Powerglide - Green
Title: Green
Author: Mark Jones
Character: Powerglide
Word count: 1079
Rating/Warning: G
Theme: Rainbow
Summary: Feeling victimised and depressed Powerglide has to find some way to cope with only the odd Cosmos and the dull surroundings of space for company.
When you first saw it space was beautiful. The stars have colours that are not imaginable if you have never left the surface of an atmosphere shrouded planet, where the gas envelop turns the stars into twinkly points of white. A myriad of distant objects hurl out radiation of all different frequencies of light over the distant parsecs. It can appear stunning beautiful. You need to travel for light years before the view will change in any way however. It does not take long before it become dull.
Powerglide did not feel in the mood to marvel at anything. The A-10 Thunderbolt sat floating against the black waiting for his rendezvous. Eventually he picked up his fellow minibot. Maybe there were some laughs to be had after all. While the distance could still be measured in kilometres, Mir was not far away. The Soviet space station was currently manned by a three cosmonaut crew and three fifths of the station hung in space in low Earth orbit, finances having run short for the Soviet space agency to launch the two remaining modules. The modules lay in storage, awaiting some future benefactor that might come to Mir's rescue. Distantly a green shape was moving towards the station.
According to rumour, there was a running gag amongst the console operators at the Baikonnur Cosmodrome not to tell any of the cosmonauts of the strange emerald saucer that loved to play peek-a-boo at the station. The green shape darted forward suddenly very close to the incomplete three pronged station and the large red light at the saucer's helm glowed into rotating glaring brightness. Despite his mood Powerglide imagined the panic inside Mir and laughed to himself. Powerglide suddenly thought to ask if Cosmos could confirm a rumour that some of the earlier Salyut space stations were armed, or better yet to ask Ratchet if he had been asked to patch any suspicious wounds.
"Yoohooooo! Powerglide! Are you there?" Cosmos voice sounded both joyous and youthful. Well he was headed planetside now, so he had reason to feel good.
"Over here Cos'. Don't yah ever get sick o' that prank?" Cosmos slightly warbling voice chuckled. The flying saucer was approaching rapidly now.
"Not since I learned to translate Russian and can eavesdrop on their conversations with ground control." Suddenly, he broke into song. "This is Major Tom to Ground Control, I'm feeling very ill! I think that spaceship knows which way we go. It looks very different you know! Ground Control to Major Tom, your space suits soiled, is something spoiled? Can you hear me Major Tom?" The song, mixed with Cosmos' odd accent, made Powerglide laugh openly.
"When di' cha learn to sing?"
"I taught myself listening to hundreds of human radio stations. They pick odd subjects to sing about. Just how do you make a sky out of marmalade? Or why does Fab Five Freddie have such odd dietary habits? They are an odd race, but oddly entertaining. They appeal to me much, especially when startled. You're expression is troubled my friend."
"Yeah, it would be." There was a silence between the two. Then another silence. The two silences collided and built into something greater than the sum of its two parts.
"You need to give me more to work with than that." Cosmos gently tried to seed the clouds of the brewing silence system.
"No I don't." Powerglide grumpily responded, sending verbal lightning back at Cosmos without releasing any rain.
"Powerglide if there is a problem that you do not address it will eat at you." The storm broke suddenly
"Bumblebee is becoming tyrant," Powerglide's rage gushed forward like a flash flood, thunder through storm drains, filling creeks, swamping bridge crossings, cutting highways, dislodging rails. "Jumped up miniature version of Prowl. Go help the humans, go slaughter other humans like a good little lap dog, bathe yourself in their blood until you can't tell where the haemoglobin stops and the livery starts. Hiding behind flimsy barriers of single compound metal, crawling along at speeds Omega Supreme could outpace on foot. And Prowl wanted me to do that! And Bumblebee! I thought he was one of us! A friend, but give a mech a little bit of authority and the twist it and abuse it and treat you like slag!"
As suddenly as it began the storm broke.
"You should see what your face looks like when you do that."
"Will you take me seriously?" There was a snarl in Powerglide's voice, but it was half-hearted. The rage had vented the pent up anger and it was impossible to stay angry at Cosmos. The small green flyer hung in space before him, transformed into warrior form , unnoticed by Powerglide in his tantrum. The maroon jet transformed, feeling a little self-conscious hiding within his vehicular mode.
"No I will not," the saucer replied in a serious and contrary tone. "Until such a time as you do not."
"Are you a serial contrarian?"
"If I said no would you believe me?" There was a glint in the eyes of the oddly beaked face beneath its brightly scarlet helm. Or maybe that was reflection of starlight, or moonlight or sunlight or Earthlight. Light could play tricks on you in the void. So could emerald hued compatriots.
"You know at heart that our strategist-enforcer is working for the good of all of us. Go easy on our little Bee. He has been entrusted with authority not normally given to one so young. He is growing into his role. Wisdom will come in time, we must make allowances while he learns. One day, he may become someone important. Have some faith in the warrior archivist who leads us. In all his time amongst the data tracks and the trenches perhaps he has learnt something of mechanoid nature?"
Powerglide looked upon the strangest of the motley collection of minibots. His face inscrutable, but capable of such strange assemblies of words, and stranger methods of action. Powerglide found himself gazing closer at Cosmos face as the chubby feature body leaned towards Powerglide, as if to quietly convey some great secret.
"There's one more thing..."
"What is it Cosmos? What do you know?"
"BOOO!"
Powerglide leant back in surprise, the outburst so unexpected. By the time his visor degaussed the green saucer was kilometres away and receding rapidly towards the surface of the planet.
"Powerglide is blue and there's naught Cosmos can doooooooo..."
Author: Mark Jones
Character: Powerglide
Word count: 1079
Rating/Warning: G
Theme: Rainbow
Summary: Feeling victimised and depressed Powerglide has to find some way to cope with only the odd Cosmos and the dull surroundings of space for company.
When you first saw it space was beautiful. The stars have colours that are not imaginable if you have never left the surface of an atmosphere shrouded planet, where the gas envelop turns the stars into twinkly points of white. A myriad of distant objects hurl out radiation of all different frequencies of light over the distant parsecs. It can appear stunning beautiful. You need to travel for light years before the view will change in any way however. It does not take long before it become dull.
Powerglide did not feel in the mood to marvel at anything. The A-10 Thunderbolt sat floating against the black waiting for his rendezvous. Eventually he picked up his fellow minibot. Maybe there were some laughs to be had after all. While the distance could still be measured in kilometres, Mir was not far away. The Soviet space station was currently manned by a three cosmonaut crew and three fifths of the station hung in space in low Earth orbit, finances having run short for the Soviet space agency to launch the two remaining modules. The modules lay in storage, awaiting some future benefactor that might come to Mir's rescue. Distantly a green shape was moving towards the station.
According to rumour, there was a running gag amongst the console operators at the Baikonnur Cosmodrome not to tell any of the cosmonauts of the strange emerald saucer that loved to play peek-a-boo at the station. The green shape darted forward suddenly very close to the incomplete three pronged station and the large red light at the saucer's helm glowed into rotating glaring brightness. Despite his mood Powerglide imagined the panic inside Mir and laughed to himself. Powerglide suddenly thought to ask if Cosmos could confirm a rumour that some of the earlier Salyut space stations were armed, or better yet to ask Ratchet if he had been asked to patch any suspicious wounds.
"Yoohooooo! Powerglide! Are you there?" Cosmos voice sounded both joyous and youthful. Well he was headed planetside now, so he had reason to feel good.
"Over here Cos'. Don't yah ever get sick o' that prank?" Cosmos slightly warbling voice chuckled. The flying saucer was approaching rapidly now.
"Not since I learned to translate Russian and can eavesdrop on their conversations with ground control." Suddenly, he broke into song. "This is Major Tom to Ground Control, I'm feeling very ill! I think that spaceship knows which way we go. It looks very different you know! Ground Control to Major Tom, your space suits soiled, is something spoiled? Can you hear me Major Tom?" The song, mixed with Cosmos' odd accent, made Powerglide laugh openly.
"When di' cha learn to sing?"
"I taught myself listening to hundreds of human radio stations. They pick odd subjects to sing about. Just how do you make a sky out of marmalade? Or why does Fab Five Freddie have such odd dietary habits? They are an odd race, but oddly entertaining. They appeal to me much, especially when startled. You're expression is troubled my friend."
"Yeah, it would be." There was a silence between the two. Then another silence. The two silences collided and built into something greater than the sum of its two parts.
"You need to give me more to work with than that." Cosmos gently tried to seed the clouds of the brewing silence system.
"No I don't." Powerglide grumpily responded, sending verbal lightning back at Cosmos without releasing any rain.
"Powerglide if there is a problem that you do not address it will eat at you." The storm broke suddenly
"Bumblebee is becoming tyrant," Powerglide's rage gushed forward like a flash flood, thunder through storm drains, filling creeks, swamping bridge crossings, cutting highways, dislodging rails. "Jumped up miniature version of Prowl. Go help the humans, go slaughter other humans like a good little lap dog, bathe yourself in their blood until you can't tell where the haemoglobin stops and the livery starts. Hiding behind flimsy barriers of single compound metal, crawling along at speeds Omega Supreme could outpace on foot. And Prowl wanted me to do that! And Bumblebee! I thought he was one of us! A friend, but give a mech a little bit of authority and the twist it and abuse it and treat you like slag!"
As suddenly as it began the storm broke.
"You should see what your face looks like when you do that."
"Will you take me seriously?" There was a snarl in Powerglide's voice, but it was half-hearted. The rage had vented the pent up anger and it was impossible to stay angry at Cosmos. The small green flyer hung in space before him, transformed into warrior form , unnoticed by Powerglide in his tantrum. The maroon jet transformed, feeling a little self-conscious hiding within his vehicular mode.
"No I will not," the saucer replied in a serious and contrary tone. "Until such a time as you do not."
"Are you a serial contrarian?"
"If I said no would you believe me?" There was a glint in the eyes of the oddly beaked face beneath its brightly scarlet helm. Or maybe that was reflection of starlight, or moonlight or sunlight or Earthlight. Light could play tricks on you in the void. So could emerald hued compatriots.
"You know at heart that our strategist-enforcer is working for the good of all of us. Go easy on our little Bee. He has been entrusted with authority not normally given to one so young. He is growing into his role. Wisdom will come in time, we must make allowances while he learns. One day, he may become someone important. Have some faith in the warrior archivist who leads us. In all his time amongst the data tracks and the trenches perhaps he has learnt something of mechanoid nature?"
Powerglide looked upon the strangest of the motley collection of minibots. His face inscrutable, but capable of such strange assemblies of words, and stranger methods of action. Powerglide found himself gazing closer at Cosmos face as the chubby feature body leaned towards Powerglide, as if to quietly convey some great secret.
"There's one more thing..."
"What is it Cosmos? What do you know?"
"BOOO!"
Powerglide leant back in surprise, the outburst so unexpected. By the time his visor degaussed the green saucer was kilometres away and receding rapidly towards the surface of the planet.
"Powerglide is blue and there's naught Cosmos can doooooooo..."