[G1 RPG] Terminus: The Chessmaster (Iacon)

[Warcry]

(OOC: I would say yes, they'd probably see it.)

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

"No, I inspire my friends that way. I inspire everyone else by pretending to be dignified." Hot Rod sighed. "Yeah, about Hubcap. As long as you don't let him have signing power over the accounts, he's a good mech. Well, a useful one anyway. But we'll need to find you a good cabinet. Maybe..."

He trailed off as he saw the chaos that Blades had wrought while they'd been outside. Cussing, he took stock of the situation and made a bee-line toward the seniormost officer still standing.

"Clampdown...what the hell?"

"Long story, sir." Responding to Red Alert, he said bluntly, "'Was' is the operative word, sir. Blades killed no less than three officers in his escape attempt, and very nearly added Streetwise to the list as well." Taking a moment to calm himself, he said, "The second gunman is almost certainly Slingshot. He's green now, but his alt-mode is pretty unique and Silverbolt took off after him like a bat out of hell. I don't think he's gotten far. Might be a good idea to check in, though."

He spared a sympathetic glance for Streetwise, but that was all the gruff cop was capable of offering in terms of comfort.
______________________________

Autobot Reconstruction Party Campaign Headquarters

Stakeout led the way with Ramhorn not far behind, both of their eyes scanning the area for threats as they crossed the short area between the door and the ISS wagon. But the streets were virtually empty, and nobody even made a threatening move.

"Looks clear," Stakeout declared eventually. "Bring him out please, First Aid."
______________________________

Ground

Ramjet laughed along with Thrust. "Can't wait to see ol' Dirge's face when he hears that we just helped arrest an Autobot criminal!" Transforming to jet mode, he blasted off after his fellow Conehead.

Then to Thundercracker, he said, "You know Iacon's not a police state, right? We can just look him up in a public phone book or somethin'."
______________________________

ISS Building

Steeljaw gave a feline shrug.

"It's my job," he told Jazz, "so I might as well do it." Activating his comm, he said, "Hot Rod, Trailbreaker, good news. Nobody's trying to kill you anymore."

The lion loped along after Hot Spot, following Deftwing to his cell.

[Blackjack]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

Trailbreaker shrugged. "Trust me. Rodimus Prime isn't that much more dignified than Hot Rod." The Autobot shrugged, "Eh, that's pretty much tomorrow's problems, no? I don't distrust the little Christmas ornament, that's for sure..."

"Ah, good to hear that, Steeljaw." Trailbreaker told the Cassette as he followed Hot Rod into the scene of chaos (well, formerly, anyway), and cursed very rudely when he saw Blades' body. He wasn't very close to the Protectobot, but Blades was still a comrade throughout the war...

"Blades? Slingshot?" Trailbreaker's mouth hung open for a while, and his brow was scrunched up, as if in disbelief. "So they really did it. I'd hoped that we were wrong, really."
______________________________

Ground

"Asking the Aerialbot, or looking up a book, what's the difference?" Thundercracker asked Ramjet. "So... anyone want to look up the phonebook or whatever?"
______________________________

ISS Building

"Short 'n sweet." Jazz grinned at Steeljaw.

[Warcry]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

Hot Rod gave Trailbreaker an annoyed look. "Yes, I know that. That's why I pretend to be when I'm in public. It's bad enough replacing Optimus, I don't need everyone knowing I don't have a clue how to--" He trailed off as Steeljaw signalled him. "Great news! Back to regular business, then. Except for getting to be robo-pope again, like Spike called me once."

When Trailbreaker commiserated over their former comrades' betrayal, Hot Rod nodded in agreement. "I was hoping it was a mistake, that our sources were wrong. But no." Speaking more loudly so that the crowd could hear, he added, "But that just goes to show you, just because you stood up to fight the Decepticons doesn't automatically make you a good guy. What you do now that we have peace is what defines you, not what you did in the war."

More quietly, to Trailbreaker, "Gotta give the press their sound bytes, right?"
______________________________

Ground

"You realize they've got internet here, right?" Ramjet laughed at Thundercracker. "I already got his address. He's over on..." the conehead groaned, "Pious Maximus Lane. Who names the streets in this burg, anyway? Sheesh!"

(OOC: Good news! Aero's coming back to play Dirge. )

[Blackjack]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

Trailbreaker gave Hot Rod a smile. "I feel you, Hot Rod. I really do. What I pretend to be in public... what little I'm seen, anyway..." The Autobot's cheerleader, an ever-happy self-deprecating presence that cheers people like Gears and Huffer off their funk... "Well, let's say it's very similar to Rodimus Prime, yeah?"

It's bad enough that he was supposed to hold a candle to Ironhide, Bumblebee, Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet and the other big names that saved the world. He was just a guy with a force field generator and fuel problems!

"Robopope?" Trailbreaker laughed, then sobered when Hot Rod spoke about Blades. He sighed and spoke in a low tone. "War brings out the best and worst in people... but that doesn't mean that peacetime would do otherwise. We who grew through the war... are not always able to do the same during peacetime."
______________________________

Ground

"Yeah." Thundercracker replied to Ramjet. "Pious Maximus is a figure in... well, I've heard of him, at any rate, not that you'd care. In any case, though naming streets after people.... I'm not quite sure if it's better than our naming convention. We had 'Dead End Street' somewhere in Polyhex, don't we?"

(OOC: Splendid!)

[Aero Blade]

((OOC: I live! Prepare for longness ))

Iacon Science District

Walking down the corridors of one of the large buildings would be the blue seeker known as Dirge, setting a casual pace, but walking with the posture of someone set on a serious job. For the moment that job seemed to be nothing more than escorting a couple of energon cubes, grasped by one arm. Perhaps it didn't seem like much, but Dirge knew the real challange was about to come - prying Aero Blade away from his latest invention.

Since before Dirge had realized it, Aero Blade had holed up in his lab, working on who knows what it was other than a big jumble of complicated parts and equipment. He'd first found out about the project when Stratus had called him up to bring some energon over, much like he was doing today. If not for that minicon keeping an eye on him constantly, Dirge was sure one of these days he'd have walked into that lab and found him dead from exhaustion. Today he looked pretty close to it - slumped up against a wall with optics off - Dirge wasn't entirely sure if Aero had actually taken a break over there and drifted off, or if that was just how he happened to collapse from his latest exertion. The fact that Stratus was busy at a computer instead of seeming concerned was his only clue to not be worried about the young mech.

"Hey. Wake up," Dirge spoke, nudging Aero Blade a few times, and being rewarded with a brief murmer from the prone form. "Nap time's over, kid. Time for your snack break."

Dirge would start to shake Aero Blade lightly by the shoulder, causing Aero to push him away with a grumpy noise, but he did start to rouse finally. When Aero Blade's optics came online and shook his head briefly to clear it, Dirge would help haul him to his feet, guiding him over to one of the many work tables scattered about the space and placing one of the energon cubes down infront of him, while holding onto the other one still for himself. "Don't you ever go power down in your quarters?" Dirge questioned.

"It's too far from the lab," Aero Blade answered, still half asleep, but starting to pick up the energon Dirge had brought him.

"It's across the hall," Dirge reminded.

"I know."

Dirge rolled his optics, taking a sip from his energon cube before looking around the state of the lab, and Aero's Blade's current project. "So... you're making a couple of rings... big connected rings.." One sitting on the floor like a platform with a glass-like covering, the other open entirely and standing upright, their edges intersecting at two points at right angles.

"Yep."

"I'm guessing the're gonna do something interesting."

"Yep."

"...but you're still not gonna tell me what that is yet."

"Yep."

Making an expression that was somehow halfway between a frown and amusement, Dirge looked about the lab as that first avenue of conversation failed miserably. Dirge hadn't given up, though, having plenty more on his mind to discuss. Keeping an eye on Aero Blade had kept Dirge out of most of the recient events, but he'd kept alert to what was going on, unlike Aero Blade. Boy wouldn't he be suprized to hear the war was over...

Before Dige could speak again, though, he'd find himself interupted by Aero Blade. "Dirge, I've got something to tell you."

"Yeah?" He asked, turning back around to face Aero, sipping on his energon. "Is it about the invention?"

"No, and I've already told you I'll tell you once it's finished and working. This is about an older matter."

"Yeah?" Dirge said again, decidng to adopt the one-word response Aero Blade had been using on him earlier. He looked off to the side, as though only half paying attention to the tech now.

"I'm a Deception."

Dirge choked on his energon. After sputtering a few moments to recover, he looked back at Aero Blade again, as though expecting the smaller bot to tell him it was a joke. Aero was fully alert now and just looked like he was calmly waiting on Dirge, not at all looking amused.

"You...I- I'm sorry, what?" Dirge stammered.

"I guess the more apt term would be to say I 'was' a Decepticon, past tense even back in my own demention, though they refused to declare me a defector. They still wanted me working for them," Aero Blade spoke in a tone as though that was supposed to explain everything. Dirge just stared at him for a few moments, then started to look Aero over up and down, his processor refusing to believe it.

"Yes I know, I don't look or act the part. I wasn't meant for combat, I got experimented on as a protoform so I'd be a good support bot. They already had too many bots that want to fight and not do work."

That might have explained a lot of Aero Blade's..quirks.. but Dirge still couldn't get over the first statement. All the time he'd known this young bot, he'd thought him to be very strange, and that something had been out of place yet familiar, but never once had he pegged him for anything other than an Autobot. He still wasn't sure he believed it even coming from Aero himself.

"They did a real number on you," Dirge finally answered.

"Don't I know it," Aero Blade answered. "But that's about it for my share. You were about to say something?" Aero inquired. At least he had noticed Dirge before he'd dropped this bomb on him, but Dirge now had to take a moment to think back and remember what it was he was going to say before Aero Blade had blindsided him with this information.

"Uh, yeah. Things have calmed down now, like planet wide. The war's over," Dirge answered.

"Ah. So that's what Stratus was going on about before."

"That's right, just tune me out," Stratus called from the computer, managing to sound completely unconcerned.

"I was working on the fluctuation inhibitor, you could've waited."

"The world as we know it was ending. You could've waited."

Dirge had taken a seat, reclining back in it as though expecting to be there a while. He just hoped he'd be able to keep up with the storm of technical terms that might soon be exchanged.

[Warcry]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

"I know," Hot Rod told Trailbreaker. "Trust me, I know. That's why I thought you'd be a good choice to work in politics. We're both so good at pretending that we don't even need shells for it. We haven't spent much time hanging out, Trailbreaker, but it's easy to see when someone's putting up a front if you've got enough time doing it yourself."

He sighed.

"Peace -- a real peace, not just a break in the shooting -- is going to be a really big change for us. You're right...some of us won't be able to adapt to it. And fighting our friends..." he looked down at where Blades was lying, "well, that's not something I'm looking forward to. Hopefully we'll be able to keep things like this from happening again."
______________________________

Pious Maximus Lane

"I know who Pious Maximus is," Ramjet told Thundercracker. "I just think it's pretty dumb to name a street after some guy who got wanded to death by Killmaster. He ain't all that, is all I'm sayin'. Plus, Dead End is named after the neighbourhood, not the other way 'round. At least, pretty sure."

As the seekers approached Dirge's apartment, reading the street numbers as they went by. Ramjet transformed and landed on the doorstep. "Right, here we go. 97 Pious Maximus. He's in unit 'D', apparently. And he's..."

The conehead frowned as he saw a note on the apartment door.

Gone to Aero Blade's lab.

Be back soon.

-D

...not here," Ramjet said, groaning. "I guess we're off to the science district, boys."

[Blackjack]

(OOC: Welcome back Aero! )

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

Trailbreaker snorted. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Don't really like talking about it, honestly, Roddy..."

-Other people's problems make my silly self-esteem issues seem nothing.-

Trailbreaker grimaced as he watched Blades. "Whatever he might do in the past few months, he was truly one of us, Hot Rod. It's a shame he could not adapt to peace... and really, there is nothing good about the conclusion to this part of the story." The Autobot shook his head. "Pisses me off that we... as in you and I... won't have much time to mourn our dead, because we're the ones that are supposed to get the rest of our people to move onward and upward."
______________________________

Pious Maximus Lane

"Killmaster?" Thundercracker scoffed. "Guy that big, and he uses a teeny tiny wand. And he can't fly. I have absolutely no respect for the idiot."

The Seeker landed next to Ramjet and Thrust as he hid a smile at the Autobot civilians attempting to make themselves inconspicuous at the three Seekers wearing the Decepticon emblem proudly landing near their homes. "He's using tape-on notes now?" Thundercracker asked. "That's pretty primitive."

[Aero Blade]

((OOC: Well I had suggested a digital noteboard to Warcry, but he left it blissfully vauge

Just posting that I won't get out my next response until your guys reach the science district, so don't wait up for me, but I am reading intently.

And btw, check your post for typos Warcry ))

[Blackjack]

(OOC: Nah, the mental image in my head of a the Seekers finding a giant Transformer-sized notebook paper with giant marker writing taped on to the apartment door is too hilarious to ignore. )

[Warcry]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

"You don't need to tell me," Hot Rod told Trailbreaker. "You ever ask me about this in front of anyone else, I'll have to punch you just to keep up appearances." He laughed. "You know how it is."

Turning away from Blades, he sighed before agreeing with Trailbreaker. "It is, but it isn't. If we spend time mourning him, who's going to be there to catch the next Blades and stop him before he snaps? It sucks, but that's command for you."
______________________________

Pious Maximus Lane

Ramjet shrugged. "Me, I always liked Killmaster. He let me punch people a lot. And those villain rants of his...hilarious. Not on purpose, but still." He grinned at Thundercracker, then shot a friendly wave at the nearby wary Autobot civilians just to mess with them.

"He's hangin' out with Autobots, TC. Obviously he ain't got the best gear like he did when he was on'a us elite seeker boys."

He looked at the note again, then frowned. "Uh...either of ya know where the science district is? It must be new, I don't think I ever bombed it before."

[zigzagger]

(OOC: EDIT: 'Holding Facility' section added, among other corrections. Sorry about that. guys.)

---

En route to the ISS Holding Facility

Hot Spot followed the pair of officers, lugging Deftwing along by his restraints, down a short corridor to the exit in the main facility's west wing.

He held the door open, allowing the ISS to pass first.

The Captain extended his hand outside to another path, leading to an adjoining building. "C'mon," he told Jazz and Steeljaw, "the holding cells are just up ahead."

---

Iacon Security Service HQ

(OOC: Mmm, I don't think I intended for Blades to 'kill' anyone. But it does kinda read that way, looking back at it. No biggie. I'll make it work )

Red Alert placed his hand over his mouth. "He--he killed three of our own?" he said. "And he tried to kill Streetwise? They were--they were like brothers once." His face curled into one of disgust. "Sundor and all those people. I can't believe he did this..."

The Security Director once again checked to see if Hot Spot had left. "You did the right thing, Clampdown," he reassured him. "You did the right thing--

"And on the bright side, it sounds as if Silverbolt has fulfilled his part of our bargain."

(OOC: I'll give 'Bolts a ring in my next post. Clampdown should have a chance to speak.)
_______________

Autobot Reconstruction Party Campaign Headquarters

First Aid trailed after Stakeout and Ramhorn to the ISS paddy wagon parked outside of the Campaign Headquarters. The unconscious assassin in his arms was unlikely to rouse, but the Chief Medical Officer was mindful all the same.

He walked up the ramp into the cell of the armored transport and placed Firecracker down onto a bench.

"There you are." He made a dusting off motion with his hands. "The damage wasn't too extensive, by the way. He'll live to stand trial."

__________________________________

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

The Arena Floor

Streetwise dragged himself along the arena floor to a section of tubing that had broken away from a fallen crowd control barrier. He pulled himself up to his feet, using the piece of debris as a crutch.

Slowly, Streetwise limped over to the tunnel entrance, where Clampdown stood.

He stopped opposite of the Sergeant. Between them, at their feet, lay Blades.
The Detective's optics meet Clampdown's for a moment. He could not bring himself to speak, but Streetwise nodded all the same.

He averted his gaze to settle on Blades. The bullet hole in the former-Protectobot's forehead was now plainly visible. The brain module, the Detective silently deduced. Any chance of recovery was nigh-impossible.

Streetwise furrowed his brow. "Blades," he whispered. "How could you?"

An ISS Interceptor roared abruptly. "YOUUU!!"

When Streetwise looked up, he saw the officer, fists clinched and optics wide with fury, stride angrily towards him and Clampdown.

The Protectobot tensed. "I..."

The Interceptor brushed past Clampdown. "That was my partner you messed up--Ngh!" With a grunt, he kicked Blades in the gut. The once-Autobot's body made a hollow 'clunk'. "Traitorous piece of scrap!"

"Hey!" Streetwise pushed his hand against the officer's chest. "All right, that's enough."

The ISS agent swiped his hand away. "Don't touch me!" .

Immediately, another officer came to the Detective's aid. "Come on, no, don't do this," he said, gently coaxing his angry colleague back. "Let's cool off for a bit, okay?"

The Interceptor scrunched his nose at the other Transformer. "Hrrr, fine!"

He stormed off, elbowing aside the policemech. "You 'Protectobots'? What's left of you?" he called back. "You're nothing but trouble. All of you! Your buddy got what he deserved."

---

Streetwise internalized the Interceptor's words as he was escorted outside.

Worse, he believed them. Once again, former-members of the now-defunct Protectobot unit were at the center of a crisis. And this time, there had been at least a dozen ISS casualties.

He glanced back at Clampdown. Though Streetwise was indebted to him, he still was too ashamed to speak.

The Detective gave him a halfhearted smile, then turned away.

---

Lower Tier Seating

Doubledealer fought back the urge to climb down from the balcony and kill the disgruntled ISS agent that had had his way with his departed friend.

He didn't want to even consider what the police would do with the body once it was carted off.

That he would be made to watch, to be a bystander, was but one consequence for not intervening sooner. The mercenary would have carry that knowledge with him for the rest of his existence. Blades's ultimate fate - as well as the lives of several ISS agents - rested on his shoulders.

Dealer buried his head in his hands and slumped down onto the guard rail....

----

The Arena Floor

Today's scene played over and over in Streetwise's head. Blades words - and the Detective's inability to stop him - hurt deeper than from those in the ISS ranks.

"Figured you of all people would of thought this through...," He recited from memory.

As Streetwise hobbled toward the grand entrance, he stared to the skyline beyond the amphitheater.

"The barrier."

He was reminded of Guard City. Extraordinarily, the gestalt was still maintaining the energy dome that surrounded the entire stadium.

The Protectobot opened a channel on his comlink. "The threat has been neutralized," he simply stated. "How are you holding up?"

"Field generators are at 21 percent," Guard City commed back.

"An IMR unit should be by soon. They'll need access to the arena. Don't deplete anymore of your reserves; drop the barrier and separate--

You did good."

----

Lower Tier Seating

Dealer looked up from his hands and shifted his gaze skyward; the barrier of light that had hung over the entire amphitheater had dissipated.

The mercenary scowled. No. There's plenty of blame to go around.

Dealer spun away from the balcony and started up the main aisle. He activated his stealth camouflage as he ran.

He sprung over the baltei to the next level and continued towards the top. When he reached the velarium along the highest tier, Doubledealer deployed his wings and vaulted over the edge.

At the peak of his jump, he transformed into falcon form and took to the air...

[Blackjack]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

Trailbreaker chuckled. "If I ask you about this I doubt they'll believe... or want to believe... about the truth." The Autobot laughed jovially. "It's why we do what we do, after all, Hot Rod."

Trailbreaker sighed. "There will be a next Blades, won't there?"
______________________________

Pious Maximus Lane

"Never had the fortune to work under him." Thundercracker told Ramjet. "But I did hear his rants once or twice... I tell you, he's much more ridiculous than those Runadopes." Thundercracker sighed, and moved his hands slightly upwards as Ramjet freaked out the Autobot civilians...

In the process making it look like he's raising his shoulder cannons, making several civilians actually drop onto the floor in shock. Thundercracker made a sound that was half laughter, half sigh.

He looked at Ramjet. "I looked it up on the internet, Ramjet. It's not very far away. For us, anyway..." Thundercracker then transformed and shot into the air.

[Warcry]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

Hot Rod set his jaw firmly as he answered Trailbreaker.

"Not if we do our jobs right."

Transforming to vehicle mode, he said, "Come on. Let's clear out of here and let the police do their jobs without us underfoot."
______________________________

Clampdown's face was expressionless and cold. He saw the officers attacking Blades, but they'd been turned back by Streetwise before he could speak up. Of course, that didn't stop him from recording the event and forwarding the video and their badge numbers for prosecution.

Nobody who acts like that gets to wear a badge if I have any say about it.

"I know, sir," he told Red Alert. "I've been doing this for a long time. It's far from the first time I've had to do something like this. It doesn't mean I don't wish it had happened differently, though."

He glanced at Streetwise, but the other Autobot was already walking way.
______________________________

Pious Maximus Lane

"Laugh it up, blue boy," Ramjet said to Thundercracker. He fell in behind the other seeker, taking off in robot mode and transforming in mid-flight, streaking over the heads of the Autobot civilians, then waggling his wings as he passed.

"Gee, these guys really need more flyers around," he said to his fellow seekers. "It's like they've never been buzzed by a jet before or something." He laughed. "Or maybe it's the purple badges?"
______________________________

En route to the ISS Holding Facility

Steeljaw followed behind Hot Spot, his feline eyes darting from side to side as he monitored for potential threats. Several officers and guards even took a step back as the vicious little cat passed by.

"Good," he said to the former Protectobot. "Our buddy here needs as much time as possible in the cell to get used to it. It's where he'll be spending the rest of his life, after all...not that that'll be very long, since they're going to extract his spark and put it in cold storage."
______________________________

Autobot Reconstruction Party Campaign Headquarters

Stakeout nodded to First Aid as he climbed up into the wagon to guard the prisoner. "Damned right he will," he told the doctor. "My boys will make sure of it. Roll out, gang!"

Once the police convoy started to depart, Ramhorn shuffled back inside with his usual ornery expression on his face.

[Blackjack]

The Imperial Amphitheater, Quadrant Epsilon

"Amen to that, Hot Rod." Trailbreaker said as he transformed suit and rumbled behind the Autobot leader, leaving the scene behind.
______________________________

Pious Maximus Lane

"I'm not Skywarp, Ramjet... I don't do laugh it up." Thundercracker replied, although his tone indicated nothing but a smug smile. "Purple badges? Fliers? Nah, I'm pretty sure it's your ugly mug scaring them away."

Thundercracker swooped up, gaining altitude. "Bloody idiots should really get jet changeforms. They would probably suck at flying, but it beats being groundbound for life."
______________________________

En route to the ISS Holding Facility

Jazz whistled as he followed Hot Spot and Steeljaw, in a very relaxed pose. In reality, he was doing the same thing Steeljaw was, but like the feline he did not find anything out of the regular.

[Chip1123]

"We don't more jets in the sky that can't fly. Enough air traffic as it is inside a city." Thrust said in reply to Thundercracker. "Besides, I like looking down on them. Makes me feel superior."

[Blackjack]

Pious Maximus Line

"We are superior. They're idiots for choosing to stay on the ground." Thundercracker chuckled at Thrust. "Although, like you said, air traffic's murder in a city. No problem for us experienced Seekers, though, but those idiot groundpounders would probably crash and burn and turn 'Pious Maximus Lane' into 'Pious Maximus mausoleum'."

The Seekers eventually reached the Science District. "Right, Ramjet, Thrust... this Aero Blade's laboratory should be around... there." The Seeker transformed and dropped through air straight towards the ground, activating his jet boots just right so that he landed with nary a thump.

[Warcry]

Science District

Ramjet shrugged. "Well, someone's got to be the comedian of the team," he told Thundercracker. "And my idea of a joke is headbuttin' you, so it ain't gonna be me." He transformed back to to robot mode so he could scowl. "And we're seekers. We've all got the same face, dummy. You just insulted yourself."

Swooping down at the building that Thundercracker had pointed out, Ramjet let out a soft laugh. "You know, Thrust's got a point. Air's a lot more peaceful here than back in Polyhex, no dumbass Targetmasters and stuff clogging it up. Could kinda get used to not needing ta crash into stuff to get anywhere. I mean, I'd still do it 'cause it's fun, but you get the point, right?"

Looking at Aero Blade's door, he shrugged. "So, uh...do we knock? I mean, I'm not used to being all...polite here in Autobotland."

[Blackjack]

Science District

"Not strictly true. You guys have pencil helmets, which make you all look much worse than me and my handsome head." Thundercracker told Ramjet. "A helmet can go a long way to making a face look ridiculous."

Thundercracker shrugged. "The Targetmasters are all idiots. Cyclonus, Scourge and the rainbow Batman helicopter aside. Hell, one of them is a groundpounder." Thundercracker stretched his arms. "Yeah, I get your point. Could get used to just flying and flying in the air."

The Seeker approached the door, and shrugged. "I usually THA-BOOM my way through Autobot cities. And I usually hang out with Skywarp, so he usually teleports into the room or house, gets thrown out, then I enter the room." Thundercracker smiled wryly. "Since our comedian's probably trying to push Primus down the celestial stairs of the Allspark, I guess we knock. I'll do it, 'cause you're going to headbutt the door and bring down the whole building."

Thundercracker lifted his hand and knocked onto Aero Blade's door politely.

[Aero Blade]

Aero Blade's Lab, Iacon Science District

The arguement had wound up lasting shorter than Dirge had expected, drifting into a zone of conversation that he was able to participate in, at least a little bit. He still wasn't a big talker unless movies were involved, but spending time around Autobots had certainly made him better at it.

Eventually they would be distracted as what seemed to be part of a security system tripped at the computer monitors that Stratus was still situated at. The minicon turned towards the activated monitor, observing a camera that had come on as a result of a motion sensor. What was on the screen would also draw Dirge in as he stopped talking suddenly, causing Aero to come over as well. Seekers.

Aero Blade wasn't too familiar with most cons, but it was easy enough to see the simularity between their designs and Dirge's old form before his total rebuild. "Aquaintances?" Aero Blade would ask, a safe enough question, not presuming anything about Dirge's standing on his former teammates. He observed the monitor briefly, as Thundercracker started knocking on the door. "They're a bit primative. Not too familiar with tech I guess, like that intercom the building manager put in. Or the doorbell..."
((OOC: That's for the notepad thing ))

"They don't usually try to enter politely. They tend to knock down a wall, or blow out a window," Dirge answered dryly, lacking emotion.

Aero Blade watched Dirge for a bit for further reaction, then spoke again when he saw none. "What should we do?"

Dirge said nothing. He didn't know what to do, not when he didn't know why the other Seekers were here. Maybe they wanted to make nice, clear the bad air; maybe they were just curious about how Dirge was holding up as a reformed Autobot; or maybe they were taking advantage of the laxed security to come beat the slag out of him for deserting to the enemy... He just didn't know.

Aero Blade watched for a moment longer, then he turned back towards the monitors. "Stratus."

"On it," The minicon responded, moving to stomp on a few buttons as more of the security grid came online in their room, powering up but staying in standby for the moment. "There. Armed and waiting for the code words, just in case."

Dirge looked around at the minor changes in the room, mainly the small lasers mounts embedded in the walls near the cieling that had been uncovered. They looked more like fancy sensors than they did armaments, and Dirge only really took note of them because he was there for the change. Anyone else walking in would've taken it in as part of the 'decor' of a typical science lab. Dirge nodded approvingly.

He can be ready for intruders and them be none the wiser. I guess there is some Decepticon tendancies in him after all.

Aero then turned back to Dirge. "Now then, what was that you were saying?"


*****

Outside with the Seekers, the overlooked intercome panel would come to life, producing a cheerful pre-programmed electronic voice.

"Welcome visitor. The tenant of Lab A has acknowledged your approved visit. Please proceed down corridor A on your left to the third door to meet with them."

[Blackjack]

Aero Blade's Lab

Thundercracker raised an optic brow at the intercom. "Guess they don't use notepad papers all the time, eh? Ramjet, Thrust, you guys ready?"

Without waiting for the two Coneheads, Thundercracker strode into 'corridor A', and upon reaching the third door on the left, unsure what to do, he knocked once.

"Dirge?" Thundercracker asked.