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randomplaces2009-06-19 09:44 am
random_xtras) wrote in randomplaces2009-06-19 09:44 am
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dv. Nellis base. Commander.
Kup watched as the black and pewter diesel rig unfolded, his optics brightening in a smile as he thought how much the kid looked like the old man. And this kid was true to his old man's legacy, not like another they'd been mistaken about.
Diehard smiled gravely back at the smaller and older mech. "How is the excavation going?"
"Really well, though if Scorponok has his way it's gonna be a lot slaggin' bigger than we planned." Kup winced and glanced around automatically for Chipdancer, but his mate was busy with Bumblebee and so couldn't express her displeasure at his language. "The little nutcase keeps adding extra side tunnels and sub basements."
"Scorponok is still here?" Diehard's gaze sharpened. "You didn't mention him in your report."
"I didn't?" The old security bot rubbed the back of his head. "No... I didn't. Huh. Well he's so easy to forget about. But I'd say he's as loyal as Blackarachnia and Rainbird, even if he is an older model. He's all wrapped up in Whisper and Jumping Spider now."
"Still, I think I'd better talk to him." Diehard looked around. "May I use the office?"
Kup blinked and gave him a "....", then made a throat clearing sound. "Well, considering it's yours...."
"I don't want you to feel displaced and pushed aside." Optimus' creation grinned at him.
Kup snorted at that. "I'm no fraggin' leader. Especially not when it comes to that glitch-processored Wheeljack. Sometimes I think his Dinobots have more sense than he does!"
"What's he been doing?" Diehard frowned with concern.
"The usual. Walking around like his best friend died and his hard drive's on neutral," said Kup sourly. "And he punched Rainbird for dropping her fuel on the floor. If the kid was a true Decepticon he'd have been scrap. As it was I had to put him and Slingshot into the brig."
"I'll talk to him too," decided Diehard, his frown deepening. Then he turned and headed inside the quonset barn that had formerly served as the base, calling to Scorponok as he went. He winced as the opening of the door to the building freed an angry wailing and beeping. "Bumblebee?"
"Yeah," said Kup wearily. "We're barely getting any fuel into her, and the only time she's not screaming her head off is when she's passed out. 'Aid's getting worried."
"I thought she was attached to you." Diehard resumed his walk to where the office had sat gathering dust through Dreadnought's stint at base command.
"Not as attached as she was to Jazz and Dreadnought." The old mech sighed. "She's lost her entire world, and she's too primitive to understand why."
Diehard's optics darkened with sympathy as he settled into the chair behind the desk and blew the dust off the latter. "I should try talking to her as well. She seemed attached to me the times I've seen her."
"Trying won't hurt." Kup sidestepped as the resident tunnel borer zipped into the room, then watched as he scuttled up onto the desk.
"BigbotwantScorponok, wanttalkwanttalkwanttalk?" The mechanical arachnid gave a quizzical chitter.
"Yes, I do want to talk to you, Scorponok." Diehard nodded gravely. "I have some questions to ask you."
"Questionsquestionsquestions? Scorponok notknownothing!" Curious golden optics peered up at him.
"I'm sure you know why you're here."
Scorponok went very still, giving the impression of a confused frown as he stared at the new base commander.
"Dreadnought was Blackout's creation. And you seemed very attached to him. Why didn't you leave with him?" persisted Diehard gently.
Scorponok suddenly exploded into chittering, waving his claws in an agitated manner and even spinning them a bit. Diehard couldn't make out what he was saying, only that he was very indignant.
Finally, the upset mechanoid blurted with surprising clarity, "Scorponok no leave Whisper and Baby! Whisper and Baby are Scorponok's! Scorponok KILL anyone who try make him leave Whisper and Baby!"
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I know you love your Whisper and your Baby." Well, he certainly did now, at any rate.
Scorponok scuttled in a circle, cursing vehemently till Jumping Spider and Whisper appeared at the door, their optics wide and quizzical at his alarm.
"ScorponokAutobotagaingaingain!! AUTOBOT! BigbotnochaseScorponokaway! Scorponokdigdigdig!" chattered the little bug bot, spinning his claws again.
Diehard watched him for a moment more, knowing that words would be useless at the moment, then reached into a storage compartment and pulled out the heavy arsenal. "Do you want an energon treat?"
Scorponok stopped short and considered. "Three."
"Very well." Diehard took out the required number of goodies and handed them over, then watched as Scorponok abandoned the desk to bring the treats to his family.
//Really don't think you gotta worry about that guy,// noted Kup from where he'd watched the entire exchange leaning against the wall with his arms folded. //As long as we keep him busy he's not gonna deliberately do anything to sabotage us.//
//I concur.// Diehard watched a little bemusedly as Scorponok herded his mate and creation away without waiting to be dismissed, suspecting that he was going to try and hide them down in their dwelling burrow. "Will you bring Bumblebee to me? I should attend to her first before I go to the brig to speak with Wheeljack."
"Dancer's bringing her." Kup winced as the angry, frightened wailing got louder and was punctuated with curses that the chibi had most likely gotten from him.
Chipdancer appeared in the doorway, her arms full of a thrashing, shrieking Bumblebee....
And then there was silence as the little chibi's big optics stared up at Diehard.
"Bumblebee?" he dared to ask softly, his deep voice full of affection. "Do you remember me? You crawled under my armor and fell asleep."
The tiny femme's little mouthplate moved as tears continued to leak from her optics. She stared for several moments more, and then held out her arms.
Chipdancer brought her over and offered her, and Diehard took her and held her close to his spark.
"I'm sorry you're so unhappy, Bumblebee. But if you like you can stay with me," he rumbled softly as he rubbed her little back with one finger.
She hiccuped, then hid her face on him and dropped into recharge.
Diehard gently wrapped her in the blanket that Chipdancer gave him, then tucked her into an empty storage hold as he got to his feet. "Now I'll go talk to Wheeljack."
Kup watched him go, then turned and smiled at his mate. "He's just like Optimus. We're gonna be alright."
Diehard smiled gravely back at the smaller and older mech. "How is the excavation going?"
"Really well, though if Scorponok has his way it's gonna be a lot slaggin' bigger than we planned." Kup winced and glanced around automatically for Chipdancer, but his mate was busy with Bumblebee and so couldn't express her displeasure at his language. "The little nutcase keeps adding extra side tunnels and sub basements."
"Scorponok is still here?" Diehard's gaze sharpened. "You didn't mention him in your report."
"I didn't?" The old security bot rubbed the back of his head. "No... I didn't. Huh. Well he's so easy to forget about. But I'd say he's as loyal as Blackarachnia and Rainbird, even if he is an older model. He's all wrapped up in Whisper and Jumping Spider now."
"Still, I think I'd better talk to him." Diehard looked around. "May I use the office?"
Kup blinked and gave him a "....", then made a throat clearing sound. "Well, considering it's yours...."
"I don't want you to feel displaced and pushed aside." Optimus' creation grinned at him.
Kup snorted at that. "I'm no fraggin' leader. Especially not when it comes to that glitch-processored Wheeljack. Sometimes I think his Dinobots have more sense than he does!"
"What's he been doing?" Diehard frowned with concern.
"The usual. Walking around like his best friend died and his hard drive's on neutral," said Kup sourly. "And he punched Rainbird for dropping her fuel on the floor. If the kid was a true Decepticon he'd have been scrap. As it was I had to put him and Slingshot into the brig."
"I'll talk to him too," decided Diehard, his frown deepening. Then he turned and headed inside the quonset barn that had formerly served as the base, calling to Scorponok as he went. He winced as the opening of the door to the building freed an angry wailing and beeping. "Bumblebee?"
"Yeah," said Kup wearily. "We're barely getting any fuel into her, and the only time she's not screaming her head off is when she's passed out. 'Aid's getting worried."
"I thought she was attached to you." Diehard resumed his walk to where the office had sat gathering dust through Dreadnought's stint at base command.
"Not as attached as she was to Jazz and Dreadnought." The old mech sighed. "She's lost her entire world, and she's too primitive to understand why."
Diehard's optics darkened with sympathy as he settled into the chair behind the desk and blew the dust off the latter. "I should try talking to her as well. She seemed attached to me the times I've seen her."
"Trying won't hurt." Kup sidestepped as the resident tunnel borer zipped into the room, then watched as he scuttled up onto the desk.
"BigbotwantScorponok, wanttalkwanttalkwanttalk?" The mechanical arachnid gave a quizzical chitter.
"Yes, I do want to talk to you, Scorponok." Diehard nodded gravely. "I have some questions to ask you."
"Questionsquestionsquestions? Scorponok notknownothing!" Curious golden optics peered up at him.
"I'm sure you know why you're here."
Scorponok went very still, giving the impression of a confused frown as he stared at the new base commander.
"Dreadnought was Blackout's creation. And you seemed very attached to him. Why didn't you leave with him?" persisted Diehard gently.
Scorponok suddenly exploded into chittering, waving his claws in an agitated manner and even spinning them a bit. Diehard couldn't make out what he was saying, only that he was very indignant.
Finally, the upset mechanoid blurted with surprising clarity, "Scorponok no leave Whisper and Baby! Whisper and Baby are Scorponok's! Scorponok KILL anyone who try make him leave Whisper and Baby!"
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I know you love your Whisper and your Baby." Well, he certainly did now, at any rate.
Scorponok scuttled in a circle, cursing vehemently till Jumping Spider and Whisper appeared at the door, their optics wide and quizzical at his alarm.
"ScorponokAutobotagaingaingain!! AUTOBOT! BigbotnochaseScorponokaway! Scorponokdigdigdig!" chattered the little bug bot, spinning his claws again.
Diehard watched him for a moment more, knowing that words would be useless at the moment, then reached into a storage compartment and pulled out the heavy arsenal. "Do you want an energon treat?"
Scorponok stopped short and considered. "Three."
"Very well." Diehard took out the required number of goodies and handed them over, then watched as Scorponok abandoned the desk to bring the treats to his family.
//Really don't think you gotta worry about that guy,// noted Kup from where he'd watched the entire exchange leaning against the wall with his arms folded. //As long as we keep him busy he's not gonna deliberately do anything to sabotage us.//
//I concur.// Diehard watched a little bemusedly as Scorponok herded his mate and creation away without waiting to be dismissed, suspecting that he was going to try and hide them down in their dwelling burrow. "Will you bring Bumblebee to me? I should attend to her first before I go to the brig to speak with Wheeljack."
"Dancer's bringing her." Kup winced as the angry, frightened wailing got louder and was punctuated with curses that the chibi had most likely gotten from him.
Chipdancer appeared in the doorway, her arms full of a thrashing, shrieking Bumblebee....
And then there was silence as the little chibi's big optics stared up at Diehard.
"Bumblebee?" he dared to ask softly, his deep voice full of affection. "Do you remember me? You crawled under my armor and fell asleep."
The tiny femme's little mouthplate moved as tears continued to leak from her optics. She stared for several moments more, and then held out her arms.
Chipdancer brought her over and offered her, and Diehard took her and held her close to his spark.
"I'm sorry you're so unhappy, Bumblebee. But if you like you can stay with me," he rumbled softly as he rubbed her little back with one finger.
She hiccuped, then hid her face on him and dropped into recharge.
Diehard gently wrapped her in the blanket that Chipdancer gave him, then tucked her into an empty storage hold as he got to his feet. "Now I'll go talk to Wheeljack."
Kup watched him go, then turned and smiled at his mate. "He's just like Optimus. We're gonna be alright."