feel your body while your holomatter avatar's on." Maybe that's true or maybe Prowl's just become very good at ignoring his body. Tarantulas 11:26 pm "/Prowl/. You can't just -" ItsyBitsySpyers 11:26 pm Soundwave smacks his arm down on the table.

[[ENOUGH.]] [[Are we moving soon or not.]] Whirl 11:27 pm "So, excepting the finer points of how Prowl's going to--" He pauses, glances and Soundwave, and carries on. "--get himself out of the public eye, are we good?" Tarantulas 11:28 pm Tarantulas has to keep himself from hissing at Soundwave, or anyone else, really. "Quite. Positively golden." FakeProwl 11:29 pm Prowl starts at the smack.

"... But if we move after I get home from work, I'll have fifteen uninterrupted hours where nobody will be expecting me to be anywhere but inside my apartment. Otherwise, I'm—good. No further issues." Whirl 11:29 pm "That's not a bad window to aim for. My schedule's wide open; guaranteed privacy is better than likely privacy." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:30 pm [[-Thank you.-]]

[[Then it is settled.]] And with fewer broken legs than he thought they were going to have. [[Good.]] Tarantulas 11:31 pm Suddenly: "Is there anything else? Otherwise I'll be going." He's already starting to stand up. FakeProwl 11:31 pm "I don't have anything else." Whirl 11:32 pm "Nope. Seeya." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:32 pm [[When he and Tarantulas are both finished and rested, we will go. And no, he knows of nothing else. Except for Prowl, who must be made part of a different plan.]] [[Goodnight, Tarantulas.]] FakeProwl 11:32 pm "Who must what?" Whirl 11:33 pm "You're our new Ravage, in short." FakeProwl 11:33 pm "Oh. That plan. Yes." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:33 pm [[Yes. You will require updating. Please stay for now.]] FakeProwl 11:33 pm A nod. Tarantulas 11:33 pm No goodnight for Soundwave in return. Tarantulas stands tall, ruffles briefly, and makes for the exit. Tarantulas 11:34 pm There's no way he can be around these three mechs any longer without getting in a yelling match or possibly hurting someone, and right now that's the last thing he needs. Whirl 11:35 pm Whirl hops up. There's an unspoken request in Soundwave's words for Whirl, and he will obey, and let them be alone. "Call me if anything changes. I'll do the same." ItsyBitsySpyers 11:35 pm [[He will not hesitate to tell you.]] Whirl 11:37 pm He shifts into alt-mode, arcs away from the floor, and bridges himself out; a blue vortex appears before him, and he is gone. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:39 pm Soundwave waits until he is certain both are gone and rubs his crest. This had almost turned out to be more irritating than Decepticon command meetings of old. If Springer were anyone else's creation...

(txt): Request: stand, come here. FakeProwl 11:43 pm He might be looking down, but he's got enough peripheral vision to catch that rub. He's not sure what he did this time to earn it and he's too tired to replay the conversation and check.

Well, whatever dressing-down Soundwave is about to give him, he's certain he deserves it. He stands and comes there. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:53 pm He waits to rise until Prowl is standing as close as can be expected right now and looks the foot and a half up at tired blue optics, quietly wishing he could make what's driving Prowl to embrace jumping off of ship rails and face punch dents and broken legs disappear with nothing but a wave of his feeler.

But he can't. As hard as he's trying, he can't do it unless Prowl wants to help.

He can still be thankful that one part of Prowl hasn't been completely consumed by this, though.

(txt): Prowl offered self, removed highest deployer death chance. Reminded others Soundwave: endangered, if involvement discovered.

(txt): These--

To Pit with it.

(txt): Contact permitted? Yesterday FakeProwl 11:55 pm Prowl hesitates a second as he tries to figure out where this is going. Those don't SEEM like things Soundwave would criticize him for—

Oh. This is a—thank you? "... Granted." ItsyBitsySpyers 12:04 am Soundwave's in Prowl's space in a blink, arms and feelers wrapping tight around him. They squeeze Prowl in a ferocious, crushing hug - the sort that suggests he could easily kill a mech this way if he wanted, and probably has - and, as he straightens out of his slouch, lifts him a little.

Not as much as he said he would do back in the hospital. This isn't the time for that. It's just the side effect of his standing up. But it's enough to prove that his cold, serious demeanor from earlier has been abandoned in favor of this moment.

His fans hitch. He sets Prowl down again and presses their crests together.

(txt): Apologies, if excessive. Deep gratitude earned. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:07 am One Prowl helped kill Ravage. Another has probably just saved his life. Funny how the multiverse works. FakeProwl 12:15 am Prowl's so surprised that he forgets to hug back—and for a moment, his optics flicker to life with... something. "Something" is a whole lot more than they've had for the rest of the meeting.

But then he wraps his arms tightly around Soundwave in return. This is the first touch from someone else he's felt, REALLY felt, in weeks. Like he's actually there.

Once he's set down, he presses his crest a little harder against Soundwave's, trying to feel a little of that pressure again. "I... You're fine. It's fine. Thank y—er, you're welcome."

He considers saying something about how... it was only sensible, only logical for the person who could take no harm to take over a more dangerous duty, or how it would have been wrong NOT to point out that Soundwave was in a more vulnerable position; but Soundwave already knows that, doesn't he? ItsyBitsySpyers 12:26 am He does know that, and he values Prowl's choice all the more for it. One, because Prowl still cares enough about others to make a protective decision, and two, because he actually followed through on it. There hasn't been a whole lot of that in Soundwave's life over the last few million years.

He's more than happy to press against Prowl's helm as hard as Prowl wants. Let him bust a biolight. If it happens, it happens. He'll get it fixed.

(txt): Off-work solution also appreciated.

(txt): Soundwave--

Everything he wants to say is screaming and rioting and trying to shove itself through the translation door all at once, so he just leaves it there and gives another, smaller (but still somewhat tight) hug.

(txt): Prowl plan portion sent across comm tomorrow. Frenzy: not returned, cannot explain use yet. FakeProwl 12:35 am "Honestly, I don't know why the off-work solution wasn't self-evident. I said I CAN leave at any time, including in the middle of work if necessary. I never meant that the middle of work is the ONLY time I can go." Figures that when he assumed Plan A was obvious and started planning for contingencies, everyone thought his proposals for Plan B WERE Plan A.

Is the plan complicated enough that it needs a translation? Or—oh, it's not that. Frenzy is the one learning medical skills, he probably had to explain how to administer the anesthetic. "I'll wait for the comm. If it needs to be explained in depth, you know what times I'm available. Anything outside of work or Metroplex." He'd break a leg for Springer, sure, but he isn't volunteering it for just another planning meeting. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:42 am (txt): Situation: tense. Upsetting content: easiest noticed. Errors made.

(txt): Soundwave knows schedule. Will modify comm volume levels during transmission.

He won't subject Prowl to Frenzy's yelling while Frenzy's not there in person. There's no need for that.

(txt): Addition: Expect hard light projection file, more instructions. FakeProwl 12:45 am Was it tense? Prowl hadn't noticed.

"Appreciated." While Prowl will put up with Frenzy's volume in person because he knows Frenzy can't help it, he would much prefer to not have to. If Soundwave didn't offer to turn the volume down, Prowl would have done it on his own end. "What's the projection file for?" ItsyBitsySpyers 12:49 am (txt): Hiding bridge until Soundwave arrives, takes control. Less direct security interference, less discovery risk. FakeProwl 12:52 am He tilts his head, thinking. "So you'll have me go in first and conceal your arrival. I'll have to be piggybacking off of Tarantulas's holomatter avatar, then—out of the three of you, he's the only one who can get onto Debris without creating a similarly-obvious bridge." ItsyBitsySpyers 12:53 am Nod nod.

(txt): Speed necessary. Tarantulas not trusted alone long. FakeProwl 12:53 am A quiet sigh. "No, he's not." ItsyBitsySpyers 12:55 am (txt): Other things. Not this.

He bunts Prowl's helm again.

(txt): More explained tomorrow. Go, rest. Must attempt medical data recovery. FakeProwl 12:58 am Prowl dims his optics as he bunts Soundwave back. Affection tag: ping, ping, ping.

"I'll be waiting for your comm." ItsyBitsySpyers 1:00 am This message has been removed. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:08 am That's not the first time Prowl's sent him a trio of pings. It's starting to make a pattern of activity. Why the change?

He pings affection back - just his usual once, though - and nods.

(txt): Until then. FakeProwl 1:10 am "Until then."

He steps back and out of Soundwave's touch, and disappears. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:12 am Soundwave watches the place where Prowl was for a second longer, still thinking, then shakes his helm and heads upstairs. Work to be done. Puzzles later. Oh, and he'll lock the doors on the way up.

#chat #slenderwave #chronosmith #araneamechanica #operation springer

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thanksjro · 4 years

Text

More Than Meets the Eye #14- Everything’s Coming Up Overlord

Our issue opens up with a prologue.

Two miles below the surface of the moon, two miners are going at it, as they discuss the merits of their respective tools. As the guy with the pickaxe hits the floor below him, he exposes a bright green light hiding in the ground.

The miners, amazed, make a call to their boss, Momus; the very same Momus who would one day become a Senator and eventually be killed by the Senate for his Decepticon sympathies.

Momus, once made aware of the situation, makes his own call to the Functionist Council, siting that a Code 113- because of COURSE it is- is taking place. The Council responds by shutting down the mine and sending a representative to check things out. The representative claims his name is Three of Twelve, but I know The One Electronic when I friggin’ see him.

The green light, once authenticated, is scheduled for retrieval and “nurturing”. Because Momus is in charge of the mine, and this green light is a super big deal, Three of Twelve grants him the status of Alt-Mode Exempt; he can basically do whatever the hell he wants, free of Functionist meddling. Dang, Whirl should have tried digging one of these things up! Would’ve saved him a lot of heartache.

Guys, c’mon, it’s Momus! You ought to know by now that he’ll fuck you, but he doesn’t fucking need you. You ain’t getting a thing, and you also won’t have any time to unionize, because you’re going to be dead by the end of the day.

That green light turned out to be a spark, the sort of “soul” that a Transformer has at the core of their being. That murderous little ball of light is a robot zygote.

…They really let the guy with the well-documented thing with pregnancy handle the reproductive aspect of the world building, huh?

Anyway, it’s time to see what Milne’s take on Last Stand of the Wreckers looks like.

Wow, that is just the uncoolest line. I mean, wow.

Make note of Overlord’s lips here. We’ll be seeing a lot more of them once the lady robots make an appearance.

Overlord makes quick work of Springer, punching him into the dirt, and we see someone who most certainly was NOT present for the events of Last Stand.

We do that, jumping to the part where Ironfist explodes Overlord with his mind.

He didn’t say that! My immersion in this story about giant space robots is broken!

This obviously leads to Overlord being reduced to a flaming skeleton, and he screams at Chromedome to scoot his boot so he can get at Verity. Chromedome refuses, antagonizes the guy who’s at least three times his size, then initiates a scene change with a literal snap of his fingers.

Lot of good reference material for Chromedome in this issue. Artists take note.

Here is our first taste of mnemosurgery on someone who isn’t dead or dying, as well as our first taste of Chromedome having something resembling self confidence.

Outside of Overlord’s brain foyer, Chromedome stands on a forklift, with both of his horrid, needly hands punched into his patient’s head. Overlord is still very much in the position we saw him in issue #6, hooked up in a full body harness in something called a slow cell.

Overlord, still very sad that he got stood up by Megatron, tells Chromedome to kill him. Chromedome refuses, saying that he wouldn’t even if he could.

Hey, Chromedome. Maybe don’t tell this guy you can’t kill him. Just seems like maybe not the best idea.

Chromedome gets back to work, getting perhaps a bit too comfortable as he pulls himself up a chair from- I dunno, Overlord’s brain aether.

This really is your element, isn’t it, Chromedome? You’re just straight-up power tripping right now. No wonder Rewind has to literally beg you to not do this.

We jump into another one of Overlord’s memories, where’s he’s getting his shit absolutely destroyed by Megatron in a gladiator fight. We get our first taste of information creep as a concept, which is referred to as eidetic decay here.

I wanna know what the purple guy with the blue visor’s face situation is. Don’t think we’ve run into anyone like that before. It’s a little concerning, if I’m being honest.

We move on to the next memory, but it looks like “same shit, different day” is a huge part of who Overlord is as an individual, because it’s just more of him getting whaled on by Megatron.

After this uncomfortably intimate moment, Megatron puts his bucket helmet back on and states that Overlord is finally “ready.”

Ready for what, you might ask?

You remember that obscene sort of fascination of Roberts’ that we keep running into? We’re about to delve into some of that right now. But first- the set up.

We’re in a new memory, in a place called the Foundry, and Overlord’s been stripped down to his robotic skivvies and placed in a large glass tank. Megatron walks up, berating Rossom (of Rossom’s Trinity fame) and saying “to hell with safety protocols, I’m Megatron and I say we make Overlord into a Phase Sixer, meh meh meh.” Shockwave is there.

Rossom’s concerned about this project, because A) they’re going to be using the last of their ununtrium to do this, and B) if it works, Overlord’s going to be the strongest motherfucker ever, and he’ll probably try to kill Megatron.

Ununtrium is something that actually exists in the real world, though it in no way works like it does in MTMTE. Ununtrium is actually an outdated name for the element Nihonium, a synthetic chemical element, whose most stable form has a half-life of 10 seconds. It has no known properties or qualities, because it simply doesn’t last long enough to be studied that in-depth. So why use this element in the story? The answer lies in the placeholder name itself. Ununtrium was named so because it’s the 113th element in the periodic table.

In other words, Ununtrium was used because Roberts is a massive nerd.

Because Overlord’s a Point One Percenter, and in fact that murderous little spark we saw at the beginning of the issue, he ought to be perfectly fine. Shockwave has planted a killswitch in the guy’s brain in case he tries something funny on Megatron.

The narrative is interrupted for a moment as Chromedome chastises Overlord for being kind of sleepy in his memories. Then Chromedome lets something slip that he probably really shouldn’t have.

With the contingencies in place, it’s time to get the Phase Sixer show on the road.

Well, there it is.

Oh, and a bit more.

Overlord thanks Rossom for all his hard work by crushing his skull, and thus the story of how he became a Phase Sixer draws to a close.

Megatron, you had literally zero reason to say that. This is how you can tell Roberts wrote this scene to fuck with people.

Back in the white void, Chromedome’s patting himself on the back over a job well done. In the background, Overlord’s smiling.

It’s never a good thing when Overlord smiles.

If Chromedome had just kept things professional and didn’t keep bringing up their shared history, Overlord wouldn’t be able to have another flashback- this one’s got Starscream and Thundercracker in it! No word on where Skywarp’s gotten to. Skywarp doesn’t get a ton of attention in IDW Transformers.

The three of them are bombing what appears to be a wasteland, on word from Decepticon intel that there’s something worth looking for in the area. Turns out, intel was right.

Chromedome, suddenly antsy, pulls them out of the memory, demanding to know why this is happening. Overlord just smiles.

Oh, hey Brainstorm. What brings you to the New Institute?

Chromedome, your war crimes are showing! Turns out Mnemosurgery and Shadowplay are the same fucking thing.

As Chromedome assists in what appears to be an empurata in progress, he’s shot in the gut, as present-Chromedome screams and reaches for himself.

Overlord and company release Soundwave, who is in no way grateful for the assist. They leave quickly, Overlord taking Trepan as a souvenir, because that’s just the kind of guy he is. He kidnaps people.

As Chromedome in the past lays bleeding out on the floor, Chromedome in the present decides it’s time to share his feelings.

Prowl did Chromedome a solid after Zeta came into Primehood, and got him an internship at the New Institute. The one time Prowl was nice to his partner, and it’s to hook him up with a job that can and will kill him the more frequently he does it.

Chromedome was so good at poking people in the brain, he got a nickname out of it. That nickname? Chromedome.

Yeah, his real name is Tumbler.

Chromedome remembers himself, and the fact that they shouldn’t be seeing any of this, because Overlord is the patient and he wasn’t there for this info dump.

Overlord’s still smiling.

Overlord may be a lot of things, but he’s no dummy. He took Trepan with him to learn mnemosurgery, in an attempt to learn the secrets of the Achilles Virus Shockwave planted in his brain. He didn’t complete his training, because Megatron caught wind, but major smart boy points to you, Overlord.

Now he’s going to use his own mnemosurgery skills to bust on out of here.

Chromedome, Overlord has been killing fools since literally before he was born, and you basically handed him a rope to hang you with.

SMASH CUT TO:

There he is, Cybertron’s #1 Bastard Bachelor! Of course he’s involved with this!

All that stuff Rung told Fort Max in issue #6, about Overlord’s spark being in a whiteout vacuum? A giant ruddy lie fed to the public, to give High Command a chance to figure out what they were going to do with him.

Prowl, they are MARRIED, you giant space ass.

Prowl has a theory that Phase Sixers aren’t born, but made. We as the readers, of course, already know this, but we’ve got to know where we’ve been before we can figure out where we’re going. He’s invited Chromedome to his office to ask him to mnemosurgery Overlord up and get the secret Krabby Patty formula Phase Sixer recipe.

Chromedome, doesn’t want to do that, though. He wants to live in a peaceful world, where Rewind doesn’t have to worry about his impending, work-related death.

How exactly mnemosurgery kills practitioners is never exactly explained. I, however, have a theory.

We’ve already established that if you inject enough times, you start getting crossover with your patients’ memories in your own brain. We’ve seen it happen with Chromedome in the Annual, and it was vivid enough that he wasn’t sure if the memory of committing suicide by way of Gideon’s Glue was his own or not.

Because Transformers are very similar in bodily functions to humans- because this isn’t hard sci-fi- it stands to reason that more than just memories reside in the brain module. The brain controls movement, organ regulation, chemical balances, all that jazz.

Where does the line for memory get drawn? Who’s to say that bodily functions wouldn’t start bleeding through the connection? If you can have memories bleed through and have to double-check with someone on whether or not they’re yours, who’s to say that it can’t happen with other parts of the brain? Like programming for your robotic organs? If a patient clearly remembers how hard their fuel pump was going during a stressful situation, does that stress response translate for the surgeon’s body type, or does it stay at what it had been for the original brain?

If Chromedome’s fuel pump starts going at a rate designed for a guy the size of Fort Max, it’s probably going to explode.

Getting back to the story at hand, Chromedome says “thanks, but no thanks” and is walking out of the room, when Prowl does something kind of stupid:

He starts threatening to blackmail the guy who has pointy mind-wiper fingers and doesn’t really like him all that much.

This is one of the larger seeds involved with a dropped story plot, in which it would have been revealed that Chromedome had been part of the mission that led to Dominus Ambus’ disappearance. It was seeded very early on in MTMTE, but never came to fruition, mainly due to the fact that Roberts didn’t want to give Chromedome and Rewind’s relationship that much of a trench to jump over. I mean, how would you even handle that, finding out that your current husband was complacent in the disappearance of your first husband? It’d be messy. Way too messy to be wrapped up cleanly. There’s other aspects of that plot thread that I’ll cover later on, but trust me when I say it would have needed its own spin-off series to be properly handled and resolved. A spin-off series that it wouldn’t have gotten.

As it currently stands, the interpretation of what exactly Chromedome did that would warrant him getting cagey here is wide open. Was he involved with the Ostaros situation in Sins of the Wreckers? Did he have a past with a Decepticon that Rewind wouldn’t have approved of? Was he a Decepticon at some point? Does he not like dogs? It’s up to YOU, dear reader!

Prowl’s threat goes about as well as you’d expect.

I mean, really, what did you THINK was going to happen?

Chromedome wipes the memory of making the threat, as well as the information that made the threat possible, then leaves, and Prowl is none the wiser.

Overlord’s not done yet, though. He moves on to the next memory, which involves a giant, naked human. Chromedome enters Brainstorm’s lab, while he’s hard at work on the holomatter avatars. Brainstorm has stolen Perceptor’s sniper sight and is wearing it on his head. Why does he have it? What purpose does it serve him? Who knows!

Drift is accompanying Chromedome on this little visit, and thus the identity of the mystery door-whisperer from issue #12 is revealed.

Watch out for his hands, Drift.

The mystery of the oddly threatening medical drone is also revealed- Brainstorm had them all loaded up with a speech recognition program that would alert Drift whenever Overlord was mentioned.

With introductions to Project: Total Insanity out of the way, it’s time to get technical.

Five seconds for Overlord is thirty minutes for the rest of the Lost Light. In theory, if he somehow broke loose from his bindings and escaped his cell, they’d have plenty of time to scramble the troops and get ready for him.

Let’s see how that theory works when applied to real world testing, shall we?

Overlord gets the code to the cell, thanks to this merry little jaunt inside Chromedome’s brain he’s decided to take, rips free of his bonds, and makes his exit. Chromedome, temporarily paralyzed and mute from the strain of doing such a long deep reading on Overlord, can only watch as he walks out the door, making a promise to find Rewind first when he starts killing everyone on the ship.

Oh man, this next one’s gonna be a doozy.

#transformers #jro #jro punches me in the face #mtmte #issue 14 #maccadam #Hannzreads #overthinking about robots #text post #long post #comic script writing

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thanksjro · 5 years

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Last Stand of the Wreckers, Issue #5: I Sure Hope You Didn’t Go and Get Attached to Any of These Characters…

We ended on a cliffhanger last issue, so let’s see what the lads are up to now.

Hm. That’s not great.

Overlord’s just ripped Guzzle in half for the fun of it. If you’re wondering why everyone’s outside now, it’s because he exploded the torture chamber so hard when he came in, it no longer exists. Kup doesn’t appreciate having one half of the Big Gulp duo torn in two, so he goes in for the attack. This doesn’t work out very well for him, as he has his head crushed between Guzzle’s upper and lower halves. This whole situation is a non-issue for Overlord, and barely distracts him from his goal of having Megatron show up to kick his ass. Impactor tries to have a big hero moment by shooting Overlord in the eye with his harpoon hand-attachment. Again, very little effect on Overlord; it doesn’t even seem to register on the same level as getting a little soap in your eye.

Back over with Ironfist and the Big Conundrum, Verity’s arguing that killing Impactor will kill the Wreckers- as a team, not in the literal sense. However, time’s running out, and Perceptor really doesn’t seem to be bothered by the idea of not having Impactor around.

She gets smaller every issue, I swear.

Verity makes her case to Ironfist, trying to play off of his fanboy status; the Wreckers are a symbol of hope, one that Ironfist himself created with his datalogs as Fisitron. Killing Impactor to make things easier for themselves destroys the illusion of a cohesive unit who can always be counted on when the chips are down. Too bad ol’ Ironfist knows Things™, and it’s actually Perceptor who’s swayed by her argument, which is interesting, given that he was about to vote Impactor into an early grave a minute ago.

Perceptor wasn’t always the cool, efficient sniper we see him to be in Last Stand of the Wreckers. He used to be a regular old science nerd, and a relatively talkative one at that. He wasn’t really built for a four million year war.

Then all that talking got him shot and he was left for dead.

He made some changes after that, both in body and personality.

Could his own experience with being forsaken by his peers for his flaws perhaps be influencing him here? Or am I, a reader and giant dork, just trying to justify a very quick backtracking on the narrative’s part, most likely due to page number limitations?

So they decide to fight. Then Pyro suggests they run. The “they” in this case doesn’t include himself. You remember how Optimus Prime’s big character quirk in every continuity is self-sacrifice? Yeah, we’re hitting on THAT portion of Pyro’s hero worship. It’s not exactly what he was hoping for in death, but it’s what’s got to be done at this point.

The others run off, and Pyro shoots the control to the door, bracing for one hell of a fight.

Holy shit, I forgot they had Fort Max with them! That scared the crap outta me.

There’s one last look at our hero before we go, and it…

Well, it sure is something.

Yikes. That’s a series wrap on Pyro!

Now it’s time for us to learn about what really happened on Pova. Turns out the files Ironfist had access to weren’t exactly virginal.

First things first, it was raining, and Impactor is kind of a dick. I mean, we already kind of knew that from what we’ve seen of the guy in the present day story, but this little scene really takes the cake. Springer had to basically beg him to stay with him; none of that “I’m not leaving you behind” nonsense. And the whole “shoot Springer through the midsection” idea? That was all Impactor. Springer doesn’t have a way to dampen the pain the way Impactor suggests, and doesn’t even get a moment to brace himself as he’s blasted more or less in half.

When Springer regains consciousness, he’s treated to the sight of Impactor and Prowl having a little chat. It turns out there’s a problem, and that problem’s name is bureaucracy. Pova is a protected planet, declared off-limits by the Neutrality Agreement, so any Cybertronian war business is pretty much null and void there. The fact that the Wreckers are there at all could have disastrous repercussions if the Decepticons catch wind of this and tell the Povians. They’ll have to let Squadron X go.

But it looks like Prowl forgot that Impactor’s a bad boy who doesn’t play by your daddy’s rules.

He walks into where they’re holding Squadron X, chained together into a circle on their knees, with their arms pinned behind their backs, locks the door behind himself, and executes every last one of them as Springer bangs on the door trying to get him to stop. This, obviously, puts a bit of a damper on everyone’s mood.

Even Whirl’s bummed out, and you just know that guy loves a good ‘Con-killing spree.

I guess the moral of the story here is Impactor kinda sucks.

Speaking of Impactor, Overlord’s currently stomping him to death as he holds Springer by the face. It’s honestly almost tender, the delicate placement of his fingers. It also reminds you that Overlord is literally twice the size of Springer, who, as a triple-changer, should already be on the tall side. Overlord is a big dude.

Springer’s still doing okay, because he knows that even if he doesn’t make it, the rest of his team will, and they’ll save the day and get all those Autobot prisoners off Garrus-9.

Ha. Haha. Oh, Springer, you naïve fool. You forgot that this was hell, didn’t you? Overlord already took care of the Autobot prisoners.

Someone really took their gun to that hanging guy on the left and said “fuck this dude in particular.”

Then the calvary arrives! With guns! And art tangents!

Surely things are looking up now!

Ironfist throws Springer a gun that’s about as big as he is- where did he get that?- and Springer proceeds to light Overlord the fuck up.

You don’t get the B-word pass at IDW unless you’ve already had your series truncated and the entire universe is about to get ended for a reboot. That’s just how it goes.

Of course, even the big boy gun isn’t enough to do much to Overlord outside of annoy him, and Springer gets his face ripped off for his troubles.

Now it’s just Ironfist and Verity left, and Overlord is very much looking forward to doing very bad things to both of them. Ironfist has a gambit though! That gun Springer had was actually firing deterrence chips into Overlord’s body, and now he’s just chock-full of the things. And since Ironfist has all of Aequitas in his head now- including the detonation codes- he can do this:

He blew Overlord’s lips clean off! The evil truly is defeated.

However, using this newfound power has costs- Ironfist is knocked clean out by a sudden pain in his head, eyes flaring and fizzing as he hits the ground, leaving Verity alone with Overlord’s flaming, animated endoskeleton.

Yeah no, he’s still not dead, and he’s still not fucking over Megatron, lamenting on how he just isn’t sure how he’ll fight him, now that he’s little more than robot bones. Verity has to be the one to break it to the guy that Megatron’s dead, and Overlord takes it about as well as he can.

I’m sorry Overlord, but at what friggin’ point were you promised ANYTHING from Megatron “Peace Through Tyranny” of Tarn? You were threatened, but that’s a little different than a vow to get revenge. Hell, that’s not even on the same level as as pinky-promise. What a baby.

Impactor ends the pity party by shooting Overlord with his alt-mode’s weaponry and then does a little something for Springer… by not ending Overlord. Nope, looks like the death of Springer finally let him see the error of his ways, and they’re going to bring Overlord in to stand trial, because while the guy deserves to die, Impactor doesn’t deserve to kill him. Maybe if more Transformers took this little idea to heart, they wouldn’t still be at war four million years and counting.

Impactor goes to radio for a ride, and Ironfist wakes up. It looks like everything’s going to be okay now.

Or not.

Yep, those weird brain-seeking bullets Ironfist had loaded into all the guns he brought on the trip were perfected after a disastrous prototype testing accident. THE accident, if you will. Prowl knew about this, and used it to his advantage, throwing Ironfist on the mission, with the intent that he’d be used to unlock Aequitas. Topspin, of course, caused the plan to change a bit, but it all worked out in the end.

Also, Springer isn’t dead. He’s pretty messed up, but he’s not dead. They’ve got Ratchet on it, it’ll be fine.

And thus we arrive at the debriefing, between Prowl and Ultra Magnus. Magnus is questioning just why Prowl had this mission sanctioned in the first place, if he was so very against the Aequitas trials while they were happening. The answer is simple: propaganda. If the Decepticons were to find out that the trials involved nothing but Autobot war crimes, and lots of ‘em, it would be the ultimate blow to the Autobot forces.

Ultra Magnus thinks that they should go public with the information, but Prowl disagrees. The only copy of Aequitas is left with Prowl, and while Ultra Magnus would like to trust that he wouldn’t destroy this info, the end result is left a mystery.

But you’ll have to read the sequel series to see just how that all turns out.

If Ironfist is dead, just who is writing up this narrative framing device for the issue? Why, it’s none other than Verity Carlo, using the power of the internet. I guess she has access to the Cybertronian internet now. Wonder who hooked her up with that. Probably not Ultra Magnus. Maybe Percy did her a solid as a thanks for surgically removing Overlord’s will to live.

Whether you want it to or not, I suppose.

This miniseries is a little dark, ain’t it?

Verity went to all the trouble to leave Earth and hide in the escape pods so she wouldn’t be abandoned, only to end up right where she started, with a heaping spoonful of PTSD to pair off with all the disappointment and lack of friends in her life. She watched a lot of people die on Garrus-9, and she’s in no way battle-hardened like one could argue the other surviving Wreckers are. All she has at this point is a blog she inherited from a nerd who accidentally committed a slow-burn suicide. I hope Perceptor will keep in touch with her, at least, seeing as he’s the only one who was also there and isn’t dead.

That’s the end of the miniseries proper, but not the entirety of the story. Up next, we’ll be looking at all the fun little extras Last Stand of the Wreckers came with.

#transformers #jro #last stand of the wreckers #issue 5 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing #wreckers trilogy

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thanksjro · 4 years

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Last Stand of the Wreckers PsyOps records- Can we PLEASE Hire Some More Mental Health Specialists?

Rung gets a lot of play in the Last Stand of the Wreckers bonus materials. He was still more of a play-on-words as opposed to an actual character at the time, so I suppose it makes sense.

Rotorstorm walked into his appointment with Rung and immediately started hyping himself up. That’s very telling. When Rung asked about his time at Simanzi, he sort of shut down and wasn’t able to hide behind his defense mechanism of being the funniest, coolest, bravest, all-around-bestest guy in the room.

Rotorstorm was basically born, then thrown into the Aerial Program, where all that awful stuff with Jetstream happened. Dude was beating up an infant.

Motherfucker’s got some trauma, obviously, but apparently that’s not enough to disqualify him from Wrecker duty. Wrecker duty that he didn’t even want, I should add.

You gotta sign up for the Wrecker roster; he’d been on it before, but had dropped out to teach instead. Either someone set this poor guy up to die, or Jetstream was wrong this whole time and he really just is that good. Not that it mattered much- the damage is done. Rotorstorm has crippling self-doubt, and is also dead.

Pyro suffers from a programming disorder known as primus apotheosis, identified by the sufferer’s need to emulate the great Optimus Prime. Many Autobots are afflicted with this disorder, and even a few Decepticons have been known to have it. The fact that Pyro had primus apotheosis makes panels like this:

-all the more sad. This is a guy who’s had his own personality overwritten- by his own hero worship- in an attempt to be greater than himself. Pyro is by no means a slouch when it comes to saving the day- he saved an entire platoon of Autobots as a member of the Resistance.

Then Simanzi happened.

There isn’t a ton known about the Simanzi Massacre, only that it was so bad, the Cybertronian population was halved by the time it was over. Pyro would have been just another statistic, had it not been for Optimus Prime’s intervention. Does survivor’s guilt have some part in his disorder? It’s certainly possible. All that can be said for sure is that nobody got out of Simanzi unscathed.

Pyro was approved for the Wreckers with reservations, seeing as primus apotheosis sufferers can and will sacrifice themselves for others if given any wiggle room in which to do so. The Wreckers were just lucky that Pyro wanted to go out in style. It didn’t really work for him, but points for trying.

Guzzle isn’t his legal name. Much like Chromedome, he’s called what he’s called due to meddling with the war. Originally Pneumatix, and a forklift of all things- the name being a play on the word “Pneumatic”, because forklifts work by using compressed air to lift things- he entered the Body Augmentation Program. This turned him into something called a ruination tank. That’s why his turret accounts for nearly half of his height- they basically turned a Mini Cooper into a weapon of mass destruction. Because he’s meant to be actually very tiny, his body compensates for the added stress by being so insanely fuel-inefficient, he has to constantly eat. Thus the nickname.

Guzzle didn’t exactly impress Rung at his appointment, coming across as a rather cold, distant individual when it came to his own emotions, describing his own near-death experience at the hands of the Decepticons in terms of what weaponry was used to try to kill him. Still, he was approved for the Garrus-9 mission.

It’s at this point that you have to wonder just how many people are actually on the waiting list for this group.

First Aid about had a panic attack when he thought Springer was inviting him to join the Wreckers, so it’s obviously a known thing that members don’t last terribly long, or at least, it’s something that can be inferred through reading about them.

Looking at past members, it’s rather telling what sort of person is attracted to the Wrecker lifestyle; Whirl is an emotional powder keg that’s constantly trying to light his own fuse, Impactor defied wartime sanctions to murder the his rivals, Roadbuster is a hardcore drug abuser who ripped someone’s spine out, and Kup can only function in polite society if he’s smoking medicinal marijuana at all times. These are not stable individuals. Springer is the odd exception, and I’m counting Perceptor as a borderline case, because he went through a massive personality shift that led him to where he was within the group. He may appear “normal” when compared to the others, but that guy’s for sure got some issues that he keeps close to his chest.

Given all of this, it’s not really much of a leap to say that Rotorstorm got thrown back on the list because they didn’t have anyone else who wanted in on this madness. It’s also not much of a leap to say that the only reason any of these guys got approved to join was because there weren’t any other options. The psych-screenings were probably just done as a professional obligation at that point. Rung, for all his faults, was likely working with what he’d been given.

I’m not exactly sure where these profiles were meant to reside within Last Stand’s timeline, given that Rotorstorm and Pyro are classified as being probably alive, whereas Ironfist is not.

Ironfist spends a good portion of his appointment with Rung fanboying over the Wreckers, as he is wont to do. When he actually gets around to talking about himself, he’s not nearly as eloquent or organized. Rung did not approve Ironfist for the mission, based solely on his lack of experience in the field of busting heads. He only got on the team due to Prowl’s interference, as has been established before.

Fisitron is revealed to have been a writer of many talents, publishing articles for all ages and reading levels. He was an author you could grow up on.

Impactor’s profile was written at the time of his probationary hearing, and it seems to imply that Rung may be a bit of an idiot. He had dismissed the guard who was present, in an attempt to get Impactor to be more open with him. This went about as well as that sort of thing usually goes for the only mental health specialist on all of Cybertron.

Looks like someone’s got a fear of mnemosurgery. With this little event in his past, it’s very surprising that Rung tried to offer it to Fortress Maximus in MTMTE #6.

Maybe Rung accidentally stuck a really big magnet to the side of his head at some point, thus erasing his memory files, because I know that I sure wouldn’t be offering that sort of thing if this was the average reaction to it.

After Impactor had had his moment, he shared some of his war stories with Rung- apparently his lack of a right hand was inspired by meeting Death’s Head.

Though Death’s Head isn’t directly named, it’s pretty obvious that’s who it’s intended to be, given that he’s mentioned as “ricocheting from universe to universe after leaping through an exploding time portal.” This is in reference to the events that took place in the Marvel UK storyline “The Legacy of Unicron!” This is also what happened to him prior to the events of Eugenesis.

Rung is aware of these events due to having read Wreckers: Declassified. I’m not sure how I feel about Wreckers: Declassified being a valid resource for Rung to pull from, considering Fisitron self-described with the word “dramatist” in “Bullets”.

The session had to be ended when Rung tried to psychoanalyze Impactor in a way he wasn’t ready for, as the man threatened to crush his brain like a grape between his fingers.

Lot of Eugenesis vibes in this entry.

We don’t get any history on Impactor, as it’s been scrubbed from the record at someone’s request. Is it related to his relationship with Megatron? The events that would eventually be revealed in Sins of the Wreckers? Maybe it’s just left like that to create intrigue for the eventual sequel series, Sins of the Wreckers. Who knows? I certainly don’t.

That’s the end of Rung’s reports, but we still have a couple more characters to get through.

Rotorstorm, Snare, and Swindle must go to the same body shop, because they’re the only guys who have eyes/visors that aren’t a primary color. It’s an interesting little character design choice, and I can’t help but wonder if there was some sort of reason for it.

…I genuinely wasn’t expecting an answer for that. Neat!

Snare’s kind of a loner, which works out pretty well for him, since he’s usually on surveillance duty. He’s also a sadist, having developed some nasty ways to keep prisoners in line. “Morphcore stimulation” is mentioned, and it’s less fun than it sounds, not that it sounds terribly fun in the first place. The fact that even Snare thought Overlord was a bit much is very telling.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “morphcore”, don’t feel bad about it, because it’s only ever been used in one piece of media up until this point. Morphcores were a small bundle of nerves at the base of the Cybertronian brain that controlled transformation, as explained in Eugenesis. This term would quickly be switched out for the more well-known “transformation cog” for brand cohesion. The really funny thing is that that this section is attributed to Nick Roche. It would seem that TMUK is a hard state of mind to shake off.

This won’t be the only time Roche and Roberts team-up to completely miss the mark on how the IDW continuity functions- the Dire Wraith in The Revolution oneshot they wrote together was running off of the Marvel UK iteration of the species.

Overlord doesn’t have a profile, per se, but rather a transcript of a correspondence between Megatron and a guy named Gorelock.

Gorelock apologizes for not getting in contact sooner, explaining that the reason he’s been radio silent is because Overlord fucking showed up out of nowhere, after cutting and running from the Decepticause years prior. Whether Megatron had actually heard Overlord’s message or just figured it out from context clues isn’t clarified.

Gorelock super-duper promises that he and his guys didn’t just stand there pissing themselves in fear as Overlord strolled through their ranks, and they super-duper totally fought him until Gorelock decided to hear the guy out. For sure. Absolutely.

It turns out, Overlord was never actually dismissed from the rank of the Decepticons, which means that he outranks Gorelock, and Gorelock was therefore compelled to grant him a favor.

The favor is wrecking an entire empire’s shop. Gorelock complies with this request, purely due to being outranked. Absolutely. For sure.

Once the contract was completed in full, Overlord fucked off into space.

You know, not enjoying your hobbies anymore can be a sign of depression.

And that’s why Gorelock hasn’t kept in touch! I’m sure Megtron will be very understanding about this whole thing.

Or not!

#transformers #jro #last stand of the wreckers #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #prose writing #wreckers trilogy

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thanksjro · 5 years

Text

Eugenesis, Part One, Scene Seven: I Can’t Frikkin’ Believe This

Death’s Head wakes up, answers a few questions, and then is stabbed to death.

Well, no, actually, he just makes it look like the stabbing killed him. Being mechanical has its perks. Still, he’s in a bad way, and needs to get the hell out of dodge if he wants to make it through this.

Lord Xenon is wise to the peacekeeper’s game of ‘possum, however, and blasts him with his eye lasers. Death’s Head’s day really took a downturn in the last little bit.

The Quintesson leader demands that the bodies of the flying fucks they blew out of the sky be brought to him, as he has an idea. Clearly, only good things can come from this.

Meanwhile, back on Cybertron, Red Alert’s on the verge of a panic, trying to make sure the open-air inspection isn’t going to be turned into an assassination.

He hears Prowl coming up behind him- Red Alert knows all his pals by the sound of their footsteps, as all good friends should- and greets him, noting his ever-present Resting Bitch Face. Prowl, not one for small-talk, asks how things are going. They’re going well, all-told, but it wouldn’t be Red Alert without a little paranoia that everything’s going to land butter-side down before it’s all over.

Chromedome’s in this scene. He’s checking the spycams.

MEANWHILE, IN AUTOBOT CITY, Wheeljack’s packing up for another move. Looks like Magnus’ tomorrow came today. He’s got most of his gadgets in boxes, including a little something to help with Springer’s robot-equivalent alcoholism. He doesn’t know how to feel about all this, though he’s pretty sure going back to the war zone that is their home planet is going to suck the big one. Wheeljack is pretty despondent about the whole thing.

There’s mention of the Witwickys being dead. Wonder how that happened?

BACK ON AQUARIA, the flying fucks have been laid out on some operating tables, and are being subjected to some good old-fashioned, Roberts-style body horror. A Quintesson surgeon rips out their brain modules, which causes them to jolt, as if trying to turn themselves inside out. The surgeon isn’t terribly professional- he’s a known drunk, and throws the modules on the floor like a litterbug, where they promptly burst into flames. Xenon tells the doctor to get these lifeless husks ready for a brain transplant.

Man, these Decepticons didn’t even get names, just color-coding. Fare-thee-well, Red Fuck, Blue and/or Purple Fuck, and Olive Green Fuck. May you rest in pieces, and sorry about whatever atrocities your dead bodies are about to be subjected to.

MEANWHILE, ON CYBERTRON, a Micromaster named Emyrissus has been staring through the scope of a sniper rifle for almost three years, waiting to carry out his mission to kill Galvatron. Out of the entirety of the fortress Darkmount, there is but a single window pane which, when shot at the perfect angle, will shatter, allowing for the tyrant to be assassinated.

Problem is, Galvatron never gets off his ass so that he’s actually within this spot. Ever.

At the Autobase, Nightbeat’s staring at that orb again. I have a feeling we won’t be getting any answers on that for a good while.

He has a message on his computer, but he’s ignoring it. Doubleheader knocks on his door, and is about to shoot the keypad when Nightbeat answers it. Doubleheader doesn’t seem to understand that Nightbeat would prefer to be alone right now, and asks if he’ll be attending the inspection.

Nightbeat will not, due to social anxiety and general self-loathing.

Nightbeat, are you, like, okay? Because holy shit.

Well, Nightbeat doesn’t have to go to the inspection, but the narrative does, so we meet up with Prowl, who’s overseeing the security measures. Prowl has a very “none of you would survive without me” view on this whole event.

He overhears Rodimus and Thunderclash going at it- it seems Mommy and Daddy are fighting again. Thunderclash still wants this inspection called off, and Rodimus is having none of it. It gets to the point that Prowl, the only adult on the entire planet, shouts at them to both shut up and get over themselves.

On the other side of the stadium, Red Alert’s quintuple-checking all his security measures, as the event’s about to start.

Chromedome keeps getting mentioned as being in the scene, but he’s done diddly squat so far. I’m hoping for something completely balls-to-the-wall crazy out of him in the next little bit, like he rips off his head and throws it at a would-be assassin, saving the day. Hell, within this continuity, that’s actually completely possible.

It’s time for the High Command to make their appearance, and we get a look at some personalities via their trek across the stage- Perceptor is awkward, Prowl’s all business, Sunstreaker is an attention-whore, Kup is old, so on and so on.

Quark, sweetheart, it’s going to be okay.

Rodimus takes the stage, overwhelmed by just how many people there are.

He almost said the thing.

Rodimus goes on to say that he’s proud of each and every one of those in attendance today, and that he’s got a plan to bring Cybertron back into Autobot control.

And the crowd

goes

wild.

Except for the fucking double agent wait WHAT-

Emyrissus has the chance and is about to take the shot when something happens.

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK

Back at the inspection Doubleheader shakes hands with Rodimus Prime and asks if he’s ever wondered what it feels like to die.

Doubleheader has a bomb in his chest. He’s a fucking suicide bomber. He’s the double agent and he’s a suicide bomber.

AND THEN PART ONE ENDS.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

ROBERTS

I AM WAY TOO INVESTED IN THIS

I WASN’T EXPECTING TO GET SO INVESTED

#transformers #jro #eugenesis #part one #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #prose writing

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verdigrisprowl · 7 years

Text

Springer’s spark

Hook calls Tarantulas to advise him on how best to prepare his patient for his coming surgery.

Hook

For all that Hook cared, Tarantulas could rot. Him and his stupid, pretentious, self-obsessed, "ooh look at me I actually got to go to medical school, and I wasted everything I learned there on fusing myself with vermin" slag. Which was why, even after he'd looked over the specs for Tarantulas's proposed spark augmentation procedure, he'd let it sit there instead of comming Tarantulas back. If it were up to him, he would've KEPT making Tarantulas wait. Make the bug call HIM and beg for HIS opinion. Tarantulas should be so lucky as to be graced with his expert opinion.

But—Prowl had come up to Hook. And he'd asked if Hook had looked over the files, and if he'd talked to Tarantulas about them yet.

Long Haul had knocked a fist-shaped dent into Prowl's head a month ago, and Prowl hadn't peeped a word to Hook about getting it repaired. He didn't care about his own damage. But he'd cared enough about fixing Springer to drag himself out of his room and ask Hook about it.

If it mattered that much to Prowl...

Well. Hook guessed he was calling Tarantulas now, wasn't he?

Ping.

Tarantulas

Give it another day or two – or even a matter of hours, really – and Tarantulas would have commed Hook himself, just like the sulky widget wanted. Sure, Tarantulas did have plenty of other things to occupy his time, but this was Ostaros they were talking about here. (No, Springer. It was Springer now. Rgh.) Tarantulas wasn’t about to wait a couple hundred years for a reply, not when Springer’s health was on the line.

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait any longer though; neither did Hook, who got a prompt ping mirrored back at him, then a comm.

«Ah, Hook – do tell me this is about the spark augmentation files?»

Hook

«Yeah. S'about them.»

And then silence. He might have commed Tarantulas first, but he was still going to give Tarantulas the chance to ASK him about them first, before he just had to OFFER his opinion. Little victories.

Tarantulas

A beat. «What about them? I presume you found everything satisfactory and agree we’re ready to proceed?»

Hook

Ah, there it was. The moment he'd been waiting for. Tarantulas asking for his opinion. He basked in it.

And then he said, «Naw. It sucks.»

Tarantulas

Tarantulas had only asked Hook’s opinion because Prowl had made it mandatory, mind you. Whatever Hook was basking in was pretty artificially produced.

Tarantulas’s scoff, however, was not artificial in the least. « Hyah, funny, very funny. How droll. Go on, what is it?»

Hook

«He ain't gonna be able to handle the process. You know why we only made Phase Sixers outta point one percenters? Anything less woulda died. Can't take the strain. And you ain't done slag to protect the Wrecker from that strain.»

Tarantulas

«Wh – that’s the whole point of the augmentation process – to protect Springer! You’re talking nonsense – and if you’re not, I – well, go on, but be prepared to supply sufficiently-hard evidence and receipts to back up your claims.»

Hook

«Yeah? Well it ain't gonna protect nothing if you're doin' it like that. Listen, half the files on the whole Phase Sixer project are top secret classified—and all the mechs that coulda DEclassified them are either dead or switched sides—so you're gonna have to trust what I remember hearin' people say about it, and what I heard was them sayin' Megatron couldn't take the process. MEGATRON couldn't take it. And his spark output has been augmented as far as we could take it. Just augmentin' Springer's spark ain't gonna do the job.»

Tarantulas

Trust Hook? Hhmph.

«If you’re quite sufficiently knowledgeable about Megatron’s spark augmentations and their apparent shortcomings, I’d love to hear about what they might be and how my proposed plans for augmenting Springer’s spark - tried and true ones, mind you - are apparently going to fall sorely short as well.»

Hook

«Uh-uh. Doctor-patient confidentiality. I ain’t tellin’ you about Megatron’s spark.

«Yeah, your augmentations might be tried and true on somethin’, but it ain’t ununtrium. I ain’t sayin’ they won’t give your Wrecker’s spark some extra punch, but punch ain’t what you need. You need shielding.

«I’ll tell ya something that will work—dark matter fission cell in his power core. Sixshot was on the border of bein’ compatible so we stuck one in him, and he had no problems takin’ the ununtrium. Considerin’ the likely stats Springer’s spark’s got—Prowl’s explained all that to me—he’s probably already livin’ past the peak of his potential, size-wise; combine that with the fact that he’ll be comin’ straight outta life support with a zero point, and to get him through the ununtrium process he might need two, maaaybe three fission cells. His chest’s big, as long as he don’t plan on takin’ the Matrix he’s got plenty of room.»

Tarantulas

«Doctor-patient confidentiality,» Tarantulas repeated incredulously. Those were definitely words he hadn’t expected to hear out of Hook’s mouth.

…Words which were followed by even more words he hadn’t expected. Tarantulas spluttered for a moment as he found his mental footing.

«That’s absolutely preposterous! There’s no way I’m putting a fission cell in Springer’s chest, let alone three of them! Besides, there’s absolutely no reason why my proposal would be anything less than highly effective, since it would in essence raise his internal defenses and extend his spark’s peak potential on a fundamental level, instead of throwing external patches on a core that’s not damaged in the first place.»

Hook

«Yeah. Doctor-patient confidentiality. Maybe you skipped that lesson, ya dropout.» Which Hook still resents him for.

«There sure as frag is a reason, or I wouldn’t’ve brought it up! Boostin’ his spark’s output is worthless on this procedure. The fact that you used it successfully to let a bot perform mass-displacement sequences don’t mean nothin’, that procedure’s easy enough that if I wanted I could talk Astrotrain through doin’ the surgery on his own spark over the phone. All mass-displacement needs to work is a lotta spare energy. This is ununtrium. Ununtrium attacks the system.

«You’re basically givin’ his spark a blaster and sayin’ “if he ever needs to defend himself, he can just shoot it so fast the blasts form an energy shield. That’s slag. A strong offense ain’t a substitute for a solid defense, civilian—and that’s all you’re givin’ him.»

Tarantulas

«Did you even read any of the text I sent with the schematics? It’s - it’s hardly just spare energy - the effects on the spark once it’s incorporated -»

Tarantulas cut himself off with a loud, indignant hiss. «You know nothing about the process in actuality. And to the pits with you and your battle metaphors, this isn’t war, it’s an immensely delicate and tenuous dance if anything, both with the surgery and with the ununtrium binding! If you knew scrap about the binding anyhow you’d have provided the information upfront - and if you actually do and didn’t say - you’re veritably -»

No, no threats, not toward people Prowl would get defensive over. Tarantulas had been there and suffered the darkly disapproving consequences already. A shaking silence followed as he struggled to rein himself in.

«I’m not putting a fission cell in Springer’s chest. End of story. »

Hook

«Yeah, yeah, yeah, I read the damn thing, I get how it works. It’s not gonna be enough. You’re STILL gonna be puttin’ the burden on his spark instead of shielding his spark from the burden.»

Hook bristled defensively. «Like FRAG do I know nothing! Maybe I can’t build the damn machine that makes it happen but I sure as hell know what it does to a body! To the pits with you and your dance metaphors, you’re about to drown his spark in radiation and you can’t waltz out of that.»

Stupid, arrogant know-it-all. He knew how to build a fancy machine that could spray star sludge on someone's protoform and suddenly he knew Hook's job better than Hook himself. «Fine. Your patient, your funeral. Ain't my problem if you think you know more than the expert.»

Tarantulas

«That’s not the way it works. » Another hiss, but Tarantulas was done with details. Just – done.

«Well, it’s not my problem if you’re deluding yourself into believing you’re – that you’re the only expert.» He’d been about to say “that you’re an expert in anything,” but he could restrain himself just enough not to ruin the situation entirely.

«Yes, thank you, he is my patient, my – the fragging opposite of a funeral. He’s - he's Ostaros. » From Eostre, new life, after all. Springer was going to awaken anew, and Tarantulas was going to see to it that he did so without a damn fission cell in his chest.

Hook

«He ain't Ostaros no more. That's your problem, bug. You think the fact you made him means you know everything about him—from his name to how it's best to upgrade him. Ya don't. And you're gonna get him killed thinkin' ya do.

«But that's gonna be on your head. All Prowl wanted me to do is give ya my opinion. I'm done here.»

Tarantulas

«He is Ostaros underneath all that plating, just like he was and always will be, whether anyone likes it or not! Which is why he's not only going to survive this, he's going to flourish, and I'm not letting you interfere with that. Primus, over my dead body.»

A growl. «You know, now that I think about it, it really must sting that Prowl only trusts you as a second opinion after a so-called 'bug' from a different universe.»

Hook

«So ya think that because ya named him, he'll definitely survive. Yeah. Uh-huh. That's definitely how medicine works.

«You're the scraphead that built him, ain't ya? You're the one that wants to fix him. Of course boss asked you first. It really must sting that boss don't trust you enough to be the ONLY opinion.»

Tarantulas

«See – I did build him, and that’s why I know he’ll survive. The name was merely subsequent.

«As for the matter of trust – the only reason Prowl is being this careful is because he cares so much about Ostaros that he’s the only reason Prowl agreed to work with me again in the first place! Which – yes, I’m aware that takes me down a couple notches in repute, but at least I have notches to be taken, unlike someone who’s wormed their way into Prowl’s life – Prowl’s head – using disgustingly base circumstances that’ll – that –»

Tarantulas left off with something between a growl and a hiss. «I’m not – I'm not dignifying you with the privilege of this conversation. We’re obviously done here.»

Click.

Hook

«Wh— You think—? Hey! You think any of US asked for this? We didn't want it no more than—»

Too late. Tarantulas was off the line. Hook shouted at nothing, kicked his tool cabinet, and stomped out of his little medibay to shout up at Prowl's level. "Your stupid bug is a piece of slag!"

"You gave him your advice?"

"Yeah. Not that he deserves any of it."

"Thank you."

Hook grumbled something about how Prowl oughta thank him if he wanted to make it worth all that, and trudged over to flop down in front of the TV.

There. Duty done. Now he didn't have that weighing on his conscience. If Springer died and Prowl was upset, it was on Tarantulas's head.

#araneamechanica #chat

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