[ INTRO LOG ]

[robotsatan]

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 no one in sight -- right at first, anyway -- 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.

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, with the bits and pieces left behind and a few determined minds, it wouldn't be too hard to build a working, if rudimentary, one...

Comments

B. THE CITY

[rodders]

Rodimus has been having what he thinks he's going to call A Day. It is not the worst day he's had, but it's certainly making the top five. In the past forty eight hours, he's been confronted with his corpse, apparently vanished along with the rest of the Lost Light, had to deal with Trailcutter's death, completely failed to stop Brainstorm from getting away, found out that Brainstorm was a Decepticon agent, and was getting ready to go after him. And came back from being not existing? The details were still kind of sketchy, but he got the idea. Anyway, not necessarily in that order.

And now he's here, which he is going to conveniently blame on Brainstorm. As this is Cybertron but isn't Cybertron at the same time. Time travel? Probably. Or, worse, this is the present and killing Optimus when he was still Orion did this. His head hurts too much if he thinks about it in depth, and not for the first time since finding himself here did he wish Perceptor was around to explain it in words that weren't five syllables long. Also: totally kicking Brainstorm off of Team Rodimus for the moment. Perceptor was a perfectly legitimate and capable choice of replacement for 'the genius' position now that there was a vacancy.

Rodimus stumbles into the forum, uninterested in any of his surroundings - two fingers pressed to the side of his helm as he vainly tries to comm the Lost Light. "Blaster-- Blaster come in, damnit. Not this again. Or if Megatron is telling you not to pick up when I'm calling, you can tell him to go--"

He might not be paying attention, but it's kind of hard to miss the red, orange, and yellow mech wandering around - especially with those flames on his chest. Subtle and subdued are not this bot's particular strength.

[smarterthandad]

Rodimus was in the market for a genius? It turned out Cybertron had one in stock. Travel-sized, even.

Valeria had used some convenient debris to climb to the top of the low wall around the forum, near the broken terminal, and was sitting with her legs dangling, idly kicking her heels against the metal as she did something on her human-sized datapad. When Rodimus walked in, she listened to him for a moment, then briefly consulted her tablet. No incoming signals.

He was totally talking to himself.

"I'm the only one who can hear you, you realize."

[rodders]

He's looking for one of his geniuses, not small organic juveniles. Sure, a sensible person wouldn't be picky, and he won't be once he actually gets what Val is capable of doing, but Rodimus isn't really topping anyone's 'sensible' charts. Actually, trusting Val to get something done might not be sensible either, so he's a winner in both rounds.

What Rodimus is, however, is grumpy and out of sorts. His hand falls away from his helm and he glowers in the direction of wherever the voice came from.

"And you've got a better idea?"

How much worse can this day get? Honestly.

[smarterthandad]

Oh, Val got things done. The problem was usually what those things turned out to be.

"Don't let me stop you," she replied, undeterred by his attitude. She had plenty of her own, and she'd lived with Johnny 'Basically Rodimus In Human Form' Storm her entire life. "I'm just saying--there's nothing in orbit and no FTL signals, subspace or hyperspace, so you're talking to yourself."

[rodders]

"None at all?" He groans, letting his helm fall back in frustration. "I was just on my ship - it can't just vanish."

He pauses for a second.

"Okay, it can. But it came back, so it can't just do it again right after."

That's not fair! And they've got other things to worry about now that Brainstorm's decided to time travel than hunt down another parallel version of the Lost Light and solve that problem.

[arnhaid]

A Day is probably the best way to describe it. For everyone.

Because going from one abandoned planet to the other is not what Ironhide wants to call a good day, either. There's not even Sunstreaker around. No bugs. It's like the utter isolation he first found himself in, and it's making his plating crawl.

So, of course, when he spies red and orange armor, his mood perks up considerably.

He doesn't even think about it. He all but leaps forward, grasping the smaller frame in big arms and squeezing with a bellow that's probably way too cheerful for the situation at hand:

"Hot Rod! Kid! You're alive!"

Sorry, Rodimus.

[rodders]

Ironhide you're killing him oh god what is happening.

The only answer to that Rodimus can give right away is the woosh of air being forced out of him by the strength of Ironhide's hug - hands immediately going to the shoulders of the other bot in order to try and push him away enough so he can put some space between them.

"Ironhide?!" He's just as surprised to see you here as anyone, to be perfectly honest. "Of course I'm alive-- wait, Hot Rod?"

What is this. Why is this happening to him?

[arnhaid]

"I never thought I was gonna see you again, kid!"

Of course, being Ironhide, Rodimus' protests are feeble things. He barely notices the hands shoving at him. He's too busy being way too overjoyed to see the kid.

Give him a minute to wind down, and he'll set Rodimus back on his feet, albeit with a lot of manly shoulder thumping, and general lopsided grins.

"Where'd you come from?"

[rodders]

Rodious can name the last two times he was greeted with such enthusiasm and Ironhide was once of them. So all in all he's maybe not all that surprised.

"But you just saw us when we were back on Cybertron- for the trial?" He stumbles under one particularly heavy shoulder thump. "And it's Rodimus, not Hot Rod. Not since we got back to Earth from Cybertron with Sunstreaker, remember?"

As for where he's come from - "My ship? I mean I was on my ship before I got here, and I'm not sure how that happened. Brainstorm probably."

[pullingamiko]

Pfff who needs subtlety. Not Rodimus, and not this human girl running around and scrambling over every almost-comedically oversized (from her point of view) structure she can get a grip on, trying to get a better lay of the land.

Having managed to get on top of a particularly troublesome piece of rubble, she spins around at the sound of a voice nearby, looking Rodimus over with some suspicion - and then noting the bright blue eyes (usually an Autobot thing) and bright orange paint (just kind of cool) and deciding he's probably okay. It sounds like he's trying to contact someone, but she can't make out much beyond that from here.

"Hey!" She takes a couple steps closer to the edge of the chunk of rubble, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure he hears her. "D'you know what's up here, or are you lost too?"

[rodders]

It takes him a few tries from looking for someone his height to looking down a bit - at which point he spies Miko. Humans? Here? Ugh. He's had enough of humanity, thanks but no thanks. Still, she looks smaller than the ones continually trying to kill him, so maybe she's less of a threat.

"I'm not lost," he says, very much stressing that he is Totally Not Lost How Could You Think That. "This is Cybertron."

Which isn't answer her question at all, but psh. Rodimus does let his arm fall, and he leans forward to get a better look at the organic.

"Why aren't you dead?"

Yes, very well put, Rodimus. That is exactly how to phrase asking her how she's still breathing on Cybertron.

[pullingamiko]

"Uh, yeah, it's Cybertron. But I knew that and I'm still super lost."

She looks... slightly offended at what he says next. She plants her hands on her hips and glares up at him, and it doesn't even occur to her at first that he might be asking about the whole breathing thing, because as confusing as that is to her, too, she's mostly started just taking it for granted. "Wow, excuse me, didn't realize I was supposed to be. Is that a problem?"

Because if it is she should probably run now, come to think of it.

[rodders]

"How would you know that? No one from Earth's ever been here. Not just because none of us would want you here," Rodimus, that's not very nice. However true it might be, "but because you can't survive here."

He's no organic expert, true, but he does now the differences between 'organics like these planets' and 'planets with no lifeforms so no one's angry about being caught in the crossfire of the war'. Optimus liked the last ones the best, and they had standing orders not to get indigenous species involved if they could help it.

Which went great when it came to Earth, let him tell you. Or not, as the case may be.

"Guess not if you're fine."

HUARRRGH

[staygoldponybot]

A Day it certainly is.

Sentinel himself was considering going back to the crater and having a PROPER look around, one that didn't involve some prissy buttbaby stomping his hand into shit. He'd slowly decided to follow the noise Rodimus was making after wandering into the city himself, leaving a neat little trail of energon drips.

Oh, well. It's something to follow to get out the city again, at least. Rodimus will probably hear Sentinel's footsteps echoing before he gets into the main forum room himself, anyway.

SCREAMS BACK

[rodders]

Radius doesn't remember much about Sentinel Prime. Sure, he was forged under the guy's time as Prime and sure, he remembers it as a vaguely shitty time to exist during but it wasn't as bad as under Zeta. Still - one corrupt Prime is as bad as another, and when Rodimus looks up at the sound of footfalls and catches a glimpse of who it is, he frowns.

Deeply.

"Today's been weird, but I know you're dead."

He is one hundred percent sure of this fact.

VIKING CHALLENGE ROAR

[staygoldponybot]

"So I've been told."

He crosses his arms, perhaps an effort to hide the crushed hand."Designation? Let's get pleasantries out the way, first."

A beat.

"I know about the war, before you try to mention it."

[rodders]

"Rodimus." You know, like Primus, Nominus, Optimus. There's kind of a trend here.

He crosses his own arms in response, still staring Sentinel down. Ugh, the old Primes.The corrupt Primes. His least favorite people.

"Great, good. Did you get told how you died? Because that's pretty great."

flexes

[planate]

You know what's easy to spot from a distance. Rodimus is. On account of the obnoxious red paint job.

"Rodimus!" Pipes skids out of a side alley, apparently overjoyed to see his captain. He immediately runs up to him and grabs his hands, "I thought I was alone here!"

SCREAMS

[rodders]

What. The. Hell.

Rodimus stumbles backwards when he feels someone grab his hands, and he stumbles even more when he realizes who it is. And promptly looks like he's seen a ghost.

"P-Pipes?"

Maybe he died. Except he thought that the last time he ended up on Cybertron and well, he clearly wasn't dead then.

B)

[planate]

"The one and only!"

He steps back a bit awkwardly as Rodimus stumbles, not wanting to throw him off balance.

"Is everything okay?"

HOW DARE

[rodders]

"No? Yes? Maybe?"

He's just going to gently poke at Pipes' shoulder, even if it means bending down a little. Just to, you know, be sure that it's actually him.

"You're looking. Uh." Not flat? "Vertical..."

Helpful, Rodimus.

[501st]

Well you can join the club, Rodimus because Rex has been having quite the day himself. By now, he had made his way into the city, hoping that something would be of use there. Granted it looks like the Separatists (or whoever) had already scrambled out of the place, but there had to be a transport, a speeder...SOMETHING.

And...well, Rodimus is standing right there. By now, he's had enough of these..."living droids". One was enough. Now two.

And although Nautica hadn't posed a threat, he kept his hands near his blasters at all times, just in case. "Short range frequencies aren't going to work, clanker."

A head tilt.

"Tried it."

[rodders]

"Ughhh," is what he says, dragging his hands down his face. Today is just not his day and he would like it to end as soon as possible, all things considered. He pauses though, and drops one hand from his face so he can focus a single optic on the speaker.

"Clanker?"

Oh yes, Rex, you'd best be prepared for this again.

[501st]

Yeah well he's just overjoyed to see you too, asshole.

"Droid, if that's gonna be more accomodatin' to you." His pistols keep at his side, ready to go up should they need to. But this one seemed less likely to attack and more likely to complain.

Not exactly UNCOMMON in Grevious's droids...

"I need to know the nearest outpost."

[rodders]

"How about using my name?"

He's not answering any more questions until you start treating him like a person, Primus damn it.