[ 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

[asafepairofhands]

"Good to see you, Ironhide." Ratchet's plating makes a truly alarming creaking sound and he wriggles a little harder, his voice strained.

"...please put me down."

[arnhaid]

"Oh--"

And put him down he does. Carefully, even. But he keeps his hands on Ratchet's shoulders, like he's worried this will disappear if he doesn't keep in contact.

"Sorry, I uh. I got excited." Understatement of the year. "But what're you doin' here? I didn't think I was gonna see any of you guys again!"

[asafepairofhands]

"I have no idea. I just... showed up here. I certainly didn't come here on purpose."

Ratchet watches Ironhide critically, his optics sharp and thoughtful.

"Do you have any idea where we actually are? This isn't the Cybertron I remember at all."

[arnhaid]

"Don't see why anybody would come here on purpose..."

But that's about as serious as he gets before he looks Ratchet over, smiling again. He thumps those shoulders once or twice, just... appreciating the feeling of someone else being here.

The fact it's someone he considers a good friend makes it even better.

"No clue. Ain't enough bugs to be the place I was last... Don't remember goin' anywhere, either."

[asafepairofhands]

Ratchet's knees nearly buckle under Ironhide's broad hands, but he manages to keep his feet.

"...huh. Really." Ratchet narrows his optics at Ironhide, slowly. "What's the last thing you remember, then?"

[arnhaid]

Don't worry, Ratchet. If it even remotely looks like you'll fall, Ironhide will hook his hands under your arms and save you. And probably hug you again.

"Trion -- oh, yeah! I met Alpha Trion. Real piece of work, he is. Should've hit him harder." He scowls briefly, before continuing, as if this is all totally normal things to be saying.

"Yeah, he took off, and ditched 'Streaker and me on Cybertron. A... really dead Cybertron..."

[asafepairofhands]

"So you don't--mmm."

Ratchet hesitates, shaking his head.

"It seems like some of us are pulled from different... times, I guess. You're like Drift--further back than I am. Though you've missed more than he has, even."

[arnhaid]

"Don't what?"

For the first time, his expression actually falls. And continues to do so, the more Ratchet talks. Until it starts to look like he's gotten punched in the face.

"What are you...? What're you talking about? Who's Drift?"

[asafepairofhands]

"He's--he's a friend of mine."

Ratchet regards Ironhide steadily, not knowing how honest he should be but also not knowing what else he can do.

"When I'm from, the war's over. We're back on Cybertron--some of us are, anyway. We won, the planet's clean, and people are coming home."

[arnhaid]

Well. That's not really what he wants to hear. At all. His face sort of falls, and he wobbles a bit. Like Ratchet's struck him hard from behind.

On the one hand, it... sounds great. On the other...

"It's... what?"

[asafepairofhands]

"...it's over," Ratchet says, watching Ironhide's face carefully, his optics dimming. "Whether we're done with fighting or not, well. We'll see, I guess."

[arnhaid]

His face... falls. He tries very hard to get it not to. To stay cheerful and upbeat and. Well. To take the news well. But he doesn't.

"I uh... yeah. Yeah, that's... good."

He said that already.

He looks down, and leans forward a bit once more. Just to hug the other bot again. Maybe that will help.

[asafepairofhands]

Ratchet leans into the solid weight of Ironhide's chassis, just slightly.

"Yeah?" he says, his voice dry. "You don't sound exactly thrilled. What's on your mind?"

[arnhaid]

The weight is nice. Grounding. Gives him something to hang onto when the world starts to feel like it's spinning away.

"Don't worry about it... I'll deal," he assures him. "Don't got to fuss over me none."

[asafepairofhands]

"You say that like I won't worry anyway," Ratchet says. "You can't stop me from fussing if I want."

[arnhaid]

"Okay, then don't fuss so much... I ain't dead yet."

Wait.

He grimaces as soon as he says it, before adding: "I mean uh. Anymore."