[ti]Ep 3[/ti]Starlight Sonata [Jetfire and Sundance]

[Sundance]

Episode 3, Week 3, Day 3, late evening


High on a stone plateau, one that used to be a military missile silo, lay down a solitary figure. The sun was a passing memory just below the horizon, with an almost full moon rising on the opposite side. Far off to the north, a passing storm promised lightning and thunder but failed to deliver. The stars above twinkled amid the light pollution of the distant city of Las Vegas.

This figure, let’s call her Sundance, was facing the direction of that distant human place. She was staring wistfully at the city lights fondly remembering her own home before its destruction. She had spent more time at war than not, but she never let such darkness infringe much upon her inner light. She wasn't immune to the dark thoughts and places her mind went, same as her kin. It was just her nature to be positive in the face of any challenge.

Sundance hadn't been up there too long lying chest down on her roll of carpet peeking over the plateau’s edge. Rarely did she go up top much. Largely extroverted, she preferred the company of others to solitude, but she also preferred to be outside more than in. Not uncommon amongst fliers. She didnt have much on her mind that evening. She had been on patrol and came back, reported in, grabbed a cube, chatted a bit, chilled, and then went up top to chill some more. An ordinary routine day. The flier was thankful for days like this. Anything non routine often brought loss. Not always, but more often than not.

[Jetfire]

As was tradition, Jetfire ascended Omega-1's primary missile silo via the lift it provided. It was slow and cumbersome, but it appeared to shoulder his weight relatively decently. He had been on Earth for just over a day now, and as he'd been too busy settling in the night before, now was the perfect time to update his chart. Of course, he couldn't do that from below a few tons of rock and metal. He could, but he really didn't want to.

With a loud hiss of hydraulics and shifting of metal, the lift reached its destination, delivering the tall red and white Seeker to his providence. He neglected to scan the surface of the mesa for any other inhabitants, as he wholeheartedly believed this tradition was unique to himself alone. Instead, Jetfire turned his attention up to the infinite creation above. He'd just missed the sunset it seemed. Fortunate. He'd waited long enough, already.

He stepped off the lift toward an otherwise empty corner of the Mesa, clutching a small datapad in his servos, optics still turned toward the stars. All his friends were still here and accounted for, as expected, though they had each been given human names and definitions on Earth. 

A cherry-red visor slid down to veil Jetfire's optics, revealing a massive web of star charts and galactic maps projected toward the heavens. The mech stole a brief glance at the pad he still held, optics reading off the top of the list for the first few locations. Mentally, he began to account for the Earth's position while factoring in the coordinates at the very top, and proceeded to go down a few items.

"Arkrox the tailor, and his family..."

One...

"Recae IV, and the colony..."

Two...

"Kaans, and his ship..."

Three...

[Sundance]

The little flier was awakened from her wistful observation of distant lights by the sound of someone else coming to observe even more distant lights. The straining hum of hydraulics, though faint, was audible enough in the quiet of the night. Noone was going to get the drop on Sundance unless it was literal and they fell from the sky...which was actually feasible, especially for herself. She continued to lay still, waiting to see if the newcomer had spotted her. After a few moments passed however, it became apparent that she had gone unnoticed in the dark.

She had half a mind to try and sneak up on the other, but in the end decided not to. It would be equal chances whether she could even be sneaky enough, and the equal chances that the other wouldn't appreciate a stealth hug.

It was only as she was pushing herself up from her mat that she heard those faint words and quirked an optic ridge as she recognized none them. Sundance was no astronomer herself and thought the names sounded like constellations, Maybe Earth ones as she was not really familiar with the celestial sky above her yet. She had more than once imagined herself racing among the stars. A fanciful dream and nothing more but fun to entertain nonetheless.

Carefully stepping around the terrain, Sundance made her way over to stand next to the mech and gaze up at the same stars he did. On her approach, the moonlight provided sufficient visibility for her to realize that she didn't recognise the tall bot. Though he was as tall as maybe three other bots, that was to say almost double her own meager height, the silhouette was different to anyone she currently knew to be on Earth. A new person to meet and greet then she thought happily.

“I've not heard those names before but here's a new one for you. Hi, I’m Sundance, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She was chipper and kind, extending her full warmth of personality.

[Jetfire]

Four would have to wait.

The beginning of the word was still on Jetfire's lips as a sudden and unexpected voice piped up beside him. Given that this was a very personal and solitary ritual, it wouldn't have been all that much of a surprise to see how he'd jumped. And jump he did, his whole frame jolting as he processed the sound. Thankfully he hadn't squeaked in surprise, however. His visor retracted almost instinctively, as he felt his little stargazing routine was effectively postponed for the moment, turning to his right to search for the source of the noise.

Jetfire looked... and saw nothing but empty space, juxtaposed with the calm Nevada desert at night.

He then tilted his chin down thirty degrees and saw Sundance.

This was not at all who he'd expected might catch him up here.

Judging by the warm and friendly greeting, Jetfire had lucked out in that regard. Not that she was unwelcome or anything, but he could imagine bumping into worse. He blinked at the smaller femme for a moment, brain still collecting and organizing its thoughts, lest it start spitting out word soup.

"Oh," he began. "Hello there. I'm Jetfire..." It was about the best he could do so soon after being knocked out of his train of thought.

Aaaand... there, back on track.

Rewinding mentally a few seconds, Jetfire went over current events. He hadn't heard the lift go back down, and he hadn't heard another Seeker make a landing. That left him with the obvious and somewhat embarrassing answer. It meant that...

"You've been up here this entire time, haven't you?" It was less of a question directed towards himself, and more so an admission of scatterbrain. "Apologies, I'm normally more perceptive."

[Sundance]

Sundance grinned broadly as the tall mech jumped. Clearly he was preoccupied enough that a sneak approach would have been entirely successful. Normally she wouldn't laugh at another’s misfortune but she didn't consider a surprise hello to be bad luck.

“Correctamondo! Been up here for maybe fifteen minutes, not that long. But seriously no apologies needed” She answered. The flier had had long enough to see the last of the setting sun.

“Jetfire…” Sundance’s processor jumped into overdrive at the drop of that particular name. “Red light that for a sec, The Jetfire? The Jetfire who defended against the Corcapsia Incursion, The Jetfire who pioneered the Jetfire Slash, The Jetfire who invented half the armour upgrades I wish I qualified for, The Jetfire who flew 23 days straight at Simanzi…” Sundance’s voice, full of awe and amazement floundered at the rush of statistics she could recite about this individual. The little racer didn't exactly wave it around, but she was both jock and sports geek and prided herself on being able to walk the walk and talk the talk.

Sundance almost blurted out that she was his number one fan. She stopped herself in time realizing that being face to face with her hero, she needed to save face. The fact that she might actually be the current living number one fan went equally unmentioned.

“This is podium.” She whispered to herself gleefully.

“So which star is home?” A simple question to change the topic a little.

[Jetfire]

His optics needed a good checking, it seemed. This was nothing if not a diagnostic session, at least. Even more, he hadn't heard Sundance approach either. Optics, and audials needed a good checking, then. In his mind, their conversation proceeded about how he hadn't been naming constellations or other celestial bodies, but rather, people. However, Jetfire's optics went wide when he realized that was not the direction they were aiming to take. Not yet at least.

He had a fan.

Granted, most anyone who'd ever flown with the Autobrand on their wings had met or at the very least heard of him, at one point or another. Seekers were uncommon in the Autobots, ones that had defected from the Decepticons even more so. Regardless, being confronted about all that, his service record, his feats, like this was something he'd been almost completely unprepared for. Sure, it was all true, save for "Seventeen. I never counted the refueling..." Truthfully, he'd never looked back on his deeds with the same rosy tint as Sundance did, evidently. No place for vanity on the battlefield. Or within Jetfire.

Her next statement-slash-question thankfully steered the conversation toward something he'd been expecting. Jetfire knew exactly what she was asking, or rather, implying to ask via her wording. His optics turned upwards, scanning the familiar structure of the stars above him. The Seeker stretched out his arm, digit sticking itself toward an otherwise insignificant point of light against the infinite horizon. "There, if I'm correct... though, that's not exactly what I was up here to do. You could blindfold me and I'd still be able to point out Cybertron, I think. Spin me for good measure," he joked, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Jetfire shook his head. "I'm not up here to chart stars in the traditional sense, at least. I think the best way to describe all this is to...." he pondered. "Well... call it a memorial." His words rang melancholy even before he finished them.

[Sundance]

"Seventeen then! With Refueling!" Sundance teased lightly. It was still an unbelievable record. Sundance prided herself on her stamina but it was all in her efficiency, she didn't have tanks that big. 

The little flier mover closer to the mech, standing tall as she could on tip toes to see where his outstretched arm was pointing. She did what she could to memorize the cluster of stars in the sky being indicated, unable as she was to determine the exact one to answer her question. Without greater familiarity though, it would unfortunately be forgotten soon enough. After a few seconds of looking along the pointed arm, Suni stepped back to where she was before. She knew first hand how much fliers liked their personal space

"You got me beat there again. I always know where I am in relation to the ground below, but stellar cartography? Whoosh! Right over my head." She admitted with a touch of self depreciation. 

"A memorial?" Sundance's tone was thoughtful and considerate, the humor drained and replaced with respect. She was always unsure what to say in these situations, she just wasn't that wise and insightful. What solace could she offer those above her in intellect?

"I um..I have a list too of fallen sparks, friends and foe alike." She paused to look up at Jetfire "If you'd like more peace, I can be quiet." She had already proven that, and freely offered more with her warmth of spark. She held one hand behind her back with the other and endeavored to pull her field in close.

[Jetfire]

In retrospect, Jetfire had never described the details of his little ritual to anyone before. It was something he'd come up with on his own, while sailing alone through known and unknown space. It was designed with solitude in mind. But, that wasn't to say that it couldn't be adapted to fit present circumstances. As he was more than aware of, these past two days alone had afforded him more social contact than he'd had in the previous eon. Or decade. Or century. Or whatever. Felt like a lifetime.

He shook his head, before easing himself down onto the surface of the mesa below him. Jetfire sat cross-legged, attention directed toward the stars. At least now he and Sundance were more equitable in terms of optic-level. "It's quite alright. I hadn't ever prepared to elaborate on all this, but, I'm not against it."

"When I first left Cybertron, the ship I piloted was equipped with an FTL drive." He sat back with his weight braced on his left arm, gesturing with his right. "But light, for all it's cracked up to be, isn't really all that fast. In fact, it's quite slow. An FTL drive pushes you quite a bit faster, as the name implies, but at a certain point it just becomes another milestone, so to speak."

Jetfire quickly leaned forward to summon both hands, sticking the tips of his two pointer servos together, before drawing them apart in accordance with his lecture. "Whereas faster-than-light travel is a long, straight shot to your destination..." he paused, bringing both servos back together again, only to pull one away, and loop it to its counterpart's other side. "A spacebridge allows us to 'slingshot' around what we consider to be conventional space and time, using unspace as a sort of relay."

"Spacebridge travel eliminates the speed of light's relevance, and therefore, time's relevance."

His expression, having been energized by the topic of the discussion, slowly faded as he transitioned to the core of the topic at hand. "So," he began. "If I'd had a spacebridge, I wouldn't be up here listing off friends' names."

The Seeker again summoned his right arm, gesturing up towards the same stars that'd sparked this whole elaboration. "I spent a lot of time with organics, during my sojourn. And while I can't ever summon the words to describe them as a whole, I can claim to have met an extraordinary bunch of them, with many of their names occupying this list here."

There were friends, notable individuals, and even just beings who'd extended him, as a Cybertronian, common courtesy and good will. All on the list.

"But like I said. FTL, while undoubtedly slower than a spacebridge, still abides by the laws of time, light, and space. I would leave, traveling faster than light, but my friends, those I left behind, were still living at sub-light."

Jetfire lowered his hand, bringing both to his lap. "Every time I left, it was bittersweet. I'd leave, knowing that by the time I'd arrived at my next stop, everyone and everything I'd left on the world behind me would've passed away." Having admitted that at last, he turned his attention down to the pad still clutched in his servos. "The thought of having to do that for the rest of my trip, however long it lasted, was intolerable. So, this," he added, lightly shaking the pad. "This was how I coped with it. I eulogized them; every one. And each time I arrive somewhere new, I always like to search the stars at night to look for them..."

"Their light hasn't reached Earth yet, obviously. If we were to look upon them from here, through whatever means available to us that would allow so, I could see them all, still alive, still going about their daily lives." A small shift of air pushed its way from Jetfire's vents. "They are gone for real, though. But, looking at them up there... it reminds me that so long as their memory is alive, they won't truly be gone..."

He held his attention on one particular patch of the night sky for several long moments, his silence indicating that he'd concluded his little explanation. The mech snapped himself out of it with a few blinks shortly after, however. "Oh... I apologize. That was a lot, wasn't it?"

[Sundance]

A moment after Jetfire sat down, Sundance did too. Legs extended out in front, she rested on her hands stretched out behind herself. She didn't give a darn about being shorter, it was more often than not to her advantage anyway.

"Well yes it was a lot but please don't ever apologise for that, I enjoy listening, and thank you for being open, I appreciate that too." And Just like that, Sundance liked Jetfire as a fellow person, as opposed to a hero of great accomplishment to worship or fawn over. He had chosen to be open with her, and shown that he appreciated people. She could also tell that he enjoyed adventure and new experiences, just from the fact he had chosen to travel so much. She envied him but could sympathise with the pain of leaving so much behind too.

"I understand the basics of FTL travel but please just never bring up the math, that's just going to fly right over me." She chuckled. Only through sheer practice and experience had Sundance come to understand the basic physics of her own flight, lift, drag, thrust and all the paraphernalia. What she needed for racing.

"I like how you remember those significant people in your life too. And you're absolutely right, the memories do keep them alive here." She pointed to her own chest, implying her spark underneath, with her right hand, before replacing it on the ground again after. "It's the same for me." She empathized. "All my friends and foes lost in the war. They gave their all in the greatest challenge, they deserve to be remembered." It was a solemn statement spoken quietly from her spark. Remembering her foes, the ones she had personally killed helped Sundance assuage her guilt a little. They had after all fought for what they believed in, and in that Sundance was little different to them. What didn't help was her doubt in the cause creeping in at the edges. It was a very very long list of the lost she kept.

"Just a nano!" Sundance jumped up to her peddes in one swift graceful motion and trotted over to her where her blanket of carpet was. Picking it up, she dragged it back next to Jetfire and motioned for him to sit on it with her. Suni was hard enough, but she preferred not to scrape her aft and kibble on rock if she could avoid it.

Once she was settled again with her butt happy, she piped up."So just how much out there have you flown to?"

[Jetfire]

Sundance's comment about the memories of her friends and foes struck something within Jetfire. His face, previously stoic and thoughtful, suddenly contorted into amused disbelief. Not disbelief at Sundance however, no. There mere thought of doing this, what he did for his organic friends, for Cybertronians? Why, such a task seemed unfeasible even to him. He swept his right hand low, left to right, shaking his head lightly. "You have my respect and admiration for doing that, then." His current list was hard enough at its current length, and even with all the time in the world, Jetfire didn't think he'd ever complete a similar list for all of his own lost friends and enemies from the war. "There aren't enough stars in the sky, what to give one to each and every friend I've had to say goodbye to." He'd produced a visibly fake smile as he said that, as a small physiological measure against the emotional pain that was no doubt stewing some distance beneath the surface, behind his optics.

But he didn't want to talk about that now, and he had a feeling neither did Sundance. Thankfully, the little seeker(?) went and sprang herself out of the conversation, if but for a moment. Jetfire was left for a nano, pondering what possible directions this conversation could take. Evidently, it would take the direction of a blanket. As it was set down beside him, he did his very best to both sit on top of it, and not hog all the surface area for himself. He scooted himself a nice corner of it. Too small, though. He scooted again to inhabit roughly 40% of the rug itself. Good enough.

That, however, was a good question.

"That's a good question..."

Jetfire was far from a terminal at the moment, so he'd have to eyeball it. "Well, my ship is currently drifting, lifelessly, in this system's comet belt. So, I don't have my navigational computer to check my math... but..." Silence, with thoughtful processing going on in the background. "How much out of everything? Probably... some infinitely small percentage." He had to be realistic, after all. "But, if we're going by hard mileage... I'd say somewhere between forty and fifty star systems, give or take. And, continuing from there, I'd say... nearly two hundred planets. I'm not bothering to count planetoids. We wouldn't be down until tomorrow morning."

[Sundance]

Sundance relaxed a little more when Jetfire did choose to enjoy the carpet with her, and she subtly observed how he judged just how much to take. He got an imaginary gold star for being considerate. 

"Every star a spark." Sundance quietly murmured to herself. It was part of such an old saying that she could not remember the whole of it. 

Sundance had looked up the number her first night spent on Earth. Apparently there were only five thousand stars visible at any one time under the most optimum of conditions. It seemed to her there were like millions. Sundance didn't know just how long her list was. It would have been easy to find out, but she had consciously chosen to never look it up. She was afraid the number would just be too much to bear. But Jetfire had it right, and had it hard. There were not enough stars in the sky for every spark lost. 

"He takes first place and keeps on going." She chuckled. "Well..I do have all night." She waved her right hand at the sky. As an endurance racer, she was used to flying all day and night - but not 17 in a row. Staying up late to shoot the wind however didn't even register as a challenge. It was almost as easy as falling. 

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't even a little jealous." She admitted. "Three deca-days ago, I'd never flown the skies of another planet, and even then I still never flew all of Cybetron. Fifty stars? Two hundred planets? Gosh..." Heck, she was even on the opposite side of the planet when the Arc left. She had ventured so little in comparison to her space capable brethren.

"If you don't mind me asking, were you mostly part of the effort to curb the Decepticons that expanded into the galaxy?" So little news reached her regarding the off world war efforts, and certainly much less any details. Despite her attempts to weedle out information from intelligence officers, she really just did not rank high enough.  

[Jetfire]

Being remembered for exploration, though perhaps not his number one favorite, was better than being remembered for war deeds. Jetfire would take it though, if able. It was fun, constructive, sometimes incredibly dangerous, and educational. Hopefully he'd be able to bum a ship off the humans, provided they had any that'd fit him. "Shame I didn't have all that much to return home too. I strayed from a lot of the established star charts most of the time, so I'd say I could fill the archives in Iacon a few times over with everything new I've found." The benefits of taking the road less traveled. He did almost get eaten that one time, however.

And then it was back to the war. "I don't mind at all," he replied. He really didn't. Jetfire could discuss the war perfectly fine, though there were always subjects he liked to steer back towards. "Though, there's a point to be made that the war hasn't ended. In fact, you could call what we're doing right now 'preventing the Decepticons from expanding'." Jetfire nevertheless clasped his hands together. "But, in the context of your question, yes, I was; to a degree."

The Seeker unfurled his hands, and began to draw small circles that radiated outward from the bright speck he'd dubbed Cybertron, earlier. "I was rotated around quite a lot during the war. The demand for air units was always high, as I'm sure you know." The circling continued. "As the war dragged on, the theatres kept getting larger, and larger; started fighting in other people's backyards by then. After Simanzi, and the Retaliation, high command did its best to centralize air command on Cybertron, since by then we were being stretched paper-thin."

Though he was comfortable in saying it wasn't his favored topic, Jetfire tended to adopt a certain energy when discussing the war. It was like it hadn't ever left Cybertron, or in particular, like he never hadn't. "I saw a lot of action out in space, but by the end, I was pulled back home. I flew interception during the Ark's launch, got a few good shots on Bruticus, and then that was the end." It wasn't really, but it'd felt like it at the time. In another way, it thankfully wasn't the end.

"What about you?" Jetfire asked, turning the tides. "We've spoken a lot about my record, but I can't say I know that much about yours. Care to enlighten me?"

[Sundance]

"If you're asking me to talk about myself, I will gladly do so. In song form!" Sundance joked as she ad hoc quoted. It was an enjoyable movie. "Seriously, talking about myself is like..." She counted off on her fingers mentally. Flying, Fighting, Feeding, Racing, Singing, Dancing...she gave up. "It's like my tenth favorite activity." She announced. She turned her head up to look to scan the night sky while she gathered her wandering thoughts. "Where to begin?" she mused. "Pole position where else! It all started about six and a half mega cycles ago. I was cold-constructed for the customer service industry." Sundance spoke with a touch of pride. She had purpose from the moment she came online, and it suited her. It was more than many could claim. "As good as it was, my spark was set on racing. I blew every shanix I could on shaping myself for the City Circuit Endurance League. Never made it past amateur of course, and I didn't even make the podium that often. Competition was fierce." She flashed an excited grin in the night. "It was all about finding that perfect balance of efficiency versus speed and agility."

In human terms, it was like some cross between a marathon and parkour. Or Le Mans or Isle of Man.

"I followed Megatron's propaganda right up until the tower bombings." Her voice and field turned more somber and thoughtful. "Lost some good friends that day. I signed up with the Autobot forces right then. Got my guns like every good volunteer. I was initially assigned to recon, scouting and messenger runs. Storms of battle raged and I had to defend myself and my friends with deadly force." This was where the guilt hit double, not only had she taken lives, but she had taken satisfaction in each victory. "Mostly I was flying the far winds, guerrilla tactics and the like. My personal claim to fame was chasing seekers through devastated cities, cutting around buildings like some unshakable midge." She drew imaginary lines with one finger of her right hand through the extended fingers of her left. Her endurance racer build made her ideal in the twisting dogfights through the cities where there were plenty of obstacles and plenty of cover from the boom and zoom tactics she was vulnerable to. 

"When the Ark left, I was on the other side of Cybertron." She had never seen the big Combiner battles though she had heard stories, awesome and terrifying. 

"I feel like the war ended the moment Meg went in a tailspin after dark energon. We all lost, just no one told the boss at the top." Sundance sighed heavily. It was a dark thought that had been bothering her for a while. "We're all just survivors, the race has ended but we're still stuck to the rails chasing the sunset with nary another track in sight."  

Optimus had jettisoned the Allspark protecting any new spark from dying in a war not their own, while Megatron had denied every Cybertronian from even having a home. There was no victory to ever be had. Just degrees of loss. She was having big thoughts, too big were her little processor to handle, too heavy for her small wings to lift on her own. Sundance knew she needed someone with bigger horizons, and right now the only person - only Autobot that is - on Earth who really held that pole position was Jetfire. 

"Do you ever feel like you're only holding the course because you're flying blind?" 

[Jetfire]

She was talkative, and enthusiastic about detail, Jetfire had to give her that. Racing had never really been among his interests, but it was always entertaining to hear racers talk about their craft. He felt comforted that he hadn't been alone against functionalism, despite the fact that he wasn't alone back then either. It was nicer to hear amongst the Autobots, at least. It gave him some small measure of hope that there were some Bots who'd been in the same proverbial boat, and that those same individuals might be the driving force of real change once Megatron and the Decepticons were gone, and they could all go home.

As Sundance's discussion veered into much, much more familiar territory for Jetfire, he stayed absolutely silent. In addition to withholding an arsenal of his own questions, he quietly held a private, mental conversation with himself in parallel with the smaller flier's elaboration. He could interpret 'follower of propaganda' in plenty of ways, some of which applied to himself. There was no way Jetfire could speak for Sundance, but it felt like much more than that to him. He'd worn the brand, had his piping painted violet, spoken at rallies, led protests, agitated at the steps of the senate. It seemed that both of their paths diverged from Megatron's at roughly the same point. Internally, beneath his own private conversation, Jetfire wondered if she was from Vos as well.

Jetfire picked apart her last few words just as she uttered them. Though the words she chose to use were different, the semantics remained the same. It'd been exactly what he'd asked himself just as his time on Cybertron had come to an end, a lifetime ago. He felt it was only fair that he should tell her. "Twice, actually. Once, right before I decided to leave the Decepticons for the Autobots, and again, right as I decided to leave Cybertron." He turned his attention back to the darkening horizon, as historically he'd been better at putting his thoughts together as he stared into empty space.

"They were both big decisions, but the kind that are big to you, and nobody else. Did it make a difference that at one time, a person chose to fight, and again, that they chose to leave?"

Jetfire paused, as if contemplating the answer for himself.

"In all likelihood, probably not. Both times I questioned myself over whether or not I was making the right decision, weighing the null and alternatives. I found that whatever I wanted to do was difficult to justify, just because it all seemed so small." He came back around, adopting some of her prior terminology to do so. "If the flock's flying blind, what difference does it make for an individual to change course?"

He had to admit, the answer was hard to parse, even though he'd already arrived at it by now. "I'm no Prime, but this is my flock." It went without saying that his first flock wasn't his. "But I didn't come to that conclusion just by flying blind and trusting judgment. Even after I decided to defect, I hated it. I hated the Autobots, and I hated Sentinel and Optimus." Especially Sentinel, as evidenced by his tone as it passed over the fallen Prime's name. But just as quickly as it sharpened, his voice softened. "But as time went on, I saw what would've happened had I chosen differently. Plenty of Decepticons fly blind so long as Megatron's out in the front," he said, finally turning back to Sundance once more.

"It took some time, but I resolved to never follow someone the same way. If you think you're flying blind, let it be known. If you think the flock is flying blind, let it be known." He sounded, and felt personally, like he was back at a rally. There was a conviction and energy to his words, something that belied how he'd been getting on in years. "And if your flock doesn't have a destination, make one."

Jetfire sat up, almost reflexively sitting up straight as to puff out his chest, turning once again to address the stars above the horizon. "Once Megatron is dealt with, and the remaining Decepticons have passed through the tribunals, the transitional government will draft a constitution that learns from the mistakes of the past, and of the senate. We'll attract refugees back to Cybertron with a bit of hope and stimulus, institute a series of public works programs to rebuild planetary infrastructure, and have control of the military transferred back into the hands of a civilian people's council."

After such a grand micro-speech, Jetfire fell quiet, again afraid that he'd offloaded too much onto the poor femme. "But," he continued. "If the current course you were worried about is more immediate, I'd say star-gazing is a fine choice for now."

[Sundance]

Even in the dark, Jetfire sitting straight struck an imposing figure. Sundance subtly glanced sideways enjoying a different evening view. White and red might have been cliche on some, but the flier owned it. Really, the holo-vids had not done him justice. Still the stargazing continued but with much less focus on distant suns.

Jetfire spoke big. Big ideas, big ideals, big history. It was a challenge for Sundance to keep up. Ever was it her motto to face every challenge, even intellectual ones. Her humble processor changed up a gear. She wanted to keep up, and to even hold her own to some minor degree, to fly with the seeker on this verbal discourse. 

"Depends on the individual." Suni replied nonchalantly. It was her experience that it nearly always took an individual to chart a new course for others to follow. Someone like Megatron, or Optimus, they had once been part of the flock, until choice or circumstance had thrust them into a new direction. And then the very nature of the flocks had changed to these new courses in their wake.

She didn't want to argue with the older mech even if her point of view was different, it was increasingly obvious that he was brighter and wiser than she, he saw more than she could. Sometime after leaving Cybertron to it's poisoned death, after arriving on a planet home to someone else, after losing some part of her blind faith in the Autobot leadership, her hope had started to fray. She wasn't certain they could defeat the Decepticons, or even of having a home if they did. 

"Our current course, the Autobot one.." She absently rubbed the half logo on her left arm with right hand. "I'm just no longer so certain we will make it to our destination." It was a solemn admission, and one that still felt turbulent. She still absolutely believed in the ideals, defending those who couldn't defend themselves.

Something the mech next to her however clung tight to her mind, like a barbed net. She needed to know, to understand. "Why did you.." She couldn't bring herself to say hate. "Dislike the Autobots and Optimus initially?" Despite her own falling out with Optimus, she could not dislike the inspiring leader. Yes he was only a mech, and not some messiah, but he was still the best of them under a burden she would never want. 

Her thoughts about the previous Prime, Sentinel, were far more mixed and less gracious. She existed because of him at the very least. Yes she had suited her purpose but she was among the fortunate.