(Untitled)

[midnightspook]

Blackstar pays little mind to which direction he's pointed when he lifts away from the ocean's surface above the Decepticon base. He just wants to fly, and direction doesn't matter to him any more. Whatever sensors or radars or satellites these humans have, none of them would be able to pick him up now anyway, except for possibly as a blurry image

Comments

[lavender_wings]

As one insubstantial Seeker rises into the sky, one still bound to a body descends.

Steadfast has chosen her vector to point towards the remembered position of the Undersea Base. Considering who is supposed to be there, she should prefer to go there alone, rather than take Starscream along with her. But now it doesn't matter like it would have only a short time ago. The memory of Starscream catching her during that moment of weakness, and all that followed, is still so fresh in her mind that to insist on privacy from him now would feel pointless, even absurd.

Besides, if Skywarp really is there, she can always ask Starscream to leave them alone for the "I've missed you like crazy; and you have two more beautiful daughters" talk. There should be enough things, and quite possibly people, in the Undersea Base to keep the silver-and-red Seeker from getting bored in the mean time.

She descends, another rises; and so it is that their paths come to cross...

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream notices Steadfast's ocean-bound trajectory. So, Undersea Base it is. Time I recovered my files from the old lab.

Though she is in the lead, it is Starscream who first notices the transparent black Seeker coursing through the night sky. Invisible to radar, and practically invisible to optics, dark against dark ocean below, the spectral Seeker shines in the Otherworld, a brilliant spark amid the dim patterns of power in the air. A brilliance that Starscream recognizes.

// What the--? What is he doing here? //

On the heels of that exclamation, Starscream peels away and dives, rolling around the newcomer.

"Blackstar! What are you doing here? Bad news?"

[midnightspook]

So deep in his thoughts is he, that Blackstar doesn't even notice the approach of the other two Seekers until Starscream is cavorting around him. Blackstar draws up and transforms, hanging there in the diamond lit sky, surprised.

"Starscream? Bad news? Huh? No... I was just... flying. I figured I'd check out the 'Con base while I was around dropping off those zamboni-mechs," he replies, glowing red gaze flickering between the two sleek Seekers.

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast flies a circle around the unfamiliar mech, intent on getting a first look of him from all sides. There is something about him that warrants her attention - it didn't escape her notice that Blackstar is visible to her optics, but not registered by her other sensors.

//You know each other?// she asks Starscream.

Long time no visit...

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream swoops down and transforms as he lands, touching down on the 'plank' leading to the elevator in robot mode. He looks around for a moment before entering the elevator with the others.

Fresh sea breeze over his wings. Cries of seagulls. Tang of salt spray in the air. Spectral black Seeker sinking into the waves.

"It's been a while," he says softly, then enters the elevator.

Re: Long time no visit...

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast transforms and lands to get inside as well. Like Starscream, she lingers for a moment to... greet this place appropriately, she supposes. It's been a while since she was here, indeed.

It almost feels like she has to wait and look around, and touch everything to make sure it is real.

Re: Long time no visit...

[prankster_femme]

*Wingblade follows Steadfast in, transforming, and also lingering a moment, feeling as if Skywarp and Thundercracker would be there to greet her at the bottom of the elevator, though she knows they won't be in her CPU. She would throw her arms around Steadfast in an enthusiastic hug, but Starscream's presence tempers that impulse. Instead she moves close to Steadfast, almost touching her.*

Re: Long time no visit...

[0ut_of_sight]

Echoshift transforms from jet mode and steps inside the elevator along with the others. The hint of a smile tugs at one corner of his mouth as he watches their reactions to being back again.

It was good to see Seekers starting to visit the Base again. In the same way that it had been good to be able to go flying with other Seekers again. The underwater base had been too empty for too long; too lifeless and too quiet. As insanely hectic as recent events following Drath showing up had been, Echoshift was prepared to wave it off if it meant that he wasn't the only Seeker who seemed to be around on a regular basis any more. He'd missed the company.

The door closes and the elevator disappears back under the waves, sinking down towards the ocean floor. Water ripples and swirls in its wake before returning to the drag and pull of the surrounding sea's rhythm.

Normality resettles, and the area once again looks as unremarkable as any other patch of ocean.

Lab session

[attair_al_fada]

At the end of a long corridor, behind two watertight doors, lies Starscream's old lab. At the other end of the corridor, then down a connecting passage, is Megatron's lab. The builders of the Undersea Base saw the wisdom of putting those two facilities in a structure separate and isolatable from the rest of the base. Something about working with unstable weaponry in a hostile environment...

The first watertight door was protected only by authority: anyone found past this point without a very good explanation would have, at one time, been free target practice for either Megatron or Starscream. Starscream undogged that portal and opened it, wincing at the screeching noise made by the rusty valve.

The second watertight door was sealed by an integral combination lock. Starscream smirks. "Let's see, was it 'Megatron is a jerk' or 'Starscream: Warlord and Emperor'?"

Hmm, I was a bit petty in those days.Starscream quickly taps out a code; the lock's indicator lights turn to green. "Well, that wasn't it

Re: Lab session

[attair_al_fada]

The lights are off; the only illumination comes from the consoles on stand-by and the dim light filtering through the ocean depths. Half of one wall is transparent aluminum; like all jets, Starscream hated being closed in. Even open ocean was better than four metal walls

Re: Lab session

[attair_al_fada]

What follows are a couple of hours of sorting through twenty years of projects, ideas, and random research. To Starscream, it's a fascinating retrospective of years of plotting and mad ideas, some fruitful, some not; to any onlooker, it must be supremely boring.

"What was THAT?" Starscream asks himself as he stares at almost his last investigative project, a small hyper-speed drone designed to troll around a star-system emitting a particular frequency of radio noises. "Oh, right. A pyropod lure. Now if I'd ever figured out an actual use for the thing

Re: Lab session

[0ut_of_sight]

((Continued from here.))

Echoshift makes his way down the corridor to Starscream's lab, faded out of view and invisible. Careful to make as little sound as possible as he ducks through the open outer door, he finds the inner door still unlocked and open. Encouraged, he steps forward and slowly peers around the edge of the door, into the lab.

The lights are on and the computer stations appear to be working. Echoshift spots Starscream in front of a workstation, being kept occupied by something on the computer. Echoshift nods to himself and is about to back out, when it occurs to him to turn his head and look around the rest of the lab. He looks back at Starscream.

Hmm.

Still invisible, Echoshift risks taking a further careful step into the room, keeping his optics locked on Starscream for any sign of a reaction to his presence.

Time with Mama

[lavender_wings]

Once Echoshift is gone, Steadfast holds Wingblade close, feeling herself soothed by the soft vibrations of the young Seeker's purring. Steadfast sighs, tension falling off her.

Re: Time with Mama

[prankster_femme]

*Practically nestling close, the purring getting steadily louder. She's missed her Mama very much while the Academy was taking up nearly all of her time, and then when she had some free time her Mama didn't. So, she's one very happy winglet to be able to spend time with her now.*

Re: Time with Mama

[lavender_wings]

Steadfast, for her part, is happy to hold Wingblade close, only realising just how much she's missed the winglet's company now that she's with her. "Are you glad to be with Mama?" she murmurs, nuzzling the top of Wingblade's helmet.

Re: Time with Mama

[prankster_femme]

I am. *She continues to purr, nuzzling Steadfast's chestplate.* You were gone a very long time...

Back to the control room...

[0ut_of_sight]

((Continued from here.))

The Control Center's door slides open and Echoshift steps in. At one side of the room, taking up most of the entire wall, the main computer is still humming and active. The other consoles are also online, and thanks to the repair work that had been done earlier, all the hardware actually functions now and there are no more open panels with bits of wiring and circuit boards hanging untidily out of them. Looking around the room, it seems to Echoshift that that whole room appears generally rather less run-down than it did before.

Strata had done a good job.

Leaving the door unlocked, Echoshift heads over to the main computer while he waits for Steadfast to arrive and glances over the work he's done so far, pausing after a while to dig through the small pile of assorted Stuff that has managed to start accumulating on a nearby worktop. Somewhere around here he was sure he'd left a datapad with a list on it...

Re: Back to the control room...

[stupidityinblue]

Duskwing hands Echoshift the datapad he's looking for and asks, "Hey! Shifter! Where you puttin' Mama and Wing? You're not gonna put 'em in C-135, are you?"

He looks suspiciously at Echoshift.

Re: Back to the control room...

[0ut_of_sight]

Echoshift takes the datapad on reflex, then stops on realizing that someone who wasn't there a moment ago had just handed it to him.

"Hey Dusky," he greets the ghost, then gives him a confused look. "..er, who?"

Re: Back to the control room...

[stupidityinblue]

Duskwing turns rather more solid-looking than usual and says, "That purple officer jet who's wanderin' around talkin' 'bout fixin' the place up. You know--her," he says, pointing at Steadfast, who has just wandered in, accompanied by Wingblade.

Duskwing also finally noticed Blackstar.

// What's up? You worried about who he might stick in your room, too? //