[ 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

[targetlocked]

Lock-On has spotted someone nearby, and she's starting to rumble towards them, when she notices the fusion cannon they've pointed in her direction. "Whoa there, buddy," she says, backing up. "I do not appreciate this kind of greeting."

She hopes this aggressive stranger doesn't actually shoot, because there's nowhere to hide and not a lot she can do to avoid being hit.

[sparkwhisperer]

Tarn is tired, smeared with energon, disoriented, and not in the mood for Autobots.

Since waking up in this awful version of Cybertron it has been one thing after another. He continues to power his double fusion cannon, staring very levelly at this poor mech who happened to stumble upon him in such a foul mood. His optics flash just slightly in a weak glare. Light glints off the red insignia on the stranger’s alt mode (although he has to admit, it is a fine alt mode)

“Turn around and leave Autobot. This is the only warning that you will receive.”

[targetlocked]

"Autobot? ...Oh! You must be one of those Decepticon fellows I learned about during my training." Lock-On sounds way more chill about this than she should, considering that, on closer inspection, this person's face is literally the Decepticon symbol. The symbol of the Decepticons. Who like to kill Autobots.

What can she say – she hasn't talked to anyone in a while, and it's not like she's ever really fought Decepticons. She's curious and grudge-free.

She's certainly aware of the fusion cannon still pointed at her, though. "I am not going to attack you, you know. I would simply like to talk." It's worth a try, right?

[sparkwhisperer]

Oh Primus help him...

"I assure you, it is in your best interest to leave. I have not had a good day and my mood is, quite honestly, terrible."

He yearns to reduce this stranger to a wreckage of spare parts (If only to serve as the stress relief that he so desperately needs), but he has made an agreement to stand down from conflict. It's not as if this mech is overly abrasive and she's not a traitor on The List. He can allow her to survive if it keeps him in the young Megatron's good graces.

[targetlocked]

The fact that she's still alive gives Lock-On hope that she will, in fact, remain alive for the duration of this conversation. Being alive and talking is just so much better than being dead or suffering a lack of interpersonal interaction. Even if talking involves having a fusion cannon pointed at her first.

Lock-On rolls forward a little bit. "What is wrong?" she asks, somewhat concerned. "Have others been unkind to you here?"

[sparkwhisperer]

Even with the fusion cannon pointed at her, this stranger approaches slightly. With a sigh, Tarn begins powering down his weapon. Really, what's the point, its just draining his energy.

"I suppose you can say that." He lowers his arm, turning his back and transforming into his alt mode. "I have certainly not been having the best time here."

Tarn begins rolling away, leaving the other tank is a cloud of dust. He really should just leave and remove himself from the situation if the stranger will not leave on her own. Hopefully she will not follow him.

[targetlocked]

Sorry, Tarn, you're shit outta luck there.

Spurred on by the apparent reduction of danger, Lock-On follows him without a moment's hesitation. "Do you want to talk about it?" He seems like he needs to talk about it, what with all of this aggression and weapon-pointing. Nothing good ever comes out of bottling up emotions.

[sparkwhisperer]

Tarn rolls on slightly faster. God, what is wrong with these Autobots. He's Tarn. Leader of the Decepticon Justice Division. What part of that would make an Autobot wish to pursue him.

"No, I really don't." He growls back at her, his frame creaking with stress

[targetlocked]

A big part of why Lock-On insists on interacting with Tarn is that she doesn't really know who he is. That's what happens when you don't actually do any real fighting or spacefaring: you miss out on the info about who all of the latest mass-murdering pieces of garbage are.

"If you say so," Lock-On replies. His loss, but she can respect it. "You can call me Lock-On. What should I call you?"

[sparkwhisperer]

Tarn continues to roll at a relatively fast clip. He probably should just ignore her until she gets bored of harassing him and leaves, but he is too keyed up at this point to make any logical decisions. Which explains why he actually answers.

"I am Tarn." he mutters at her. "Leader of the Decepticon Justice Division and Megatron's biggest mistake, apparently."

Well that came out of nowhere.