randomplaces | ANH. Bespin Station. It just might be getting worse; we'll get back to you

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a new hope

ANH. Bespin Station. It just might be getting worse; we'll get back to you

The room where Jetfire and Arcee find themselves after Nemesis Prime finishes torturing Jetfire maybe be small, dark, and bare, but it is not completely soundproof.

Muffled voices can be heard in the hall outside of the "dungeon" sometime after the 'Troopers throw them in. Jetfire might be able to recognize that one voice is a very irritated Smokescreen.

"I'm going in."

"But sir! You can't!--I mean, shouldn't! You've seen what happened. That mech might--

"You're not changing my mind on this, mech."

"I mean, look at what happened this morning! There's no telling--"

"Out of my way, mech."

"But, sir! Sir!"

It is at this moment that the door opens, and the voices become clear and attached to faces, starting with Smokescreen as he turns to give a parting shot to the concerned security mech behind him before crossing the dungeon's threshold.

"If Jetfire wants to harm me, so be it! I deserve every blow I get after what I've done to him!"

Even in the dim lighting, it will be quite apparent that Smokescreen is not exactly "running on all four pistons." As he storms in, the two in the room will be able to see that--along with being the embodiment of annoyance right now--he is showing the signs of exhaustion. . . . Something that implies that he didn't get a lot of recharge in last night, and also that he's been employing a "poker face" to conceal that fact for most of the day. As it is, Smokescreen has to restrain himself from leaning on something within the room once he is inside.

The security guard bursts into the room soon after. "Sir, I--"

The security mech stops when he takes in the others in the room, instantly clamming up and falling into Smokescreen's 'shadow'. "Greenie" is ~~figuratively~~ written all over his face.

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It's clear that if Jetfire weren't so weak from the torture that he's been subjected to that he'd be coming off the bench he and Arcee are huddled on and once more gone for Smokescreen's throat. The white and red mech's golden eyes are white with stress, and the arm that's not holding Arcee close is curled against his chest in response to the pain that he's still feeling. Despite his weakness though he tries to put up a daunting face as he snarls at the orange and blue visitor.

"Get out of here, Smokescreen!"

Smokescreen once again feels sick to his fuel tank when he sees what's happened to his friend. He straightens up and reaches back to stop the security mech from stepping forward. Other than the straightening up, no other part of his "poker face" returns. He's almost far too gone for that. And there's no need to keep it up anyway. ~~He also needs to save it for when he's back with Nemesis Prime.~~

"All right, Jetfire," Smokescreen replies quietly. "I can do that if you really want me to. . . . I just wanted to at least try to explain myself--even if it turns out to be a long list of excuses . . . And then there’s something else I think you need to hear."

Edited 2013-03-09 20:55 (UTC)

"Oh, this oughtta be good." Jetfire's quiet voice drips sarcasm.

"Just listen." Arcee sighs and leans her forehead against his side for a moment, trying to gather her strength. "Remember what you told him."

Jetfire sucks air in through his intakes and switches off his optics, then nods. "Whatever."

"Jetfire, let me start out by saying that I'd want nothing more than to be able to switch places with you . . ." Smokescreen stops to reflect on that for a moment. "And if the Imps hadn't intercepted your communique with us, maybe I would be." Be in Jetfire's position now, he means. ~~It would certainly have been better than betraying a friend, that much he knew.~~

"I don't think I have to tell you that if it were just me and L--"--Smokescreen stops before he slips anything more~~. Jetfire might also notice that a certain Minicon is, once again, oddly absent~~--"if it were just me that I'd've gone down fighting to the last beat of my spark before I let any of this happen." And from what Jetfire will remember of the mech, he should know, deep down, that Smokescreen is not bluffing when he says this. "But it's not, and I can't. The people of this station aren't fighters. They're counting on me to keep them safe. And I need to do my best to keep them that way."

Edited 2013-03-10 01:21 (UTC)

"Whatever," repeats Jetfire, trying to keep his voice hard and indifferent, though he turns his face away so that Smokescreen and the guard can't see the traitorous brightness in his eyes that he's too weak to conceal.

He forgets about the arm that's around Arcee, and doesn't realize that he's tightened it protectively.

The security guard's frown grows deeper with each of Jetfire's seemingly indifferent answers, but Smokescreen knows better. Or at least he will once he observes Jetfire's body language and lets it sink in during the moments of silence that follow.

"Sideswipe," Smokescreen begins finally, turning to the security guard, "go and fetch a couple of cubes of low grade, would ya?"

The security mech, "Sideswipe," appears surprised. "But sir--!"

"Now Sideswipe," Smokescreen orders, sharply. "If it's against Nemesis Prime's wishes, he should have spelled it out!" Suddenly realizing that he's letting the day get to him, he sighs and rubs his optics. He then adds, a bit resignedly, "Please, Sideswipe, just do it."

That wasn't all that Sideswipe was going to point out, but he can see his boss is stressed enough without his adding to it. "Uh, of course, sir! Right away!" And Sideswipe rushes from the room.

Edited 2013-03-12 05:44 (UTC)

Arcee frowns at Smokescreen, her blue optics wary and pained as she wonders just what is going on here. Jetfire has told her that he told Smokescreen about Kia, which suggests that he has at least a little trust in the mech (or that he's got several screws loose in his processor- she's still not sure which), but she herself doesn't know Smokescreen and his sending away of the guard has made her suspect the worst.

Jetfire, for his part, is still scowling toward the wall.

Unaware of Arcee's look, Smokescreen waits until the door slides shut behind Sideswipe before going over to lean back against one of the supporting beams~~--a move that he will surely be regretting later~~, crossing his arms.

He gives Jetfire a few minutes to continue to scowl at the wall--during which time Smokescreen himself absently stares at the floor--before he breaks the silence again.

"I wish I had good news for you, Jetfire," Smokescreen starts, "but I don't really have any for ya. Right now Nemesis Prime has agreed to let Arcee and the astrotechs stay here. They wouldn't be allowed to leave, but I'd at least be able to keep them safe." Smokescreen lets that sink in before he continues. "But it wasn't suppose to be like this. None of this was supposed to happen like it did. You were supposed to all have been able to leave after Nemesis Prime was done . . . but he's added the bounty hunter to the mix and changed the deal on me. . . . And I wouldn't really be surprised if he did it again."

Smokescreen pauses. "Not like I have any way of stopping him. I don't have any leverage. Nothing is keeping Nemesis Prime from just taking any thing he wants except for whimsy. . . . And I don't like it.

"It's like I'm trying to play Sabacc with the worse hand in recorded history and still expect to come out all right. And all I've got is Nemesis Prime's word as a false sense of security that I actually do have some control over this blasted situation and the advice of some old mech who claims to know a thing or two about fighting evil to rely on--something conventional wisdom would strongly argue against. . . . I can't afford to get cocky and overplay it."

Smokescreen sighs and rubs at his optics again. Then he chuckles dryly as something occurs to him. "Reminds me of the Sabacc game we played where I lost the Falcon to ya, Jetfire. That was a terrible hand. I don't know why I thought it was good enough to beat ya."

Edited 2013-03-12 22:30 (UTC)

"Probably the same reason you think any of us are gonna survive this," say Jetfire quietly, still staring at the wall.

Arcee frowns up at him, then looks back to Smokescreen. "Old mech?"

Smokescreen looks up from his hand, disregarding Arcee for the moment in favor of focusing on Jetfire. " . . . It's a bit worse than even that, Jetfire . . . Hot Shot is a friend of yours, isn't he?"

That makes Jetfire turn away from the wall, his expression a confused scowl. "The kid? I... might'a met him."

Arcee has a hand over her mouth now, and her optics are bright with dismay as she remembers hearing the young pilot referred to as a Jedi and her mind goes to reasons why the dark Prime might be interested in him.

"He is the one Nemesis Prime's really after," Smokescreen says, seeing that Jetfire and Arcee know more about this 'Hot Shot' than Jetfire is willing to let on and letting it go. "What's happening to the two of you is just some fancy of Prime's as far as I can tell."

Edited 2013-03-14 01:27 (UTC)

"No," says Arcee, shaking her head and moving her hand from her mouth to her temple. "No, he knows exactly what he's doing. That's why he never asked us any questions in the torture room. We're not important at all. Except as bait."

Jetfire stares down at her for a click, his surprise showing despite his efforts to wear his poker face. Then he speaks quietly and hurriedly. "The kid can feel this somehow?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," says Arcee softly. "It's something the Jedi could do in the old stories."

Smokescreen shifts his position against the beam, crossing his arms and deepening his frown in thought. Despite his supposed current lack of poker face, he doesn't look as surprised as he should be.

And Jetfire suddenly notices the other mech's silence and looks toward him sharply. "...Smokescreen, what else do you know about this?"

"Huh?" Smokescreen exclaims, looking confused as Jetfire's question startles him out of his thoughts and back into the real world.

The pilot narrows his optics and follows a strong hunch that suddenly comes to his mind. "What d'you know about Jedi?"

Smokescreen raises an optic ridge at Jetfire, as if asking Jetfire what was he suppose to know about them. "Stuff from the old stories, mostly. . . . You know, peacekeeping, object moving,"--he waves a hand while wiggling his fingers in emphasis--"mind reading. . . . I wasn't even aware that your young friend was one until you implied such a few minutes ago."

Smokescreen looks thoughtful again. "I was just thinking that it does explain Nemesis Prime's obsession with him. It's the one topic that the old automaton consistently goes back to. . . . Which is pretty significant since Nemesis Prime seems to consider everyone he has to associate with like so much dirt. The empire as a whole thinks that the rebellion is just a nuisance it can get rid of at any time. . . . But a Jedi? Nah, uh. Gotta either get rid of them . . . or turn them."

Smokescreen visibly shudders. "Mech, I hope that bit about the mind reading and manipulation is just a myth. Feels like the contents of my spark are on display every time he sets his gaze my way.

"And I'm not sure why you're asking me that question," Smokescreen says, returning to the original question. "I wish I could help him, but I'm out of my element here. As I said before, all I've got is that false sense of security that everything's gonna go how it's supposed to and the old mech's advice to go off on."

At that moment the door the door opens, revealing that the security mech, Sideswipe, has returned and is carrying three cubes of what at a glance looks like low grade energon. Before he is fully in the room, something makes him turn back to frown down at something to the left just outside the door. He glances around the hallway warily before fully entering the room, a frown still touching his features.

Smokescreen, meanwhile, doesn't seem to notice Sideswipe's entrance and carries on the conversation. "The last time I felt that I didn't have a good hand was the Sabacc game I got this station--Actually, that hand was almost as lousy as the hand I had losing the Falcon to ya--The only reason why that game turned out any different was because I was following the advice that a friend of mine was giving me . . ." Smokescreen trails off as he realizes he's done this before. ". . . Primus is awesome."

Sideswipe is almost to the group by then and about to let Smokescreen know he's got the cubes when Smokescreen has the revelation. To which, Sideswipe gives a somewhat freaked out look and exclaims, "Uh, sir?"

Jetfire starts at Smokescreen's last words, and then wearily buries his face in his hands and starts to quietly and fervently cuss.

Arcee looks at him, her expression saying that she kind of understands his reaction. But then she looks back to Smokescreen and his underling. "What was he looking at just now?"

"Never mind that, Princess!" snaps Jetfire. "I got Kia mad at me fer nothin'. This glitch-headed piece of scrap knew about Primus all a fraggin' long!"

Smokescreen is too distracted by the confidence he feels knowing that Primus has cleared a path for him that he doesn't notice Jetfire cussing him out.

Sideswipe, on the other hand, has the look that he thinks the whole room has gone crazy, but he manages a reply. "Uh, why wouldn't he? I mean most every Transformer has to have heard the stories at least once in their lives." ~~Uh, Sideswipe, that's not what Jetfire means.~~

Edited 2013-03-24 05:47 (UTC)

"That's not what he meant," says Arcee, suddenly understanding the scene between Jetfire and Kia when they arrived.

Jetfire, meanwhile has let go of Arcee and gotten off the bench to see if he can't grab Smokescreen and shake him. "Smokie, you glitch..."

Smokescreen snaps out of it just as Sideswipe steps forward and is about to exchange Energon cubes for his firearm.

"Whoa! Calm down, kid," Smokescreen says, grabbing him and pulling him back before seeing what's got him upset. He looks surprised when he sees Jetfire's gotten off the bench and then frowns when he also notices the look in the other mech's optics. "I think you better sit back down, mech. What are you suddenly coming after me for?"

Edited 2013-03-25 16:13 (UTC)

"I ain't commin' after ya, scrap fer processor." Jetfire leans his hands on Smokescreen's shoulders, trying to stay upright. "I was wakin' ya up!"

"Could have fooled me," Sideswipe mutters in the background.

Smokescreen frowns before turning to look back at Sideswipe, where his expression turns into one that seems to suggest he doesn't remember the mech coming back in. Sideswipe stares back with an incredulous look.

"You may have been right in the idea," Smokescreen says finally, turning back to face Jetfire, "but you probably should have better stated your intentions." He tilts his head in Sideswipe's direction. "Having Imps aboard has made him and others on my staff a bit uptight right now." ~~No, he won't say the mech is always so.~~

"Come on, mech, let's get ya sittin' back down." And Smokescreen will help Jetfire back to the bench if he'll let him.

Edited 2013-03-25 17:33 (UTC)

The white and red flyer is persistent despite his shakiness, and stubbornly tries to plant his feet. "You slagger. You talk ta Primus?"

Smokescreen stops and looks up at the ceiling in slight frustration when Jetfire attempts to make his stand, humoring his effort, however unreasonable.

Smokescreen raises an optic ridge at Jetfire's words as if asking what Jetfire took him for. "'Talk ta'? I've never had a full-fledged conversation with the mech, if that's what you mean. Only Jedi can do that--And before you ask, no, I'm not one of those either. I'm pretty sure he doesn't hire 'slaggers.'"

"He... hired me," mutters Jetfire, suddenly leaning on Smokescreen instead of trying to shake him. "'N talks with Kia... alla time."

Smokescreen was already in a somewhat good position to take some of Jetfire's weight on him, so he catches the slightly larger mech without too much trouble.

He looks at the mech for a few moments before whispering, confidentially, "I think you took me far too literally." And if Jetfire has no other protest, he will help him back to the bench.

Jetfire might be protesting, but if he is it's in the language of incoherent mumble. He lets himself be guided back to the bench, head hanging wearily.

Arcee helps him settle down onto his back, then frowns and checks his vitals as best she can before she looks up at Smokescreen and wonders what's going to happen now.

Edited 2013-03-29 18:58 (UTC)

Smokescreen makes sure that Jetfire is laying down and that Arcee has him well in hand before he walks back over to where Sideswipe has been standing awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Uh, sorry it took me so long to get back sir," Sideswipe begins his report, "but I think Drosak needs to get his audios checked again. He didn't think I was asking for 'low grade' and kept trying to kick me out of the storage area to get what he thought I wanted.

Smokescreen glosses over Sideswipe's delay in order to ask a different question as he holds out one of his hands to receive one of the cubes. "Are these from the same batch?"

"Yes, sir," Sideswipe affirms, handing one over. "Drosak was sure of it and made sure I knew it too." Sideswipe seems a bit annoyed at the last, but he doesn't stop there, even as Smokescreen takes a sip of the cube he was given and takes on a contemplative look as if trying to figure something out. "He even said he had someone watching it, but there wasn't anyone . . ."--Sideswipe trails off as he realizes what Smokescreen is doing--"there."

Smokescreen finally looks satisfied enough with whatever conclusion he came up with turns back to Sideswipe with a somewhat quizzical look at Sideswipe's trailing off. "You don't need to be physically in the room to keep an eye on things."

"Why didn't I think of that, sir?" Sideswipe asks, referring to what he realized Smokescreen was doing.

"You haven't been around the rougher crowds Jetfire and I have," Smokescreen reassures, giving Sideswipe a pat on the shoulder before offering him the cube he took a drink from. "Hold this. . . . And it's more to stifle habitual paranoia more than anything. Don't worry about it."

Smokescreen takes the other two cubes and turns back to Arcee.

Edited 2013-04-03 17:07 (UTC)

Arcee gives Sideswipe an absent frown, and then turns back to Smokescreen, an unspoken question on her drawn face.

"Here," Smokescreen says, offering one of the cubes to her. "I can do this much without getting any ire, at least." Yeah, he's not really sure either.

Smokescreen then frowns down at Jetfire and pokes him cautiously for signs of life.

"What now?" asks Arcee, as Jetfire flails slightly and mumbles more. "Is there any way to warn Hot Shot?"

Jetfire snorts. "Kid'll know, Princess." Then he blinks as Arcee lifts his head and sets the cube to his face plate. "...Last meal of the condemned mech?"

Smokescreen is beaten to the respective punches as Jetfire answers the question about Hot Shot and Arcee starts to help Jetfire take in fuel.

Instead, he nods in agreement with Jetfire about Hot Shot and answers Arcee's original question. "There's not much more I can do now without putting my people in danger. I don't really know what Nemesis Prime's plans are until he changes the deal on me, and ~~Jerkface~~ Nemesis Prime is too obsessed with the young Jedi to for me to be able to help him out. I'm afraid he's on his own. And I don't have the resources to help you, Jetfire, when both Imperials and Hutts are involved. . . . When the Imps leave, maybe I can come up with rescue plan. Maybe. I can't make any definite promises." Smokescreen looks somewhat frustrated but resigned at that. ~~Maybe he knew if Nemesis Prime could actually read his mind . . .~~ ". . . All I know is that this deal isn't gonna blow up on me completely. I think I can at least keep you and the astrotechs safely out of Nemesis Prime's hands, Arcee."

Smokescreen chuckles dryly at Jetfire's last comment. "I was thinking that it'd at least give ya a fighting chance at whatever they throw at you next, but you can go that route if you want to. . . . And if Cyclonus wants to collect his reward, he needs ya alive so it shouldn't be your last."

Edited 2013-04-08 22:29 (UTC)

"You realize that if he decides he does want me for something, that you'd be jeopardizing your people and this city?" says Arcee absently, her brows drawn together in a frown as she watches Jetfire's weary drinking.

And the look that Jetfire is directing toward Smokescreen, which says clearly that he doesn't believe that needing to be alive guarantees him any fuel at all.

Smokescreen briefly doubletakes at that. He frowns, thinking for a few moments, but then he shrugs in defeat and raises his hands. "All I know is is that it's gonna work out--but I don't know the details as to how."

"All right, you got me," Smokescreen admits, replying to Jetfire's look. "It does depend on what Jabba wants you for, and if Cyclonus wants to stay on his good side."

Edited 2013-04-09 03:47 (UTC)

Jetfire finishes the cube and turns his head away. "Know what 'e wants me for, Smokie. Scrap, or the scraplet pit."

Then he glances at Arcee. "It'll work out, Princess. Kia said it, 'n now this old backfire did too."

Arcee doesn't reply, except with a Look.

"He still wouldn't want someone else taking his shot at ya," Smokescreen says before he finally backs down from the argument, offering to exchange cubes with Arcee, his look a gentle suggestion that she keep this one for herself.

"Get outta here," says Jetfire quietly once Arcee has the new cube, his optics switching off as he reaches for recharge. "Get lost."

"I heard ya the first time." Smokescreen chuckles dryly, shrugging off the harshness the words would normally bring and whacking Jetfire lightly in farewell. "Gotta make sure that nothing's blown up in my absence anyway." Smokescreen's face then falls into a frown. ". . . And make sure Nemesis Prime isn't eying anything else."

Smokescreen pushes off of the bench, where he had inadvertently started leaning, and turns to give Arcee a nod in farewell. "Arcee."

He then walks across the room to collect the security mech, who has engaged in a starting contest with the grate after hearing a noise that the others had not been close enough to hear. "Come on, Sideswipe."

Sideswipe gives the offending grate one last look before following his boss out of the room and handing Smokescreen the last low grade cube when he reaches for it.

"I'm starting to think I'm the one going crazy," Sideswipe says conversationally, before turning his attention to Smokescreen's downing of the cube almost in one go. ". . . Do you want me to get you some mid-grade with energy boosters?" ~~Should I have gotten you coffee instead, sir?~~

Smokescreen sighs contently once the cube is empty and hands it to Sideswipe. "No. That stuff always makes me crash and burn at the worst moments, and I don't need that right now." He looks thoughtful for a moment before giving Sideswipe a pat on the shoulder in farewell. "And it's back to the tyrant."

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ANH. Bespin Station. It just might be getting worse; we'll get back to you

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