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Jan. 13th, 2012 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynTitle: A Disputation In The Dark [2/3]
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Starscream, Shockwave
Notes: This was originally published on Livejournal in July of 2009.
There were islands on Earth larger than Varuna. Landing was a simple matter of homing in on Shockwave's signal, selecting a suitably flat patch of surface, and letting the local gravity take over; there was no atmosphere to complicate his descent. Starscream maintained flawless form the whole way down, nevertheless. He had a witness, after all, and under no circumstances would he let that witness catch him at anything less than his best. Shockwave might have been built with only a single optic, but that blasted sensor saw everything.
The ruddy-grey dust of the surface crunched beneath his weight as he straightened up, facing the other mech. - Shockwave, - he sent as pleasantly as close-range commlink signals would allow. - Imagine meeting you here, after all this time. -
Shockwave's lone optic flickered in acknowledgment. - The search has been a long one, - he acknowledged. - Both of us have been very busy. -
Starscream wondered if he could get away with a scan of the other, older mech. Shockwave looked as if he'd taken a few steps to modify himself since leaving Cybertron, and it would've set Starscream a fraction more at ease to know for sure what he was dealing with. Then again, this was Shockwave. He'd achieved his position at Megatron's side through planning and intelligence gathering more than direct combat. An active scan would only tip him to Starscream's uncertainty, slag the luck... Starscream only nodded. - All of us have, - he said. - You must have been especially caught up, to arrive so late on the scene. -
- I am neither late nor early, Starscream, - Shockwave replied. - I have come precisely when I intended to arrive. -
The signal's tone was bland, neutral; Starscream felt an instant's flare of anticipation at the reaction he hoped to get. - Oh, really? - he answered, as casually as he could. - You of all mechs planned to arrive after Megatron's death? And here I thought you were his loyalist... -
The gleam of Shockwave's optic narrowed to a single, laser-red point. - Megatron's death, - he repeated, that point locked onto Starscream. - Explain. -
- Of course. - This was almost too good. - Lord Megatron followed the Allspark's trail here thousands of years ago. It seems he expended all of his reserves, and went into stasis lock after entering the third planet's atmosphere in his pursuit. The natives found both Megatron and the Allspark, and took primitive but effective containment measures for both. -
Starscream paused, waiting for further reaction from Shockwave. He got none. The other mech might as well have been an unsparked, unpowered assembly save for that burning optic. - An Autobot scout arrived here some years ago and infiltrated the third planet's population, - he continued, a little disgruntled. - He failed to locate the Allspark himself, only a handful of organics- -
Shockwave held up one hand. - Clarify. Organics? -
- All sentient life of the third planet is organic life, - Starscream answered. - The only technologically capable civilization present is a land-dwelling species called 'humans'. -
- I will require more information on the humans later, - said Shockwave. - Continue. -
Starscream's own optics narrowed briefly at that, but he nodded. - The Autobot scout turned up several humans who had had contact with Megatron and the Allspark, - he said. - When we located him, I set the other Decepticons in the system to following his trail, rather than wasting their efforts elsewhere. We eventually located Megatron's prison and I set him free. -
Shockwave's head canted a few degrees to one side, but beyond that, he made no response at all.
- The Autobots had made contact with the humans, - Starscream continued, - and attempted to flee with the Allspark. We drove them into a population center and I ordered a full-scale attack, destroying a fifth of the Autobot presence on the planet and a considerable portion of the humans' military forces. Megatron had all but destroyed Optimus Prime when the Allspark's energies were unleashed against him. -
Shockwave's head turned, slowly, smoothly, in the direction from which Starscream had come. Just as slowly and smoothly, it turned back. - Our forces' conditions? -
- Decimated, - Shockwave allowed. - I intend to gather the rest of the Decepticons and rally them under my command against the surviving Autobots. -
There was no sound. There had been none, could be none, in the airless void through which Varuna drifted. Nevertheless, there fell a silence deeper than what had been before.
- Under your command, - Shockwave said at last.
- Mine, - Starscream agreed. - I was second-in-command. Megatron is dead- -
- Even in death there is only his command, Starscream. -
The tone shot a thread of foreboding through Starscream's processor, but he ignored it; there was too much at stake to back down now. The words of a fool or a fanatic, he shot back. - Which are you, I wonder? -
- There's only one fool here, - Shockwave answered. - Defend yourself, Aerospace Commander. -
And Shockwave leapt...
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Starscream, Shockwave
Notes: This was originally published on Livejournal in July of 2009.
There were islands on Earth larger than Varuna. Landing was a simple matter of homing in on Shockwave's signal, selecting a suitably flat patch of surface, and letting the local gravity take over; there was no atmosphere to complicate his descent. Starscream maintained flawless form the whole way down, nevertheless. He had a witness, after all, and under no circumstances would he let that witness catch him at anything less than his best. Shockwave might have been built with only a single optic, but that blasted sensor saw everything.
The ruddy-grey dust of the surface crunched beneath his weight as he straightened up, facing the other mech. - Shockwave, - he sent as pleasantly as close-range commlink signals would allow. - Imagine meeting you here, after all this time. -
Shockwave's lone optic flickered in acknowledgment. - The search has been a long one, - he acknowledged. - Both of us have been very busy. -
Starscream wondered if he could get away with a scan of the other, older mech. Shockwave looked as if he'd taken a few steps to modify himself since leaving Cybertron, and it would've set Starscream a fraction more at ease to know for sure what he was dealing with. Then again, this was Shockwave. He'd achieved his position at Megatron's side through planning and intelligence gathering more than direct combat. An active scan would only tip him to Starscream's uncertainty, slag the luck... Starscream only nodded. - All of us have, - he said. - You must have been especially caught up, to arrive so late on the scene. -
- I am neither late nor early, Starscream, - Shockwave replied. - I have come precisely when I intended to arrive. -
The signal's tone was bland, neutral; Starscream felt an instant's flare of anticipation at the reaction he hoped to get. - Oh, really? - he answered, as casually as he could. - You of all mechs planned to arrive after Megatron's death? And here I thought you were his loyalist... -
The gleam of Shockwave's optic narrowed to a single, laser-red point. - Megatron's death, - he repeated, that point locked onto Starscream. - Explain. -
- Of course. - This was almost too good. - Lord Megatron followed the Allspark's trail here thousands of years ago. It seems he expended all of his reserves, and went into stasis lock after entering the third planet's atmosphere in his pursuit. The natives found both Megatron and the Allspark, and took primitive but effective containment measures for both. -
Starscream paused, waiting for further reaction from Shockwave. He got none. The other mech might as well have been an unsparked, unpowered assembly save for that burning optic. - An Autobot scout arrived here some years ago and infiltrated the third planet's population, - he continued, a little disgruntled. - He failed to locate the Allspark himself, only a handful of organics- -
Shockwave held up one hand. - Clarify. Organics? -
- All sentient life of the third planet is organic life, - Starscream answered. - The only technologically capable civilization present is a land-dwelling species called 'humans'. -
- I will require more information on the humans later, - said Shockwave. - Continue. -
Starscream's own optics narrowed briefly at that, but he nodded. - The Autobot scout turned up several humans who had had contact with Megatron and the Allspark, - he said. - When we located him, I set the other Decepticons in the system to following his trail, rather than wasting their efforts elsewhere. We eventually located Megatron's prison and I set him free. -
Shockwave's head canted a few degrees to one side, but beyond that, he made no response at all.
- The Autobots had made contact with the humans, - Starscream continued, - and attempted to flee with the Allspark. We drove them into a population center and I ordered a full-scale attack, destroying a fifth of the Autobot presence on the planet and a considerable portion of the humans' military forces. Megatron had all but destroyed Optimus Prime when the Allspark's energies were unleashed against him. -
Shockwave's head turned, slowly, smoothly, in the direction from which Starscream had come. Just as slowly and smoothly, it turned back. - Our forces' conditions? -
- Decimated, - Shockwave allowed. - I intend to gather the rest of the Decepticons and rally them under my command against the surviving Autobots. -
There was no sound. There had been none, could be none, in the airless void through which Varuna drifted. Nevertheless, there fell a silence deeper than what had been before.
- Under your command, - Shockwave said at last.
- Mine, - Starscream agreed. - I was second-in-command. Megatron is dead- -
- Even in death there is only his command, Starscream. -
The tone shot a thread of foreboding through Starscream's processor, but he ignored it; there was too much at stake to back down now. The words of a fool or a fanatic, he shot back. - Which are you, I wonder? -
- There's only one fool here, - Shockwave answered. - Defend yourself, Aerospace Commander. -
And Shockwave leapt...
