re_alignment | audio | post Ultimate Showdown

Entry tags:

tf: idw | ironhide

audio | post Ultimate Showdown

[Wellp. That sure was a fight there. Time for the survivors to report... Ironhide included. He sounds a bit downhearted, despite the fact events turned in the Police Force's favor... Or maybe he's just cranky.]

Now that's how it's done.

Piece'a Decepticon scrap metal should've been put in the melting pit, hnf.

Anyone seen the Junkpile Kid around? Wanna make sure none of that mess flew her way...

[Private to: Power Joe]
Hey, kid. When you come back around, gimme a ping. Want to talk.

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[Power Joe contacts him when he's conscious, although his voice is tired and raspy.]

Right here.

Hey.

Getting all the parts put back in?

Oi, you'd think they'd never put on treads before.

[You're just a terrible patient, PJ, it's not them.]

I'm okay though.

[Off feed, he's looking at what used to be his leg. Silently hoping it'd be as good as new.]

Probably none like yours, kid.

[He pauses, huffing out a robot-sigh.]

Good. Got concerned there, for a minute.

Heh, you were worried about me, old man?

[Despite the teasing tone, there's a hint of actual...gratitude.]

Thanks...I'll be fine though. We showed them all who's boss, and if I got a busted leg out of it, it was worth it.

Cut it out. Checking in with your troops is what you're supposed to do after a fight like that.

[NO HE WASN'T WORRIED.]

Yeah. We did. ... For now.

Hey, you said it, not me!

[You can almost hear that smug grin.]

...

Don't worry. If we can get him once, we can get him again.

I'll put a dent in your skullplate.

[No he won't.]

Don't get cocky. Might've just made 'im mad...

Hey, hey, I'm kidding~

[Are you.]

C'mon, let's take this time to celebrate.

You better be.

Tell you what. When you get out of there, I'll take you for a soldier's celebration. Like any other Autobot'd get.

....

[What.]

Really?

Sure.

You fought with us. Seems right you should get to celebrate with us.

Just like that? I'm one of you guys?

[There has to be a catch.]

You fought with us. You got wounded with us. You helped take down the fraggin' Decepticon Brute Squad.

It ain't just like that. You shed oil and precious metal with my squad, may as well have been there from the start, kid.

...

[He's quiet. What Ironhide says really hit home. He'd never gotten that kind of acceptance before. Not really from this world at least.]

Thanks.

[It's hard to understand a guy like PJ, but that 'thanks' held a lot of emotion. Mostly gratitude.]

Don't thank me. Nothin' to it.

[He hears it, though. And there's something more in his voice than gruff brushoff.]

You holding up okay?

[He's all smiles, not that you can tell. Ironhide, you've just made his week.]

I'll be fine. Takes a lot more than that to keep me down.

Good.

Now keep your backside parked in that medbay 'till you're cleared. You hear me?

[Says the Worst Patient Ever.]

...Depends on your definition of 'cleared'.

[Cleared by his standards or by theirs?]

Until the medics say you can wheel yourself out of there.

Don't make me put you on watch.

Don't worry, that won't take too long!

I can feel it.

Uh huh. Sure. We'll see about that one.

Junkpile Kid? Do you mean Lyra? I have not seen her in some time, I am afraid.

I take it that the killer has been dealt with?

[Strelok has kept up with the whole thing... he just wasn't about to volunteer to be involved. Better to see how the cops handled it, first.]

Yeah... her. I haven't either. That's why I was askin' about her.

For now, yeah.

That is worrisome. I would think someone had heard from her recently. Perhaps I should go looking for her...

That is good, then; one less thing to worry about for a while.

Once I sort some scrap out... I'm headin' over there too.

Yeah. Until someone decides to go soft on 'em again.

Perhaps I will see you there, then.

There is really only so much to be done, when no one permanently dies. Though. How do you mean 'them'?

Yeah, maybe... Hopefully the kid's there, though. Otherwise...

[He's not sure how he'd feel about that.]

Tarn and his buddy. There were two of 'em out there.

Her loss would be unfortunate. I like her; she is a smart kid.

[But he's lost more people than he hasn't. He's learned to accept when someone is gone, whether he liked them or not.]

Here I had thought it was just the one. Even if they are freed, I doubt their lives here will be quite so easy as they were. If new arrivals are warned it will stay that way.

Yeah. It would be.

[Him too, but. Kids are different -- or young bots, in his case.]

I think everybody kinda did. Surprise. But it don't matter if anyone's warned or not. Cons like that find ways to get in... no matter what you do.

So. Hope for the best, then?

[This is the first time it's really been a kid with him. Then again, she was stalker-tough already in his eyes.]

Like a great many people, in that case. Though perhaps a better solution than prison or execution should be found for them.

Guess that's all we got on this one, yeah.

Take their motor functions offline. Permanently. That's what I think.

Hope is much more than it may perhaps look like.

Ah. A cruel fate, to be unable to move for eternity.

We'll see.

Tch, not for cons like that it ain't.

Would it be for Autobots that did the same as them?

There ain't any Autobots who do the same as them.

You never know; no organization is all good or all bad. Terrible things can be done for the good of others.

There isn't one single Autobot who'd do scrap like they do. Not one.

No one's gonna ever convince me otherwise.

Then I hope you are right. It is not pleasant, to find out things are not truly as you saw them.

I know 'bots.

I know the things those cons did... no bot would.

I do not know 'bots, or 'cons. Only individuals.

So I will wait, and I will see what happens here.

Must be fraggin' nice over there. Y'know. In "oblivious" land.

It is caution more than being 'oblivious'. One cannot be too careful, and sometimes even those that seem friends can secretly be enemies.

Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you recharge at night.

[Strelok shrugs one shoulder.]

If someone told you all members of Duty were good, and all members of Freedom were evil, would you believe them without knowing either side yourself?

If one side had a walkin' piece of scrap metal who ran around slaughterin' people on camera? Yeah. I might.

You can be all judgmental or whatever if you want. But you're up and talkin' to a brick wall, I'm gonna say that now.

[Well. At least he's admitting he's stubborn as hell.]

One or two bad ones damn them all? Unfortunate.

I will not judge you for it. Though I will think it is sad, that you must all be at one another's throats, in a place like this.

[Considering there are worse things out there, and all.]

No, it's all of 'em.

You wanna know so bad, go read up on the war and scrap. Then you can go around tellin' me what's sad and what ain't.

I have met a few. They did not seem as bad as all that.

It is sad because while you are fighting each other, the planet will take the opportunity to destroy you all. I do not need to know your war to find that sad.

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audio | post Ultimate Showdown

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