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Who: Minimus Ambus and You
What: Minimus Ambus wakes up on Cybertron and has to figure out what the heck happened.
When: Sometime after the Rodimus/Tarn fiasco?
Where: In the City
Warnings: Grumpiness and Lecturing, most likely

Pre-emptive Execution. Trust the Chief Justice to find a way to make murder sound constitutional and justified. Minimus hadn't seen the Legislator until it was too late, and all things considered it was probably lucky it had gone for his head, rather than spark. The machines were evidently not programmed to anticipate dealing with loadbearers. Regardless, the feedback was more than enough to knock him out, and when he did wake up he was rather shocked that his outer shell was still intact, even if his head was still ringing. Not to mention the fact the he was certainly not in Tyrest's lab any longer. Had the Chief Justice gotten his space bridge working? Had it malfunctioned? Even if it hadn't, it was hard to believe Tyrest had managed to open a portal to Cyberutopia.

Where ever he was, it looked like Cybertron, though not any city he'd ever seen, and certainly not as he'd seen the planet last before their departure. Minimus got to his feet quickly, he needed to find out if anyone else was here. He needed to know what had happened to Rodimus and the others. He set off down of the the road's heading further into the city, if anyone else had wound up here that would most likely be their destination.

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He'd been wandering through the city for some time now, still trying to find any sign of life. So far he'd found nothing but more ruined buildings, though he was fairly certain that as he neared the city center he would run into someone. There were definite signs that someone had been through this area lately.

Coming to an intersection in the road he stopped, seeing a familiar figure up ahead. It was impossible to mistake the white and red bot covered in swords for anyone but Drift. Minimus was about to call out before hesitating, trying to determine how best to approach the situation. After all, Drift would have no idea who he was. and he wasn't exactly wearing an Autobot badge at the moment. Letting him walk away wasn't an option though. Rodimus said he'd exiled Drift, so the former-Decepticon likely knew where they were.

"Drift?!" He called out, not running to cover the distance but certainly walking over with a purposeful stride.

The voice is familiar to Drift, although he's distracted enough by the sights around him that he doesn't place it right away. Drift turns to glance behind behind him, expecting someone -- well, a little taller. But after a second his gaze settles on the smaller bot walking over to him. Drift's optics narrow with focus, squinting a little as he tries to place the other mech, but he's definitely never seen that face before. He think he'd remember if he had.

"That'd be me," Drift says, his voice tinged with surprise. "I'm sorry -- have we met?"

That went exactly as expected. He considered for a moment continuing the charade he had just used on Rodimus, but it would hardly serve a purpose at this point. There was no need for it anymore. However, trying to convince Drift of the nature of Ultra Magnus and and explain the realities of his identity without any supporting evidence was going to take a while.

"In a way, I can explain in more detail at a later point. For now, I need to ask if you know where we are, currently? Did you come here after leaving the Lost Light?"

Drift looks...perplexed at that, because the other bot hasn't even give him a name, but hopefully he'll get the full story later. For now he can tell that the other bot is confused and disoriented -- probably a new arrival, although Drift knows they're all new here.

"We're on Cybertron. I know it doesn't look like it, not anymore...but that's because it isn't our Cybertron. This is a little hard to explain all at once, but...this is some other Cybertron, and as far as we can tell it's deserted except for us -- and everyone here's been pulled from all different places...and times." Drift looks sort of apologetic, because explaining this all concisely feels a bit dishonest when it's so complicated. "Which is, I guess, why I don't recognize you...the last thing I remember is the whole business with the sparkeater. When did you join the crew?"

Minimus gives Drift a very long scrutinizing look as he debates whether or not he is being metaphorical or literal. With Drift it could really go either way. However, the more he heard the less it started to seem like just another spiritual roundabout.

"The sparkeater incident?! That was months ago. Are you really telling me you don't know anything that happened after that? Delphi? Crystal City? Overlord?" He stopped suddenly, thinking back on his last conversation with Rodimus about that particular event, and who was responsible. His expression darkened, looking up to meet Drift's gaze.

"No. I suppose you would know about Overlord, wouldn't you," he said accusingly.

Honestly, Drift's pretty used to being treated with suspicion and contempt by other Autobots, but the suddenly accusatory tone and the comment about Overlord in particular really throw Drift, and he reels back with a stunned look on his face. When had this mech joined the crew? He must have been present for the catastrophe with Overlord, to look at him like that, to say it with such resentment. His optics are wide and shocked for a moment, but then he holds his hands up, looking defensive.

"Other people have filled me in, but I don't remember those things myself -- I told you, people arrived here from all different points in time." He still looks stunned, stricken, maybe even a little wounded at the sudden turn of conversation, but then his optics sharpen. Delphi and Overlord he knows about, but...

"Wait -- what happened at Crystal City?"

He paused for a second, realizing if Drift hadn't heard what happened yet, he certainly wouldn't want to hear it now. Unfortunately for Drift, Minimus wasn't about to sugarcoat the truth.

"When we arrived at Crystal City it was deserted, there was no sign of the Circle of Light. It looked as if there had been a confrontation but we were unable to investigate due to the intervention of the Galactic Council." A thankfully brief summary, all things considered.

Drift's reaction to his comment about Overlord didn't go unnoticed, and with everything that had happened because of those events, he wanted more than the minimal information Rodimus had given him.

"Drift, I have to ask, did you smuggle Overlord on board the Lost Light?" It was said with same tone he used on criminals to try and elicit a confession.

Drift is far too shocked to respond for a few agonizingly long moments. The question almost seems to whistle past his audials, his mind still awash in static. Crystal City empty -- attacked? His optics flicker for a moment, his arms stiff at his sides.

"I -- " He falters, optics going out of focus before settling back on Minimus' face, and they dim. He doesn't even know this mech, and he shouldn't have to answer such an abrupt accusation -- but it doesn't matter who this mech is. If he was a part of what happened to Overlord, then Drift owes it to him to explain. His optics dim, his shoulders going slack, but he meets Minimus' gaze anyway.

"...Yes," he says heavily, spark constricting his chest as he remembers what Ratchet had told him, of the deaths he and Rodimus had a hand in. But he doesn't want to point a finger at Rodimus, not like this -- and Drift certainly doesn't want to seem like he's trying to evade responsibility. "Yes, I was responsible. But I...think you should talk to Rodimus about it."

"I just did but perhaps it I will have to question him again. Likewise, he would have more information on what happened in Crystal City, I was otherwise engaged and couldn't travel to the planet's surface." It was clear Drift was no in state to talk about Overlord, and that response gave him pause. If Rodimus was involved somehow, he wasn't going to hear about it from Drift.

"You have to understand from my perspective Overlord's escape was very recent, and there were repercussions none of us could have predicted. I'm sure you can respect the gravity of the situation." He would likely better understand once he knew who he was talking with, it was about time he came clean to Drift about his real identity. Not an easy thing to explain.

"You asked when I joined the Lost Light, and I'm sure this is difficult to believe but I've been aboard from the beginning. Have you ever heard of a type of point one percenter referred to as 'loadbearers'?"

This conversation is just blow after blow to Drift's spark, his tanks starting to churn low in his chassis. Rodimus knows about Crystal City and he mentioned nothing to Drift? He's taken aback by that information enough that it takes him a moment to fumble for an answer.

"I... Of course I can," Drift says quietly, his frame sagging as if under a tremendous weight. "I only just heard about it myself from Ratchet. I never meant to... Well. I guess it doesn't matter, does it? No matter my intentions, it still happened."

Rodimus had a hand in it too, sure, but Drift knew it was a bad idea from the start. He should've pushed harder, should've put his foot down with Rodimus. But it's far too late for that now.

"Loadbearers? No, I can't say I have..." Drift's optics narrow slightly in confusion. "If you've been on since the beginning, why don't I recognize you?"

Minimus is curious about why Rodimus didn't tell Drift about it as well, but without the captain here they weren't about to get any answers on that. His expression was characteristically serious as he continued to explain.

"I'm getting to that. Loadbearers are able to support extreme augmentation, far beyond the normal limits for a cybertronian spark. It's extremely uncommon, but I happen to be one of them. Years ago Tyrest developed an armor that could be used by loadbearers to mimic the appearance and abilities of one of the greatest lawmen in history: Ultra Magnus." Explaining it all in one piece was easier than last time, no doubt in part since he had just had this same conversation on Luna-1.

"The Ultra Magnus who joined you on the Lost Light was me, in the Magnus Armor. My true name is Minimus Ambus."

Drift listens to Minimus talk attentively, leaning forward with an intent look on his face -- and then the further Minimus goes on, the wider his optics get, and Drift's expression becomes increasingly crestfallen. It's not so much Magnus' identity disappoints him -- he's just starting to get weary of all these earth-shattering surprises. He gives Minimus a long, helpless look and lets his face fall heavily into his hand.

"Why wouldn't anyone tell me that?"

Edited 2015-02-09 23:03 (UTC)

"I don't know, Drift. He probably didn't think it was relevant. Last time I saw him he was under arrest for crimes against creation and facing the death penalty. Even if Rodimus was from the same time point as me he no doubt had more pressing concerns than my name. You know as well as I do Rodimus has always had a knack for omitting information."

"I -- not relevant?" Drift would think informing him that their monolithic second-in-command was actually a tiny man in a suit in a long line of tiny men in suits pretending to big the same giant man would be pretty fucking relevant. Minimus, however, does have a point.

"I guess," Drift sighs, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehelm. "He sort of neglected to mention everything that happened with Overlord when I first saw him here, but -- he had his reasons."

His reasons being he didn't want to hurt Drift's feelings, which even Drift didn't really think was good enough either, but it in the end he'd rather have heard it from Ratchet than Magnus anyway.

There's really not much to do on this Cybertron, and Rodimus finds himself bored after a few days. Sure, parts of it were great. Like having Drift back. But mostly it was just depressing. He and Drift had separated that morning and headed off to just see if they could find anything that could be useful or someone they knew.

What Rodimus isn't expecting is to run into someone he actually knows. Let along Magnus in the still-weird green, white, and black armor. Grinning, Rodimus stops aimlessly wandering and breaks out into a jog to catch up to the wandering former enforcer.

"Magnus, wait up!"

As much as Magnus really grinds his gears on multiple occasions when he's being especially rule-bound and unyielding he can't deny that he likes the guy. Someone he still feels might be on his side after everything that happened. He could use that here - and, really, having both Drift and Magnus just makes him feel like this place might not be so bad after all.

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IM SORRY THIS IS SO LATE

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