BrotherofaStudio
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Very good sales pitch. So reformed Decepticons are getting human partners. Albeit temporary ones. What combinations are we going to see?
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
-
- Tags
- self insert young justice
inglorius
Know what you're doing yet?
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Missing the ending quote marks.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Venustoise
Getting sticky.
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Was rereading Mighty Morphin Lantern Rangers and noticed something.
This should be 'running'.
This should be 'running'.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Kiden
Making the rounds.
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Should be thought here.
But yeah, finding out "dead" is a somewhat treatable condition for Cybertronian medical/mechanical care is a fair surprise.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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Technologically, I'm sure they could build a Chunnel-equivalent, but politically I kind of doubt the Koreans would agree to it, and Japan probably wouldn't want a tunnel to mainland China.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
They've still got several years before they get to that point.
Did Earth 16 get shown individually?
Codominion (part 24)
Mr Zoat
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16th April 2013
03:25 GMT -5
I'm… Pinned to a wall.
I think.
I can feel tiny points of attachments stabbing into my arms, legs and back. My arms are forced up, something… Something solid holding them in place at an awkward angle.
"Researcher, you were supposed to deactivate the device, not enter it yourself. Why did you deviate from protocol?"
I try turning my head, but that's being held in place too. There's a little give in the structure, but… My bones feel…
I can't move. I can't even move my eyes.
Who was talking? There's nothing in my visual field except a vine-covered wall a short distance opposite me. The phrasing sounds like something that a dominator might say, but I can't tell where it's coming from.
Can I talk?
"Can-?"
Good, okay. In the Dream. Can't see enough to judge the nature of the local environment. Which means that that dominator is probably the dominator in Swamp Thing's pod.
"Speak!"
Whatever form I've taken in the Dream, my rings are still on my fingers. So I could probably assimilate my surroundings. But on the grounds that I'm not stupid enough to anger Morpheus or give him a toe hold in the orange light, I instead reach out cautiously, feeling…
Feeling the solid bark of my flesh, the grip of my aerial rootlets on the porous brick behind me, the vitality flowing into me from my leaves.
The intersection between the local Dream and my mind. Take it.
I feel the… Really weird sensation as my roots retract, bark becoming more flexible and-. Ah! I pull free of the vine-mass, mobility restored and-. I'm still a plant-man with the outline of my power armour, but I'm free and-.
"Explain how you did that!"
I close my eyes-. Which doesn't work in the Dream. Alright, I unfocus my eyes and mentally orientate on the sound, then fly towards it. Once I stop moving, I focus on what's in front of me.
A dominator outlined in vines, stuck to the wall-. Enmeshed-? No, he's… Part of it.
"Explain who you are."
"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. You got greedy and got spotted."
"That is frustrating, but it was within the variables for this mission. Do you intend to offer terms, or will you kill me?"
"That depends on a lot of things. You will undergo a telepathic trawl before you go anywhere. Given that, being helpful now increase the chance of a favourable outcome for you."
"I understand."
"The ship… Great Mother, is currently mating with a fungus creature I brought with me. Is there a way to disconnect her from the machinery you built to connect her to the Mother Star without killing her? And is there an easy way to remove the programming you entered into her?"
"Not easy. Researcher was trying to reach it, but what we built has fallen too far into the metaphysical realms. It is likely here in some sense." He hesitates. "The ship's presence has receded. If we are fortunate, Researcher will reach the objective without us."
"I'm not feeling lucky. You?"
"Not everything can be deduced from available information. But the accumulated evidence suggests that it would be unwise to depend upon it."
"Right." I reach one plant-hand forwards and lay it on his bark-chest. "This will be uncomfortable."
"New knowledge is worth-"
I reach for where his psyche intersects with the Dream. Take that too.
"-any khtkhtkh…"
And pull.
"Nrrrrrrgh…"
The dominator takes the form of a robed humanoid with other vines running through his body, looking a little like he's got shipworms stuck halfway out of him.
They're writhing. But that could mean almost anything, from his inquisitiveness to some sort of spy from Great Mother that has wormed its way into his psyche. Assuming that was his pain-noise he made a moment ago, it doesn't sound like they're hurting him.
I look up, and there's a blank sky with its own sun. Good show, then up we go.
"Any other dominators here?"
"None I have heard. If they survive, then they are elsewhere."
"How many are here in total?"
"If I tell you, I require that you send a copy of our research to the homeworld."
"I was going to offer to rescue them, but if you want to make it hard…"
"The data is more important than our lives. The Mother Star represented a unique opportunity, which will now be lost."
"I will agree to leave your data intact. Given recent Dominion actions, I do not believe that sharing data with your government is in Earth's interest."
"Accepted. There are four of us. Researcher, Shipwright, Coordinator and me, Biotechnologist."
"Not a lot of people for a ship like that."
"The AI ship's drones sufficed. Suffering a mild inconvenience is well worth it for novel data."
"Data? You're not top caste, then."
"No. That is above our station. Though we may ascend if what we learn produces important developments."
"Okay then…"
We finally get to the top of the two walls, and I can… See. Huh. Okay, mapping-. This part is the same as the streets the Mother Star showed me, now covered in vines and… Larger. The sun is a glowing light above, but strands of sunlight reach down and touch the city is a dozen places I can see. Naturally, they don't burn their surroundings but rather cause a plethora of novel plants to grow around them.
"There." Biotechnologist points, towards… Ah, of course. The one direction in which things are covered in fungus, and bits of what look like Mother Star are visible in the morass. "The connector units were fungal, to make it harder for her to usurp them."
"So the thing which destroys them will…" No, wait. Gary already absorbed them. This is not literal. It's being held together by the dream of fungus, so…
"Will be there."
I shake my head as I start flying in that direction. I'll work something out once I see what I'm dealing with.
03:25 GMT -5
I'm… Pinned to a wall.
I think.
I can feel tiny points of attachments stabbing into my arms, legs and back. My arms are forced up, something… Something solid holding them in place at an awkward angle.
"Researcher, you were supposed to deactivate the device, not enter it yourself. Why did you deviate from protocol?"
I try turning my head, but that's being held in place too. There's a little give in the structure, but… My bones feel…
I can't move. I can't even move my eyes.
Who was talking? There's nothing in my visual field except a vine-covered wall a short distance opposite me. The phrasing sounds like something that a dominator might say, but I can't tell where it's coming from.
Can I talk?
"Can-?"
Good, okay. In the Dream. Can't see enough to judge the nature of the local environment. Which means that that dominator is probably the dominator in Swamp Thing's pod.
"Speak!"
Whatever form I've taken in the Dream, my rings are still on my fingers. So I could probably assimilate my surroundings. But on the grounds that I'm not stupid enough to anger Morpheus or give him a toe hold in the orange light, I instead reach out cautiously, feeling…
Feeling the solid bark of my flesh, the grip of my aerial rootlets on the porous brick behind me, the vitality flowing into me from my leaves.
The intersection between the local Dream and my mind. Take it.
I feel the… Really weird sensation as my roots retract, bark becoming more flexible and-. Ah! I pull free of the vine-mass, mobility restored and-. I'm still a plant-man with the outline of my power armour, but I'm free and-.
"Explain how you did that!"
I close my eyes-. Which doesn't work in the Dream. Alright, I unfocus my eyes and mentally orientate on the sound, then fly towards it. Once I stop moving, I focus on what's in front of me.
A dominator outlined in vines, stuck to the wall-. Enmeshed-? No, he's… Part of it.
"Explain who you are."
"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. You got greedy and got spotted."
"That is frustrating, but it was within the variables for this mission. Do you intend to offer terms, or will you kill me?"
"That depends on a lot of things. You will undergo a telepathic trawl before you go anywhere. Given that, being helpful now increase the chance of a favourable outcome for you."
"I understand."
"The ship… Great Mother, is currently mating with a fungus creature I brought with me. Is there a way to disconnect her from the machinery you built to connect her to the Mother Star without killing her? And is there an easy way to remove the programming you entered into her?"
"Not easy. Researcher was trying to reach it, but what we built has fallen too far into the metaphysical realms. It is likely here in some sense." He hesitates. "The ship's presence has receded. If we are fortunate, Researcher will reach the objective without us."
"I'm not feeling lucky. You?"
"Not everything can be deduced from available information. But the accumulated evidence suggests that it would be unwise to depend upon it."
"Right." I reach one plant-hand forwards and lay it on his bark-chest. "This will be uncomfortable."
"New knowledge is worth-"
I reach for where his psyche intersects with the Dream. Take that too.
"-any khtkhtkh…"
And pull.
"Nrrrrrrgh…"
The dominator takes the form of a robed humanoid with other vines running through his body, looking a little like he's got shipworms stuck halfway out of him.
They're writhing. But that could mean almost anything, from his inquisitiveness to some sort of spy from Great Mother that has wormed its way into his psyche. Assuming that was his pain-noise he made a moment ago, it doesn't sound like they're hurting him.
I look up, and there's a blank sky with its own sun. Good show, then up we go.
"Any other dominators here?"
"None I have heard. If they survive, then they are elsewhere."
"How many are here in total?"
"If I tell you, I require that you send a copy of our research to the homeworld."
"I was going to offer to rescue them, but if you want to make it hard…"
"The data is more important than our lives. The Mother Star represented a unique opportunity, which will now be lost."
"I will agree to leave your data intact. Given recent Dominion actions, I do not believe that sharing data with your government is in Earth's interest."
"Accepted. There are four of us. Researcher, Shipwright, Coordinator and me, Biotechnologist."
"Not a lot of people for a ship like that."
"The AI ship's drones sufficed. Suffering a mild inconvenience is well worth it for novel data."
"Data? You're not top caste, then."
"No. That is above our station. Though we may ascend if what we learn produces important developments."
"Okay then…"
We finally get to the top of the two walls, and I can… See. Huh. Okay, mapping-. This part is the same as the streets the Mother Star showed me, now covered in vines and… Larger. The sun is a glowing light above, but strands of sunlight reach down and touch the city is a dozen places I can see. Naturally, they don't burn their surroundings but rather cause a plethora of novel plants to grow around them.
"There." Biotechnologist points, towards… Ah, of course. The one direction in which things are covered in fungus, and bits of what look like Mother Star are visible in the morass. "The connector units were fungal, to make it harder for her to usurp them."
"So the thing which destroys them will…" No, wait. Gary already absorbed them. This is not literal. It's being held together by the dream of fungus, so…
"Will be there."
I shake my head as I start flying in that direction. I'll work something out once I see what I'm dealing with.
Chojin Patriarch
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That would be the simulation equivalent of the system the Dominator was plugged into, then. Which means all the connections... Are roots or branches burrowed into his simulated body.
Ow.Ah, the simulated form within the dream doesn't differentiate physical appearance of the people plugged in, then.
Well, that's a hell of a loading screen to wake up to.
...Simple enough. Just a matter of breaking loose of the containment you're in.
Patience, science-guy. Man's got to work out where and what he is right now.
Heh. Now I'm picturing a Sylvaneth Kurnoth. Which isn't a terrible aesthetic.
Heh. Joy of having to rely on senses other than sight.
How about you start, science-guy? Considering OL's here because of your tomfoolery...
At least he's not trying to deflect the accusations or cover up his actions.
In other words, be nice, or they leave the pain-inhibitors off.
Somehow, I doubt he's still mobile...
At least they're sanguine about their odds.
OL tends to understate things like pain. All that using his ring to mitigate it, you know.
Still, the guy is a Dominator. I doubt his hands are clean of blood, so consider that a little karma...
Again, Sylvaneth. Probably more along the lines of a branchwych.
So they're basically planted in the cracks of some plain? Perhaps a racial memory-dream of the Mother Star, or of Great Mother's kind...
And given he seemed surprised to see anyone else in here, he's probably not expecting them anyway.
Huh. Not very concerned for his subordinates, is he? Then again, bred specifically for the role of scientist, things like empathy are probably minimised in his caste.
I suspect OL will also want the Maltusians to get a copy of that data.
All right. One accounted for, and there's no risk of a kill-squad rolling up from somewhere deeper in the Mother Star in the real world, then.
Definitely bred for Science!, then.
Though what the Dominator would do with that data... Not necessarily a good thing.
Because Dream realm logic. What's the bet the Sun is Swamp Thing or Gumbo Man, as rendered in the context of the place.
...No guarantee things will work as intended.
Worst case, he can brute-force some kind of conceptual connection.
And boy, that's a lot of 'OL seeing weird stuff' font.
I expect that will continue for the next few chapters. The small team count explains the size of the Dominator ship at least. And OL's found the head guy of the science team, which at least gives him a useful line of information. So, time for OL to haul bio-tech guy here along as he sorts things out from the inside...
Lord Ernest
At the End...
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You know, for how much of a monster the Dominators can be and the things they do "For the Science!", I do enjoy how logical they're once they're caught. They don't try to plead, bargain or justify themselves, they to the point "Are we making a deal or are you killing me?" I really respect that.
Neruz
HISSSSSS!
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It seems like their primary safety measure was "great mother cannot fungus" and presumably Gary is busily helping great mother figure out how to fungus, so yeah that's gonna have consequences.
This is what true rationality looks like.
NightmareWarden
Versed in the lewd.
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Blue Mana obsession, to use Magic the Gathering mental profiles.
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Head guy? Unclear; relative status among Dominators is rather opaque, outside of caste distinctions. This was Biotechnologist, who sounds like a mission-relevant specialist, which may or may not translate to leadership in this context. Shipwright seems like the engineering specialist, which position probably does not come with command authority. Researcher was the guy out doing field tests, which could mean that they were the field tech working for Biotechnologist, or could mean that they were enthusiastic enough to take the risk despite their higher 'status'. Coordinator sounds somewhat like it could be a leadership title, but it could just as easily be something more like the secretary and gofer for the team.
Jirachi
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Paul really does have the instincts of someone who doesn't need no backup, doesn't he? He talked a big game about continuity planning w/ dox and such but I feel like his continuity planning for weird time / alternate universe / dream / exotic physics earth shenanigans seems a good bit behind his planning for the orange lantern corps to be okay without him. Feel like if there's going to keep being like weird dream physics stuff that he should maybe be dragging alan or guy or something into this to keep that up.
The dominion is so reasonable about being the opposing force that it's hard to be mad at them, honestly.
Does the nemo council have meetings or is it just an in principle ultimate responsibility thing? There's the sketch of the leadership structure but I don't think we've ever seen them actually convene - we've just sort of had controllers poke paul at times, or Dox give mission briefings.
Brute forcing the aetheric resonance pattern for grey manipulation seems like exactly the sort of thing that Hinon is going to scold him for.
Had a lot of fun seeing how despite enlightenment he's stayed reflective and changing and willing to be seriously contemplative and able to restructure his priorities - there's a certain calmness throughout but can really feel the struggle yet still.
- Also, mid caste magic using dominators? I seem to recall that the guardians were under the impression that it was 'limited to a handful of high caste types'. Might be worrisome, actually.
The dominion is so reasonable about being the opposing force that it's hard to be mad at them, honestly.
Does the nemo council have meetings or is it just an in principle ultimate responsibility thing? There's the sketch of the leadership structure but I don't think we've ever seen them actually convene - we've just sort of had controllers poke paul at times, or Dox give mission briefings.
Brute forcing the aetheric resonance pattern for grey manipulation seems like exactly the sort of thing that Hinon is going to scold him for.
Had a lot of fun seeing how despite enlightenment he's stayed reflective and changing and willing to be seriously contemplative and able to restructure his priorities - there's a certain calmness throughout but can really feel the struggle yet still.
- Also, mid caste magic using dominators? I seem to recall that the guardians were under the impression that it was 'limited to a handful of high caste types'. Might be worrisome, actually.
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Meet The Eye (part 8)
Mr Zoat
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12th July 2014
10:03 GMT +5:30
"…perfectly adequate." Dreadwing doesn't look at Jack's question, eyes fixed on Skyquake's now-recumbent body as Axlegrease makes it a little more presentable. "I have no desire for conflict with your kind. You have nothing that I want."
"Ah… Okay."
Jack glances up to where Axlegrease is considering the practicality of reattaching Skyquake's severed arm. She appears to give up on repairing the linkages and instead activates the tools she needs for opening the arm's plating. Raf watches from his position on a nearby chirurgical table with an expression of rapt fascination on his face.
"I'm… Sorry."
"For what?"
"The.. arm."
"What about it?"
"That… That was us."
Dreadwing blinks. "How?"
"Miko-. When we got stuck in the shadowzone, Skyquake attacked us. Starscream's arm was there, and we managed to make his missile fire. It…" He gestures vaguely. "Hit him in the arm."
Dreadwing considers for a moment, then gives his head a very small shake. "Your initiative should be commended. But that thing was not my brother."
Jack nods slowly. "Do you.. want to talk about him?"
"What purpose would it serve?"
"I know there… Because of how many transformers died in the War, there probably aren't that many other transformers who.. remember him. With humans, when someone dies, we usually get together and talk about our memories of them."
"Half of me is dead. Words cannot do justice to what I feel, either the absence or the betrayal." Jack sags a little. "Still, I suppose that there is no harm in recounting his deeds to you. Perhaps when Axlegrease has completed her work, and you can see him as he was."
Jack nods. "Sure."
"But for now, be gone."
Jack looks up at him for a moment, then nods. "Sure."
He turns and heads towards the exit, glancing back at Dreadwing once, then shrugging to himself. Then he spots me and slows down awkwardly. "Hey, Boss." He glances back again. "Ah…"
I shrug. "If he doesn't want to talk yet then he doesn't want to talk yet. You can't help someone who doesn't want anything from you."
"I could.. go and help Miko?"
I shake my head and motion with my left hand for him to follow as I lead the way over to one of the 'coping with transformer scale distances' karts. "While it should be impossible for a couple of humans to 'crowd' a transformer, Nova Storm is a… A little jumpy. I think-" We both sit down, and I accelerate us out of the medical bay and towards the command suite. "-it's probably best if we leave them to get accustomed to each other. I'll show you how our command and control setup works, and we can-."
My personal communicator bleeps. I'm not.. feeling anything from Slipstream, who wanted to hang around while Miko and Nova Storm get to know each other. Nova Storm hasn't had any… 'Outbursts' or anything like that, but she's mostly been interacting with other Decepticons. Something else, then.
"Excuse me. Answer."
"Sir, we have a message from Cybertron. The Autobots want to send someone to speak with you."
Hm. Not sure why. There's a protocol in place for hiring people for scraplet removal, so they hardly need to speak to me about that. I doubt that they've got a problem paying me; the radical differences in our economies are why it was such a good deal for both parties. I turn left, heading for the receiving room.
"That's fine. I'll be at the receiving room in about thirty seconds."
It has signal boosters for a small scale space bridge, as well as a beacon that makes it easier to precisely lock onto the location. It also has the thickest armour in the facility and a couple of small fission warheads concealed in the walls just in case. I remember that the Michael Bay films made it seem like transformers were relatively easy to kill with human weapons. The reality is that they've very much not. A well fed transformer won't even feel anything short of an anti-armour missile or an anti-tank round, and the shot would need to hit the weaker parts of their armour repeatedly to penetrate. Fission warheads are just about the only thing we've got that stands a good chance of putting one down promptly.
"Ah, who-?" Jack looks at me for permission to ask, and I nod. "Who are they sending?"
"She said that her name was 'Arcee'."
"Arcee's coming back to Earth?"
"Ah, yes? She did not say how long she intends to stay."
Checking up on us, obviously. The only other real possibility is that the Autobots think that the Americans are making off with things they're not supposed to and they want me as a counterbalance, but that isn't very likely. There are advantages to making trades with a cash payment rather than something nebulous like 'technology transfers' or 'future support', but-. Well, Optimus Prime seemed like a spirit-of-the-agreement type, but I'm not sure about the new Councillors.
I turn off into the receiving room, the heavily reinforced transformer-scale doors closing behind us.
"Okay, I'm here." I pull the kart over in the designated parking spot and we both get out. "Activate the beacon and tell her to come through at her leisure."
"Yes, sir."
I end the call, and notice Jack twitching.
"Looking forwards to seeing her?"
"Yeah! Of course I am."
"Going to talk to her about..?" I tap the back of my neck.
"I…" He exhales sharply. "Yeah. I mean, I have to. I tried-. Bringing it up before, but I don't think she understood what I was saying. I-. I'll just have to be really clear. Direct."
"It's not just that. When I came to talk to you about getting access to Vector Sigma, I tried raising it then."
His eyes widen. "What?"
"But I'm not sure she really got it. Transformers don't have our family structures, so telling her that you want to be her boyfriend won't really mean anything."
"How did you do it with Slipstream?"
"I explained everything; evolutionary psychology, reproductive biology, modern sociology… Everything. And I kept treating her like my girlfriend. And-. Oh, and… Transformer teams usually comprise of between four and six individuals, and that's their… Family-equivalent. So you might need to explicitly specify that you want a-"
Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.
"-one-to-one relationship."
He takes a deep breath as he faces the swirling spacebridge aperture. and nods firmly. "Yeah. I can do that."
Arcee walks through, smiling as she spots him. "Hey, Jack."
He smiles broadly as he heads towards her. "H-hey, Arcee. How.. are you?"
"Good. I had some really great news. I wanted to introduce you to-
And then a large white and blue Autobot strolls through just before the spacebridge snaps shut. Jack… Clearly doesn't recognise him. I don't either.
Arcee half-turns to him. "-my partner, Tailgate."
10:03 GMT +5:30
"…perfectly adequate." Dreadwing doesn't look at Jack's question, eyes fixed on Skyquake's now-recumbent body as Axlegrease makes it a little more presentable. "I have no desire for conflict with your kind. You have nothing that I want."
"Ah… Okay."
Jack glances up to where Axlegrease is considering the practicality of reattaching Skyquake's severed arm. She appears to give up on repairing the linkages and instead activates the tools she needs for opening the arm's plating. Raf watches from his position on a nearby chirurgical table with an expression of rapt fascination on his face.
"I'm… Sorry."
"For what?"
"The.. arm."
"What about it?"
"That… That was us."
Dreadwing blinks. "How?"
"Miko-. When we got stuck in the shadowzone, Skyquake attacked us. Starscream's arm was there, and we managed to make his missile fire. It…" He gestures vaguely. "Hit him in the arm."
Dreadwing considers for a moment, then gives his head a very small shake. "Your initiative should be commended. But that thing was not my brother."
Jack nods slowly. "Do you.. want to talk about him?"
"What purpose would it serve?"
"I know there… Because of how many transformers died in the War, there probably aren't that many other transformers who.. remember him. With humans, when someone dies, we usually get together and talk about our memories of them."
"Half of me is dead. Words cannot do justice to what I feel, either the absence or the betrayal." Jack sags a little. "Still, I suppose that there is no harm in recounting his deeds to you. Perhaps when Axlegrease has completed her work, and you can see him as he was."
Jack nods. "Sure."
"But for now, be gone."
Jack looks up at him for a moment, then nods. "Sure."
He turns and heads towards the exit, glancing back at Dreadwing once, then shrugging to himself. Then he spots me and slows down awkwardly. "Hey, Boss." He glances back again. "Ah…"
I shrug. "If he doesn't want to talk yet then he doesn't want to talk yet. You can't help someone who doesn't want anything from you."
"I could.. go and help Miko?"
I shake my head and motion with my left hand for him to follow as I lead the way over to one of the 'coping with transformer scale distances' karts. "While it should be impossible for a couple of humans to 'crowd' a transformer, Nova Storm is a… A little jumpy. I think-" We both sit down, and I accelerate us out of the medical bay and towards the command suite. "-it's probably best if we leave them to get accustomed to each other. I'll show you how our command and control setup works, and we can-."
My personal communicator bleeps. I'm not.. feeling anything from Slipstream, who wanted to hang around while Miko and Nova Storm get to know each other. Nova Storm hasn't had any… 'Outbursts' or anything like that, but she's mostly been interacting with other Decepticons. Something else, then.
"Excuse me. Answer."
"Sir, we have a message from Cybertron. The Autobots want to send someone to speak with you."
Hm. Not sure why. There's a protocol in place for hiring people for scraplet removal, so they hardly need to speak to me about that. I doubt that they've got a problem paying me; the radical differences in our economies are why it was such a good deal for both parties. I turn left, heading for the receiving room.
"That's fine. I'll be at the receiving room in about thirty seconds."
It has signal boosters for a small scale space bridge, as well as a beacon that makes it easier to precisely lock onto the location. It also has the thickest armour in the facility and a couple of small fission warheads concealed in the walls just in case. I remember that the Michael Bay films made it seem like transformers were relatively easy to kill with human weapons. The reality is that they've very much not. A well fed transformer won't even feel anything short of an anti-armour missile or an anti-tank round, and the shot would need to hit the weaker parts of their armour repeatedly to penetrate. Fission warheads are just about the only thing we've got that stands a good chance of putting one down promptly.
"Ah, who-?" Jack looks at me for permission to ask, and I nod. "Who are they sending?"
"She said that her name was 'Arcee'."
"Arcee's coming back to Earth?"
"Ah, yes? She did not say how long she intends to stay."
Checking up on us, obviously. The only other real possibility is that the Autobots think that the Americans are making off with things they're not supposed to and they want me as a counterbalance, but that isn't very likely. There are advantages to making trades with a cash payment rather than something nebulous like 'technology transfers' or 'future support', but-. Well, Optimus Prime seemed like a spirit-of-the-agreement type, but I'm not sure about the new Councillors.
I turn off into the receiving room, the heavily reinforced transformer-scale doors closing behind us.
"Okay, I'm here." I pull the kart over in the designated parking spot and we both get out. "Activate the beacon and tell her to come through at her leisure."
"Yes, sir."
I end the call, and notice Jack twitching.
"Looking forwards to seeing her?"
"Yeah! Of course I am."
"Going to talk to her about..?" I tap the back of my neck.
"I…" He exhales sharply. "Yeah. I mean, I have to. I tried-. Bringing it up before, but I don't think she understood what I was saying. I-. I'll just have to be really clear. Direct."
"It's not just that. When I came to talk to you about getting access to Vector Sigma, I tried raising it then."
His eyes widen. "What?"
"But I'm not sure she really got it. Transformers don't have our family structures, so telling her that you want to be her boyfriend won't really mean anything."
"How did you do it with Slipstream?"
"I explained everything; evolutionary psychology, reproductive biology, modern sociology… Everything. And I kept treating her like my girlfriend. And-. Oh, and… Transformer teams usually comprise of between four and six individuals, and that's their… Family-equivalent. So you might need to explicitly specify that you want a-"
Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.
"-one-to-one relationship."
He takes a deep breath as he faces the swirling spacebridge aperture. and nods firmly. "Yeah. I can do that."
Arcee walks through, smiling as she spots him. "Hey, Jack."
He smiles broadly as he heads towards her. "H-hey, Arcee. How.. are you?"
"Good. I had some really great news. I wanted to introduce you to-
And then a large white and blue Autobot strolls through just before the spacebridge snaps shut. Jack… Clearly doesn't recognise him. I don't either.
Arcee half-turns to him. "-my partner, Tailgate."
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Gromweld
Learning By Mistake
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In the wise words of Zuko:
"That's rough, buddy."
ForeverShogo
Not too sore, are you?
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Don't think Tailgate was that kind of partner, so Jack should be fine as long as he doesn't . . . He's totally going to jump to the worst possible conclusion.
Chojin Patriarch
Veteran Lurker
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Huh, they managed to open away into the shadow dimension Skyquake was left in? I'm guessing the Terrorcon made from him burnt through all its' Dark Energon and shut down. Otherwise, I hope they really cleaned out his system before they try to revive him... Edit: Scratch revival, he's scrapped proper under word of Zoat...
That's probably going to take some rebuilding. Being blown off like it was wouldn't leave a lot of the joint struts intact.
Heh. Feeling a little guilty, Jack? Don't be. It was kill or be killed, after all.
Still, they did manage to take it down. Or at least slow it down long enough for the Autobots to get them out.
To be fair, I doubt anyone would have been expecting that to be possible.
Somehow, Jack, I don't think he's the sort to be too sentimental. And besides, with a bit of luck, they might be able to get Skyquake back up and running... Though I expect a complication somehow.
Honestly, Cybertronians... I half-expect that their memory core keep a copy of their experiences even after their spark is discharged.
As long as you don't get too much into his more destructive combat actions. After all, the twins there were some of Megatron's strongest enforcers...
Yeah, when a thirty-foot-tall 'bot says go away, you go.
Some people are just naturally private. Even Cybertronians.
Trying to keep her exposure to the unfamiliar allies down a bit until you're certain she's completely stable, eh?
Hopefully she settles soon, because you're probably gonna need the firepower before long.
Heh. Right on the money. Now, who are they sending, though?
Gee, I don't know. Concerns over you hiring Decepticons and human children, maybe? Who knows how the current leadership is thinking right now?
A bit excessive, but given the kind of weaponry some 'bots were throwing around during the war... It's not surprising their armour is tough as hell.
Try not to get too excited, Jack. Just because your sort-of alien robot girl crush is coming...
Heh. He's really got it bad for her, doesn't he?
Given MECH, technological looting isn't an unreasonable concern. Especially given the
Hoo boy.At least she's not so tall that you'll need the regular gantries.
Any more obvious, and he'd be vibrating.
Bit of a big step. I expect his mother will want to be a part of that discussion...
Admittedly, Jack was probably a bit more circumspect about it. Dancing around the question, as it were.
Never mind anything more physical.
Admittedly, in some cases, such teams can be more like a big old polycule.
So don't be nervous, just say what you want to say...
Ah, a sight for sore eyes, eh?
...Oh dear. Did she get someone dear to her revived?
To be fair, 'Partner' has many connotations in Cybertronian culture, as Pull was saying...
Is it just me, or does Arcee seem to end up teamed with horned guys a lot? This guy, Cliffjumper... And worryingly, they always seem to end up off-lined. Maybe Jack's dodging a bullet by not hooking up with her... Then again, it remains to be seen how she feels about him, doesn't it? Either way, I have a feeling the conversations between Jack and Tailgate are going to be frosty.
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Someguy Somewhere
The Critical Fumbler
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Hormone driven teenager that just encountered his beloved sentient motorcycle / romantic interest showing up out of the blue with a old associate that she shared a deep connection with and has now returned from the grave?
.....I guess I could have just stopped at "Hormone Driven Teen" and had the same effect.
Lord Ernest
At the End...
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Yeah, I don't think Tailgate and Arcee were like that. But Jack doesn't know that. And even I, before actually thinking about it, my first reaction was "oof, that's tough buddy".
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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No, they put him down. And they're not trying to resurrect him. They already know that's impossible. They're just trying to prettify his corpse.
What wreckage? In this timeline they captured it intact.
Darko
Connoisseur.
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Well chicks dig giant robots.
Yoda900
Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?
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Hey everybody! I just tried archiving the story so i could read it ofline. But the fichub PDF option spins/loads and comes back with a 504 error (gateway time-out). Does anyone have any suggestions?