| abstract | - Depth is hanging out in Cubicron as he has been for cycles now, observing, soaking in the local flavor, that sort of thing. Right now he's leaning against the wall to El Sleazo, arms crossed over his chest, one leg straight out and the other bent at the knee with the foot tipped up at the heel so all his weight is on the straight leg. Cubicron.. Why did it have to be slagging Cubicron, for a solo patrol? These thoughts run through Shred's processor as she walks down the street, towards El sleazo. She is armed, carrying the Glaive that she had shown slipstream and Goa before her apparent psychotic break. Goa has spared no expense in beating himself up, both mentally and physically, since his scuffle in the repair bay. His armor is still scorched, half the paint stripped, and he's barely left his vehicle mode the last few cycles. As a sort of convenient mercy for the ground pounder, the 'worst' patrols for most Decepticons, airborne as they are, are his preferred routes. As a result, he'd been spending more and more off time in Cubicron ... not that he was particularly comfortable with that. It happens to be the end of his shift, and as he rolls up to the Sleazo, he only wonders if there's been some kind of scheduling discrepancy ... he blinks his headlights a couple of times at the microjet. Depth peers down at the small, slender femme with a big aft glaive in her hand who looks positively peeved she's even here. He studies her quietly, just drinking her in. Then lifts his head toward the familiar form of the grounder, "Good cycle, Goa." he greets gruffly, doing nothing to move anything other than his head. "Who's your friend?" Shred sees Goa's lights flickering, and she pauses, "Goa?" the timing is perhaps dubious, particularly noting the vocalization from Depth.. "My name is Shred. Goa, what brings you here? I was assigned to patrol this area... Solo. " "I'm not on patrol." Goa's scythes resettle in their hanging slats under his chassis... he turns the glare of his headlights to Depth. "Shred. She's crazy," he says, but the car's engine is chuckling like it's some sort of rib at her, not an accusation. Depth hmms softly, "Shred. Interesting name." a glance at the glaive, "I love a femme with weaponry, makes me shiver in all the naughty places." he purrs. "And crazy, even better." Shred hmms, narrowing her optics at Depth, "alright, who the slag are you? It's been a long enough patrol as it stands. " Obviously she really does not like this place, too enclosed to make the most of her agility, which makes her feel distinctly vulnerable. Looking at Goa, and seeing how damaged he appears, she shakes her head, "Goa, you need repairs. Are you trying to make my job that much more difficult?" Shred is obviously, despite her attempts to maintain her composure, quite rattled to be here. Goa clacks as he switches gears and rolls backward a meter. "No I don't," he chirps, then locks his brakes. "I'm fine. I just look nasty. You told me not to give the medic a hard time," he adds, with a sarcastic ring, completely aware and perhaps rubbing in that Shred has no recollection of that conversation. "... How are you holding up? I'm running on fumes out here." Depth chuckles softly to the question, casually putting his one leg out with the other then uncrossing his arms so he can push off the wall. Standing up at least twice the height of the diminutive seeker. He hmms softly, saying to Goa, "Didn't that femme fix you up good enough Goa." then to Shred he states, "I'm Depth. Crashed here on your little planet. As Goa so quaintly puts it, I'm a xeno." Shred frowns darkly, "Goa.. don't give me that. Transform, get yourself recharged." reaching into her subspace pocket, she retrieves an energon cube, "Here. I insist. I have quite a store, it seems. " Then she looks at depth, "A xeno, huh? nice to meet you, I guess." she is literally looking up at him, but her face is quite hard, betraying that she is not going to be intimidated. Goa scans around ... as much as he'd rather not, unknowing of what to expect from Shred -- at least he's reasonably certain how Depth behaves in any given situation at this point -- he wasn't lying about his bottomed-out fuel tanks. He wasn't going to the Sleazo to get drunk, he'd let himself go with that plenty already. He transforms and looks much like himself, save the pallor of his paint, a drained look, and his apprehension to put weight on his left leg. He pauses, considering speech, but just takes the cube and starts chugging it with only the scarcest glance at its contents. Depth nods to the question, "That's right, sweetness. A xeno. From another planet.. far far away." he murmurs gruffly as he practically leers down at her hard features. "What is it with the femmes on this planet, act like you haven't got any in so long you forgot what it feels like or something." Shred watches Goa as he chugs the energon, perfectly normal, and her features soften just faintly, before she turns back to Depth, "What the slag are you talking about?" she levels her glaive, the blade suddenly lighting with a sparking, unstable energy field. She really has no idea what he is talking about. +Roll: Goa rolls against his Awareness Stat and fails by 3! The total roll was 13. "I'd hear that," Goa wipes away some of the purple liquid that escaped his mouth, licking it from his arm guard. "We're apparently in a slagging war, Depth... Not far off the money." Goa freezes at the sound of the blade igniting, and slowly lowers the empty cube from in front of his face, lowering an intense stare at Shred. "Cool it, Shredder. None of us are out to get you." Depth eyes the glaive, chuckling. "Think that would hurt me?" he asks, chuckling at the outlandishness of such a thought. "If you don't know what I'm talking bout, then you haven't had any.. would be difficult to explain." he glances at Goa, "She's a touchy one." Shred narrows her optics, "Neither of you are.. But that does not mean I am safe by a long shot. " deactivating the glaive, she sighs, "I already had some fights on my patrol. Damned empties thought I would be easy prey." Goa tosses the remnant frame of the cube, and the containment field dispels as it hits the ground. "You're telling me..." The Decepticon crosses his arms over his chest, continuing to stare. The sides of his mouth turn up by some infinitesimal amount when she disables the weapon. "Thanks for the fuel-up, but I don't expect anything for putting my stupid aft between you and Big Silver topside, if that's what you're thinking." Depth mmms softly to that comment from Shred, "She has a point." remarked toward Goa. "Bet you fight dirty." he murmurs toward Shred, the furthering, "The small ones, gotta watch out fer em." Shred chuckles, "I use what works. " " then she looks at Goa, hurt in her optics, "I am SORRY, for slagging Primus' sake. " turning away, she looks like she is about to take off, "Maybe it would have been better if Megatron had sent me offline." Goa shakes his head slightly, unmoved ... his expression is as blank as if he's been through this routine a thousand times before. "Why in the Pit would that be better? We'd be out a medic and friend." He glances over at Depth with a tiny smirk, largely obscured to Shred by the wing of his helmet, then back at her. "I should be apologizing. I don't have an excuse for second-guessing the Emperor." Depth crouches down, getting more on Shred's level. Peering at her, "This Megatron sounds like a bad aft." glancing up at Goa a moment, "With an attitude even." Shred nods, "bad Aft is an understatement. According to the files, he was once a gladiator.. the most successful ever in the arena. " sighing, she looks across to Goa again, "Goa, I think later we need to talk. Also with Slip.. I have not seen her since I was repaired. " "... He's very good at what he does." Goa says flatly... "So do I, but I don't think anyone will mind if I tail your 'solo' sweep. Lay of the land, and all." He rolls one foot forward and back in place to make his point. Depth nods to both of them, hmming softly. "Eh dealt with bad afts so much I lost count. Usually I had Shadow and Magmorta to back me up... but they ain't here. Not even sure where they are.. hopefully somewhere good.." Shred nods, and she looks to Goa, "You sure, Goa? There's no reason for you to get more damaged on my account. I can look after myself. " Despite the fact that she stated that she has been in a few fights already on her patrol, Goa might notice that she has seemingly suffered no damage on it. Goa gives Depth a long look, then smiles and nods with that sort of oooo-kay posture. "I said I'm fine. Do you need me to drag out a lowlife and prove it, or something?" The mech's sharp dentals glimmer ... "I don't particularly like it down here either, there's strength in numbers. Isn't that why we have an army?" The red focuses of his optics blink up to Depth. "You're welcome to regale us with stories of ... stuff ... off world. Most of us--... haven't even set foot off Cybertron." Depth hmms softly, then rises out his crouch in a fluid motion. "Sounds like you two are at an impasse." he notes, then a chuckle at Goa, "You'd like that eh? What story should I regale you with I do wonder. There are so many to choose from.." Shred shrugs to Goa, "Your choice.. " then she turns to depth.. "Well, I know I have never left Cybertron.. and I don't really expect to ever do so.." Goa chuckles darkly, backing off a couple of steps to sit by the bar wall himself. His voice and expression sound knowing, but from his posture he seems more curious how Depth and in turn Shred will handle this. Depth states soberly, "I thought that too until that day when Shadow and I went to the nearby prison planet to help the guards quell a bit of a riot..." he pauses there and shakes his head, sighing a bit. "Nothing more soul wrenching than watching yer planet getting devoured and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it." Shred blinks, listening, and her optics flicker.. "Wait.. The planet was.. devoured? How could something like that happen?? " there is obvious shock in her voice, and she is not familiar at all with any of the old legends. Goa's antennae twitch out in confusion regarding that detail as well, but he accepts it more passively than Shred, waiting to see what Depth says. Depth nods curtly toward that question from Shred, "Ya heard me, devoured. Eaten. Chewed up for consumption. We hit the ship fast after that happened cuz the thing was heading toward the prison planet, and we weren't gonna stick around and end up on the menu too." Shred nods, "I am not surprised. I would not want to stick around either. I do not know what I would do in a situation like that. I am a medic, really. How long ago did that happen?" Goa curls his legs up against his torso... "At least it was quick," he says, unsure how seriously to take this alien. Depth shrugs his shoulders to the how long ago question, "Does it really matter, doesn't bring anyone back. Lost my planet, my people, everything and nearly everyone I ever knew. Dunno how many got off the prison planet either. I can only presume that there's just three of us alive now. Me, Shadow, and Magmorta." he glances at Goa, "You don't even want to know how quick." Shred lowers her head just faintly, "It matters if whatever it was followed you. It could be heading here, to Cybertron." Goa looks up at Depth, his optics redder than usual... "Oh, I'd reckon there are times I would've." His flat mouth softens just a touch, but only for a nanosec-- he's interrupted by a quick stare shot at Shred. Both orange antennae quirk out and the Decepticon grins as if he's mentally snapped a little. "Aw Shred, some day ... let me pick your processor, won't you? You've got some kind of conclusion-drawing code in there’s even better than mine," he babbles. Depth hmms softly to Shred, nodding in understanding to that concern. "I don't think it did. Why chase one ship when your cruising speed is pretty slow." "So if you were set up all nice with your friends, pray tell how'd you end up here?" Goa's palms set on the ground next to his hips as he stares suspiciously... Depth hehs, "Well.. that's a story in itself kid." Goa strums his fingers on the ground. "I've got time." Depth hmms inclining his head a bit, "All right then. So we were cruising along, minding our own business when another ship appeared on the radar. Said some dude sent them to fetch us. We weren't having any part of that. Goa smiles and nods, thinking back to his time on the ship. "Dare I ask what was being fetched?" You say, "We were. They wanted us specifically. So we tried to outrun them. But that was an old ship.. was being irritable. So they caught up, started firing on us." Goa nods ... maybe he wasn't making this up. "Last of your race? Valuable?" Depth hmms, shrugging, "I suppose so, not like we wanted to find out. So they kept firing til the ship was nearly gone. We all hit the life pods and punched out. I ended up here." "How many vorns ago?" Goa inquires, raising an antenna along with an optic ridge. "You act like you're senile to all us." Depth shrugs to the question, "No clue, not like those things have a clock in em. I slept a lot of the time while drifting through space." he chuckles, "Just cuz I know a lot of stuff don't mean I know it all kid. There's places I ain't be too yet. Things I ain't seen." You can almost hear the gears turning behind Goa's thick helmet ... "Oh. No internal clock." He looks a bit distant. "Sleeping through it is good. ... do you have enemies off world, then?" Depth hmms and then nods, "A few yeah." Goa stands back up, having no issue with scraping his back up further against the metal behind him. He offers a terse smile. "Hope you find your friends well then, Depth. I didn't ... but hey, I'm getting along alright, I figure." Starting slowly, but then suddenly, he salutes the taller ... mech? Slag's sake. May as well be. "I've gotta catch up with the crazy flier troupe ... but was there anything else you wanted to know about down here?" Depth glances up at the stars, then murmurs, "Maybe.. one day." he looks back toward the grounder, cocking his head a bit at the salute. "I ain't your leader, boy, save it for big bad aft eh?" he chuckles, then says, "Nah, I'm good."
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