Strapped

[yessirmrjohnson]

Where: The Nemesis
When: Tuesday
Who: Caroline, Starscream, and Cabrakan
What: The free standing portal device is good for rescuing all her friends.
Warnings: Talking about autobots behind their back.

Comments

[deceptiveplane]

[Starscream's wings twitch indignantly.]

You humans do not understand. No prisoners. Only trophies. And as long as we are in power, Optimus will still rise up.

[He shys his face away, giving a pout.]

My reason for killing Optimus is strictly business. I want proof that I -can- kill him. Something Megatron has not done. If I can accomplish that...then I would be Lord Starscream.

[yessirmrjohnson]

How about this? I could try and earn his trust. He seems to really enjoy the company of humans and he seemed concerned for me when I mentioned you. I would be able to gather information about him that may end up helping you in the end.

[ It was clear that in common labels of good and evil, Starscream and his kind fell on the evil side. Helping him might mean the death of millions of innocent people and robots once he returned home. But. It also meant a chance to gather information on Optimus for herself as well as earn points with Starscream. Besides, what would theoretically happen to people in a world that wasn't hers didn't really matter to her. Research as research and being on the good side of both sides of this equation was the best possible place to be. ]

[deceptiveplane]

[Oh Caroline, if only you were a robot. He would be so up on your aft after saying that oh wait. His face curls into a smile, one so sinister that even fellow Decepticons would be a bit frightened at it.]

I believe this is the start of a beautiful partnership, Caroline.

[Likewise, Starscream really didn't care if she was human or not. As long as she gave him information, he could always terminate her later. GLaDOS was pretty much the only reason why he had not done so before, so why not use her if he had to keep her alive?]

[yessirmrjohnson]

Now, did he just come to say hello before, or did you antagonize him?

[deceptiveplane]

I...may or may not have taken a little being. I'm sure you've seen them running around.

[yessirmrjohnson]

You mean ones like Six? Since you brought them here, I'm assuming you're trying to do research on them?

[deceptiveplane]

Yes.

Any possible sedatives I would have would kill them with a single drop. You can see my dilemma.

[yessirmrjohnson]

They are fascinating and I would like to know more about Six's prophetic abilities, but there are better ways than kidnapping. If you could give me three weeks, I will be more than happy to gather information for you so you can focus your efforts on more important matters.

[ She was sure her methods would be far safer for the poor little things than what Starscream had in mind. ]

[deceptiveplane]

[As fascinating as the Stitchpunks are, he needs Caroline for information on Optimus, so he's not going to completely rule this out.]

Three weeks. But if you don't move quick enough, I shall resume my own study.

[yessirmrjohnson]

Is there anything specific that you're looking to find out? How they function, how they're made, things like that?

[deceptiveplane]

I've already done a full body scan.

[He brings it up on the ships computer for emphasis. The large screens make everything so wonderful.]

But there is no information on how they have cognitive thought. No neural network...just a metal framework and cloth. And a light for their optics.

PARTY AT STARSCREAMS

[telepathlobster]

Should the ship be scanning for other nearby craft in tandem, it might have picked up the energy readings of what appeared to be a small ship built for reconnaissance. Outside, the machine was carefully approaching after having spotted the sounds of battle in the quiet Forest.

It gently traversed through the air with little pittance to gravity or other forces that should have prevented it from flying - and gently approached the lip of the hangar. It's cloaking device was deactivated - it had no reason to hide in the lawless outskirts, and it was too damaged to hide itself from ship sensors in any case.

PARTY AT STARSCREAMS

[yessirmrjohnson]

Well, I have a lot of work to do, so I'll go now. You seem fine now. [ Caroline gathered up her portal device and began to walk back the way she came, straight for the hanger but froze when she saw the new ship. ]

Starscream, you should come see this!

[deceptiveplane]

[Judging from an average human's attention span, they probably just saw a pelican or something. But this was Caroline, so it was probably a robot pelican. Worth a look either way.

He follows her out to the hangar and his eyes widen.]

Cabrakan?

[telepathlobster]

What it saw was not was it had been expecting. Despite the hangar bay doors having been torn open, exposing the interior battle scarring of Optimus' escape, Starscream appeared to be perfectly intact. Not only that, but there was a human - untouched and quite valuable. The two even seemed to be acquainted, contradicting the Decepticon's previous distate for the species.

The mechanical legs touched down gently on the edge of the Hangar, having been unfortunately disappointed it would not be able to examine the biology of the curious machines.

"Despite the distress signal, you appear to have been untouched by the Leader of your kind.."

[deceptiveplane]

[Starscream sees Caroline's fear and stops her backtracking with his claw.]

This is an acquaintance of mine, Caroline. No need to fear.

[Back to lobsters.]

Leader? I assure you he is nothing of the sort.