Ep. 1.5 - Karma (And Other Things That Catch Up)
Dec 8, 2012 17:22:05 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2012 17:22:05 GMT -5
Something was up.
And Fortress Maximus knew it.
He knew it.
He had long ago developed a sense for such things - a necessary survival instinct for the warden of a prison as reliant upon maximum security remaining maximum security as Garrus-9 had been. When you were in command of such a fortress, it required more of you than simply a watchful optic. The ability to sense trouble before a fizzling spark became an explosive bang was required not just to maintain order, but for the well-being of you and your staff as well.
This wasn't the sense of disturbance that preceeded a riot, or an attempt at escape. This stirring felt different, less urgent, less baleful, but it warned him that something ugly was brewing nonetheless. A peculiar tenseness seemed to linger in the air. Optimus Prime was gone - to a place called Africa, as Maximus understood it. Gone, with no word as to what manner of emergency had called him away. Little had been heard from him in the day that had followed.
A tenseness. Like static.
The big mech leaned back in the seat at the groundbridge controls in a manner that could not be called lounging. His fingers rattled a harsh tempo against the terminal as he glared at the largest monitor. Glared at it, as if through sheer irritation alone he could open a line of communication to an unknown location in Africa. What the hell was going on over there. What the hell.
He hated this.
Hated being out of the loop. And he knew that was irrational, that he had not been on Earth long enough to have sufficient knowledge of the circumstances here. Hell, he had been absent from Autobot operations long enough to know that it was logical that vital information would be withheld from him. 'Extended leave', they called it.
But this...
Had there been trouble with the Decepticons? The humans?
What in Primus' name was happening in Africa, and was it worse than the paranoid suspicions his mind was coming up with all on its own.
Just as he pressed a thumb to his optic to wearily rub out a painful glitch-tic that was forming there, a window blipped into the corner of the monitor.
Maximus' gaze cut towards it. He sat up a little straighter when he read its glyphs.
A request for a groundbridge. From Africa.
Primus.
He eyed it warily. It came with Autobot authority codes attached - proper ones. Authority codes. The only Autobot abroad with similar codes that he knew of was Optimus. Thank god.
Even as Maximus rose from his seat he opened the groundbridge. As the green portal spiralled into existence between the gates he strode forward to greet the arriving Autobot, coming to stand at military attention with his arms folded behind his back and his optics alert.
And Fortress Maximus knew it.
He knew it.
He had long ago developed a sense for such things - a necessary survival instinct for the warden of a prison as reliant upon maximum security remaining maximum security as Garrus-9 had been. When you were in command of such a fortress, it required more of you than simply a watchful optic. The ability to sense trouble before a fizzling spark became an explosive bang was required not just to maintain order, but for the well-being of you and your staff as well.
This wasn't the sense of disturbance that preceeded a riot, or an attempt at escape. This stirring felt different, less urgent, less baleful, but it warned him that something ugly was brewing nonetheless. A peculiar tenseness seemed to linger in the air. Optimus Prime was gone - to a place called Africa, as Maximus understood it. Gone, with no word as to what manner of emergency had called him away. Little had been heard from him in the day that had followed.
A tenseness. Like static.
The big mech leaned back in the seat at the groundbridge controls in a manner that could not be called lounging. His fingers rattled a harsh tempo against the terminal as he glared at the largest monitor. Glared at it, as if through sheer irritation alone he could open a line of communication to an unknown location in Africa. What the hell was going on over there. What the hell.
He hated this.
Hated being out of the loop. And he knew that was irrational, that he had not been on Earth long enough to have sufficient knowledge of the circumstances here. Hell, he had been absent from Autobot operations long enough to know that it was logical that vital information would be withheld from him. 'Extended leave', they called it.
But this...
Had there been trouble with the Decepticons? The humans?
What in Primus' name was happening in Africa, and was it worse than the paranoid suspicions his mind was coming up with all on its own.
Just as he pressed a thumb to his optic to wearily rub out a painful glitch-tic that was forming there, a window blipped into the corner of the monitor.
Maximus' gaze cut towards it. He sat up a little straighter when he read its glyphs.
A request for a groundbridge. From Africa.
Primus.
He eyed it warily. It came with Autobot authority codes attached - proper ones. Authority codes. The only Autobot abroad with similar codes that he knew of was Optimus. Thank god.
Even as Maximus rose from his seat he opened the groundbridge. As the green portal spiralled into existence between the gates he strode forward to greet the arriving Autobot, coming to stand at military attention with his arms folded behind his back and his optics alert.