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 Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:30 pm
Tech tried not to be surprised when Starscream landed safely on the other side of the crevasse. Of course he made it! He's the best flier on all of Cybertron! One gap in the terrain can't stop him! Turning back towards the Autobots as she released her death-grip on Starscream's collar, she gave a cry of victory. "Take that!" she shrieked. "You can't defeat us! Tremble in fear, worthless flesh-lovers!!" She had no idea where that came from--organics would have said it in a rush of adrenaline. Just nervous energy. Bubbling of it, or something. Whatever it was, it felt good to be back on territory that she already thought of as friendly. Or at least slightly less hostile.
Her joy was cut short when her optics happened to take in the sight of Starscream's wing. It was mangled, horribly ripped open until she could see the sparks and the wires. She couldn't help but give a gasp of horror. "Starscream..." she whispered. "You have to find a way to get back to your base...you need repairs." Gently she reached out to touch it, ready to withdraw her questioning hand should he give any sign of discomfort. Tech held back a moan, trying not to feel guilty. It's my fault...my fault he couldn't get any energon to appease Megatron...he's going to be furious, and there's nothing I can do to help Starscream now!
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have gotten myself in danger. I'm sorry."
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:10 am
Starscream couldn't help but smirk at her enthusiasm. She was learning the Decepticon ways quite well and so long as she didn't become a mindless slave to Megatron he was pleased with this. However, the grin quickly faded as she spoke about his wing, and returning to the base. That wasn't something he planned on doing, not any time soon. There was no way he would be able to go back without serious consequence at this point....At any point really. Regardless of when he returned, it was a certainty that Megatron would be furious. Sighing, he wondered how he was going to fix this.
His wing flinched slightly as she reached out to it, but he didn't seem to mind the touch all that much. He turned to her curiously in mockery or to save his protoform from being blasted by Megatron. He shook his head in protest, agreeing that she shouldn't have left the lab, but not with the apology, "Yes, you disobeyed me but this wasn't your fault. It was a doomed mission anyways and..." He was silent for just a short moment, contemplating what he was about to say, "Quite honestly, you were helpful. I'm not sure I would have been able to handle the situation on my own."
What was this? This wasn't his normal attitude. He should be blaming everything on her and taking all the credit for the victory over those three Autobots. He should be furious she left the lab and he would never admit to being too weak to defeat those Autobots in the first place. Instead he was praising her for her help. Either his processors were malfunctioning or Tech was really starting to grow on him.
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:04 am
Head hung in shame, Tech nodded. "I won't disobey you again." She was surprised to hear a tiny part of her silently add, unless it is needful. I won't disobey him! I promised him!
But what if he needs your help like he did before? Her mental reply was cut short by Starscream's words. She looked up in surprise--and delight. Giving a little smile, she murmured, "I'm glad I was of some assistance at least. I'd do it again in a second if you needed me to." The tumbling thoughts in her head were starting to increase as a new question reared its not-so-ugly head. Why? Why did helping Starscream feel so good? She had never felt so good helping organics, and she somehow didn't think helping the rest of the Decepticons would feel as good as this. What makes him so special? Is it just that he rescued me? Or that he seems to care so much about me? Why do I have the urge to defeat all his foes, rise him to the top of the heap?
They were questions that would have to wait, she decided with an inward sigh. For now, she would simply have to accept that Starscream was her ally, and of course she wanted to help him. That answer, however, felt hollow. A more satisfying question in the future was not satisfying now. "If you don't go back, how will you get your wing fixed?" she asked quietly. Even back on Decepticon territory, she would have to keep her voice down to mask her presence.
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:57 am
A silence fell between them as he thought of an answer to her question. How was he going to get repaired without returning to base? It's not like there were neutral medics floating around who would repair any bot that came to them for help. At least not in Decepticon territory anyways. There were mercenaries, but Starscream's pride was too great and his trust far too little to let one of those bots work on him. He stared ahead at the battle worn streets, the lab not much further now.
"The lab..." He was muttering his thoughts again. His knowledge of that building was enough for him to know that there was a wing within that contained some basic equipment used for repairs. Not on Decepticons but for lesser machines like the sentinels Shockwave used to patrol the area when the rest of the command was away. However, Starscream was fairly confident he could use it to repair something like a wing. There weren't any processors or complex connections in a wing, just the basic wiring for movement. It would be easy and there were bound to be a few parts left lying around inside. Whether they were the right parts or not he would just have to hope for the best.
The biggest problem was the power supply. The way everything was running now he wouldn't be able to run any sort of equipment; all of the power was being channeled to the consuls. He would have to try and reroute it to what he needed for repairs and the sudden shift may cause suspicion if Shockwave happened to be monitoring at the time things could get very bad very quickly. Was it worth it to possibly be found out, have Megatron accuse him of being a traitor, again, and be attacked as well as have Tech destroyed, more than likely? Or would it be better just to go with the certainty of being attacked by retuning to base? At the moment a possibility seemed more promising than a certainty, "It'll be risky..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 12:00 am
Almost as soon as she said it, Tech had begun wondering if the lab might have the materials they needed. There would surely be enough armor-grade materials to cannibalize for spare parts. Power's a different matter. I'm small enough that I can suck energy without being noticed. He's a different matter altogether, though.
It took quite a bit of Tech's self control not to giggle as he came to the same conclusion she did at the same time. "There should be enough to fix you," she said with a nod. "It's the energy that's worrying. If you were in better shape, I'd suggest finding a way to sap energy from the Autobots, but that's simply not going to be possible. Is there some unused building that gets more energy than the lab? We can always haul the supplies there. I've seen hardly any other people walking the streets; it should be clear, unless there are hidden security cameras or something." She froze at that thought and looked around fearfully. It had occurred to her that Megatron might just be the sort to set up cameras to watch the Decepticons. Just like him not to trust his own soldiers! She added that to his list of faults and continued thinking hard.
"Is it possible we could find some way to run a distraction so that no one is noticing a spike in energy while we fix you up? Or is there some activity that is legal that would not attract attention that requires great deals of energy?" Not likely, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? "Whatever needs to be done, I'd like to help," she added. "I won't be caught again, I promise you that--but I wish to help you."
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 11:29 am
"There are no cameras, just Shockwave's toys. Thankfully they don't patrol this area often since it's shut down. The nearest building with enough power is occupied, it wouldn't be wise to go there." A distraction was their best bet, but Starscream wasn't happy with that option either. He certainly wouldn't be able to cause the distraction, he wouldn't be able to repair himself if that were the case. Which left Tech with the duty of drawing away Shockwave's, because he was almost certain he would be the one watching, eye away from the lab. The Seeker couldn't bear the thought of that, Shockwave was ruthless and if he caught her he wouldn't destroy her...He would simply take her back to his own lab and treat her worse than those worthless organics. Starscream wasn't going to let that happen.
"There must be another way..." He was shaking his head, trying to clear the thoughts of Shockwave's cruelty, as he rounded a corner, the lab right in front of them now. Starscream stepped inside and began looking around, trying to find something they could use as an alternate option. If it came down to it, he would return to the base before letting her act as a decoy. However, his mind was racing to come up with something because he really didn't want to return to Megatron just yet. Any time he could get away from the tyrant was a blessing and he wanted to enjoy that for a bit longer. His optics swept over the whole of the lab, taking every single object into consideration as he struggled to come up with some kind of solution. One that didn't include the strong possibility of Tech getting slagged.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:29 pm
Even thinking as hard as she could, Tech couldn't think of much else other than, possibly, to distract whoever was in the building, buy Starscream some time. "What is that other building? And what do you mean by Shockwave's 'toys'? Do you mean drones?" she asked automatically. There were some possibilities...drones had simple programming; it shouldn't be too hard to keep them distracted for long periods of time. She might even be able to get them to blow each other up. That would be fun!
She hardly even noticed now her worry about being caught; she would surely be able to find some way out of it. Maybe it was just giddiness starting to set in after the excitement of the battle. It will wear off soon; for now, I have to control myself, not do something rashly again. I will not shame or endanger Starscream again. "I'm afraid I can't think of anything but a distraction, I'm afraid," she murmured. "We have to find a way--going in for official repairs is not an option in the current circumstances." She clung loosely to him, rubbing her head against him as she wracked her processors for a solution.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:50 pm
Starscream stared down at her a bit awkwardly as she rubbed her head against him. It was like when a human child latched onto another affectionately and the other, not used to such displays, simply stands with a slightly terrified and confused expression. He tried to brush it off, like with the rest of her slightly more...organic actions, and put his mind on the situation at hand.
She was right, of course. The only way was to create a distraction of sorts and there was no getting around that. They would have to run the risk of Tech getting caught-No. No they wouldn't. The Seeker refused to let that be a possibility. Even though she was going to have to cause the distraction he was going to make sure she remained safe no matter what. He would defend her if she got caught, make up some lie as to why she was here and find some way to prove that she wasn't a threat to Megatron, "Alright then...We'll run a distraction."
As he responded to her previous questions he moved around the dead lab, searching for something, "Yes, they're drones. Mindless and built only to follow orders. Unfortunately, Shockwave's the one giving the orders, so you'll need to be cunning to avoid capture. The building-Ah, there..." He picked up a small device then began to rummage through a pile of old equipment, "The building nearby is just lodgings and storage at the moment but it tends to be a rather popular place so you'd do best to start your diversion somewhere a bit further away from it." He pulled out another device then glanced at Tech before mumbling something about it being too big and tossing it back into the pile.
"I was going to equip you with an optic sensor but it seems like I'll have to settle for just a comlink." He passed the first device over to her then wandered to one of the secondary computers setting it up for communication with the comlink, "It's active now. Just speak into it if you find yourself in trouble."
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