Kitai walked over towards the group.
Well, as walking over as you can when you have feet that are heavily armored. He approached Axis and Maximus. " Axis. May i have a word with you and Maximus?"
1 Like
“Oookay…” was all Aralysa immediately thought to say in response to Maximus’ quick story, but followed it up with, “Sounds intense.” Then, the Hecatan shook her head and was about to say more when Roaster spoke up.
“Fair enough. We are gonna get going pretty soon.” she said to herself. Beckoning Stonefist to follow, Aralysa walked past the others who weren’t onboard and journeyed into the Pulsar.
“Well this doesn’t look that bad. What do you think, Stonefist?” the purple and blue transformer asked the rocky one beside her. Now that most of Aralysa’s anger seemed to have (mostly) faded, the gray-armored bot had a bit more speaking confidence.
“Oh, uh, it looks nice.” Stonefist looked around the ship’s interior again. “Yeah, this’ll work.”
Low-Tide went into the gathering area and looked for the configuration terminal.
Trying to work with all this fancy tech was difficult for the Eukarian. It was far and away more complex than anything he had known from his home world. But nothing some simple trial and error couldn’t fix.
Niko and Nova meanwhile went to park their mechs in the cargo bay.
As Gungnir sat down and Nova walked into her small living space, she was perfectly content to just wait out the entire voyage there. Until a small, familiar voice nagged at the back of her mind.
It really isn’t healthy for you to isolate yourself so much. I know it isn’t easy, but you should at least try to socialize with others.
Nova groaned in frustration.
“By the gods Davis, I love ya. I really do. But that whole ‘having my best interests in mind’ thing never fails to get on my nerves.”
Nova begrudgingly approached the side door to her room. She paused for a moment as she remembered an old friend, and remembered how much she missed him. Though she quickly pushed the thoughts out of her mind and opened the door. She climbed down to the floor and walked up to Ferrex, which was now lying down. She knocked on the face of the machine.
“Hey catboy! You in there?”
“I told you not to call me that!”
Niko replied through Ferrex’s speakers.
“But yeah, I’m here. Come on in.”
The mouth of the machine beast opened, allowing Nova entry. She walked into the pilot’s cabin and approached Niko, who was sitting down on the fold out bunk.
“Hey cat- uh, sorry. Niko. I was uh, hoping you would want to chat for a bit?”
She asked nervously.
Why am I doing this? I should just leave. This was a bad idea.
“Sure! That sounds great.”
Niko replied happily. He was surprised by Nova coming to him like this, but appreciated it greatly.
“Just give me a few minutes. I haven’t talked to my parents in a long while, and I want to fix that before I forget. They worry if I go to long without checking in.”
“Oh, sure. No problem. I’ll just uh… I’ll wait over there.”
Nova said awkwardly. She walked off a bit and sat down on a bench on the opposite side of the cabin.
Niko pulled a phone out of an inner pocket in his jacket and quickly pulled up a number.
“Hey mom! … Yeah I’ve been good. Sorry I haven’t called in so long … yes I’ve been taking care of myself. Three meals a day, washing my laundry, whole nine yards. … No, its alright. … I miss you guys too. I’ll have to plan a visit home sometime soon. Hey, could you put dad on?”
Nova sat, simply listening to one half of a conversation. As the minutes passed she began to grow more and more anxious. She could feel a dark and sickly pain twist up in her chest.
This was a bad idea. This was a bad idea. This was a bad idea.
She thought as she balled up her fists in her lap.
“Hey dad. … The festival show went great! Everybody loved it. … No, still no auditions. But I did get plenty of tips though. I’ve also gotten involved in this-”
Without saying a word Nova stood up and walked out. She kept her eyes on the floor, refusing to look at Niko as she passed. Though Niko certainly noticed her as she left.
“Uh… sorry dad. Something just came up. I gotta go. … Yeah I know. I promise I’ll call back soon. I just gotta take care of something. … Alright, bye dad. … Love you too.”
Niko then hung up the call and quickly followed Nova out of the mech…
By now all the others had left for the ship, leaving just Axis (who was in her beast mode at the time) and Maximus.
“You know this guy?”
Maximus quietly asked the Prime.
“We’ve spoken before, yes.”
Axis replied. She flew up the predacon’s shoulder and perched there, then looked directly at Kitai.
“What is it you wish to speak about?”
She asked politely.
3 Likes
“What exactly is this expedition everyone is talking about?”
1 Like
A holographic interface materializes in front of Low-Tide upon command. Though the technology is much more complex than what most Eukarians use in their day-to-day lives, the design is rather intuitive. The gathering hall can be reconfigured into a ballroom, a conference area, or a bath with the press of a button.
1 Like
Oreo opens a public-access computer and looks for the others. At least, that’s what he intended to do. Instead, he ends up looking at the Wikipedia page for Roaster’s TV show.
1 Like
“We are traveling to the Tomb of The Primes, looking for clues to unlock a hidden data compartment in Sentinel Prime’s journal.”
Axis explained.
Low-Tide scrolled to the bath option and selected it.
By the time Niko got out of his machine, he was just able to see Nova slam her door shut. Using his jump boots he leaped up to the door, landing on a narrow platform that stuck just far out enough to stand on.
Niko knocked on the door.
“Hey Nova, are you okay?”
“Leave me alone furr ball!”
Nova angrily replied from within.
“Look, I just want to make sure you’re okay. You left pretty abruptly.”
“I’m fine. I just want to be left alone!”
“Come on. Can I at least just come in for a minute?”
Nova groaned loudly.
“If I let you in to talk for a minute will you go away?”
“Sure.”
Niko relented.
“Fine. The door is unlocked. You can come in.”
Niko opened the door and stepped in. When he entered the room, he found Nova huddled on her bed. Sitting up at its head with her legs hugged close to her chest, and her face buried in her knees. She looked as if she was on the verge of tears. Her eyes were turned away from the mikesu.
Niko walked up to the side of the bed. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say.
“Are… are you okay?”
He asked.
Nova finally lifted her head and looked at Niko.
“I’m fine! Now go away.”
She harshly snapped. She then put her head back down and looked away.
Niko paused for a moment, hesitant to say anything. Until he eventually made a realization.
“You… miss someone, don’t you? Someone who isn’t here anymore.”
“How the hell would you know?”
“Because I know what that feels like.”
Niko replied.
Nova perked up a bit. She lifted her head and turned it to look at Niko.
“You do?”
She asked with genuine curiosity.
“Yep.”
Niko replied. He took a step forward towards the bed, but stopped himself.
“Do you mind if I-?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Nova answered, though not sounding super thrilled about it. Niko kicked off his boots and got up on to the bed, moving to sit next to Nova. He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and spent a few moments pulling up a particular photo.
The picture showed two mikesu. One was clearly Niko, albeit a number of years younger. He was a bit shorter, wearing the same jacket that was clearly a little bit too big on him.
The other Mikesu was much older. He stood at least a foot over Niko. He wore a long brown duster jacket with a black under shirt, and had a hand rested on young Niko’s shoulder. His facial features were sharp and angular with pronounced cheek bones. He had long graying hair, with two feline ears sticking out the top of his head, and they seem to be a bit bushier than Niko’s. He also had a long and well kept beard that ended in a tapered point, coming down to his chest. And it was just as gray as the rest of his hair. The old mikesu wore a very kind and warm smile.
“This here is the one and only Niko Tarbella. Remembered as a famous wartime engineer, and a mad genius.”
Niko eagerly explained.
“He was also the father of one Katelyn Tarbella, who’s my mom.”
“So, this is your grandfather?”
Nova asked, just to clarify.
“Yep. And he was the best. See, he was involved in this big war the mikesu were a part of. I don’t know a lot of the details. It all happened a long time before I was born. But what I do know is that a lot of people say he’s one of the biggest reasons we managed to win. Because he was responsible for inventing this.”
Niko swiped to another photo. This one was set in a big open machine shop, with a large mech in the center focus. The machine looked noticeably similar to Ferrex, though significantly bulkier and less refined. It had an orange, black, and white color scheme.
“This is the Tigrex model battle mech. A staple in modern mikesu military. And my grandpa was the leading man in its design.”
Nova’s eyes opened wide at the sight of the machine.
“Wow. That’s really cool.”
She said, honestly impressed with the accomplishments of Niko’s grandfather.
Niko put his phone down and brought his knees up to his chest to get a bit more comfortable.
“Yep. He was… amazing. The world remembers him as a hero. But to me? He was just my grandpa. See, he moved in with my mom and dad just a couple months before I was born. He and I were always really close. He took care of me just about as much as my parents did. He always listened to whatever crazy stuff I would ramble on about, and always supported me in whatever I wanted to do. Heck, when I told him I wanted to go out to the stars and start a band? He built Ferrex for me as a gift.”
The young mikesu spoke with a soft smile. It was clear by his voice that he was starting to get emotional. He picked up his phone again and looked for a certain video.
The video showed a baby niko in overalls and a yellow shirt, taking his first awkward waddling steps. And squatted down in front of him with a great big smile was his grandfather. His beard was a bit shorter, and his orange hair was only just beginning to gray. His arms were stretched forward, ready to catch the small child if necessary.
“Yes that’s it. Come to grandpa! You can do it!”
His grandfather excitedly encouraged. The baby Niko happily giggled and reached forward with eager grabby hands as he waddled forward. Until he eventually reached his grandfather and grabbed on tight to his beard. His granddad laughed with joy and put his arms around his grandson.
“Look at you! You’ve done it!”
He happily cheered. And Niko’s parents could be heard giving excited words of encouragement from behind the camera.
“He really was amazing… I don’t know who I’d be without him.”
Niko said quietly.
“He really sounds like a great person to grow up with.”
Nova replied.
“If you don’t mind me asking… what happened to him?”
“He flew himself into the sun.”
Niko said bluntly.
“Oh! I uh… I’m sorry to hear that… I-”
Nova nervously stammered, completely blindsided by that answers.
Niko chuckled a bit.
“Don’t worry. It’s what he wanted.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Yeah. Well kind of anyway. Things is, grandad kinda went a little crazy in his later years. He was absolutely convinced that the sun of all things was the source of all the problems on Godbless. He was hell bent on destroying it. At first we all thought it was a big elaborate joke, but he was dead serious.”
“Oh… wow.”
Nova said, taken aback by the absurdity of the story.
“The craziest part though is that even when he started to loose it, his mind was as sharp as ever. Which lead to his greatest creation.”
Niko pulled up another photo on his phone. This one was of another Tigrex mech. But this one was on a completely different level than anything before. Ferrex was stood next to it for scale, and it towered over the smaller mech. It was a massive and majestic machine beast. Looking almost like a tiger shaped mother ship.
“This is Tigrex Ultima. Codename: Sun Killer. My grandpa’s greatest creation. A true marvel of modern mikesu engineering. It… didn’t work.”
“Figured as much.”
“Yeah. Granddad spent his last moments in the culmination of his life’s work… as he flew himself into the sun. But he went out with an honest smile on his face.”
Niko said. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the tragic and insane circumstances of it all…
3 Likes
Perfecta, Roaster thought as she look over the available items. She looks down at the little human when Carl speaks, hiding her thoughts. After a few seconds, she gives an answer.
“I’ll leave that up to Headbite. If she thinks Apacritia doesn’t mind others watching, then it’s fine.”
Now seeing that the Mini-Con has followed and seemed that she wanted to help Roaster adds, “If you’d like to learn or help, that will be fine. What was your name again cutie?”
That was good to see. While on the bridge Tokamak wonders aloud, “So who’s the designated pilot?”
1 Like
Wikipedia, a primarily human website, doesn’t have too much to say about Cook with Brains, a cybertronian program. The article for the show states that it was primarily a cooking show hosted by Roaster, emulating similar programs that have been popular among the human race for eons. It was popular on Junkion for most of its run, though its interstellar audience was comparatively lesser. The article ends by stating that the show was abruptly cancelled after fifty-nine seasons, though it doesn’t say as to why.
A circular section of the floor in the middle of the gathering hall lowers, and liquid energon pours in from valves in the walls around the depression.
Salvage peers over the helm controls, pulling up an operator’s manual on the holo-screen above them.
“I used to fix up all kinds of old starships on Junkion,” he says, “but ‘old’ is the operative word there. This is… a little different than what I’m used to. But I’ll take a stab at it if no-one else will.”
1 Like
Now that the two were inside the ship, they started to explore. Stonefist started looking for a place to sit and wait, while Aralysa began searching for an interior map of some sort.
“Ah. What is so important about his journal?”
1 Like
The hall on Deck Two would be a good place for Stonefist to kick back and relax. As for Aralysa, she could find map terminals at intersections in the Pulsar’s corridors.
1 Like
As they traversed into the Pulsar, both of them seemed to find what they were looking for. Stonefist made his way to Deck Two, looking all around at the ship and muttering to himself about how things were different in his day. Aralysa, meanwhile, managed to locate the map terminal at the nearest corridor. The Hecatan attempted to access it, hoping to figure out the general layout of the ship.
1 Like
Aralysa can access the Pulsar’s map without much effort. She can see that every deck has a plethora of rooms for the ship’s passengers; and the map also highlights key areas of interest, like the cargo hold, Deck Two’s gathering hall, Deck Three’s observation lounge, and the bridge. The yacht’s layout isn’t too terribly complex.
1 Like
“Hmmm, doesn’t seem too difficult to navigate.” Aralysa said to herself as she pulled up the map. As she looked it over with her blue optics, she made note of all the different parts and areas of the ship. After completely looking over the map, Aralysa decided to head for the Pulsar’s observation lounge on Deck Three.
1 Like
The observation lounge is a wide, circular chamber with a domed ceiling. Hologram projectors linked to cameras in the Pulsar’s exterior hull can project an image of the outside environment onto the walls and ceiling, making it feel as though the occupants are standing in open space. The floor of the observation lounge can also be lowered, and a strange liquid metal alloy can be poured into the room to about waist height for an average cybertronian. According to the descriptions in the ship’s controls, this fluid is designed to conduct electricity in such a way as to lull a cybertronian into a meditative state. Unfortunately, it is not safe for humans and other organic life-forms.
1 Like
Carl glanced over at Headbite and gave a more detailed look at what kind of robot he was looking at, “Huh, another Insecticon,” he said with a shrug, “Well, never had to deal with many of you folk on Mars,” the human said glancing back over at the wasp, “We did have a small Pretender situation though back five six years back…”
Headbite blinked, “I didn’t think Apacritia liked humans.”
The human in question gave a very small chuckle, “No, no she does not.”
1 Like
“My name is Razor,” Razor replies, “and don’t be so familiar. Only a few hours ago you were refusing my offers of help. Your overly familiar response now is in quite bad taste for a TV show host.”
At the same time, Oreo looks up to see a mirror in a nearby hallway. He stands transfixed, a surprised look upon his face. As he looks, he sees his reflection, but as the “Oreo bot”. Before he can move, the reflection changes to his normal appearance.
1 Like
Carl sarcastically retorted, “Well aren’t you a charmer eh?” he said as he hopped up on a pile of boxes to be more at, at least stomach height of the larger bots.
1 Like
“I beg your pardon,” Razor says. She turns in surprise to see Carl, as she hadn’t noticed him until now.
1 Like