re_alignment | [Audio Post]

Entry tags:

✘ tf: idw | mirage

[Audio Post]

[At first he was going to encrypt the message to only Autobots. But then he started wondering if that was what he really wanted? Maybe it was time to try other things and see what came up. In any case, no one was to see who he was, and he made sure to scrub the connection clean of his personal identifiers. He even modulated his voice a bit to sound higher. He was a trained spy, after all, and he didn't want to go giving himself away.]

Is anyone hearing this? Is anyone out there? I'm not sure where I am or what I'm supposed to be doing, but... If someone could explain it to me that's not a temple drone?

[Was that too telling? Slag. Or did everyone start at these temples?]

Is there a way out of here? Any shuttles or teleports or whatever? Let me know what you've found. I'll be here.

[That little snippet was all anyone would get from. The mission was to collect data. the source didn't matter because all information was valuable. It would of course, be evaluated based on who it came from after it was obtained. ]

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[Yep, there certainly wasn't any bumpers up on his shoulders. Not that that could be seen by the angle, but that was all down on his feet...]

First one I never actually got back from. [He shrugs, and then huffs. Anonymous, huh? His lips thin a bit, but he does have some patience. A little. Tiny bit... Maybe.] Just followed some red an' blue 'bots through a portal, didn't think it'd end up being interdimensional or whatever...

Second one we were bein' sent back home in the end, was another Cybertron... lot more advanced than this one at the moment though. They gave in after they realised their Shockwave'd been pullin' people through an experimenting on us.

[He scowls a bit, but he never really directly was a victim of TransTech Shockwave's experiments, besides being pulled to Axiom itself.]

Pretty much ended up here directly after I got back from that, though.

That is all... very unfortunate to hear.

[None of it rang a bell, and it was certainly something Cliffjumper would have spoken about if he had gone through it. The camera flickers on and Mirage is visible on the feed, his voice returning to normal.]

So you have quite a bit of experience with this sort of thing. How long have you been on this world?

... Mirage?

[Cliffjumper just stares a bit first and then shakes his helm. So what the slag had the whole thing with the "anonymous" audio been for, anyway? Though it's obviously an alternate Mirage, besides the voice still not matching entirely... the altmode is more like the one the Mirage he knows had before they got back to Earth.]

More than I'd ever wanted to have, but I suppose anyone here can say that. Around... uh... [Rubbing the back of his helm, the pause is mostly to separate the time here from Axiom.] Few weeks? 'Round an Earth month or two.

... So what's the idea with that whole audio only slag?

[He hadn't planned to ask, but even if he's learned better when to push a point and when not to, today wasn't the day he let it go by unremarked.]

I am not sure how your Mirage conducts himself, or what his job is, but I've found I need to be a bit more... [Paranoid.] Cautious in different situations. I apologize for the deception, but I do not regret it. Caution is important to me.

[Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice... Mirage didn't want to get burned even once.]

So tell me. Who should I be wary of here and who should I accept? [Not that he would take Cliffjumper's word as law, but maybe at least to get an idea.]

[Snorting, Cliffjumper crosses his arms, but the slight purse to his lips is more thoughtful than anything else.]

Stuck up an' naïve enough you could think he was sympathizing with the Deceticreeps [wow, flash-back much?] but he's okay. Sharp with a weapon, though his illusion ability's gotten pretty scary.

[Invisibility what. THAT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE ANYONE TWITCHY even if it's been really useful.]

What, "any and all 'Cons" ain't obvious enough? [Then Cliffjumper pauses, scowling, but not for the reason that might be obvious.] Plus anyone with a purple insignia no matter what it looks like.

And there's a Soundwave here who's mostly white with a red Decepticon brand, an' a Megatron with the same. They're trustworthy. [Cliffjumper looks pretty slagging serious as he says that, as well.]

I'd like to think I'm not naive. [That was all he'd say about the differences between himself and his apparent otherworld counterpart.]

Purple insignia? Trustworthy Soundwave and Megatron? Did your circuits get scrambled in your many dimensional jumps?

[Of course, the Mirage Cliffjumper knew had long since dropped that belief that he could somehow convince the Decepticons they could work together, but it had still happened.]

You know, I'd say they could well have been, especially as the Constructicons said I had some particles or other in my field, but it's all true. [Hard not to laugh, but he manages to stifle it into snickers.]

I'm serious though. [His optics narrow and his lips thin as he scowls slightly.] Use execution for entertainment, an' the purple clunker who calls himself Optimus Prime is a megalomaniacal, sadistic, crazy glitch.

[This Mirage didn't think they could work together, he just thought maybe the Decepticons were right.]

Are they here, or did you encounter them on your dimensional travels?

Both. [Cliffjumper shrugs as he gestures vaguely in the air, but continues because he wasn't actually intended to be teasing. It was just the truth.]

Both Megatron an' Soundwave're here, but I met 'em in the dimension I ended up in after I walked through... suppose it was an interdimensional transwarp portal or whatever, the transwarp in my own reality.

Was a bit crazy to start with.

And you accept them as allies? [Either this Cliffjumper had been through a lot, which is sounded like he had, or he was fairly different from the Cliffjumper Mirage knew.]

You will have to excuse me if I still find it hard to imagine Megatron being 'trustworthy'. Who have you found you trust most here? [Not that he necessarily expected to get an answer, but it was worth a try.]

What else was there to do? [He grimaces a bit and then huffs before pausing. That wasn't fair, really.]

'Sides the fact that they're defending against a genocidal, bent-on-conquering and razing version of... ugh, the "Autobots" there, they do believe and fight for what the Autobots should be.

And I wasn't gonna hang around Iacon. Place's a slaggin' asylum, and since I don't agree with torture an' don't think corpses on the walls and hanging from the ceiling makes a good morale an' fashion statement, it doesn't really agree with me.

[So yes, of course he's been through a lot, but on a basic level he's still the same.]

Not that it wasn't slaggin' confusin' for a while not to shoot or punch the guys on "my side" rather than the ones I usually count as allies.

He took a shot for me when I'd known him for a joor, tops, when Prime saw me an' got pissy.

[He shrugs. He can definitely understand the disbelief, but that doesn't make what he's saying any less true.]

... Well. Megatron, Soundwave, Optimus Prime. [He pauses, crossing his arms, and while he sort of wishes there were more... trusting isn't easy.]

Then I will give them my trust as well. [The conviction with which Cliffjumper spoke was surprising and it made Mirage feel sort of bad for questioning him.]

It's a short list. [And still ironic.] I may know a few others to add to it, but for now discretion is best. Which of the First Forged do you find yourself aligned with?

[No need to feel bad, really. It's not as if Mirage had been there or anything.]

Yeah, I know. [He grimaces and shrugs. He does wish there were some more there, and while he'd maybe add Blurr...] Wish some of the mechs from my original reality was around, but at the same time's just as well they ain't.

Vector Prime. Fitting, I suppose. Prime said he had to do with guardin' space-time and dimensions an' slag.

[And considering he's done a bit of dimension hopping these days... But some part wondered if that was all there was to how these alignments were decided.]

Yourself?

And who did you trust in your original reality? [This could be interesting.]

The same. I have yet to meet him, but as I understand he is very noble and honorable. [Which was about all they had in common.]

[There's a huff and a grimace as Cliffjumper crosses his arms.]

Does it matter? None of 'em are here anyway!

... But I suppose most of the crew of the Ark counts... even if anyone can be or end up a spy or traitor.

[It's a bit grudging, but there it is. Not anything over the top, but still... obviously not particularly trusting.

The comment that they share their Firstforged alignment just gets a thoughtful frown and a nod, however. Even if it's a little bit hard not to smirk over the "noble" part.]

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