We are a literate, intermediate to advanced AU Transformers RPG Based off of the first season of TFP with dashes of other incarnations sprinkled here or there. Characters from any continuity are welcome however must be restyled to match the TFPrime universe.
Active, with ongoing plotlines, we are always willing to integrate new characters into storylines once incorporated into the setting.
Unfortunately for Petrichor, someone arguably much worse than Optimus had taken over monitoring duty. Fortunately for her, Prime had informed Prowl ahead of time that she and Nathan were outside the base and due to check in.
Not that it mattered much to Prowl. He would have kept them locked in base until further notice had he been the one they approached.
::Omega here. You’re ten kliks late for your first scheduled communication::
To say Prowl was in a bad mood was an understatement. They had just lost their chief medical officer to a MECH ambush on American soil, and Prime had allowed a new arrival to leave the base in the company of one of the humans. A new human at that.
While the inclusion of American military personnel was a logical step for fighting MECH, Prowl still hadn’t completely ruled out that the American government wasn’t supporting MECH through some back end support deal in an attempt to get more Autobot technology.
::I trust you have a good reason for being late?::
It was not a new voice that responded, but instead one that Petrichor had interacted with somewhat briefly already. The sound of Optimus’s chief strategist had her snapping to attention as much as she was capable of in vehicle mode despite him not even being there. It was almost like a subroutine burned directly onto her circuits.
Prowl had a different set of standards when it came to respect than most, something even Petrichor’s stunted social programming was capable of picking up on. If she was being honest - which she ninety-eight percent of the time was - Prowl was actually one of the easiest bots for her to understand. Verbally at least. In her experience so far, he was abrasively clear with his communications and didn’t seem to mind making his feelings known on a matter. But he wasn’t rude about it. Just…blunt. Efficient.
What was the human phrase? ‘Didn’t beat around the bush?’ What a weird saying. How did something like that even come about?
Petra could understand efficiency. Prowl had a job to do and little time to do it. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if he ever took a break. She’d certainly never seen it, but she’d been here for barely over a week. He didn’t sound happy though as he informed them of their late check-in. Then again, she couldn’t be sure. Being easy to understand verbally was not the same as being easy to understand emotionally. That was a whole other barrel of oil she didn't dare approach right then.
Petrichor winced, glancing through her rearview at Nathan and whispering “it’s Prowl; our Head of Intelligence,” before responding to said mech’s inquiries.
:: “Apologies for our tardiness, sir. And yes. Sergeant Walker and I were assessing a umm…”::
She paused, looking for the right words.
:: “A potential threat. Sergeant Walker spotted a vehicle matching similar characteristics to those utilized by MECH near our location. Upon further observation though, we have deemed no immediate actions necessary at this time. We are continuing to stay on alert though.” ::
Hopefully that was a satisfactory response for Prowl. It was probably just an average civilian vehicle, but still a risk remained. Simply because the green muscle car had continued on its way and not made a reappearance didn’t mean it still couldn’t have been MECH or that they still weren't watching from somewhere else. Prowl could decide to order them back to base right then and there, so Petrichor figured it was better to cover all her bases and Nathan had already proved himself a much better communicator at this sort of thing with her officials than she. Plus, he very well could have picked up on something she had not. It was important to include all parties and their observations when it came to reports like this.
“Sergeant? Do you have anything you’d like to add?”
Post by Nathan Walker on Jul 17, 2022 21:24:39 GMT -5
Prowl’s anger subsided slightly as Petrichor explained her reasons for being late, as it was a totally acceptable reason. However, such a shift in his demeanor would be very hard to tell even if Petrichor had been able to actually see Prowl in the moment.
::Very well. Be back to base within one Earth hour. Omega out::
He shut off the connection after that as there was no use in giving Petrichor any room to complain about it. Not that he expected such complaints from the geologist, as she fell into the category Prowl labeled as “Will obey orders with little or no questions”. In other words, useful for things where Prowl needed to get things done without someone asking too many questions.
As soon as Prowl opened his mouth, Nathan decided that he did not like him.
He had been fortunate that when he was with the regular army that he generally had good Non-Commissioned Officers over him who managed to blunt the stupidity of those moronic officers that happened to be over them, though they had a few good ones. And when he was with Special Forces, he had the one and only Captain Jonathan Terrill who by his estimation was the best officer in the history of the United States Army. Even Lieutenant Alder seemed pretty good, though time would tell with her.
No, this Prowl guy seemed like the textbook definition of an asshole...
Petrichor however, seemed to put up with it, filling in the other Cybertronian on what had happened and what their conclusion was. When she asked for his input, he was a bit surprised but quickly leaped to provide Petrichor aid. “Nothing to add ma’am. Your report is an accurate description of events.” he said simply, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice but not doing a super great job at being as diplomatic as he probably should have been.
Once Prowl severed the connection, Nathan let out a long breath of air that he had been holding.
“That dude seems like he’s got a redwood shoved up his ass, and it's been there since time began.”
Before she could even provide confirmation, there was a click as Prowl cut the line. Petrichor sighed. He was busy, she was sure. Again, at least it hadn’t been Optimus. That would have been so awkward.
“That dude seems like he’s got a redwood shoved up his ass, and it's been there since time began.”
Nathan’s words pulled a surprised laugh out of the autobot. That was a ridiculous image if she’d ever seen one.
“I can assure you, there is no redwood up Prowl’s aft, or ‘ass’ as you say. He is under an immense amount of stress, especially with the current condition of things and recent events with MECH. He’s just being safe - following protocol. And he was right anyway, we were ten minutes late checking in. I should have provided a more timely update.” She paused, fidgeting with her internal climate control features before cautiously continuing, voice small as if just speaking the thought would somehow offend the absent mech. “He does probably have a few bolts screwed a little too tightly though.”
Petra quickly added, “don’t tell him - or anyone - I said that.”
She was kicking herself for even saying it anyway.
The light changed again, causing the traffic in front of their parking spot to slow to a halt. Each vehicle had its own human driver, with their own human thoughts and destinations, going about their daily lives. It was uncanny how normal everything was - despite what had just happened. Or rather, not happened.
“Should we…keep going? Since we now have an hour time limit. Pretty sure he meant exactly one hour.”
Post by Nathan Walker on May 21, 2023 19:29:23 GMT -5
Hearing Petrichor defend Prowl took Nathan off guard, but before he could offer some argument on the matter Nathan decided to drop it, reaching up with his freehand hand and pinching the bridge of his nose underneath the sunglasses.
“I suppose.”
Still...this Prowl guy would deserve some watching. Just because you were under stress and difficult circumstances didn't mean that you had the right to be an asshole. That was what Captain Terrill had told him they screened for in Special Forces selection. Could you hold your temper when you were wet, sleep deprived, and hungry while fighting a superior enemy?
Petrichor’s afterthought caused Nathan to snort a laugh, and it took him a few moments before he had managed to regain his composure.
“Hey, you don't tell him I won’t tell him.” he promised with a final chuckle.
His own comments on the strategist would probably be unappreciated as well, and would probably not do any good in the Autobot-Human relations department.
“Sure, sounds good.” He replied to Petrichor’s suggestion.
If Petrichor could smile in her alt-form, she would have. Then again, maybe she could. Taking a moment to fiddle with the information display integrated into her dash while she casually reversed out of their parking space and smoothly pulled back onto the main roadway (hey she was starting to get the hang of this human traffic thing), Petra managed to produce what humans called an “emote” of a smiling face with colon and right parenthesis for Nathan to see. Sure it was sideways, but she could mess around with it more later and create a more refined, complex program for it. That’d be useful for non verbal communication between them if it was ever needed - at least on her end.
“It will be our secret then. Although I should warn you, I’m not very good at lying. Like at all. I’m better at omitting the truth, which can be almost as damning I suppose. Sorry in advance if you’re planning a surprise party for anyone. Not that I’m assuming you’d include me in any parties that you’d throw, not without an invitation of course.Please change the subjectformeohmystars.”
It was like they were back to square one. Just breathe, Petra!
“Sorry. I am…” she sighed, “not good at this.”
A right turn and then they were entering a school zone, so she slowed her speed to match the limit automatically.
“I’m trying to be better-wait…is this the children’s school?”
The building they were slowly rolling passed was large and rectangular, appearing to be made mostly of - if Petrichor had to guess - a combination of clay, red sand, and probably a few other things that had been super heated and then formed into smaller rectangles. They were stacked in an interlocking pattern across the entire building with some slight variation throughout.
Bricks. They’re called bricks.
Not that anyone probably cared what they were made out of or how they were made unless it was their business or they needed to know how to penetrate through them. Petrichor was neither in the business of creating bricks, nor was she planning on trying to blow a hole into the side of a building. She was just an awkward nerd geologist.
And an Autobot. And a soldier. And a scout. And now an alien on another planet with a pretty cool human in her driver’s seat.
Ok, so maybe she was more than just an awkward nerd geologist.
She double checked their surroundings again for anything suspicious, but it was just them, the school, and a few parked cars in the lot out front. Only a tan Honda civic cruised by on the road.
Last Edit: Jun 18, 2023 21:20:50 GMT -5 by Petrichor
Post by Nathan Walker on Jun 26, 2023 0:29:59 GMT -5
Nathan was too busy paying attention to what was going on around them in an attempt to look like he was driving the car instead of the car driving itself to notice the emote originally, though when he looked back down he noticed it, causing him to do a double take for a moment before shaking his head with a chuckle.
Well...it wasn’t just that which caused him to chuckle. Petrichor’s nervous rambling was quite amusing as well.
“Hey, relax. It’s all right. Six months ago I wouldn’t have thought that I would be in this situation either. I always thought aliens were something created by Hollywood. Little green men in flying saucers...”
Anytime someone reported a UFO Nathan had always chalked it up to some sort of secret military aircraft that happened to be seen by some civilian. The fact that most of them were spotted around Area 51 added to that, since that was where the Air Force tested a lot of their new tech...plus he’d seen some unique aircraft as a part of his time in the Special Forces. But now...now he was sitting inside of an alien that could turn into an SUV...
Life was weird...
“Yeah, I think so. It’s the only high school in town from what I’m told, and a lot of kids come from outside of town.”
Kind of like the town where his mom went to high school, out in the middle of nowhere Arizona. He’d gone to a private school in Phoenix, paid for by his dad. But sometimes he wished he went to a public high school...one like this...
“It’s rather unassuming looking for a place of learning. Kind of boring actually. Aside from the bricks. Those are nice. Otherwise, it doesn’t appear very similar to the high schools portrayed in your media, more like a pri-uh. Never mind.”
‘Prison’ was cut off before she could finish it. Comparing a school for youths with a place where criminals were incarcerated would probably be considered as rude, if not wildly inaccurate. But that didn't explain where the marching bands or cheerleaders parading about were. Or the students randomly bursting into song? Where were those? And banners! Petra was pretty sure there were supposed to be banners and posters and such. Although it was a Sunday, so perhaps Memorial High appeared different on a school day.
“We don’t - didn’t - have high schools on Cybertron. It was more just academies, universities, institutions, you know, that sort of stuff if you’re looking to specialize in something. Since we don’t really grow up so much as come online ready to go with basic functions, there’s no real need.”
Petrichor briefly tried to imagine a younger Nathan attending a place like this, but kind of drew a blank. Instead getting caught up on what a younger Nathan would have actually looked like. The closest she got was basically a mental image of Jack - which sure, they both had similar dark, longish hair, but that was about where the similarities ended. Then again, Jack still had some growing up to do, so who knew? Maybe after ten, fifteen years and some bulking up, he would look similar after all. Man. Human growth and development was crazy.
Post by Nathan Walker on Jul 16, 2023 19:14:07 GMT -5
Nathan couldn’t help but chuckle at Petrichor’s observation.
“Well first off...we tend to put our best face forward with how we portray things in the media. I assure you that this is generally how a lot of our normal high schools look...and yes prison might be a good way to describe it.”
There was no love lost between Nathan and the education system. Sure he loved to read and learn, just not in the way that most states seemed determined to do it. That had been part of the reason why he had left college after getting his associate’s degree, having been fed up with having to sit there and listen to someone lecture all day. He learned a lot more about life being out in the brush with his grandfather or Bob Miller, as well as just living his life.
“I wish we humans could do that...in a way...” he replied. “I didn’t go to high school like this. My parents were wealthier and sent me to a private school near our house. But even then I gathered that a lot of the same social structures existed in places like this as well as the more elite private schools. We also have colleges, universities and academies...where you learn the skills you need for your career. Sometimes they suck worse than high school.”
Might have just been that way because he went to Stanford.
Last Edit: Aug 27, 2023 19:53:09 GMT -5 by Nathan Walker
“That’s too bad. I quite enjoyed my time in education – growing political strife and war aside. I will say some of my professors were quite dull in lecture though. Some of their teaching methods were drier than the astral dust they were covering. Now there’s a fascinating subject: astral geology. Too bad I’ve found I have a bit of an aversion for space, and it for me. Haha. But that’s okay! While I haven’t been here for very long, I’ve found I quite like your planet. The presence of liquid water – and at such quantities! - is insane. Not much here, but there used to be! A whole ocean! And that’s me not even getting into your molten core.”
The grin in her voice was obvious. Petra did a slow loop around the school while she spoke, taking note of all the entrances and exits.
“Bumblebee told me that Raph really enjoys learning. Though, I take it from how you speak about school, you prefer learning in a different setting?”
Petrichor could understand that. The classes she had that actually went out into the field and did more applied studies had been her favorites by far. And of course, as soon as she actually got to go out and utilize her knowledge for her career was liberating. There were always just too many people around in close quarters for her taste. That and her roommate, Afterblaze, had been kind of a…how did humans say it? A jerk? So weird. Doesn't even make sense, but whatever.
The femme hadn’t been that bad, but Petra had been glad to transition to roughing it solo where she wasn’t teased constantly about her choice of studies, pressured into unpleasant social interactions, or subjected to temperamental tirades about her latest romantic interest. Looking back, she was pretty sure Afterblaze was just trying to help her make more friends – going about it entirely the wrong way, but still. Petra had no idea what had happened to her or where she was now. Was she even still alive?
Post by Nathan Walker on Sept 10, 2023 19:47:28 GMT -5
It was interesting seeing an alien geek out over his home planet.
Nathan remained silent as Petrichor went on about how fascinating Earth was, only half paying attention as he too noted all the entrances to the high school. He didn’t expect there to be any issues at the school, but with MECH having gone after Jack that one time there was a chance that they could try something at the kids' school if they got desperate enough. It would be their last mistake though if Nathan had anything to say about it.
Her question caught him off guard slightly, and it took him a few more moments before he gathered up the necessary words to answer her.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
He paused, pursing his lips in thought before speaking.
“I was in university with the goal of becoming a lawyer...do you know what a lawyer is?”
Did Cybertron have lawyers? It was a reasonable guess that they did, but maybe they would have had a different word for it.
Last Edit: Jan 7, 2024 20:13:26 GMT -5 by Nathan Walker
“Sure! Someone who practices the law, gives legal advice, represents others in court – that sort of stuff, right?”
Petrichor, done with her loop around the school, backed into a spot at the front entrance to focus on Nathan. She wanted to get to know him and understand him, and this felt like a very specific door had just been opened. She had an opportunity to see into his past and she was going to take it so long as Nathan kept it open. If not, she wouldn’t push, but maybe politely knock at a different time?
“You said ‘with a goal to become a lawyer.’ ...Your goal changed?”
She was intrigued as to why he had chosen the career path to begin with, but then to change it? What had happened? Had he decided he didn’t like it? Or perhaps something had happened in his life that made it too difficult to continue? How did he end up going from pursuing law to pursuing threats and protecting his country as a soldier for NEST? It seemed like a big change. Then again, Petra knew all too well how big changes could sometimes creep up on someone over the course of time and through lots of little changes. Not all of them happened all at once and so dramatically. She wondered what variety this was.
Last Edit: Dec 31, 2023 13:47:43 GMT -5 by Petrichor
Post by Nathan Walker on Jan 7, 2024 21:17:17 GMT -5
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Huh...so Cybertronians do have lawyers. Or at least a word for it.
Nathan was silent as Petrichor pulled into a parking spot and parked herself, looking out the window as she did. Part of him wished that she just put it in gear and continued driving back towards the base, but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead he just allowed the silence to hang there for a moment before speaking again.
“Yeah, you could say that. I decided that college wasn’t a good idea for me, at least at the time.”
It hadn’t been a popular decision. Even though he was going to receive his Associate’s degree by the end of the semester and had decent grades, his parents hadn’t exactly been thrilled when they found out what he wanted to do instead. Hell, no one had been thrilled by his choice, not his uncle, grandparents, girlfriend, or girlfriend’s parents. Sure his uncle and grandparents had been the first to come around...but some people never fully did.
Part of him wondered what Emily was up to now. Climbing the corporate ladder in New York like she planned?
He still sensed it was a sore spot with his father.
“What about you? Was university something that was always in your future?”