What the hecky happened

[luckyfaceplate]

Who: Optimus and YOU!
Where: Anywhere from Red Alert's Clinic to wandering around
When: Before Sentinel and Megatron/Rodimus log
What: Optimus finding out just what went down while he was gone from various people, or if they need to talk to him about anything.
Warnings: None

The trip wasn't a complete loss, that's for sure. Optimus has somehow contacted the planet, and while it was rather vague, he found out quite a bit about their mission here. Way more than he would have just grasping at proverbial straws. The objective, however, wouldn't be easy. In its own way, Cybertron had told him that they had to work together, that they had to get along.

You can already see what's wrong with this equation, and to be honest, it left Optimus feeling a little doubtful on his return.

Speaking of his return. That's a thing that happened, and right now he's trying to gather his bearings for being gone for....oh...a week at most.

You can find him all over, scouting around for anyone who might be around to ask for information. But if you need him first--well...he stands out, at least.

Comments

[chickscream]

Slipstream has no idea what's going on, who Optimus is, or if she has any information of use for him, but she does squint at him from her considerable height. He looks weirdly familiar-- like a blockier version of that little Autobot truck fellow-- but red is such a common color for his sort.

Should she approach him? She has no idea! No one else has seemed too bothered by her, which is somewhere between "nice" and "kind of annoying" (she would prefer to be imposing, honestly). Still...

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the Humans would say, and she went straight towards him after examining him for a few seconds more.

"You look like an Autobot I once shot at," she introduces herself, because if there's one thing she's known for it's her excellent social skills and grace.

[luckyfaceplate]

Optimus hears her approach, and as he's turning his head, his eyes widen at the...'recognition'. Well, Slipstream, you've certainly caught him off guard with that one. In fact, he's not sure how to respond to that. A compliment? Shooting people isn't a compliment, Optimus. Think.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Good answer.

But he'll try to be cordial anyway. "I am Optimus Prime, if that is able to clear up any confusion."

[chickscream]

Catching someone else off guard is a little fun, after all the off-guarded-ness she's been caught up in, and she barks a laugh at his expression. It's not a pleasant laugh, but it's also not too cruel, and she sets her servos on her hips, regarding him with curiosity. "Now, the funny thing is," she tells him, "I'm pretty sure he had that name, too, but he definitely wasn't you. Isn't that weird?"

The voice, the shape of his stance, his demeanor-- yeah, this was a different person, she was certain, as different from the Optimus she'd run across as she was from her brothers.

Slipstream isn't a great hand at 'cordial', but she does reply to his introduction with a relatively friendly, "Name's Slipstream. You from this place?" She waves a servo, indicating the city, or maybe this Cybertron, or maybe any Cybertron; she's from none of them, so the topic is of interest.

[luckyfaceplate]

He can't help but become a bit more on guard at the laugh, although her faction symbol isn't exactly doing her any favors either. Until SHE makes any movements, though, he'll keep his ground.

"Surprisingly, it's not the first time it's happened. At least...not here." His voice is low, but even, looking out at the landscape. "You would be surprised at just how many different versions of one person there can be.

Optimus? He's met Megatron three times. And there's apparently a fourth running around.

NOW THAT. is weird.

"I am not. I am from Cybertron, but this is certainly not mine. ...And I take it...not yours either."

[chickscream]

"... I'm surprised that there can be different versions of people here," she tells him, her smile fading a bit as the worst-case scenario passes through her head. Gaggles and gaggles of her brother, all arguing/flattering/cringing together, a dozen Starscreams in the center of it all--

She shivers in genuine horror at the thought, head ducked for a moment, then shrugs it off. "That's good to know, I suppose," she says, "and explains why you're so... familiar." As for the other thing: "And I wouldn't know. I've never seen Cybertron before I was here."

She does, theoretically, have memories of the planet, but they're eons old and not actually hers, so she doesn't count them.

[planate]

Pipes doesn't need to find Optimus. Pipes just wants to talk to him again. The second he sees the giant red bot walking down a street, the minibot immediately rockets over to him. He's clearly way too over excited, but whatever. He's not self-aware enough to realise that just yet.

"Optimus Prime, sir!" He salutes, again. "It's been--" several weeks? He's lost track of time. "A while. Have you been okay?"

Yes, ask the Autobot leader if he's okay. Fuck, Pipes is so excited.

[luckyfaceplate]

Optimus's eyes dart down, seeing Pipes pop up like a literal robot daisy. Smaller bots always seemed to sneak up on him, it seems....

"Pipes." His eyes soften, glad to see he's still around. "I've been fair, although I was away for quite some time. That might explain my absence."

...

"And yourself?"

[planate]

'I was gone, so I was away.' Yes, Optimus, that explains it quite well.

"Just exploring!"

He's an explorer don't you know!

"Where did you go?"

[luckyfaceplate]

SHUT UP PIPES YOU GET STEPPED ON.

"Are you, now? Anything of interest to report?"

...As for himself...

"I went to commune with the planet. Something has been tugging at my mind since my arrival, and I followed the feeling out into the wastelands."

[planate]

THE CORRECT WORD IS STOMPED.

"Not as much as I'd like, unfortunately. Every time I think I've found a good cache of useful stuff it turns out to be too damaged or not what we need," he snorts slightly, "I mean, unless you want one of those puzzle box things. Pass some time, at least. You know the ones where you have to match up the colours?"

He could go on with the amount of useless shit he's found, but stops. This is Optimus, after all. The Prime probably doesn't care. Pipes rubs the back of his head awkwardly, going a bit pink while listening to what Optimus was doing.

"Did it help, at least?"

[phase6kindofbot]

Even if he weren't an obnoxious firetruck red, Sixshot would have still spotted Optimus a mile away. You didn't forget a mech who punched in your hyper-dense chest armor plating after all.

He doesn't really make it a point to go after Optimus though.

The six-former kind of just... lazily blocks the pathway the Prime might be heading down with his big canine self. You know. Totally unintentionally.

[luckyfaceplate]

Excuse you, he is semi-red, check your privilege He-who-has-six-alt-modes. But the feeling was mutual, and while Optimus is mostly unaware of Sixshot's presence, he can't help but feel there's someone nearby.

Oh. Well, the giant dog in front of the road seems to be a good indicator. Good job, self.

Although it's not as welcome as he wanted.

"Sixshot."

Those eyes narrow dangerously. You're...not exactly who he wanted to see today.

[phase6kindofbot]

Semi-red, firetruck red, your older boyfriend's van red. Whatever.

"Optimus Prime," Sixshot greets, flashing the Autobot leader a toothy canine smile as he sits up. He could almost feel the displeasure rolling off the mech. "Heard you adopted our leader. How's that going for you?"

[luckyfaceplate]

The grin isn't reciprocated. Both because he's not happy to see you and because he doesn't have a visible mouth. Jokes on you sucka.

"Pretty well, actually. Better than I'd have expected. Perhaps you should follow example."

[phase6kindofbot]

"Why? Is it too inconvenient for you to have to hunt me down for dismantling?" Sixshot strides closer, circling around the Prime. "Do I need to collect the lifetime supply of delicious brain fingering?"

[arnhaid]

He's not really alone, either.

For the most part, he's being followed. When you come back to find the place basically on fire, it's impossible not to feel a little paranoid. More than a little paranoid. So he's keeping close to Optimus, and trying not to be painfully obvious about it.

... Trying.

Because this is Ironhide we're talking about. Let's be honest. He's about as stealthy as a boot to the head.

[luckyfaceplate]

Ironhide, don't ever try and be subtle because...yeah, you're pretty awful at it. Optimus had caught on rather quickly that he was being tailed--a war of being the number one target would do that to you. But for the most part, he tries to let it be.

After all, Ironhide was only looking out for him.

Maybe they needed to talk, though. Really talk.

"I know you're there, Ironhide."

[arnhaid]

... Scrap.

He goes still, glancing around for something to either take cover under, or pretend to be busy with. There's nothing. So he straightens up, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his head.

"Guess I gotta work on my undercover, huh?" he answers, sheepishly.

[luckyfaceplate]

"I'm sure Arcee could give you a few pointers."

But he doesn't hold it against Ironhide, walking over to place a hand on his shoulder. "You're worried, aren't you."

You can't fool him. He's known you long enough to be used to it.

[arnhaid]

"Prime, anybody could gimme a few pointers."

He says it easily, jokingly. His weight shifts to lean into the hand on his shoulder, smiling for a moment. Then it's back to a more serious topic.

There's no hiding it. He nods. "We came back and the place was pretty much on fire." A shrug. "Kinda hard to be anything but worried."

because you can't get away from me

[aerospacecommander]

After dealing with the shark-face Megatron, Starscream had taken to further exploring. Megs, the creepy version, did say there were many Autobots about. And a few Decepticons but he could catch up with that later. He wanted to know just who all was here, because certain Autobots could be useful.

... Though he should have expected Optimus Prime. Why not? At least this was something he could deal with, even if he didn't want to. The frame looks familiar so he's just going to assume he's the same as the one he knows.

He circles once overhead in jetmode before landing off to the side of Prime.

"At least I have found the great Autobot savior. That is what they call you, isn't it?"

Yeah, there was quite a bit of sarcasm in that statement.

[luckyfaceplate]

The sound of jets overhead was nothing new to him, and an earpiece flicks slightly at the sound. He looks up, although not directly as one flies overhead. Colours instantly give him away as Starscream, although...that certainly wasn't the paintjob he'd left him with. Which meant two options: 1.) Not his Starscream and 2.) Different timeline. Only talking would tell.

But he keeps his guard up, in case he's dealing with one that may not be so...diplomatic as his own.

"Not really." Don't even get him started about how he's the scum of the earth to most Cybertronians. If you meant sarcasm, he certainly didn't get it, or is going to be too blunt to play along. "What do you want, Starscream."

His eyes narrow, as if trying to...decipher who this one is.

[aerospacecommander]

Starscream's expression shifts to a smirk at the answer. Getting right to the point, eh? He always did appreciate that quality. And at least he could generally expect this Autobot to be straight forward.

"That would be a rather long list," he gestured a hand at Optimus before folding his arms across his chest in a lose-like fashion. "But for now, I just want to know what in the pit is going on? This certainly isn't Cybertron as I remember it."

[luckyfaceplate]

Similar to the Starscream he knew back home, certainly, but enough of a difference for him to point out that it's not his. Who'sever it was, he certainly felt...blessed. First another universe's Megatron, now the Starscream.

He's certainly popular lately.

"It isn't my Cybertron as I remember it either, but it certainly is one. One where....there was no winner of the war."

[aerospacecommander]

He continued to eye this Optimus, trying to figure out if there were any differences from what he knew. Design was slightly different, but general attitude seemed the same. Not that he was an expert or anything. That sort of thing was more up Megatron's alley.

"No winner as in 'everyone got bored and left' or as in 'killed themselves off'?" That was a big distinction in his opinion, though it didn't really matter to him in the long run.

Unless the former inhabitants left behind some sort of weapons cache or other technology which would be useful to him and his Grand Takeover Scheme™.