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 Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:23 pm
How was he to respond to these questions? He couldn't admit to being too weak, he had too much pride for that. Besides, if he really wanted to, Starscream could probably take on Megatron.....Maybe. What really held him back were those fools who blindly pledge their undying loyalty to the tyrant and actually mean it. If he were to destroy Megatron and take his place as leader of the Decepticons, many would oppose his reign. Though he would like to deny it, he wouldn't be able to fend off several Decepticons at once if they were to decide to gang up on him. He nodded, deeming that as his story and he was sticking with it.
"Yes, well I would hardly expect something made by organics to have any intelligence, so I suppose you're better than a mindless drone." It was only after making that statement that he realized how well that description fit several Cybertronians as well, "I haven't overthrown Megatron" as always, the name was spoken with a deep, long-developed hatred for its bearer, "because there are too many loyal to him and...few are loyal to me. For now." A better word to replace few would have been none, but that would make him seem weak, wouldn't it? He hardly even registered her final comment, to lost in his disgust for his leader to take notice of her gratitude.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:25 pm
He was still belligerent towards her, and the Tekna 9.2 was starting to feel small and insulted. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, her face now an almost uninterrupted white screen. When she had counted to sixteen and regained her calm, she replied in an even voice, "I think I am much better than a mindless drone. Something created me, but if those filthy organics don't know how I came to be like this, I hardly think that they can be given any sort of credit for this...development."
She narrowed her eyes at Starscream and watched him. Maybe only a select few were allowed to be close to him, but she wanted to be part of that few. No. I want to be the closest one. And I will be. I will find a way.. "I think I have the potential to be greater," she added slowly. Her mind was racing as she strove to keep ahead of her vocal unit. "In fact, I think I could very easily be loyal to you, Starscream. You can call me..." Her mind leapt out, and, by some miracle, just barely snagged its claws on the next ledge. "Technology Kills." Yes, I think that will do for a name. "I pledge my undying loyalty to you, Starscream, if you would have it. I owe you, after all." But I think it's much more than that.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:58 pm
Well now, this little bot had some spunk to her. Starscream couldn't help but have a little admiration for her boldness in standing up for herself, but a fire like that in such a small machine was bound to be extinguished, along with its owner, in the company of Decepticons. It was common occurrence for a minor scuffle to erupt into something bigger and end up with someones spark shattered on the floor. Would it really be wise to accept the loyalty of such a machine? Knowing his companions they would find some way to turn this only ally against him. However, he was in terrible need of any allies. Could he really pass up this chance? She could prove to be more useful that he was giving her credit for, and for all he knew, she could push the balance in his favor.
He shook his head, mentally laughing at himself for such a ridiculous thought. A bot built by organics being the key to my ultimate victory? My processors must be fired. Still... "I'm still not sure what to think of you, Technology Kills, but you're coming with me back to Cybertron. We'll continue this conversation there. You'd be wise to keep quite until we're alone again." He tucked her carefully into his cockpit and returned to his companions. After they had all filed into Astrotrain the transport bot shot off into space, taking the transformers back to their home.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:03 pm
Technology Kills trembled a little bit as the realization of what she had done struck her. She had just pledged to help a robot over four times bigger than herself in a battle against an enemy unknown times bigger than him, and what did she have? A little knowledge about the world and a little gratefulness. I'm junk; I just haven't been pitched yet. She forced the thought out of her mind, repeating the mantra she had heard from one of her creators. Technology Kills. Technology Kills. I am primitive technology, but this Megatron will soon learn that I am still dangerous--even if I'm smaller than him.
"Thank you again, Starscream," she murmured as she curled up in the cockpit. From this position, she could see the other...Decepticons filing into a far larger transport. A thousand questions filled her processors, but she reminded herself not to ask them. There would be a time for asking, but that time was not now. Not until they had a free moment.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:40 pm
Starscream took his place in a corner of the talking bus/spaceship/robot and watched the other Decepticons banter about who squished more organics than whom and who had the most Energon cubes. He refused to join in their celebration. He didn't want to accidentally say anything about his special cargo. She had to be kept secret if he was going to keep her. At times the others would poke and prod him, trying to goad him into his usual gloating but he remained silent, only offering threatening glares when necessary.
The trip to Cybertron certainly wasn't short enough for Starscream. He was far too ready to get off that obnoxious Astrotrain and leave the others to take care of the Energon while he went to report their success to their glorious leader. For once the Seeker wasn't worried about being abused after giving his report. Megatron was sure to be pleased with their success and Starscream would walk away without any new dents in his armor.
Or so he thought...
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:50 pm
The ride to Starscream's home was mostly without incident--while many tried to get Starscream to come out in the open, he refused their every offer. Tech felt...touched. Yes, that was the correct word. She felt touched at that. He was avoiding them to keep her secret. It was a wonder she could contain her glee--and a wonder that no one could see her through the amber, Cybertronian glass of the cockpit. Must be a one-sided mirror; I can see out, but no one can see in. It made her feel safe; she could observe the world, better serve her...master? this way.
Master. How odd that she had one when she had wanted to be independent. But she liked Starscream--liked very well indeed. There ought to be a name for a liking this deep. What do you call it when everything calls out for you to cling to someone? When you want to hear more and more about them until there's almost nothing left to hear? Is this loyalty? If it was, she was secretly glad that Starscream felt no loyalty to his "master." I don't want anyone feeling this for loyalty but me. Especially not Megatron! She hugged herself, wondering what sort of robot he was to inspire hatred in the robot she liked most.
She was soon to find out. The hard way.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:35 pm
Starscream stepped into the tyrant's chamber, a smug grin on his face as he approached the silver robot who seemed rather occupied with something else at the moment, "Lord Megatron, thanks to my flawless leadership, we have returned victorious from our raid."
He waited for the recognition he always tried to obtain, but yet again he was denied. Megatron continued to busy himself with whatever it was he was toying with and Starscream went completely ignored. The Seeker wouldn't have this; he would not be denied what which he rightly deserved. With much more force this time, he spoke again, "Megatron, did you not hear me? We've returned with Energon. The Autobots didn't even bother trying to stop us this time."
The end of his declaration was said as if this was a triumph, as if they had scared off the Autobots. Megatron seemed to think otherwise. He wasn't impressed with their success. To the Decepticon leader they should have been successful every time. He was displeased with their failures and this rare occasion wasn't going to make his mood change.
Starscream wasn't going take this. Megatron wouldn't take this victory from him and turn it into yet another failure. "And who is to blame for that, oh mighty leader? Clearly if I were in charge of the Decepticons we would have had victory of the Autobots already. This raid is proof of that!" He was challenging Megatron again. He had essentially signed the death certificate of that recognition he wanted so badly. Clearly their leader wasn't in the mood for Starscream's treachery speech. Without warning the Seeker was suddenly crumpled on the floor on the other side of the room while. The tyrant transformed back into his robot form-leaving the question of when he had transformed before hand-and left to inspect the stolen Energon.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:48 pm
Tech peered out of the cockpit at Megatron, listening as he and Starscream talked. From the very first, there was something she did not like about Megatron. Perhaps it was the way he held himself, with arrogance and carelessness, certain that anyone beneath him was beneath him in any way. Perhaps it was his eyes; they were not fiery, they were just hateful, with a passion that spoke only of death and continuation of anything that had ever been. Perhaps it was a combination of the above.
His speech was certainly irritating. So what if these...Autobots (what were they, anyway? Something else to ask later) had stopped a few raids. That had nothing to do with the raid that had been successful. He should be congratulated for a job well done, not for having bungled in the past! Never punish now what should have been punished before! Silently, Tech swore at him, using the words she had heard the organics use and some of the ones the other Decepticons had used. Ungrateful...slagheap! Starscream and the other Decepticons fought hard for that energon, and they did it for you, Megatron!
Starscream apparently thought so, too--and it was an old argument, apparently. Somehow, it did not surprise Tech that Starscream wanted leadership himself. And why not? He could be a far finer leader! There was something about him that suggested life, maybe even peace in the future, but all that Megatron suggested was death and pain. Like the pain that Tech felt as a blast from the swiftly-transformed Megatron threw Starscream--and Tech inside him--across the room with a sudden force. Tech gasped and squirmed briefly, eyes wide open in shock.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 8:17 am
All was quiet for quite some time. If one hadn't known the tenacity of Starscream they would have thought he had ceased functioning. But a blast like that wouldn't destroy him so easily, there was too much determination making his spark run to let that happen. Slowly, he rose back to his feet and examined the damage to his plating. It was minor. It was always minor because Megatron didn't have the circuits to seriously damage such a useful ally, even if he was treacherous.
His vengeful eyes turned down the corridor Megatron had left down, "Your time will come, Megatron. And when it does, I'll be ready to take my place as the rightful leader of the Decepticons."
The Seeker was about to make his way back towards the store room to oversee the transport of the rest of the Energon when he remembered something. He still had some cargo. The little, organic-made machine was still in his cockpit. Rather than return to the presence of other bots he flipped around and headed down to a place he knew he wouldn't be disturbed. After checking to be completely possitive that no others were snooping around, like that obnoxious Laserbeak, he deposited Tech then sat himself down for the possibly long conversation that about about to occur.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:30 am
In the silence that followed the blast, Tech ran diagnostics. She was mostly okay--a dent in her arm, but she was confident that that could gently be pounded out. Surely the Cybertronians would have a way of fixing these things--she couldn't believe that even Starscream could be immune to a blow like that. He's probably hurt...in pain... She shuddered at the thought. I'll get you for that, Megatron! No one messes with Starscream and gets away with it, not on my watch!
She was glad to hear him swear vengeance on Megatron; it was good to know that her own plans for retribution were not in vain. A leader does not punish his troops for a job well done in a time of badly executed plans. He should be supportive, encouraging so that they work harder to gain his admiration, not avoid punishment. I wonder if clogging up that cannon on his arm and convincing him to fire would convince him of that. Still calculating, she watched as Starscream took her to a sheltered place.
"I take it he's always so...Ungrateful?" she asked calmly. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her cord around them.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:09 am
He snorted and turned away, staring at some machine that shared the room with them while attempting to repair the damage from Megatron's rage, "I doubt he even knows the meaning of the word grateful. It's baffling how so many of the Decepticons are so loyal to him. He's never lead us real victory, I don't understand why they consider him such a worthy leader."
With a huff he cleared his thoughts of melting the leader down into slag and returned his eyes down to Tech, "Which leads me to you." There was a hint of hidden suspicion on his face as he spoke, "You said you pledge your loyalty to me, but why? You don't know me, I don't know you. You seem grateful that I saved you from those organics, but I guarantee that was not why I was there and for all you know I could be just like them. So what makes you think it's such a good idea to ally yourself with me?"
His eyes were full of scrutiny, scanning her for any sign of a lie. He wanted allies, that he couldn't deny, and while she was small he tried to think of her as a cassetticon, which may not have helped her case much in his eyes. However, if he were going to accept her as an ally he had to be sure she was worth keeping. That she wouldn't betray him and tell Megatron of his plans. He had to be sure this so called loyalty was real and not some charade like he some times played for Megatron.
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:33 am
She nodded. "I didn't expect him to be grateful. Piece of...slag seems like an idiot, though a powerful one, one to be carefully scrutinized before the final blow."
Tech sighed and tried to push of the feeling of...disappointment? Was this truly disappointment, like what her creators felt when she wasn't working properly? No. I never feel like those filthy organics. I am different. I am a machine, and I wouldn't want to be anything like them. She didn't know why she felt disappointed like this; she had known, though never admitted to herself, that Starscream had not come for her sake. He had come because he was on a mission. He had not known that she existed. I don't care. I still want to be with him, eve if he doesn't yet value me. That doesn't matter. He will value me, once I get a chance to prove to him that I will be loyal to him, even if he doesn't understand why!
"I know...I know you didn't rescue me on purpose. But I'm still grateful that you did. I'm grateful that you didn't destroy me upon seeing me, or reveal me to the rest of the Decepticons. I doubt they would have let me survive, considering I'm made by..." she growled, "organics. Besides, I don't have a home or a purpose, and...personally...I think that serving you would be satisfying." She smiled ruefully and looked up at him. "I don't know why yet, but I think I would prefer to stick with you and help you. Besides, I don't like that Megatron, and I can think of several ways to bring on the pain, if you will allow me to share them with you." Unconsciously, Tech crossed her fingers like she had seen organics do on occasion when they wanted to attract luck.
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:20 am
At least the organics had built Tech with some sense of intelligence. She had the smarts to dislike Megatron but also recognized he wasn't a push over and openly opposing him wasn't the best idea. Unlike himself. He blamed the first few....hundred times of objecting to Megatron's rule on being young and stupid, everything after was simply because everyone knew he despised the worthless bot and there was really no point in trying to hide it any more. Subtlety really wasn't his strong suit.
Starscream really wasn't sure why he hadn't destroyed her the moment he saw her. Perhaps his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Maybe, after so much destruction, he felt it was time to do something just a little gracious (which was really quite a laughable thought to him). Ormaybeit'scauseshe'saladeh~ Regardless, he was slowly becoming grateful he hadn't slagged her when he could have. Her features showed she was being sincere, that or she was simply very good at lying. Being the hopeful fool he was, he chose to ignore the latter option as a possibility. She was made by organics after all, he doubted they could create a machine that could fool him so easily.
This hatred for her fleshy creators was also something that was helping her case. It would ensure she wouldn't divert to the Autobots one day. The last thing he needed was a machine under his command sneaking all of the Decepticons' information to the Autobots. Megatron would surely link it back to the Seeker somehow. Though he was still a bit unsure of Tech, he was willing to accept her help at his point. If things began to back fire on him he could always destroy her. It would be quite simple.
"Alright...consider yourself an ally of Starscream. For now. Keep in mind, if you betray me you'll be in the scrap heap before you even knew what hit you." The light in his eyes said he meant it. He was tired of being shot by Megatron and if, for once, he didn't have himself to blame he was going to make sure the one a fault received the same punishment he had.
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:12 am
With a sigh of relief--that is, the sigh of relief she would have had if she had had lungs or the need, indeed, to breathe--Tech unfolded herself and stood up. She smiled gratefully up at Starscream. A weight had been lifted up--she had been afraid for a few minutes that he would change his mind and refuse her help, perhaps even squish her. The idea hurt her more than she could understand at the moment. I'll have to figure that out on my own. In the meantime, I have a lot of thinking to do.
"Thank you," she said sincerely. "And I won't betray you--I have no reason to betray you. I doubt I'd get along with any other Decepticon, and I'm almost as much of a hater of Megatron as you are. That is," she added hastily, "I would be as much of a hater, but you've been around, that is, you've been in contact with him for a lot longer than I have, so you have a bit more of a concrete reason to hate him, I've only just met him." Tech flinched. That sounded bad. That sounded really bad. "I could never, however, in any way, shape, or form ally myself with him," she said firmly. "I have pledged my loyalty to you, and I never, never, will betray you. I swear on my programming." Again she crossed her fingers, hoping that he would understand what she meant.
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Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:43 am
That was a mouthful. It took Starscream a moment to completely process what she had said into comprehensible data. She was rather quick to judge others, wasn't she? At least she had good taste in allies and enemies. So far anyway. He laid down and curled up, bringing his face down to her level. As much as his instincts told him not to trust her, but something about her; possibly the hope in her eyes or the little, slightly unsure smile she kept giving, that told instinct to go slag itself.
He nodded slowly, "You'll have to keep quiet and stay out of sight, if you want to continue functioning. Most of the others are too stupid to look down and notice you, but there are others that are small like you. They'll notice." He silently cursed the cassetticons. He now had an actual reason to dislike them other than the fact that they annoyed him to no end. He was silent for a while, thinking hard on his next words as he wasn't sure if it were the best to say or not, "I'll...try to keep you safe."
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