[open] There's serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members...

[quantumechanic]

Who: Nautica, various TFP Decepticons, anyone else
Where: Around the city
When: Anytime after people are more or less settled
What: The planet's only appropriately-scaled engineer fixes things, makes friends with Decepticons
Warnings: My tendency to technobabble but probably no blood nvm megatron threw her into a wall

Nautica was keeping busy. Cybertronians were tough species, sure, but even they needed to power up sometimes--oftentimes, in the case of certain mechs who couldn't seem to stop punching each other--and that energon from the crater, while blessedly plentiful, wasn't going to refine itself. The process was a little outside her area of expertise, but the theory was straightforward, and her phenomenal breadth of reading and memory (with the occasional call to Brainstorm or Shockwave to double check the finer points) were up to the challenge.

Between that and the various side trips to assist the less technically adept (or the more technically adept, in the case of Brainstorm's communications network project) she didn't have a lot of downtime--and Nautica was fine with that. She preferred not to think too much about the extremely depressing larger picture. Optimus and Megatron would want answers soon enough, but she didn't have any to give them, so she threw herself into doing what she could. She was easy to run into around the city, working on getting a small energon refining facility up and running, repairing vital infrastructure, or just making less vital infrastructure more livable. And certainly not worrying about never seeing her friends again.

Comments

[quantumechanic]

"Good grief." Why was everyone she met so hostile? Nautica folded her arms across her chest and stood her ground, more out of inexperience than bravery. When you hadn't fought a four million year war, it was much easier to assume everyone was willing to talk before pulling the trigger. "I apologize for bothering you, but I don't appreciate having a gun pointed at me over it."

[loyaltyandhonor]

Dreadwing's eyes narrowed, but he made no move to put down the cannon. If they'd been similarly transported to an unknown location, did this bot really not predict the possibility of running into an enemy? What brand of fool was he dealing with? At this point in the war even the youngest autobot scout knew better than to make such a grievous error.

"Perhaps you should have considered that before choosing to align yourself with Optimus Prime."

[quantumechanic]

Oh, Dreadwing, if you only knew. Her brand of foolishness was utterly unique.

"I like Optimus just fine, but it was actually Metroplex I was aligning with." Leave it to Nautica to focus on an irrelevant factual detail rather than the glaring faction mismatch. It mattered a lot to her.

[loyaltyandhonor]

"Is that name meant to have some meaning to me or my kind? Because if so you are sadly mistaken."
Dreadwing had never heard of anyone by the name Metroplex, autobot or otherwise. If they were worthy of mention in the same breath as the name of Optimus, surely he would be known even to the Decepticons.

"Regardless of your personal allegiance, as long as you wear that badge and the war rages on, it is unwise to cross paths with a Decepticon." Which, he technically wasn't anymore, a concept he was still coming to terms with.

[quantumechanic]

Nautica's eyes narrowed as she looked at Dreadwing with an entirely unthreatening frown, more puzzled than upset. How did he not know who Metroplex was--

"Oh. This is some alternate universe stuff." Her annoyance evaporated instantly. Just a misunderstanding! "The war is over where I'm from." And therefore Decepticons were no threat, QED.

There was also the minor issue of Nautica having no functional sense of self preservation, but as far as she was concerned, that wasn't a problem. Or even something she was aware of.

[loyaltyandhonor]

That earns her a long, cold stare. He wasn't sure which sounded more baffling, the fact they were supposedly in an alternate universe, or that she came from a reality where the war had ended. Even with their minimal numbers and forces on Earth, the Autobots and Decepticons had been at a stalemate long before he arrived, it did not seem likely to change so dramatically so soon. Though, upon consideration, Starscream had admitted to trapping Skyquake in an alternate reality, perhaps the latter point was not so farfetched after all.

He slowly lowered his cannon, watching suspiciously for any duplicity. As nonthreatening as she seemed, and though Dreadwing had no doubt he could handle this bot unarmed, he was not about to let his guard down completely.

"In your war, which side stood victorious at the end of the conflict?"

[quantumechanic]

The most threatening thing about Nautica was her wrench, and that was only because Brainstorm had been alone in his lab with it for a long time.

"Autobots." She was at least socially adept enough to realize this was probably going to be an awkward conversation, and had the grace not to be smug about it. That would have been rude, and besides, she didn't have any strong feelings about the war.

"But everything is enough of a mess that 'victorious' might not be the right word, and Starscream did get elected to rule Cybertron, so there's that. He renounced his affiliation to do it, though." It was obvious that Nautica knew nothing about Starscream, since she managed to pass on that tidbit of information without her lip curling in disgust.

[loyaltyandhonor]

Nautica may not have much experience with Starscream, but the repulsive look on Dreadwing's face shows that he clearly as some opinions about that particular bot.

"What misguided souls would willingly follow that coward?!"

The Autobots win and THAT is who is chosen to lead Cybertron? He was starting to suspect everyone in her universe had a screw loose. Dreadwing had heard enough of the seeker's brief command of the Decepticons. Starscream in command on a planet was nightmarish proposal.

[quantumechanic]

In Nautica's defense, their Starscream was really good at pretending not to be a horrible opportunist with no ethics, and the vehemence of Dreadwing's disgust surprised her. He wasn't necessarily wrong in his assessment of the tightness of their various fasteners, though.

"From what I understand the unaffiliated carried the vote. I wasn't there for it." She shrugged, not overly concerned with Cybertronian politics. "Is he really that bad? I mean, he was second-in-command of a whole faction for the entire war. He can't be incompetent."

[loyaltyandhonor]

"It's not a question of his competence, but his character. Starscream is without question cunning, his plots have often brought success to the Decepticons under his command. But he does not serve from loyalty, or solidarity. Just as often has he acted against our Lord Megatron in an attempt to gain power. Starscream acts only to promote his own ends, he is selfish, and would turn on his comrades without a second thought if it would benefit him!"

Dreadwing's voice had been rising this whole time, gesturing widely and aggressively as he ranted. He'd spent most of his time in this wretched city ruminating on Starscream's numerous shortcomings, and Nautica had just made the mistake of giving him a reason to voice them.

"Starscream is no leader, he has no respect for his followers, those under his command are merely tools in his eyes! Under Starscream's command, my own brother met his end at the hands of the Autobots. But that was not enough, no! He used dark energon to raise my brother from the grave in a grotesque attempt to turn him into a mindless slave for his own twisted purpose. And now he's doomed to an endless wandering, a grotesque husk of the warrior he once was, robbed of even the most basic dignity!"

He turned, slamming the counter he'd been working on with both fists, aggression and grief and wrathful disillusionment gathered into one directionless act of rage. The resounding crash and the clatter of radios and scraps onto the floor was just enough to bring him back to the present moment. He slowly unclenched his fists, steeling himself against the surface in an attempt to regain his composure.

"No," he said with a breathless pause, the resignation of a passionate outburst having run it's course. "Starscream has no right to lead, and no right to live. I'll tear out his spark myself, and rejoice in doing so."

[quantumechanic]

Nautica listened to the litany of Starscream's faults that she'd inadvertently provoked, eyes growing ever wider, then jumped at the noise as Dreadwing pounded on the counter.

It seemed like he'd needed to get that out.

"...Oh." She didn't approve of premeditated murder, but even Nautica had the sense not to say that in the face of Dreadwing's obvious wrath, and she let the silence stretch for an awkward moment as she tried to decide what she could say.

"I'm sorry about your brother." She couldn't imagine Windblade or Chromia dying, and it lent genuine empathy to her somewhat belated reply. Despite the fact Nautica was separated from them right now, they were still alive--her thoughts shied from the alternative--and not without the hope of reuniting. Losing either of them forever would be unbearable.

[loyaltyandhonor]

Even if she was only doing so out of politeness, Nautica was the first person who had shown any sympathy for what became of Skyquake. Not that Dreadwing had explicitly expected it, but compared to the ease with which Megatron dismissed it as inconsequential he couldn't help but appreciate the gesture. Even if it was not easy to accept. He was silent for a few moments before responding.

"Yes," was his only reply, a caged agreement to the depressing reality of events.

He started collecting some of the electronic pieces he'd scattered, returning them to his pile of foraged scraps.