re_alignment | [Broadcasting from the tallest peak he can find in the junk pile.]

Entry tags:

!event: glyphless

[Broadcasting from the tallest peak he can find in the junk pile.]

[Someone has been through this before. Someone knows this drill. Someone has worked very, very hard to finally make it back to his Cybertron, only to find it all wrong. Again.

Someone probably has destroyed a few piles of junk in their anger.

However, someone also has paid attention to the communications on the network, and has ventured to the 'temples' that were mentioned, and has found them locked against him.

This someone is not surprised.]

Listen closely, and listen well.

[It is time to act. The feed opens with a closeup on Megatron's faceplates, optics blazing red, the scant remnants of gladiator paint still burned onto the metal.]

This is not where we belong, and I am done with this.

I am done with waking up to see an unfamiliar sun obscuring all-too-familiar stars. I am done with strangers being cast from world to world. I am done with mechs-who-would-be-gods so graciously patronizing us by allowing us to remain while simultaneously enforcing unethical segregation and I am done, finally, with the thwarting of destinies that I and my allies have slaved, toiled, and died to create.

You can listen to those who make the rules here if you desire to. I have heard a song like theirs, before.

Or.

[He flashes, briefly, a datapad that seems to have some sort of schematic on it--a schematic that looks (to those who are familiar with them) like a complicated space bridge.]

If you are 'done' as I am, you can help me.

I am Megatron, and I will deliver anyone that joins me to their rightful homes.

[A single, pointed tooth is visible in the smirk that finally dawns on his face. His interdimensional portal had only worked, once, but with the right mechs he would see it to completion again. Immediately.]

I guarantee it.

~~~~~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um. Fulcrum-- my name's Fulcrum, Lord Megatron. I'm a-- I was a technician working on cyberforming planets for the Decepticon army.

You sound like you're pretty familiar with the situation if you don't mind my say so.

[A technician! Finally. This marked the first time since his Cybertron that he'd experienced a shortage of Decepticon scientists.]

I have been, shall we say, 'gifted' with the experience of visiting another world.

The valuable intelligence I learned there should make our victory swift upon my return. [Oh, so swift.]

However, I will need assistance. [In other words, you.]

Sounds unlucky if you've been in a situation similar to this one. Though I guess this isn't all bad. More just annoying.

You think so? People were saying that the war was over, sir. We're not done yet?

I'm. I'm not a warrior, um. Sir. I probably shoot only slightly better than Misfire...

Annoying is a very mild term for this. [He'd go with 'excruciating.']

Over? [No, this is more interesting.] And how did they say it came to an end?

I'd prefer to use you for your technical expertise. How good are you with schematics?

Uh, got it, sir.

Well, the way it was told to me was pretty vague. I was out on Clemency unconscious when it happened. I was told that eventually a message was sent out: "The war is over, come home." I really don't know how it ended, to be honest, but no one's seen you in awhile, Lord Megatron.

...Oh! [Fulcrum notably perks up at this.] Pretty good, to be honest. I'm downright awful when it comes to combat, but I'm a technician forged, through and through. What do you need?

That sounds anticlimactic. [Seriously. Didn't whoever ended the war know how to make a speech? Still, he chuckles.] I'm not surprised they haven't seen me in a while. I'm not exactly the Megatron you are used to. [He taps the remnants of the gladiator paint.] You could say I'm new to the job.

I need your opinion on this. [He locks this post carefully, and attaches the communicator to his wrist-plug for a moment to upload the basics of the inter-dimensional portal schematic.] Do you think there are materials here to construct it?

New to the... [He trails off, then his optic ridges rise.] Temporal displacement. You're from early on. [Like, way early on.]

Hm. [Fulcrum rubs his ~~impressive~~ chin.] Well, theoretically, that could-- well. We'd need a good power source and...

[He exhales.] Plenty of materials in the junkpile, Lord Megatron. I'd need some help hefting it around, but. It'd be plausible.

I'd have to take an in depth look at the schematics sometime, if you're willing to share.

Mmmm...you're a smart one. [Really, you are. It has taken others a lot longer to clue in.] Since your future has apparently detoured in a less than ideal direction, it is my job to rectify that.

Thankfully, it is also within my power to do so. I will have a copy sent to you, if you can inform me of how many mechs you'll need. [Especially since you already seem to know the right sorts of things to start looking for.]

And since we're on the subject--have you ever given any thought to when and where you'd like to visit, Fulcrum? [Interesting name, that.]

[It is so impossible to NOT smile at that. Megatron has just personally complimented him. Nothing else matters, okay.] Thank you, Lord Megatron. It... wasn't hard to conclude considering the weird stuff happening in this place. A temporal displacement makes more sense to me an alternative dimensions, though I kinda had to choke that down too.

For the heavy lifting? If you get about two strong mechs, that might be all I need to do the lifting. The actual construction's gonna take more than that, though. I'd have better details after I look at the schematics in detail.

I... [Fulcrum winces a little.] Um. I'm not sure, to be honest. I know that... there are things I'd change about my life sooner if I could have that power, admittedly.

There may be stranger, yet, if this is anything like the last dimension. You will need to be constantly on guard. [Seriously. There was this one time he was turned human...it wasn't pretty.]

You'll have it. I don't want to stay here any longer than I must. [First a Cybertron that was too old, now one that was too young. What he wouldn't give to see the burnt husk of Kaon again.]

Should you complete this project satisfactorily, Fulcrum, you will have that power. [It's easy to offer...but it is still an offer with an edge, with that implied 'and if you don't...' still hanging at the end of it.] When the portal is completed, I will return to the beginning of the war. And you...will have it at your disposal. To return with me, or otherwise.

I'll take that advice to spark, sir.

Understandable. I'll see what I can do when I can get started.

[He's immensely flattered, that much is clear. Fulcrum looks at the video with a sense of wonderment, but also concern.] I... sir, since you're from an earlier point in the war, if. If I may interject with a few things?

Excellent. Provide me with coordinates I can send your assistants to. [He's already got two for you~]

[He's momentarily surprised to be offered this information, but...it definitely beats having to search for it.] Please, do go on.

I'll clear out a spot. Somewhere not too close to the temples, I think. I'm assuming you want this discreet and all.

...Okay. [Fulcrum sighs.] A few things, sir. First of all, because of the temporal displacement, it's safe to assume you don't recognize my frame type?

I agree. I was eyeing those mountains on the horizon, unless you have another suggestion?

[His first above-ground base. It would make the jets happy.]

[He takes a few moments to look this mech over, however.] Frame type makes no difference to me. [That was, in a way, the whole point. Also, no, he has no clue what you turn into. A submarine, maybe?]

I was thinking the same thing, actually, Lord Megatron.

I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not what I'm getting at. [Have a brief, apologetic smile before it disappears.] I was forced into this frame-type. During the war, the project I was working on was attacked by Autobots. I, uh. I ran, since I can't fight. I was arrested later and sentenced to death. Myself and all the other inmates were reformatted into these frame types.

I turn into a bomb, sir, if I jump. No, I can't control it.

I guess one of the points I'm getting at is... I'm not sure where I stand in regards to my, uh. Punishment? I was supposed to die, because I couldn't fight. If I stayed to fight, I would have died, I'm pretty sure. And shoot like crap. With you as you are now, how would you have judged me?

...

...

You know, most people who would tell that story might try to make themselves sound better in it.

[And this might have been one of the few instances in which he'd have truly advocated a form change, too. Being a bomb sounded...disastrous. In many ways.]

Were you in charge of the mission?

I get told pretty often that I'm not like most Decepticons, my lord.

I was in charge of the project, not the mission itself.

I believe I can see why.

[He considers this, and makes a particular note for himself as well.]

If you aren't able to fight, then the responsibility for counterattack should have fallen on the mission commander.

You should not have run, soldier...

But there should have been someone there to protect you.

As to using you for a bomb...I am certain I could think of much more creative punishments that would leave you still useful and alive when they were done. [He can think of ten right now.]

I--

[Fulcrum's not about to argue back or defend himself; if Megatron says he shouldn't have run, then. Then well, all right then. But at the same time, he isn't defending his form. So that's good. He thinks. Maybe.]

That's... something at least, sir.

There's one last thing I'd like to bring up if you have time.

At the moment, given that information is what I'm looking for--do continue.

I highly suggest you be wary of who becomes part of your army. I was forged when the empire was at its peak about four million years ago. But I feel like we lost our way, becoming almost nothing but sadists and psychos who use the war as an excuse to maim and torture people for kicks.

I understand using your resources, but how it ended up working out? I think it's one of the reasons why we ended up the way we did.

It's... it's just a suggestion, my lord.

[He gives your words consideration.]

Someone such as 'Tarn?'

[Who he's been hearing about from Misfire. Sort of.]

You aren't the first to propose such to me. [Possibly the first Decepticon from his own universe to have the gumption, but not the first mech ever.] One constant I have learned about in my travels seems to be the perversion of the Decepticon cause from its initial momentum. [Winning becoming more important. His own descent into insanity. Everything in-between.]

It will not happen again. [He's going to be the Megatron that wins. The certainty in his voice ensures that.]

[Fulcrum visibly flinches at the name.]

Who--? ...Er. Yes, sir. Someone like that, and the rest of his team.

[The K-Classer gives a hesitant nod.] Thank you, Lord Megatron. It's why I felt maybe informing you was best. If ... things could turn around somehow, it didn't seem like it'd hurt to tell you.

[So Tarn had a team. And they were, apparently, famous enough to cause that flinch.] What was their assignment?

[A corner of his lip twitches into an ironic smirk.] If I were like my future self, it could have hurt a great deal to tell me.

However, that is one fate I am attempting to avoid.

[Taking over all of Cybertron in a planet-shattering blitz? Yes. Gaining insanity, becoming power-mad, ruining the homeworld, and losing the war? No.]

To... hunt down and execute all traitors to the Decepticon cause. I know that sounds noble, but their methods weren't.

I-I figured. But it was worth a shot to say something. Thank you for hearing me out.

Well, if this device of yours ends up working, things could turn out a lot better for sure.

[Broadcasting from the tallest peak he can find in the junk pile.]

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