Adjustment of character, 12
This took a while, I know. Life kind of picked up. ^^ We finally hit the capital, though, and find more about Roadstead.
They didn't spend that long on Ijurn. There just wasn't really much to see, and so there didn't seem to be a point to it. It really was an unimportant planet, one which only got so much traffic because it was the main connection between the Empire and the current front-line.
After leaving the organic planet behind, Roadstead set course to New Kaon. There was no reason to delay Amber's introduction to a true Transformer planet. There was nothing organic on New Kaon, and never had been, or if there had been, it was back in the forgotten times. It was only crystals and metal... There was wilderness, but it was the sort that might be found on Cybertron itself, metal plains and solvent rivers, mecha-fish and cyberwolves and crystals. The first time Roadstead had seen it, he had thought it looked artificial.
"Wow... The planet is... shining. It's all glimmery," Amber said, looking out the window in amazement. "I can see so many colors from here!"
Roadstead laughed, the sound friendly this time. "I know. It's the crystals you're seeing, mostly, they do come in all colors. This is a metal planet... this is our capital, the center of our empire and spark of the army." It was home... "Vos is down there. You might... yes, that system of clouds there, see that light in the middle? That's Vos..." He couldn't hide how happy he was to be back. He wanted to go home so much...
"We're going to Nemmis first, though. There's... a friend I need to greet..."
"A friend...? ...It's not Shockwave, is it?" Amber asked, still very suspicious. Roadstead laughed again, knowing he couldn't entirely blame her. She was still learning.
"He's not a friend. He's a commanding officer. One I've had the privilege of interfacing at times, yes, but still not a friend." Some people, maybe, called Shockwave a friend, but Roadstead was not one of them. The Seeker smiled to take some of the sting out of his words. "We're going to see Sunrain. He's the one who helped me adjust when I translated... He lives in Nemmis instead of Vos, because he- He can fly well enough to get to Vos, but if he went there, he would just... be a semi-crippled Seeker. In Nemmis, though..." Roadstead shrugged. Amber was aware, by now, of just how sought after Seeker-frames were, and how much they liked it.
The femme bit at her lower derma, and Roadstead waited for the question he was sure was coming. "Um... What do you mean... semi-crippled...?" she asked after a while, hesitantly.
Good femme, Roadstead thought to himself, wings fluttering a guilty-distressed pattern as he answered. "We've been rather lucky with you. You translated in a battle, but the Earth-bots are willing to withdraw when that happens. They're... nice, you know. I wasn't... quite so lucky. I didn't translate in battle, but on my tour..."
An attack. He was frozen, trying to look everywhere, as explosions rocked the ship. He had weapons, but wasn't sure how to use them, and there was a mech looking at him, with blue optics, and new as he was, he could see there was hate in that azure gaze-
"Those Autobots didn't care that I was new, that I was unused to the world. I can't blame them, it's not like I was a child... I ran, after the first few shots. Sunrain found me... He pushed me out of the way when more shots came. One hit him..." Roadstead touched his wing, near his body. "Shattered the support struts and damaged the joints. Medics did what they could, and he can fly- He was a speed model. Mobility would have offlined. He's... not so fast any more. I can outfly him..."
Amber was staring at him in total shock. It wasn't the stunned disbelief she had shown earlier when he told her things... this was different. She knew what he was talking about, trusted that he wasn't exaggerating- And Roadstead realized she was probably going to say something he would have to cut off soon.
"So... He kind of- saved you-"
"Stop." And thank Primus, she did. Roadstead gave a reassuring flutter.
"Maybe." Because Roadstead had to admit, he had a much lower chance of being online if Sunrain hadn't pushed him. "Ever wonder what Metrodash did to become mine? It wasn't what I did, you know. Well, it was, but not like that. He said that I saved his life. Do you see?" He wasn't sure she did...
"But you would have been hit if he hadn't-" Once again, Roadstead cut her off.
"Metrodash said that I saved his life. He told others that he owed me his life."
"But... Now he can't- er, Sunrain? He can't even... Fly as well..." Amber said, seeming to, finally, get what Roadstead was hinting at. Unfortunately, hinting was all he could do, by the culture he embraced.
"No, he can't. But he can fly, and he gets care... and if I owed him anything, one could probably say that making something of myself is better payment."
He looked at Sunrain, at the Seeker he had only known for a few days- orns. He was nice, friendly... maybe 'too' friendly, but it was good. And now Sunrain, with his beautiful, exuberant name, was shot down, energon seeming to pour out, covering the bright yellow wing. "S- sunrain... Are you- you jumped in front of me..."
"It's nothing," his guide said, voice tight in a way that he wouldn't understand for groons. "I'll live."
"But you-" And he was cut off, one energon-covered hand covering his derma.
"No. Don't tie yourself to me. You're going to do things, going to make your name known. I'm... not going to be able to stay in this war. You do that for me."
"...I... guess..." Amber said, clearly not agreeing. Roadstead put an arm around her, squeezing in a purely comforting manner.
"You're not made for this war. You don't have to fight... But we're still going to visit Sunrain in Nemmis. And maybe you'll find someone who catches your optic, or who's interested in you..." Roadstead changed the subject, and Amber allowed it. They discussed what sort of mech (or femme, but she didn't seem to understand that) she was interested in, what kind of man she had always dreamed of marrying some day.
That conversation held Amber until they landed, and then Roadstead insisted that they fly again. Self-flight was unregulated on the surface of New Kaon, though interplanetary flight was monitored. Flight was one of the things which set Decepticons apart from Autobots, though the correlation wasn't perfect.
Flying, the trip took less than a breem, and Roadstead landed on a balcony smoothly. Amber had trouble following him, but made it without falling, so the brown seeker was content. "Sun'! Sunrain, where are you?" Roadstead asked, tapping on the balcony glass.
A moment later, a resplendent yellow and dark-green Seeker came around one corner and waved. The only still-visible sign of the damage he had taken vorns ago was the slightly stiff way in which he held his right wing, and Sunrain certainly didn't let that bother him as he hurried over and slid the door open.
"Road'! How are you? Didn't bring 'Dash this time? And who's this? Are you trying to tell me something, Roadstead?"
Roadstead stepped in with a respectful dip of his wings, pulling Amber with him. "No, I'm not, Sun'. This is Amber, she just translated and I'm taking her on tour. Metrodash is busy taking our stuff to the compliment housing, because I'm sure Amber will want it." Roadstead had little reason to use the housing provided for visiting, on-order mechs, expecting to stay in Sunrain's home as usual.
"Oh...?" Sunrain looked at the femme, taking in the way she was nearly hiding behind Roadstead, and he nodded. "I see. Pleased to meet you, Amber, and I do hope your adjustment stays smooth. At least I assume it's been smooth..."
"Compared to mine..." Roadstead drawled, earning a laugh from his old mentor. "Naw, she's doing well. Looking for someone willing to take her in... probably reformat her to rotary."
Holding his hands up, Sunrain shook his head. "Now I know you're not saying something with that, Road'!"
"I don't... think I'd want a Seeker anyway..." Amber said, softly. "No... offense- I mean, um. But maybe a... er, racer? Or if I'm going to be a rotary..."
"Tank," Sunrain declared. "Racers are almost as flighty as we are, and immature. Rotaries can be fine, but they can also tend to the... harsher side of our culture. Tanks are very loyal, won't let anyone slag you, and you've just got to love their guns." He purred a little, optics going unfocused. "Blight has a nice gun..."
"Normally I'd add Triples to the list, but I'm not sure... Astro' came in while she was there, I'm not sure she's recovered," Roadstead said, going over and poking Sunrain. "And what about this Blight? Is he going to mind me staying?"
Amber looked as though she were trying to hide, even more than she had been. Roadstead couldn't help but notice the glint of interest in her optics at the mention of tanks' general loyalty. It might well be a good match, then.
"Mind? Only if you make him recharge someplace else!" Sunrain answered. "Amber? You okay there?" As he asked, he wrapped an arm around Roadstead. His hand scrabbled against armor until, it seemed, Sunrain remembered that endurance models had tighter seams.
"...You're, talking, and... and um, stuff. You know..." she answered, flushing. "...Tanks are... nice, then? I'll... remember that..."
"Well, something like nice," Roadstead answered. "They tend to be straightforward even by our standards, so don't be surprised when one's first response is to attack something. It's like- oh. You don't know Strika or Lugnut... ...Brawl, then?"
Amber shook her head a little. "He was part of the Combaticons, and they didn't get much screen-time, you know..."
"Ooh, yeah. ...Well, you'll find out." Roadstead flicked his wings, and yelped as one clashed against Sunrain's. That drew another laugh from the yellow and green Seeker, and then Roadstead found himself being pulled down for a kiss.
"...Should I just go, then? Because I've seen this whole... thing. More than enough," Amber broke in, trying to look anywhere but the two Seekers.
Roadstead broke the kiss with some difficulty, lifting his head to look at the pale blue and purple femme. "Do you think you can follow the info-net waypoints? You'll have to ping for my residence, and you'll get a point."
"It's like... following a map? I... can do that..." Amber agreed, though she didn't look entirely sure. She couldn't stay 'in the nest' all the time, though, so Roadstead took her words at face value.
"Off you go, then. I'll tell Metrodash to expect you." Roadstead smiled encouragingly and shooed the femme off until she stepped back off the balcony and took off.
"You really think she'll be okay, Road'?" Sunrain asked, watching Amber's rather shaky path.
"Actually, yeah. I told Metrodash to watch for her and monitor her though the info-net, too." Roadstead grinned, then went back to kissing Sunrain. "So... Shall I keep you occupied while we wait for Blight...?"
Sunrain giggled, pulling Roadstead to a room. "Yes... that sounds just about right."
They didn't spend that long on Ijurn. There just wasn't really much to see, and so there didn't seem to be a point to it. It really was an unimportant planet, one which only got so much traffic because it was the main connection between the Empire and the current front-line.
After leaving the organic planet behind, Roadstead set course to New Kaon. There was no reason to delay Amber's introduction to a true Transformer planet. There was nothing organic on New Kaon, and never had been, or if there had been, it was back in the forgotten times. It was only crystals and metal... There was wilderness, but it was the sort that might be found on Cybertron itself, metal plains and solvent rivers, mecha-fish and cyberwolves and crystals. The first time Roadstead had seen it, he had thought it looked artificial.
"Wow... The planet is... shining. It's all glimmery," Amber said, looking out the window in amazement. "I can see so many colors from here!"
Roadstead laughed, the sound friendly this time. "I know. It's the crystals you're seeing, mostly, they do come in all colors. This is a metal planet... this is our capital, the center of our empire and spark of the army." It was home... "Vos is down there. You might... yes, that system of clouds there, see that light in the middle? That's Vos..." He couldn't hide how happy he was to be back. He wanted to go home so much...
"We're going to Nemmis first, though. There's... a friend I need to greet..."
"A friend...? ...It's not Shockwave, is it?" Amber asked, still very suspicious. Roadstead laughed again, knowing he couldn't entirely blame her. She was still learning.
"He's not a friend. He's a commanding officer. One I've had the privilege of interfacing at times, yes, but still not a friend." Some people, maybe, called Shockwave a friend, but Roadstead was not one of them. The Seeker smiled to take some of the sting out of his words. "We're going to see Sunrain. He's the one who helped me adjust when I translated... He lives in Nemmis instead of Vos, because he- He can fly well enough to get to Vos, but if he went there, he would just... be a semi-crippled Seeker. In Nemmis, though..." Roadstead shrugged. Amber was aware, by now, of just how sought after Seeker-frames were, and how much they liked it.
The femme bit at her lower derma, and Roadstead waited for the question he was sure was coming. "Um... What do you mean... semi-crippled...?" she asked after a while, hesitantly.
Good femme, Roadstead thought to himself, wings fluttering a guilty-distressed pattern as he answered. "We've been rather lucky with you. You translated in a battle, but the Earth-bots are willing to withdraw when that happens. They're... nice, you know. I wasn't... quite so lucky. I didn't translate in battle, but on my tour..."
An attack. He was frozen, trying to look everywhere, as explosions rocked the ship. He had weapons, but wasn't sure how to use them, and there was a mech looking at him, with blue optics, and new as he was, he could see there was hate in that azure gaze-
"Those Autobots didn't care that I was new, that I was unused to the world. I can't blame them, it's not like I was a child... I ran, after the first few shots. Sunrain found me... He pushed me out of the way when more shots came. One hit him..." Roadstead touched his wing, near his body. "Shattered the support struts and damaged the joints. Medics did what they could, and he can fly- He was a speed model. Mobility would have offlined. He's... not so fast any more. I can outfly him..."
Amber was staring at him in total shock. It wasn't the stunned disbelief she had shown earlier when he told her things... this was different. She knew what he was talking about, trusted that he wasn't exaggerating- And Roadstead realized she was probably going to say something he would have to cut off soon.
"So... He kind of- saved you-"
"Stop." And thank Primus, she did. Roadstead gave a reassuring flutter.
"Maybe." Because Roadstead had to admit, he had a much lower chance of being online if Sunrain hadn't pushed him. "Ever wonder what Metrodash did to become mine? It wasn't what I did, you know. Well, it was, but not like that. He said that I saved his life. Do you see?" He wasn't sure she did...
"But you would have been hit if he hadn't-" Once again, Roadstead cut her off.
"Metrodash said that I saved his life. He told others that he owed me his life."
"But... Now he can't- er, Sunrain? He can't even... Fly as well..." Amber said, seeming to, finally, get what Roadstead was hinting at. Unfortunately, hinting was all he could do, by the culture he embraced.
"No, he can't. But he can fly, and he gets care... and if I owed him anything, one could probably say that making something of myself is better payment."
He looked at Sunrain, at the Seeker he had only known for a few days- orns. He was nice, friendly... maybe 'too' friendly, but it was good. And now Sunrain, with his beautiful, exuberant name, was shot down, energon seeming to pour out, covering the bright yellow wing. "S- sunrain... Are you- you jumped in front of me..."
"It's nothing," his guide said, voice tight in a way that he wouldn't understand for groons. "I'll live."
"But you-" And he was cut off, one energon-covered hand covering his derma.
"No. Don't tie yourself to me. You're going to do things, going to make your name known. I'm... not going to be able to stay in this war. You do that for me."
"...I... guess..." Amber said, clearly not agreeing. Roadstead put an arm around her, squeezing in a purely comforting manner.
"You're not made for this war. You don't have to fight... But we're still going to visit Sunrain in Nemmis. And maybe you'll find someone who catches your optic, or who's interested in you..." Roadstead changed the subject, and Amber allowed it. They discussed what sort of mech (or femme, but she didn't seem to understand that) she was interested in, what kind of man she had always dreamed of marrying some day.
That conversation held Amber until they landed, and then Roadstead insisted that they fly again. Self-flight was unregulated on the surface of New Kaon, though interplanetary flight was monitored. Flight was one of the things which set Decepticons apart from Autobots, though the correlation wasn't perfect.
Flying, the trip took less than a breem, and Roadstead landed on a balcony smoothly. Amber had trouble following him, but made it without falling, so the brown seeker was content. "Sun'! Sunrain, where are you?" Roadstead asked, tapping on the balcony glass.
A moment later, a resplendent yellow and dark-green Seeker came around one corner and waved. The only still-visible sign of the damage he had taken vorns ago was the slightly stiff way in which he held his right wing, and Sunrain certainly didn't let that bother him as he hurried over and slid the door open.
"Road'! How are you? Didn't bring 'Dash this time? And who's this? Are you trying to tell me something, Roadstead?"
Roadstead stepped in with a respectful dip of his wings, pulling Amber with him. "No, I'm not, Sun'. This is Amber, she just translated and I'm taking her on tour. Metrodash is busy taking our stuff to the compliment housing, because I'm sure Amber will want it." Roadstead had little reason to use the housing provided for visiting, on-order mechs, expecting to stay in Sunrain's home as usual.
"Oh...?" Sunrain looked at the femme, taking in the way she was nearly hiding behind Roadstead, and he nodded. "I see. Pleased to meet you, Amber, and I do hope your adjustment stays smooth. At least I assume it's been smooth..."
"Compared to mine..." Roadstead drawled, earning a laugh from his old mentor. "Naw, she's doing well. Looking for someone willing to take her in... probably reformat her to rotary."
Holding his hands up, Sunrain shook his head. "Now I know you're not saying something with that, Road'!"
"I don't... think I'd want a Seeker anyway..." Amber said, softly. "No... offense- I mean, um. But maybe a... er, racer? Or if I'm going to be a rotary..."
"Tank," Sunrain declared. "Racers are almost as flighty as we are, and immature. Rotaries can be fine, but they can also tend to the... harsher side of our culture. Tanks are very loyal, won't let anyone slag you, and you've just got to love their guns." He purred a little, optics going unfocused. "Blight has a nice gun..."
"Normally I'd add Triples to the list, but I'm not sure... Astro' came in while she was there, I'm not sure she's recovered," Roadstead said, going over and poking Sunrain. "And what about this Blight? Is he going to mind me staying?"
Amber looked as though she were trying to hide, even more than she had been. Roadstead couldn't help but notice the glint of interest in her optics at the mention of tanks' general loyalty. It might well be a good match, then.
"Mind? Only if you make him recharge someplace else!" Sunrain answered. "Amber? You okay there?" As he asked, he wrapped an arm around Roadstead. His hand scrabbled against armor until, it seemed, Sunrain remembered that endurance models had tighter seams.
"...You're, talking, and... and um, stuff. You know..." she answered, flushing. "...Tanks are... nice, then? I'll... remember that..."
"Well, something like nice," Roadstead answered. "They tend to be straightforward even by our standards, so don't be surprised when one's first response is to attack something. It's like- oh. You don't know Strika or Lugnut... ...Brawl, then?"
Amber shook her head a little. "He was part of the Combaticons, and they didn't get much screen-time, you know..."
"Ooh, yeah. ...Well, you'll find out." Roadstead flicked his wings, and yelped as one clashed against Sunrain's. That drew another laugh from the yellow and green Seeker, and then Roadstead found himself being pulled down for a kiss.
"...Should I just go, then? Because I've seen this whole... thing. More than enough," Amber broke in, trying to look anywhere but the two Seekers.
Roadstead broke the kiss with some difficulty, lifting his head to look at the pale blue and purple femme. "Do you think you can follow the info-net waypoints? You'll have to ping for my residence, and you'll get a point."
"It's like... following a map? I... can do that..." Amber agreed, though she didn't look entirely sure. She couldn't stay 'in the nest' all the time, though, so Roadstead took her words at face value.
"Off you go, then. I'll tell Metrodash to expect you." Roadstead smiled encouragingly and shooed the femme off until she stepped back off the balcony and took off.
"You really think she'll be okay, Road'?" Sunrain asked, watching Amber's rather shaky path.
"Actually, yeah. I told Metrodash to watch for her and monitor her though the info-net, too." Roadstead grinned, then went back to kissing Sunrain. "So... Shall I keep you occupied while we wait for Blight...?"
Sunrain giggled, pulling Roadstead to a room. "Yes... that sounds just about right."