| abstract
| - City Center - Tyrest Following the hill that leads to the center of the city from any direction, as you travel the difference in technology and buildings become apparent. As you get closer and closer, the structures are kept more clean and sport the latest in Cybertronian developments. Until finally, youre deposited into the City Center. A bustling metropolis, this is definitely the focal point of interaction in Tyrest. A large circular area, the center of the city is filled to the brim with repair shops, technician centers, novelty stores, cafes, and even a central park that is used for gatherings. Currently a group is discussing the technical applications of the monoformer movement. The lower caste establishments all circle around the large tower that stands at the center of Tyrest. The Institute. LAST TIME ON THE TRANSFORMERS.. A peaceful lecture was interrupted by the magnetic Polarity, the insidious Buzzsaw, and the idiotic Backfire. The goal? To kidnap the lecture's speaker, neutral scientist Farsight! Arcee and Fireflight responded to the call, getting their own share of bruises for the effort.. but alas, Farsight eventually went WITH the Decepticons of his own free will. To spare the city anymore destruction. NOW.. The city center of Tyrest is still in disarray, only this time.. organized chaos. The Constructobot team is busy helping with the heavy lifting, clearing wrecked I-beams and debris.. bringing in new supplies.. Hoist is somewhere coordinating their efforts. Near the entrance to the Institute, Glyph is going over crime-scene information with Streetwise, on assignment from Iacon proper. The stage from last night has been broken into shattered pieces, most of them scorched from the fire, waiting to be hauled out. There is a small gathering of delegates from the Sci-Counsel near the building as well. Trailbreaker is doing his best to hold up a support beam for one of the buildings itself, while the Constructobots cut away the damaged structures and replace them. "Heh, you guys sure you're not Constructicons in disguise?" he cracks wise, groaning under the pressure. Fireflight walks around, looking at the damage, shaking his head. He half-heartedly kicks a chair, possibly the same one that took off most his chestplate, and looks at the burnt-out wreck of a building that Buzzsaw made catch fire (by dodging). His shoulders slump, and he wanders about, ending up at the point where Arcee took so many hits the cycle before. A few chunks of pink armor, some shredded wires, and some shell casings are all that mark the spot now. He turns away, spots Trailbreaker, and hops up on some debris to help hold up the girder. "How goes the repair, big guy?" Instead of remaining in the medbay as per usual, Torque has decided to hit the streets and help with the clean-up of Tyrest. Currently she's moving some wreckage, vents huffing in minor strain when hoisting up a large, twisted beam onto a shoulder. Adjusting to the weight, the femme nods to those she's working with an strikes off across the center to deposit it onto the growing heaps being carted off. Medic senses must be kicking in though, because optics immediately catch sight of Fireflight attempting to lend a hand to Trailbreaker. "Easy there, Fireflight. I know you're outta the hospital, but don't go straining yourself, alright?" Lecture on his health is given with a good natured smile when stopping before the two, a nod sent to the bigger mech. "Breaker, good to see yah. So uh.. what even happened here anyway?" That's more a question for the flier, but she addresses both of them as uneasiness creeps across her face. "I.. I read that Con Backfire was part of this.. yeah?" Rodimus Prime was more than a bit perlexed when he heard that Tyrest hadn't responded to the Autobot request for information. Now that he's on site, it all starts to make sense. Autobot repair crews were already on the scene well before the Prime had said a word. While the situation was unpleasant, he seemed appeased by the speed of search and rescue at work. When asked for orders, he simply replied, "You know what to do." That much was true. No other division, not even Military had as much experience under their belt at practical job application as Operations. Upon landing the Golden Age here earlier, Rodimus had asked for a meeting with whomever was in charge. Until then, it was time to work as well. His buzzsaw, brought out from his forearm, slices through a large wide flange (What you non-Construction types might call an I-Beam), severing it neatly in two. He puts his hands onto the metal, then draws it off the pile of wreckage, setting it aside, practically making a pile of steel like one might do with logging. "A lot more chaos than I expected from a small team. They were certainly motivated." He draws off the last wide flange, setting it atop the others, then notes the delegates nearby. He keeps a keen eye on the area as he moves in to introduce himself... "Heh, nothing a little Nightmare Fuel won't fix later.. eh?" Trailbreaker smiles, straining with the weight. Drawing on reserves, the large black Autobot flexes his arms out and steadies the considerable bulk of the building.. Fireflight's assistance helps greatly. The Construcobots make quick work of the old support beam, cutting it out with heated torch-laser cutters. "Give us one klik, we'll have this right as rain in a sec!" Crush-Bull shouts, already at work measuring the replacement beam. "Best as we can tell, Primus knows what his aim was.. sides gettin' his faceplate kicked in by Arcee." Trailbreaker smiles to Torque, arms visibly shaking now. "Hah, motivated ain't the word for that blasted glitch of a diode." he replies to Prime, a nod of his head to mark his presence. "I'd give ya the full salute sir, but.. you know." he grins, the Constructobots finish their work. Sighing, Trailbreaker steps out from underneath the building and takes a seat nearby. "Whew, who knew construction was so destructive on your stamina?" he smiles. His mind wanders to a similar time with Brawn. Man, if that guy was still around.. Trailbreaker smiles at the memory. Near the entrance of the Institute, the constituates stay huddled amongst themselves.. ignoring the Prime for now. Fireflight hops down after assisting Trailbreaker and nods a greeting to Torque and Prime. "I'm fine for the most part. Just had to get a new chestpiece welded on, Polarity did a number on the last one." He thumps his chest, which is a flat grey as opposed to white with red highlights. "The medic said it'll take a little bit for it to re-intimate with my systems, or something like that, but besides that, I'm tip-top." He shakes his head. "Backfire seemed to be... in charge, I guess? At least, he's the one who focused on the objective. Arcee kept him pretty busy, and I was able to run off Polarity, but Buzzsaw came in at the end and tore up Arcee pretty bad." He clenches his fists. "The thing is, we might have had them, but Farsight went with Backfire to 'spare the city any more damage' or some such slag." He waves an arm. "Basically blaming us as much as, if not more than, the 'Cons. I mean, his presentation seemed to be ethical philosophy, the last thing I'd expect the Decepticons to be interested in." The city of Tyrest is a Neutral area, so it perhaps not unheard of for a Decepticon to be here. Especially a Decepticon who appreciates centers of learning, technology and other signs of /intelligence/. Blast Off steps out from one such place, several new datapads worth of astronomy, science and the latest trends in aerial combat and maneuvers in hand. Plus some "Wine Connoisseur" monthly and a few fashion 'zines. He wants to keep up with the *in crowd* after all. And, Ok, maybe a few romance novels. Turning to head up a street, his scanners suddenly pick up... is that a bunch of *Autobot* signals? The Combaticon blinks. Hmm. What are they up to? There was a skirmish here recently, wasn't there. Backfire's "savior". Yes, they must be here because of that. Blast Off pauses... then quietly starts slipping in towards the signals, trying to see what's going on. Torque's anxious expression fades in lieu of a faint smirk at the thought of Backfire getting a faceful of foot, her tensions easing and head bobbing in a nod. But.. that doesn't make up for the destruction. What did those idiots want with a scientist anyway? ..Aside from the huge list of them. "Well, I doubt they took him for his lectures. Can't be good, though." She notes to Fireflight, remaining casual despite the swift scan of optics over his repairs in judgement. As for Trailbreaker, the medic snorts and mocks him in a friendly, buddy-buddy way, "Really? That beam put you out? Think we need to get you exercisin' more, Trailbreaker." A faint snicker escapes up until Prime speaks and catches her attention, forcing the femme to shoot off a crisp salute. "Good to see you, Prime. Appreciate you helpin' out with the mess. And ah.. yeah, motivated, but why? Do we know much about the mech they took?" Rodimus Prime regarded the Institute delegates from a bit of a distance. They were actively avoiding him. He stopped in the street, next to a bit more of the debris clearing, and crossed his arms. He was tempted to just storm right up there, get in their faces, demand some answers. He looked aside, down the street, noting some unusual brown and purple colors in the midst of civilians and rescue efforts. His demeanor changes slightly. These mechs just got hit, probably the first assault since Cybertron reformatted. It was like the early war all over again, the same works and creations destroyed...and he had a chance to make things right. That's what the Autobots tried to do. Make things right. He uncrosses his arms, a somber look on his face, as he starts to step up towards the Institute representatives. He stands there for a moment, long enough that it'd be difficult to remain completely obstinate by refusing to acknowledge his presence. "I'm sorry this happened to you." His tone filled with empathy, he continues, "I was told about the situation here. I know that Farsight was taken. We'd like to help you get him back." "In charge? I don't even think that one's in charge of his own brain module.. let alone others." Trailbreaker jokes, giving Prime a proper salute now that he's not keeping a building from collapsing. The Constructobots keep the area pretty clean, staying out of the way of the investigation between the neutral Glyph and the Autobot Streetwise. They're currently arguing about the correlation between a broken watchtower clock, the position of the hands upon breaking, the time, and what it has to do with the Vector Primus legend.. which has nothing to do with the investigation proper. Where's Prowl when you need someone who can see eight hundred objects moving and blah blah blah science stuff?? "HAH, don't tell Chromes that.. she'll be having me run extra excercise miles just for 'fun'." Trailbreaker uses finger quotes, grinning. "Hah, I bet her and Ultra Magnus study the code of grumping in their spare time." His mind wanders a parsec, just where is his wayward partner anyhow? "Wait a nano, didn't you have a run-in with that Seeker recently Torque?" he asks her, turning to face the Femme mechanic full front.. his back toward the Institute that looms in the distance. Near Blast Off, a nimble neutral shambles up to him. "Hey stranger, can I interest you in some of my wares?" he offers, opening a metallic-trenchcoat to all manner of boosters, engex, small tools, severed hands, and rub-signs. The crowd of delegates remain to themselves, ceasing discussion while Prime speaks. As soon as he is finished, they chatter amongst themselves some more. "Ah, apologies he offers." a voice from the back of the pack speaks up, the delegates ushering to either side as he speaks. "Information he's gathered, help he's offered, yesssss." the voice booms, a low baratone. Out from the crowded cluster of scientists walks a red-faced Cybertronian. With a green color-scheme for the rest of his body, the neutral leader is decked out in golden accesories from head to shoulders. A large seven pointed 'crown' is seemingly attached to his head, golden tassles and signets keep the long ebony cape in place. What looks like white wings, tipped in gold, stick up from his back. He's roughly the size of Rodimus himself, maybe a little bigger given the galantry. "Adjudicus, Sci-Chancellor of Tyrest." he announces himself, extending a hand in greeting. Fireflight pokes at his new chestplate, oblivious to any sneaking Decepticons or bedazzled heads of state. "Backfire seemed... different than what I'd heard about him. Focused. Still robat-exhaust crazy, but obsessed with this Farsight character." His poking pushes his armor plating slightly off kilter, and he hurriedly straightens it. Blast Off sputters at the neutral, leaning back in disgust as... is that *severed hand* he sees?!... Primus get it away. He winces, taking astep back. "No! Of course not!" he hisses quietly, "Now leave me alone!" Though the boosters catch his optic- he can always use another shield booster. And hmm, those rub signs could be handy... NO. No, he doesn't need them. He waves a hand dismissively. "Go away." Rodimus Prime has enough of a view of the other Autobots to give a proper recognition nod to Trailbreaker. He stands curtly, his hands behind his back as a most impressive figure comes forth. In the back of his mind, Rodimus starts considering the option of a cape, or a cloak. Adjudicus seemed so much more elaborate, more than a simple paintjob could do. He was impressive. The Prime reaches out to greet Adjudicus, "Rodimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots. As mentioned, we'll do everything we can to aid you in returning your scientist, but we have some questions. Anything you can supply us with, would aid the investigation further. Most importantly, have you any..." He pauses. These were all mechs of science, even more so than Nova Cronum, which had a healthy respect for philosophy as well. He takes a nano to think back to Perceptor's nomenclature. He hailed from pre-war Tyrest, if Rodimus recalled properly. "...any theorums as to why Farsight was abducted? If we can ascertain the motive behind the capture, the more likely we'll be able to anticipate where Polarity and Backfire took him." Torque's optics narrow a hair at Fireflight's prodding. "Don't prod at it." Tone is curt, like a medic usually sounds when instructing a patient. He's lucky she's not strapping him down to properly fix the patch, because right before she can Trailbreaker catches her audial. Stock still, the femme metaphorically bristles with dread and takes on a somewhat shifty demeanor when replying. "I uhm.. yeah, sorta.." And they just got finished rebuilding that side of the bar, too. "Er.. Oh hey, is that Streetwise over there? Sure looks interesting, I'm gonna go see what's up!" The words literally spill out of her mouth at this point, hurried and dodging to speak any further on the subject as she inches away from Trailbreaker to sidle in beside the cop bot. "How's the search goin', Streetwise?" She asks awkwardly, trying to make conversation out of nowhere. "It's a free city-state." the vagabond comments dryly to Blast Off, seemingly setting up shop RIGHT NEXT to him. He even places some of the items out on a fold-out table, the severed hands up front. "Anyone need a hand?" he asks the goers-by, quite a bit of traffic funneling down the street when word spreads that Adjudicus has made an appearance. Trailbreaker chuckles to Fireflight, nodding at his assessment of the Seeker in question. "Woah there flybot, don't go ruining your repair already!" he chuckles, pointing to the Aerialbot's off-kilter armor. "Don't know your own strength??" he jokes, pouring a couple glasses of Nightmare Fuel for them to enjoy while Rodimus is off handling the ambassador-part of the job. "Times like these Fireflight, just thank Primus busy-bots like Silverbolt or Chromia aren't around to bust our break." Streetwise ignores Torque for the moment, too busy framing the crime scene. No, he is literally using his hands as a frame (like directors do when envisioning a scene) to inspect the crime scene. "My search is still ongoing, Torque. Trying to recreate a crime scene from scratch takes -concentration-." he replies, obviously annoyed. Shaking Prime's hand weakly, Adjudicus returns said hand to his side holding a golden staff of some sort. "Ah, yesssss. Rodimus, tell uss.. have you come to renounce your faction and join our scientific collective, hrmmm?" the leader of Tyrest attempts to joke, the delegates around him laughing almost as if calculated for the maximum efficiency. Apparently there's science, then there's SCIENCE. "Ah, yess. That is exactly what I was going to ask you, only in more suitable terms. A theorem is usually associated with complex mathematical equations.. whereas a hy-poth-o-sis or 'idea' would be a better word to employ." Adjudicus emphasizes this with finger quotes, speaking slowly the word hypothesis as well. The peanut gallery of delegates eats this one up, laughing and all typing furiously on their datapads posting to numerous grammatical forums. It seems even in the year 2035, the internet is not yet rid of bullies. "But no, we have no insight to share into Farsight's abduction." he finally answers Rodimus outright. "While Farsight is one of our more treasured analytical minds, we currently have no inclination to his capture. We were hoping you could shed some light on the Decepticons who apprehended him, yessssss?" So much for a distraction. Torque's antennas droop backwards slightly and lips skew in disappoint. "Oh.. right. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. I guess if you need any help.. somehow.. from me.. I'll be around." Feeling a bit strange offering her help, which likely wasn't needed, Torque is reminded of the weight of the beam still on her shoulder. With a sigh she carefully turns to move to the pile, where she originaly intended it to go, and drops it amongst the debris. With that done she trudges glumly back to Trailbreaker, swipes his Nightmare Fuel to take a small swig, and slumps down beside them with bowing posture. "No one's got answers about any of this. Tch, at this point it'd be easier to lure Backfire in and get the answer straight from the source." Damn. Rodimus was smart, but not scientist smart, in retrospect, it was probably better that he spoke plainly. He already was going to be part of the citystate's bon mot...at his expense of course. He refrains from crushing Adjudicus' hand in response. Who said he hadn't any self control? He ignores the jokes for the moment, trying to still be diplomatic. "I can think of a hundred Autobots far more deserving than I to choose to return to Tyrest if they so retired." A blip popped up on his datapad, which the Prime reflexively drew, holding in his off hand. "Backfire's something of an aspirer, though that is balanced out by his ineffectiveness in mech on mech combat. Polarity, another more lighthearted sort, a magnetics expert like Windcharger." They...probably didn't know who that was. "Neither of the two have much in the way of rank, though they also had Buzzsaw on site, for who knows how long. Buzzsaw's part of Intel, he's been doing a lot of propaganda of late in Tarn." Rodimus considers the situation, "My th...conjecture is that there may be some connection between Farsight and some of the theoreticians that are still captured within Nova Cronum." Fireflight jerks his hands away from his new-ish armor. "Sorry. It itches." He watches Torque exit stage left and narrows his optics. "Looks like you shorted a circuit trace there. What's the story on this Backfire glitch, anyway? He's definitely got some transistors soldered in wrong, but what's his deal? He seemed not just zany, but zoning in and out of control." He waves off the Nightmare Fuel. "None for me, thanks... not really in the mood to celebrate anything." As Torque comes back, he shrugs. "I'd guess there's three possible reasons for Farsight's kidnapping. One, Backfire wanted him personally, and this is about him. Two, someone higher up the chain wanted him, and Backfire was one of the ones they sent to grab him. Or three, Backfire just randomly did this." His optics wander around the destruction still present. "I'll leave all that to Streetwise. I just want another crack at him." Blast Off recoils from the severed hands and gives the mech a trademark *hufff* for his efforts. "What the... where do you even GET those? Chop hands off corpses or something?" Then a crowd starts to come by, and that's the last thing the Combaticon wants. "I was here FIRST. Go find your OWN spot!" His wing elevons twitch in agitation as he attempts to stand his ground from the dealer. Meanwhile, he *tries* to eavesdrop on the Autbots, catching bits and pieces here and there. Sounds like they're still trying to figure out what Backfire was doing. Well- JOIN the CLUB, AUTOFOOLS. *He* doesn't ever really know, either! Who does?! "Slag that. Sometimes not having answers means you get to have a moment to yourself," Chromia announces herself as she appears from behind Torque. It's been... a day, to say the least. It started with seeing Arcee like she is, which scared her spark stiff and then now Tyrest with all of it's... sciencing sciency scientists where any effort to talk has only resulted in circles upon circles... which is supposed mean something, as one of the bots she talked to explained but... it's just too much. At least for today. As she catches up to Trailbreaker she sees just what he ditched - or tried to - her for. Nightmare Fuel, huh? She looks to him and well, she looks pretty pissed. Her 'partner' did abandon her to the work while he skipped out to go drinking with his buddies? If she was a Dinobot, she'd be spitting fire. Yet... Chromia claims the seat next to Torque, her immediate new best friend. She cocks a smirk to Trailbreaker as she calls out, "For that little 'trick', the first round is on you." Drink; now! Chromia nods a greeting to Fireflight, and then she makes a face. "Enough work. We're not going to find him, at least not in the next moment. Besides, isn't that what Streetwise is here for? So, while he does..." She hold sout her hand waiting for her drink. Chop chop, Trailbreaker, get to it! She leans in to give Torque a little shoulder bump. "Funny thing, I was meaning to find you... though, no shop talk right now," she promises. Another trademarked grin flies across Trailbreaker's face when Torque comes back over to join the group, instantly it drops when she swipes his booze. His face is a spastic mess of emotion in the matter of seconds, as the grin returns when he pours her another and one for himself. To Fireflight's mention of Backfire, he raises a silent finger to his mouth. "Not a bad idea, I guess that's why they call you the 'Thinker who can Tinker'!!" he grins sheepishly, not ashamed at all. Somewhere in the far future, Wheelie rolls in his grave. "Seems like alls bots like you and me can do now is sit, while the others decide what's next." Trailbreaker answers Fireflight, downing his ration of Nightmare Fuel. Then suddenly, Chromia!! Never has Trailbreaker jumped as fast to attention as he did before this moment. Actually, an audible CRRRRRRRRRRRRR-AAAAAAAAAAACK can be heard in his shifting-piston as he is on his feet in a second. "As I was saying, let's go over there and see if Streetwise can show us the.." he trails, when Chromia announces her intention in Tyrest. Retaking his seat, Trailbreaker throws back double shots of the enerholic beverage and pours some more. "Now, why haven't I seen this face of Chromes yet?" "As can I." Adjudicus replies curtly to the mention of more deserving Autobots, motioning for Rodimus Prime to follow him as he strolls about the front section of the Institute. Hands neatly tucked behind his back, the leader of Tyrest walks in small slow measured steps all paced perfectly. It's like he's pratically gliding across the ground, it's so suave and natural. "Something more concise, Farsight would not fit any of their Seeker schemes or be very beneficial to their propaganda machine." he laments, stopping short of a balcony-like staircasing that cordons off the Institute's entrance from the lower civilian areas. "Nova Cronum, you say? Hah. That city of tome-dwellers and lore-leechers would have nothing the Decepticons would want." Adjudicus replies snidely, his nose scrunching up at the mention of the other city-state. "No, it must be more precise. Is there a reason they would value a published author, frame specialist, and renowned applied science laser-core theoritician.. hrmmmm?" The peddler of goods ignores Blast Off for now, still trying to swindle.. err, pass savings onto his customers. "Rub-Signs, only rubbed once!" "The less you know, the better." Archaix replies to Blast Off, setting out more of his wares and flagging down neutrals meandering towards Adjudicus and Rodimus Prime. It's like.. an impromptu black friday! The vagrant then affixes the Combaticon with a look, not at his face.. but his forearms and more importantly, hands. "Those are some mighty fine hands you're wearin'.. how much?" If the bottle isn't snatched away it's likely Torque will imbibe some more, but luckily, mostly for her, Chromia distracts her long enough from drowning her nerves away in strong booze. Antennas flick up at her arrival and a weak smile greets the other femme. "Good to see you, Chromia. Haven't heard much from you femmes in a while. Keeping busy, eh?" She refrains from asking about Arcee, not wanting to spoil the mood. ..And because she already knows after overlooking the medical chart today. Giving the nightmare fuel back to be poured, Torque fixes Chromia with a curious look at her nudge. "Heh, I don't mind, what's up?" Usually people sought her out for repairs or weapons or such, so she's curious what's on Chromia's mind. As for the current conversation... "I wouldn't be surprised by any of those three." She nods to Fireflight, then sets lips thin and grouses at Trailbreaker, "I don't like sittin' around, though. I'd rather go throttle the damn idiot in person instead of try to figure out the 'crime scene'." No offense to Streetwise, but still. Fireflight's chestplates makes some odd "VRRR-CH-KUNK" sounds as some bolts tighten, and it suddenly shifts colors to match the rest of him. "Finally," he grumbles. A panel at around sternum height flips over to reveal a complicated series of camera lenses. "This thing hasn't been working since Backfire blasted half this places to scrap." He pauses, cocking his head as he hears his name, and he stands up quickly. Fireflight's camera spins a full 360 degrees, then rapidly adjust to various angles and zoom settings. One just happens to catch Blast Off ogling a severed hand. "What in the... hey guys, take a look at Chromia's 7 o'clock." Chromia looks at Trailbreaker, to meet his optics when he takes notice of her. Today he was there when... well, he got to see... something he shouldn't. He didn't call attention to it. He was supportive. And that has earned him... well. She grins at him as she takes her drink. "You never asked to," she nearly laughs before she tosses back her drink. All of it. In one go. Like an old pro. She then holds out her empty glass to demand a refill. Seeing her Arcee like that... "You never know what miracles you might find when you simply ask," she winks at him. Yes, a wink. Tonight might end up helping to erase the day after all. Chromia looks to Torque but shakes her head. "Not tonight. Soon. In the morning even? I'll harass you with it. It's something unreleated to Tyrest or the war." So, something personal? A thought hits her then as she examines Torque. To do this, what Chromia wants... Chromia might need to involve Torque to ensure the mechanic's silence. "We've been rather... scattered. Elita, now Arcee..." Her brow knits and she forces that thought away by slamming back her next drink. Two in the span of a cycle or les? Trailbreaker's in for a treat! "I hear that though, about sitting idle. After stellar cycles of never stopping, it's hard to stand by. Sometimes, that's what you have to do, Torque. 'Racer has always been better at the waiting game than me, but I hear you on wanting to get in there." She puts down her glass long enough to pound a fist into an open palm for emphasis. Fireflight says, "Eh, never mind, it's probably nothing." Rodimus Prime takes a moment to look at his datapad, thumbing past a Tweeter update from Daniel, who shared someone on the Tyrest's board of delegates making fun of Rodimus, then to Fireflight's footage. He explains as he looks over the Bot Board, muttering as he has to change his password again soon, "I have some footage, some sparse footage of the fight itself." He taps the footage, pausing it over Backfire's energy vibration...thing. "That is new." He says mildly perplexed. Rodimus spins around the datpad, showing Adjudicus the footage. He takes a gamble, "Backfire's always been the sort to live up to his name. Fireflight mentioned that his initial assault struck himself and Polarity. This could be a personal goal or someone is in need of a galactic-level specialist. One of the three may have something personally wrong, or know someone else who is." He considers the three for a moment. It was difficult to say for Backfire and Polarity, but Buzzsaw. He says in thought, "Perhaps Soundwave is in bad repair. He hasn't been spotted in a while." Blast Off recoils even MORE this time, stumbling back in disgust... and a little alarm. He brings his hands tightly up against his body, black digits contrasting to the purples and browns of his torso. "NO. Absolutely NOT! NO!" His voice raises in protest, though he does add a little more quietly, "Though I suppose I can understand... alittle... they ARE fine hands..." He lifts them up to admire them briefly before pulling them back again, "I meant NO!" He bristles at the merchant, then starts stalking off. That's when he hears Fireflight call him out- and he freezes, waiting to see if the other mechs notice him. Or wait... no, suddenly he's back to looking at the merchant as if his wares are *fascinating*. Maybe if he looks like one of the crowd?..... Well then, Chromia is certainly earning points in Torque's book with that fine display of drinking. She's damn curious as to what the blue femme wants to talk to her about, but seeing as she's reluctant to speak on it in public.. yeah, she gets the message. "Sure thing. You know where to find me." Torque smiles, feeling more upbeat. "And at least we've got something to do while we wait, anyway. Gotta get this area back up and running again." Optics survey the surrounding area as drink is nursed, only halting once they settle on the Aerialbot and his camera display. "If you want, I can take a look at that. See if I can't recover anything." Electronics, internals, it can be somewhat similar if you've tinkered with both. "Hm?" Attention shifts upon his mention of someone in the crowd, optics searching where he directs to point out Blast Off. "Isn't that.. Blast Off?" No, you can't hide in the crowd. Not with that paintjob. Hm, maybe they should beat him up for info. She.. she just wants to beat something up, okay? Out from subspace, Trailbreaker plinks five more large bottles of Nightmare Fuel in front of them. He has a deal with one of the spaceshuttle techs, to get the highly combustible intoxicating enerhol/spaceengine fuel on the downlow. He immediately gets into it, drinking almost an entire bottle at Chromia's cheery disposition.. a radical shift from what they both went through earlier today. "That's what you do best, you punch em, cause you're the best at punching them." he replies to Torque first, leaning over with a random head-bobbing effect. Pouring Chromia another glass, the Autobot's forcefield expert leans back in his make-shift chair of wreckage. "Ask, hah." he idly comments, trying to get more comfortable in the debris-seat. "I'd have known that, I'd have asked you awhile ago to blow off some steam like this. But you know, I didn't know if I could ask.. should I have submitted a request form to ask you to drink with me?" he asks her. Trailbreaker's drunk. Adjudicus, arms still neatly tucked behind him, looks over the footage while Prime holds it out. "Hrmmmm." His forehead waggles, as in deep thought, optics shift from side to side. His attention is distracted when the civilians of the city-state finally funnel down the streets and fill the area. "Excuse me a moment." Stepping up proper to the balcony, Adjudicus spreads his arms wide and speaks in an even wider tone for all to hear. "Tyrestians, fear not!" he booms out, attempting to give each section of Cybertronians a moment of his gaze. "Rodimus Prime and his Autobots have deemed fit to aid us in our cause, to return our stolen citizen to us!!" The crowd claps politely, stopping when Adjudicus motions for them to fall silent. "Now, the Autobot leader of 'freedom' has something to say." he announces, stepping back from the balcony for Prime to take his place. Nice, an impromptu address.. Adjudicus is jussssst too acommodating!! "Come on, I pay double for black hands. They aren't a shoddy paint job are they?" Archaix responds, stepping over to attempt to grasp Blast Off's hands in his. "Yes, mighty fine craftmechship, dainty, polished, tell you what stranger.. I'll pay you triple!" "Now that you're curious, I bet I can find you easily enough," Chromia grins to Torque. "I promise it's dangerous." If a little danger and mystery might get her engine running? "Whatever has got you so tense, it can wait," she continues to Torque, fully unaware of how much that could - and should - be applied to herself. Chromia does look over to Trailbreaker and what's normally a frown for him is a grin. "Prowl's the one with rules. Unicron's Beard, most any other Autobot cares more about the rules than I do. Is that what you think of me? Really think of me?" She shakes her head in disbelief. She's been working closely with the other Bot for a while now and only now, slightly tipsy, is she worried about what he must think of her. Chromia does turn as Torque does, to peer and point at... yep, a Combaticon. "Don't worry, I got this," she grins to Torque as she gets back to her feet. Glass in hand. She marches over to the shuttlecon and... holds out her drink for him to take. "You're smart enough to not start anything, right?" Trailbreaker locks Torque out of channel Autobot. Trailbreaker intercepts a radio message from Rodimus Prime to Torque: if Trailbreaker is drunk, here and on duty, that is going to set a horrible precedent if the citizens here see that. Trailbreaker sends a radio message to Rodimus Prime and Torque: I heard that. Trailbreaker intercepts a radio message from Torque to Rodimus Prime: He.. He can hear us, boss. Trailbreaker intercepts a radio message from Rodimus Prime to Torque: *belabored groan* Well hear this Trailbreaker, you're both on report. You, Trailbreaker, for getting drunk in the middle of a warzone on active duty, and Torque, you for letting it happen. Am I understood? Trailbreaker intercepts a radio message from Torque to Rodimus Prime: What?? But I-! But he-! ..Ugh. Fraggit, Breaker! Blast Off takes another step back, already regretting returning to the merchant. Maybe it's NOT any port in a strom, after all. "No! There is NO WAY I am allowing you to cut my *hands* off! I- I need them! To...hold things!" He raises up the datapads in those hands. "And... well, of course, these are finished with the finest paint, I'm a shuttle, do you expect me to use something *common* and crude?" He doesn't get to finish his rant, though, as Chromia approaches the shuttleformer. He *does* kind of stick out, despite the muted paint job... that "tailfin" sticking out of his back marks him as a shuttle, even with his back turned... and there aren't many purple, brown and black shuttles around. The Combaticon stiffens again as she...does what? Blast Off blinks as the Autbot offers him a...drink? Ok. He... wasn't expecting that. His optics narrow and he turns to face her warily. He shakes his head slowly, looking down at that drink... which IS tempting... but ulitmately he is unwilling to accept it. Wouldn't want to appear too eager to accept a drink with the enemy, after all. The shuttle quietly responds, "I am a civilized mech... if you don't start anything, I will not either." "Right, rules.. Prowl. Drinking, Chromes." Trailbreaker sheepishly grins, his optics blinking a couple of times. "Unless you got someone to punch the rules? Then they'd be broken rules, cause they were punched. And rules are meant to be punche.. I mean broken." he rambles on. "Rules are meant to be broken.. then punched." After intercepting some radio traffic from Rodimus Prime and Torque, he gets up and wanders over towards Fireflight. Throwing an arm around the Aerialbot, Trailbreaker looks at their leader with crossed optics. "Rodimush Primes.. what kind of name is that? Shodimus. Hah." he laughs, spilling some Nightmare Fuel to the ground. "Everyone's like 'man, he beat Unicron with that shiny thing'. Hah, did that shiny Matrix give him his name or somethin?" he continues to ramble on, leaning heavily on Fireflight at this point. "But I'm like 'that was a millions of years-eons ago you know?'." Torque visibly eases at that. "Dangerous AND gets me away from worrying about this? Sign me up." Yup, her and Chromia are gonna be fast friends. ..Which can't be said the same for her and Trailbreaker in a moment. "Think you should slow down there, Bot. Drinkin' on duty is one thing. But gettin' plastered with Prime right there.." She frowns, worried, then goes completely stone faced when her comm shuts off on her own. What the.. oh no he didn't. And he's even rooting through her radio messages! Nope, not having that. "Uh uh, I'm not gettin' roped in with you by Prime. The booze cruise stops here, bub, so hand it over or I'm gonna have to do somethin' you won't like." Torque is standing in front of Trailbreaker at this point, one arm akimbo while the other one is held out to recieve the bottles. She does not look pleased. This is not a look you want to see on Torque. "You heard her Fireflight, she wants your booze." Trailbreaker stands next to Torque, arms crossed, looking at the Aerialbot. "Booze cruise ends, which is crazy because you're a plane so why would you be on a boat?" Fireflight's camera flips back into his chest, its calibrations complete. "Yeah, good point... I think I'm a bit behind, right?" He picks up one of the four remaining bottles and hands it to Torque... ...and quickly scoops the remaining three into subspace. "Wow, that was good stuff, Breaker, but we really out to see if we can help out with the cleanup, right? Torque has a special project just for you." Rodimus Prime had been walking beside Tyrest's leader, Adjudicus, for several steps. The mech had to examine his datapad after all. Fireflight brings in a bit more intel on the situation, which further reinforced his gut feeling, and confirming the target. Backfire was in need of support, support he wouldn't get from the Cons. It was starting to make sense. When Adjudicus stopped, he noted his actual location. Now, Rodimus has been the victim of several surprise speeches, so he saw it coming a mile away. People wanted reassurance, people wanted to see comradarie and allies behaving as allies. He puts his hands behind his back as the smattering of applause dies down. "Good citizens of Tyrest. I am Rodimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots." He moves ahead quickly, the Tyrestians weren't going to be impressed by rank. "I've pledged Autobot assistance in both the reconstruction of the fallen buildings here, as well as to spearhead the investigation into the abduction. I pledge to you that we will do whatever we can in order to return your exalted specialist to the city. I am also offering military support for Tyrest for civil defense and fortification, should your consul be willing." He gives a curt nod to Adjudicus in acknowledgement, "It is by Adjudicus' counsel that we shall prevail." Considering that this was undoubtably going to spread across Cybertron, Rodimus adds one last thing. "To the Decepticons responsible, I offer you one chance." He raises up his finger...the proper one, not the naughty one, "Release Farsight unharmed into Tyrest or an Autobot-aligned territory immediately, or we will hunt you down, and force you to give him up. And you do not want that." He was also exceptionally glad most everyone was looking at him, as opposed to drunk aft Trailbreaker Chromia is being left on her own with a Decepticon? Just like Trailbreaker... isn't he supposed to have her back, and not sabotage all potential aid should she need it? Support man. So, Chromia faces off with Blast Off and... grins. "Good to know, but hard to trust. As long as you're you, well..." She gestures to around where his Con icons should be. "Not really saying you're welcome. Surely you understand. Just... stop being a creep." She turns then as she means to get back to Torque who... is soundly putting Trailbreaker in his place! "Yeah," she adds as she swoops in to try and take Trailbreaker's drink from him. "Learn to control yourself." If she gets his glass? Well, she has to empty it. Into herself. All in time, she hopes, to look at Prime as he makes his speech. Torque's fire dwindles some at Fireflight actually giving her a bottle. "Not.. not you, Fireflight, but thank you." She deflates a little and tries to regain herself, which is just in time for Prime to issue out the order to cart away the drunk. "Ah.. That's right, I do! I need you to.." A moment to desperately search for an idea. "Guard the shuttle. Who knows if there's Cons spying around trying to get in, yah know?" She tries her damnedest to lead the boozer onto the shuttle. And if he doesn't comply? Well, she'll just toss him over her shoulder and carry him in. Because she can do that. The Tyrestians erupt into a chorus of cheering, clapping. Rodimus' speech was well recieved by them, it appears. Even to Adjudicus' own surprise, the look pretty obvious on his face when he retakes the audience. "There you have it, citizens! While we will gracefully decline your gracious offer of asylum, we will accept your expertise in making war on our home planet." he denotes, to an even bigger roar of clapping and cheering. Swiveling on his heel, Adjudicus briskly walks back towards Rodimus and the delegates. "Please see that you do honor your dedication here, we Tyrestians have good memories." he smiles, then disappears inside the Institute. His flock of delegates shuffle in closely behind him in two orderly filed lines, the doors shut closed when all have entered. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Trailbreaker replies to Torque, "Hey." he steadies his frame with his hands held out. "You think that wrecked I-Beam looks like Whirl's face?" he points to some debris. Then he's off! Back towards the shuttle, though still sipping on a bottle of Nightmare Fuel he'd hid from both Chromia and Torque. "Fireflight, pssssst, dude." he not-whispers to his 'drunk partner' as he points to the bottle. Blast Off glances over as Rodimus Prime makes his speech, and stops himself from rolling his optics. Probably pushing it with all these Autobots around. Fortunately most of them seem too drunk or soemthing to notice him. except... this one. He turns to look at Chromia again. He glances at the Decepticon badge on his chest, then back to the femme. "Understood. Well... I suppose trusting the enemy is simply foolish. However, what I said IS true. I am a gentlemech... You mind your bsusiness, I'll mind mine. For now." Though he does protest with a huff at her last comment. "CREEP? I am NOT a creep!!!" REALLY NOW. Rodimus Prime had expected as much, but still the offer was made in public and in good faith. He gives a curt bow, "Our Operations team is the finest you'll come across outside of the Bellfar Nebula. We'll treat the scene with proper decorum." With that, Rodimus turns on his heels, perhaps walking back at a quicker clip than expected, as he goes to jerk a knot in the tail of his Autobots. Fireflight claps along with the Tyrestians for Prime, but withholds the same for Adjudicus's snark. "Razzafrazzan... we're the Autobots, you hissing, overchromed, pretentious static-bag," he mutters, "We only make war on Decepticons." He catches Trailbreaker's eye and nods vigorously, catching up to him and snagging the bottle... and flipping it into subspace. "Thanks buddy!" Trailbreaker receives a radio message from Torque: We need to have a talk later. Trailbreaker locks Torque out of channel Autobot. Trailbreaker receives a radio message from Torque: And stop doin' that! Chromia stares as she debates. She's grinning, her back to Blast Off as he goes off. It's almost musical... Chromia watches Trailbreaker go. That's where the booze is going... She shakes her head. "Primas help me, I'm responsible for him." She thinks? On some level she feels like she is. Chromia reluctantly moves to follow, yet she looks to Torque. "Keep me company?" Trailbreaker sends a radio message to Torque: Stop trying to suck up to Shodimush. "Gonna look like your face if you don't get i nthat damn ship.." Torque mutters very softly under vocals, ready to beat his head in for actually getting her in trouble, of sorts, with Prime. She never gets in trouble! With a final push she shoves the mech in and sighs, nodding sulkily to Chromia while following near her. "Yes please." Well this day has been eventful. Trailbreaker receives a radio message from Torque: I'm not suckin' up and you know it. I can take a drink on the job, but gettin' slag-faced? How long's this been goin' on, Breaker? LOG CONTINUES IN.. A Walk To Remember!!
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