robotsatan: (Default)
robot satan ([personal profile] robotsatan) wrote in [community profile] robothell2015-03-05 09:12 pm

[ INTRO LOG #2 ]

You don't know how you got here. One minute you were walking, sleeping, maybe dead -- then you're here, your feet suddenly carrying you down an empty street. Where's here?

Any Cybertronian would recognize this as their home planet, Cybertron, but it's not a Cybertron they've ever known. It has all the familiar hallmarks, but none of the specifics -- the city isn't one anyone here could identify, and even at a glance it's obvious that no one's set foot on the planet's surface in hundreds of years. The city and its surrounding areas all bear the marks of devastating war, of dust and rust collected over centuries. With other people relatively scarce, there's plenty to explore. In fact, if you start walking, you'll find that your feet may just carry you in one particular direction.

Despite its obvious ruin and aeons-long abandonment, the city and surrounding areas do bear some signs of recent habitation. There's a small but growing population of other people, Cybertronian and otherwise, and there's evidence of their presence -- areas of the city that have been cleaned up for use, intact rooms in ruins of buildings where people have set up to live, a few terminals here and there that have been restored to power.

A) The crater.
On one edge of the city is a massive crater left by some wartime weapon that seems to have taken out a large chunk of the surrounding metropolitan area. At the center of the crater it's broken through the surface of the terrain to reveal what looks like it might be a promising energon deposit. There is some strange but native vegetation growing around the edges, too, that no Cybertronian would be able to identify -- small, metallic, brittle-looking sprouts that bear a curiously organic-looking fruit of some kind that doesn't look like it's intended for consumption by any natives of the planet. In one rocky nook of the crater, light catches on the surface of a pool of water, which seems strangely out of place on Cybertron. On closer inspection, it seems that somehow an underground water source has formed a spring in the crater.

B) The center of the city.
If you follow where your feet seem to want to carry you, you'll find yourself in the middle of the ruined city. It seems that the center of the city was once home to a massive forum, and some of the pillars and structures still stand. At the very center of the forum is a massive, elaborately constructed fountain, although it has now long since run dry of whatever used to fill it. One of the low, inner walls of the forum has a terminal embedded in its surface, although it looks curiously ancient, out of place with the rest of the city, and unlike the rest of the technology still left around, there doesn't seem to be any way to power it on or operate it. There are a few scattered pools of water and a few of the strange metallic plants in the city, too, but they're not quite as plentiful as in the crater.

The planet was obviously once home to a massive network of communication relays, but those have all been long since destroyed. However, a few enterprising transplants have worked together to set up a working local network, which can be accessed via any one of the public terminals, any built-in comms systems your character might have (audio only), or a handheld device produced by one of the people who set up the network.
sciencetank: (Behold my SCIENCE)

[personal profile] sciencetank 2015-03-16 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes?"

Despite the promptness of his response, Perceptor doesn't so much as look away from his data entry. He's at a very key point of his work, after all. If he messes it up now, he'll have to start all over again, and won't that be irritating?

Besides. He's used to being large enough to deter most threats, and most bots know of his bodyguard detail.

Or, ex-bodyguard detail, as it were.
smallandincharge: none of you are free of sin (blocked. blocked. blocked.)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-03-17 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
The stars had stopped moving.
As Ultra Magnus appears on the strange new Cybertron, that is all that she manages to hold on to. Perceptor and Megatron are both gone. The communications room, the briefcases, the Lost Light - all gone. All that remains is that stark, unsettling memory of the universe grinding to a halt. She had tried to put a brave face on it, but being the last witness of the collapse of the grand order of reality was the most unsettled she had ever been since hearing of the introduction of the abridged Autobot Code.
She reconsiders. She has something else - the spark-deep sensation of time, or perhaps space, having passed her by while she wasn't looking. This isn't like the last time that the time-space continuum collapsed out from under her, when whole chunks of the Lost Light had vanished piecemeal, when most of her crew had been swept away by quantum brooms (she's pretty sure that's how that simile goes), when she herself had vanished, only to reappear what was apparently hours later, not having noticed a moment of it. This time, she knows something's happened. She just can't remember any of it.
She looks down, and abruptly realizes that she brought one more thing with her. Inexplicably, impossibly, of all the things she could have taken from the lost Lost Light - she still clutches the golden, grinning face of her Rodimus Star in one massive hand.
Ultra Magnus finally looks up. While she was lost in contemplation, her feet have been carrying her along a street that is both completely unrecognizable and strangely familiar. This is neither the Cybertron she knew of old, nor the Cybertron reborn that she left behind. But, nonetheless, it feels like Cybertron. Where is she, anyways?

((This is your friendly reminder that Ultra Magnus uses she/her/hers pronouns, and that everyone should just use them, by default, both IC and OOC, without commenting or considering that strange. TY!))
Edited 2015-03-17 00:40 (UTC)
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (WANNA MAKE A DEAL)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-03-17 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
He'll get neither, just an even more friendly grin and a pat on the arm. Personal space? Oh please, that's not something Rodimus knows. "Wondered where you'd gone off to after Drift. You missed all the action!"

Eventually Rodimus will clue into the fact that something is off about Magnus, but that moment isn't right now.
quantumechanic: (yeah so this is drift's hippie crap)

[personal profile] quantumechanic 2015-03-18 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
"I honestly don't know." Nautica spread her arms wide, wrench dangling from one hand. "At first we thought it was Brainstorm's fault, but he swears he had nothing to do with it."
decepticonvict: (nooooo)

I MEANT TO TAG YOU A LOT SOONER, SORRY

[personal profile] decepticonvict 2015-03-20 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, Ultra Magnus' quiet and pensive moment is not fated to last too much longer.

Pursuit has been scoping out the area, both on foot and from the air, ever since they arrived on this weird, unfamiliar-yet-familiar Cybertron. Most of what they've seen have been ruined buildings – buildings with undeniably Cybertronian architecture that they just can't recognize – but they've spotted signs of activity and life as well. It is just Ultra Magnus' luck that she is the first living being Pursuit encounters face-to-face.

"Hey, shoulders!" Pursuit calls, as they approach her. Who she is doesn't register immediately; Pursuit has been removed from the action of the war for long enough that they've more or less forgotten about every major wartime figure who isn't a Decepticon or Optimus Prime. Plus, the war is over now, so who cares? "Do you know where we are, exactly? It looks like Cybertron, but–– whoa, wait a minute."

"Are you...Ultra Magnus?" It kind of comes out as a squeak.
smallandincharge: HMMmmmmmm (Hmmmmmm)

NO WORRIES

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-03-20 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Ultra Magnus does not immediately register "shoulders" as having been intended to refer to her, but the squeaked-out name catches her attention. She turns around to face the voice. "That is correct. I am Ultra Magnus, duly appointed -" She catches herself on this one faster than usual, and resumes almost without a hitch "- second in command of the Autobot vessel known as The Lost Light." She puts a pensive hand to her chin and stares at Pursuit, her gaze unblinking and unnerving. Finally, she says "And you must be Pursuit. I have read a number of... fascinating reports about you." She does not elaborate.
decepticonvict: (nooooo)

[personal profile] decepticonvict 2015-03-20 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
There is no need to elaborate, because Pursuit already knows where this is going. They have faced the foe of misinformation and wrongful accusations too many times. All fear momentarily forgotten, they straighten up and put their hands on their hips. "Well, they're all wrong!" Pursuit huffs angrily.

They pause for a moment, and then they remember who they're talking to. "Mostly," they say, scrambling to avoid any more terrifying Ultra Magnus Looks™. "A little bit. Just the part about the spying is wrong. I'm sure your reports are otherwise...very accurate..."
smallandincharge: none of you are free of sin (blocked. blocked. blocked.)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-03-20 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Ultra Magnus stares at Pursuit for another long moment, and then nods. "Your concerns have been duly noted."
She turns her head slightly in order to examine the city around them. "Unfortunately, I do not recognize our current location. It feels like Cybertron, but it does not look like any Cybertron I have ever known. Have you seen any others?"
wimbles: (is that normal)

[personal profile] wimbles 2015-03-20 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"Optimus Prime is here?" That's good to know. "Good. And, well, as far as I know they were still fighting that war pretty recently. You might not have missed that much."
wimbles: (is that normal)

[personal profile] wimbles 2015-03-20 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Brainstorm. Windblade isn't sure she remembers which one that is.

Her wings droop slightly. "Can you tell me what you do know?"
wimbles: (check out this Massive Brain)

[personal profile] wimbles 2015-03-20 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh wow.

"No, I bet it doesn't. What did it say? Could you understand it?"
arnhaid: (you ever lay awake at night)

[personal profile] arnhaid 2015-03-20 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah. I'm keepin' near him. Just in case. A lot of nasty types are hangin' around too."

Like that Tarn guy. Among others. Either way, he should probably stick closer to Optimus more than ever. Which meant rounding up more bots and bringing them to Prime.

"Huh. Way everyone makes it sound... seems like I missed a couple hundred million years."

[personal profile] luckyfaceplate 2015-03-21 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
That...is a difficult question. One Optimus isn't really sure how to answer. And it shows in the way his eyes in the way they divert.

"Yes."

"No."


"I...think so."
primebyproxy: (I lived in awe of you.)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-03-21 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
"It's Megatron," Ultra Magnus spits, the name rolling from his lips like a curse. "No explanation needed." He straightens up, pushing his own fatigue to the far reaches of his processors, and takes up a position on Sentinel's left side.

He doesn't deserve the right.

"I'll be here if he shows his face again." He pauses and the surety in his voice wavers briefly. "That is… if you'll have me, sir." Maybe he's rushing into this. Maybe he's too eager to have a shadow in which he can stand. But defending Sentinel Prime from another assault by Megatron is the only thing that makes sense when he's just awoken outside his cell with the Seeker drones nowhere in sight. He needs that stability right now, that anchor. That reason to keep moving.
primebyproxy: (And you know what?)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-03-21 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
Ultra Magnus peers down at the strange Autobot who inexplicably feels comfortable abbreviating his name with so much familiarity and he frowns, more in consternation than disapproval. He doesn't know this bot and while he could understand being recognised by just about anyone in the ranks on either side of the war, being called to like a friend is what's most baffling.

"Thank you?" he murmurs, equally confused.
primebyproxy: (And you know what?)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-03-21 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
"After… after what?" Magnus asks, blinking. He shouldn't let the stranger just casually touch him like this, he thinks. It's a security risk. Grimlock wouldn't hear of it.

Grimlock is gone, though. Grimlock is gone and simple contact like this is… calming. It's not a fist smashing into his face or a hand dragging him down by the neck. It doesn't hurt. Magnus' gaze flickers to where Rodimus' hand rests on his arm, however briefly, as if expecting to see some visible evidence of the unexpected ease slowly warming his circuits.

It certainly doesn't seem like this one means any harm.
airguardian: (31)

oboyohboyohboy

[personal profile] airguardian 2015-03-21 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Jetfire happens to be in the skies. There's never too much air traffic and getting the lay of the land is far easier like this than on foot. He's not likely to get shot at either. It's a shame that he hasn't been able to salvage much in the way of equipment or anything of use.

However, he doesn't need any scanners or anything of the like to see that someone is struggling down below. There is no telling at this distance who it is or what badge they wear. Jetfire is still under the impression that such things don't matter so much in this environment. Thus he makes a rather quick descent, transforming mid way with his hands up in the universal 'I mean no harm' gesture.

It's then that Jetfire notices who it is on uneasy footing. Ultra Magnus... Perhaps the question should be 'which Ultra Magnus' but right now that's not something that really matters. Instead the scientist lands and extends a hand.

"I don't think you should be out here in your condition, sir."

Doesn't hurt to be polite regardless.
planate: <user name="lady47"> (LOOK AT THIS CUTE)

[personal profile] planate 2015-03-21 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
Considering Magnus hasn't written Pipes up for something, he's already concerned. Something must've happened to him. Of course, this being an alternate version did cross his mind - he'd been filled in on the Megatrons and Starscreams and that one Optimus - but he's still concerned.

"Ah... are you okay, sir?" Pipes can't help but wring his hands slightly, "I can take you to the medibay or we can find some energon if you need it."

Maybe he's just hungry. Pipes is sure with some energon in him Magnus'll go back to being his usual write-up-for-venting-too-heavily-self.
staygoldponybot: (clear alcohols are for rich women)

[personal profile] staygoldponybot 2015-03-21 10:27 am (UTC)(link)
The shitty part of him immediately starts working on how to speak to Magnus to keep him in favour and how to cover up any accusations while, oddly enough (for him) the other is just... what's the point? He's had all this hindsight of what happened after he died, how his actions were seen by those after him. Sentinel doesn't really feel deep emotions, but he comes close to feeling genuine anger at the position he's been put in. While he won't deny it's his own fault (that would mean giving credit to someone else) nor does he really want to feel regret, he can't help but be frustrated at himself. He should've tried harder. Megatron should be dead.

He watches Magnus for a long moment, internal conflict completely hidden under his characteristic... lack of outside expression or emotion. At the very least, if he avoids telling this Autobot too much, he can't cry deception when it all comes out. Frag my life, he thinks. Frag this planet.

"I'd never turn away a capable and willing soldier," he rumbles, eventually. "Nor would it be responsible to let you wander around in this state when you could be better."

Unbeknownst to him, stellar word choice.

"You will be going to the medibay. This will not be contested nor questioned."

Well, if he's gonna find out, he might as well find out while Sentinel was trying to help him. That'll soften the blow. Maybe.
decepticonvict: (terrible)

[personal profile] decepticonvict 2015-03-21 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Your concerns have been duly noted – what does that mean? Pursuit does not dare to ask.

"You're the first person I've talked to," they answer her, still nervous but now more confident that she isn't going to punch them through a wall, "but I've seen some signs that people are hanging around here. Streets that've been cleared of rubble, a building or two that look lived-in, that sort of thing."
smallandincharge: Really now (Eyebrow raise)

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-03-22 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
Ultra Magnus nods. "Continue looking, then, and report back to me if you find any other Cybertronians. In particular, I would like to know the fate of Perceptor, a red proton microscope slash sniper," she says, dropping the word 'slash' into her sentence with clipped precision, "as well as the fate of Megatron, a gun slash tank slash genocidal warlord. Excuse me," she says, raising her hands in an admission of her error, "repentant genocidal warlord."
She snaps her attention back on Pursuit. "Do your best to keep a low profile, but prioritize speed. If my suspicions are correct - though I pray that they are not - we may already be running out of time."

((Sorry for throwing out so many orders - Ultra Magnus is kind of used to being in charge of 203 out of the 205 Cybertronians she encounters on a daily basis. Feel free to ignore any or all of this, and let me know if you want me to tone it down!))
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (UGH MATURITY)

[personal profile] rodders 2015-03-22 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Uh." That's... odd. Magnus would remember, wouldn't he? Maybe he just smacked his helm on something, but his tone is slightly skeptical when he offers to fill in the blanks. "After Drift got mauled by Tarn and left for a message for Megatron? Who took it badly, obviously, and went to punch Tarn's stupid mass right off his face."

Hyperbole, but when has that ever stopped Rodimus? He frowns, however, concern flickering over his face.

"You do remember that, right?"
rodders: <user name=brodinsons> (HEY FRIEND DON'T DO THAT)

SLAMS INTO THIS

[personal profile] rodders 2015-03-22 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
Okay there's someone he knows, and Rodimus waves at Ultra Magnus from where he'd been wandering back to his and Drift's place after another incredibly boring and uneventful hour or two. Considering what he's managed to get himself into in the past few weeks, however, it's probably for the best. He only needed to end up under Ratchet's care the once - but there's something different about him since the last time Magnus probably laid her eyes on her captain.

Most noticeably the lack of a badge and the by-now dim line of welding around the shoulder of one of his arms. There's a fair amount of small dents and dings that come with a self-repair that's busy with other things, but he's not really bothered by it.

"Magnus. Hey, Ultra Magnus!" He calls, waving at her again in case she missed it the first time.
smallandincharge: It... irritates me (Don't say I'm irritable)

Re: SLAMS INTO THIS

[personal profile] smallandincharge 2015-03-22 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
Ultra Magnus skids to a stop as soon as she sees Rodimus, and then transforms back into robot mode, shock evident on her face. "What are you doing here? How did you get back to --?" She breaks off abruptly. Her eyes slowly narrow, focused on the strangely blank patch on Rodimus' chest, and then she says, "You do not have an Autobrand." She says it as a statement, not as a question, as if she expected this - or something like this - to have happened.
Edited 2015-03-22 15:31 (UTC)
primebyproxy: (I can't do it.)

[personal profile] primebyproxy 2015-03-22 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Where are the others?" Surely he can't be the only one released, Magnus thinks. There are too many other valuable Autobots in the cells. "You… you freed the others, too, didn't you?" he asks even though he probably shouldn't. Of course whatever plan Perceptor and his team put together worked. Of course everyone is accounted for.

But Magnus worries.

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