“Ah, it seems we’re finally about to get going.” Stonefist remarked to himself as the ship powered on and an automated voice sounded. He looked around. It didn’t look like anyone was in the room, but then he shrugged. The rock-armored transformer figured veryone who wanted to go was already on the Pulsar anyways.
“Here we go.” Aralysa said as she located the lounge. Looking over her options, she decided to access the hologram generator. Then, a voice sounded over the intercom, which notified the Hecatan about the imminent takeoff. “Alright, glad to get going.” she said.
OOC: actually, if Stonefist went to the gathering hall after my last response to him, he’d have @MaxinePrimal’s character Low-Tide for company.
IC:
The domed roof appears to fade away, revealing the blue sky of northern Cybertron behind it. Wispy clouds drift lazily overhead, and Cybertron’s star, Hadeen, glows brightly up above. It’s almost as though one can feel its warmth, even from inside the observation lounge.
OOC: oh yeah, I forgot that they were the same room.
IC:
Contrary to Stonefist’s original observation of the room, it appeared that he in fact wasn’t alone. Another one of their group, a turtle transformer, one he hadn’t yet met personally, was relaxing in what Stonefist assumed to be some sort of energon bath. He sighed. Despite his tendency to be alone, it was inevitable that the rocky robot would run into someone else eventually. He didn’t really say anything.
Well this isn’t bad at all, Aralysa thought she activated the projector. Cybertron’s sky, even though it wasn’t quite the same as her birthplace’s, still held a sense of wonder and familiarity to the transformer, and she appreciated it.
Salvage continues to run the Puslar through her pre-flight protocols, familiarizing himself with her controls while he does so. The Astran yacht has a few more bells and whistles than the old shipwrecks he and Bootleg used to renovate on Junkion.
Meanwhile, in the cargo hold, Overgrowth curiously inspects the two mechs that Niko and Nova have left within the room. Before the Reunification, many inhabitants from the Prime Colonies had been unaware that humanity had long-since evolved into an interstellar species, and her duties as a peacekeeper have kept her from familiarizing herself with all of human-kind’s advancements.
“Most intriguing contraptions, these are,” she says, taking special note of the mechs’ weapons. “The biped appears to bear some unorthodox modifications.”
“That one is a mass-produced model used by many armed powers,” Beta Maxx tells her. “It’s not uncommon for them to be personalized by their pilots. Another expression of the human disinclination toward conformity, I think.”
Overgrowth puts a hand to her chin and nods, accepting this as a reasonable assumption. “And the quadruped?” she asks.
“A variation of a mikesu combat mech, I believe,” Beta tells her. “Though I’m not quite sure why a musician would need such a vehicle.”
“Perhaps mikesu concerts are that intense,” Overgrowth speculates. “They’d get on well with the Junkions, if so.”
Beta chuckles. “The Knights were once much less reserved in the ways of merrymaking, you know,” he says. “After Unicron’s first death, the ensuing celebration in Iacon only concluded when-… well, let me just say that the Primal Basilica was once somewhat larger than it is today.”
With the human gone and after kicking Razor out, Roaster locks the door to the medical bay and begins working on Apacritia. Like Headbite, she opens the Insecticon up and takes out parts, inspecting and repairing. Reshaping and forging armor, making a few new parts to make the Decepticon experiments more functional and better assist with cloning, replacing parts too damaged, etc.
As Roaster works on Apacritia she asks Headbite, “So how did you two meet? You from the same swarm or experiment batch?”
“The name is Low-Tide, man. I’m from Eukaris. How about you?”
He asked.
“So… what about you? Who did you loose?”
Niko asked.
“I…”
Nova spoke hesitantly. It felt as if there was a block in her throat, keeping her from answering the question. And it was then Niko quickly realized he made a mistake.
“I’m sorry! You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
He said hastily.
“No, no. It’s okay. It’s only fair.”
Nova answered.
“I… I lost both of my parents when I was little… That’s all I can say. I just… I don’t like to think about it.”
“Hey! Don’t worry. You’re okay.”
Niko said. He gently placed a hand on Nova’s shoulder. The girl shuttered and seized up at the touch, but after a moment she relaxed. Something about it felt oddly comforting.
“It’s just… I’ve never been good with talking to people. Growing up was difficult. I’ve always kept to myself. I could never connect with anyone. I guess… I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you. You didn’t need to help me like this. I barely know you, but you still opened up to me because you wanted to help. You didn’t need to do that, but you did anyway. Thank you.”
Nova turned and wrapped her arms around Niko’s back, pulling him into a close hug. The boy’s face flushed a bright red.
“H-hey! Don’t mention it. It’s what I do.”
He nervously stammered.
“How do you do it?.. How do you talk about your grandfather so easily?”
Nova asked.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Niko answered curiously.
“The way you told me all about your granddad like that. It all came so easily. But every time I try to think about my parents, it always hurts. It hurts so much that I can’t stand it. I just force it all out of my head to make the pain stop. But even then it doesn’t always work… So how do you do it?”
“Well I think forcing it all out is part of the problem.”
Niko answered honestly.
“I think about my grandpa almost every day. I think about him every time I boot up Ferrex, or every time I see a sunrise. Yeah sometimes it hurts, but if I just let it happen it isn’t so bad. I’ve accepted the fact that he’s gone, so the best I can do is remember him the best I can.”
“Huh…”
Nova answered quietly.
“Is there anything you have to remember your parents by?”
Niko asked.
Nova let the mikesu boy go and scooted back a bit.
“Well, I have a lot of dvds of old shows I used to watch with my dad. Even if I haven’t actually watched them in years. I have this pendant that my mom gave to me when I was born, and a bunch of books that she used to read to me before bed. Oh, and there’s lullaby I remember really well that they sang to me to help me fall asleep.”
“A lullaby huh? I actually have a song that I sing myself to remember my grandpa. It was a song my dad wrote, but it was about granddad. So I make sure to sing it every time I see a sunrise.”
“Huh. That’s pretty cool.”
Nova remarked.
“Would you mind if I heard it? The lullaby I mean.”
Niko asked.
Nova blushed slightly.
“I uh, no. I’ve never tried to sing in front of someone else before.”
Niko laughed a bit.
“Don’t worry about it. I definitely understand having stage fright. Maybe I could hear it sometime later?”
“Uh, yeah… maybe later.”
Nova nervously replied.
“Hey, how about we explore this ship together? To help take your mind off things.”
Nova smiled.
“You know what, yeah. I’d like that. Go ahead and head out, I’ll be out soon. I just want a minute to myself.”
“Sounds good to me! I’ll wait outside.”
Niko replied eagerly. He got off the bed, strapped his boots back on, and went out the door. Niko curiously stood on the ledge for a moment, and was pleasantly surprised when he heard the gentle sounds of singing coming from the other side.
“Ah!”
Niko nearly jumped as he noticed Overgrowth towering over him, examining their machines.
Oreo rounded the corner just as Razor stepped out, her face clenched in an angry glare.
“What on Earth makes you look like that?”
Razor ignored the question, instead transforming into a motorcycle. She then sped off, leaving Oreo standing bewildered.
Oreo walked to the door of the medical bay and knocked lightly.
“May I speak to the medic,” he asked.
“I’m Stonefist.” the rocky Cybertronian replied. He started the next sentence with “I’m from-” and paused for a noticeable length of time before continuing with “- Cybertron.”
Once all of our heroes have boarded the Pulsar, Salvage releases the clamps holding the yacht in place in her cradle. The sleek ship rises into the air and loops around the spaceport, the sunlight gleaming off her hull. The Pulsar’s engines roar as she completes her circuit, and she darts over Iacon’s walls and into the wilds beyond the city, bound for the Tomb of the Primes.
(@ProfSrlojohn) As the Pulsar departs, the mysterious human man turns away from LD-L1, and looks up at the ship as the lights of her engines flicker in the sky above.
“And off they go,” he says, his voice light with anticipation. “If it is your desire to protect them, acolyte, then you best be going, too. They’ll need all the help they can get in the time to come.”
The Pulsar’s intercom chimes pleasantly, the ringing echoing through her corridors.
“Ladies, gentlemen, and all in-between, this is your pilot, Salvage of the Wastes,” the red Junkion announces. "Our course is laid in- next stop: the Tomb of the Primes. We’ll be there in a jiffy, so don’t get too comfortable. I, uh, guess that’s kind of a bummer, given how tricked-out this ship is, but hey! Maybe after we finish paying the old Primes a visit, we can take our sweet time getting to… wherever we’re getting to next. Y’know, get our money’s worth.
“…Speaking of money, who’s covering the rent on this thing? Is everybody chipping in, or something?”
Overgrowth recoils as well, she herself also caught by surprise.
“Not long,” she says, after relaxing her shoulders. “I was merely having a look at your vehicles; it was not my intention to startle you.”
“Hey, no worries.”
Niko replied, having calmed down.
“So you’re checking out Ferrex huh? He’s pretty cool right? I’d be happy to answer any question you might have, if you’re interested.”
Axis chuckled, amused by Salvage’s familiar antics.
“I’ll head to the bridge and help supervise things. Feel free to relax darling.”
Maximus narrowed his optics at the phoenix on his shoulder.
“Fine. But when we make it to the tomb, you have to lie down and rest.”
“Very well.”
Axis reluctantly agreed.
With that settled, the Prime flew off into the pilot’s cabin.
“Hello again Salvage.”
She greeted warmly.
“Nice man. Its a pleasure to meet ya.”
Low-Tide said.
“Ok.” Stonefist replied, and rather bluntly at that. It wasn’t that the rocky-armored transformer was antisocial, more he wasn’t…used to large amounts of social interaction. Either way, he gave Low-Tide a smile nonetheless.
“Nice to meet you as well.”
At this point, both Aralysa and Stonefist noticed that the ship had finally begun its journey towards the tomb. Still gazing and the faux sky, Aralysa simply nodded. It’s good to get going. Every adventure has a beginning. Then she looked around the room, trying to find the controls so she could see what else it could do.
“I was curious as to why a man of your profession would need such a vehicle as this, actually,” Overgrowth says. “Is mikesu space so dangerous?”
“Hey,” Salvage says, turning in the pilot’s seat to look back at Axis. “You know, this seat is really comfortable. I think it might be leather- like, actual Earth bovine leather, not some close-enough nebulon thing.”
The holographic display can also be set to project images of several predesigned scenes, like orbital views of Cybertron and the various colonies, along with Earth and Avalon Prime.
“So like, how’d you get wrapped up in all this? I hear most of the bots on board are here cause they helped in some big attack the other day. I wasn’t there myself, but figured I’d tag along anyway.”
The eukarian asked curiously.
“Not at all! It’s just how I get around.”
Niko eagerly answered.
“See I hope to be a big rock star some day. And part of being a rock star means making a statement everywhere you go. You gotta be flashy and recognizable. At least that’s what my dad taught me. Yeah Ferrex is based off of a battle mech, but he isn’t exactly made for a fight. I got him tricked out with all sorts of gear, so he makes for a great traveling stage. And an even better band mascot.”
“Really now? Fascinating.”
Axis remarked, seeming to be genuinely intrigued.
“You know, most junkions I’ve met are always so familiar with earth culture. Something I have very little experience in myself. But I can hardly imagine how difficult imported earth materials would be to come by.”
Axis turned around as Oreo entered the bridge and looked up at the bot.
“Hello there. You’re one of the two who joined at the space port yes? I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. Tell me, what us your name?”
The Prime said pleasantly. The phoenix ruffled her wings just a bit. Her head curiously tilted one way, and then twisted the other. She was captivated by the markings that covered his armor. Clearly human in design. The language alone was clearly recognizable as human, even if she couldn’t read it.
“And have you been to earth? Your markings are human are they not?”
Oreo looked up in surprise at this question.
“I’m not quite sure how to answer that,” he said. “You see, I was cold-constructed on Earth back in the 2010s. I was killed by the Autobots, as I was made from the parts of dead Cybertronians that they wanted returned. Then, years later, my body was shipped to Cybertron. Somehow it was ignored or missed during the years between then and the present. Razor, the Mini-Con who was with me earlier, had me restored, but I have no memories of my time with the humans. Only those of waking up in a lab on Cybertron, with Razor and some other scientists fixing my armor.”