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.
Another Cybertronian might have missed the sharp invent covered by Soledad's laugh, or the slight widening of her eyes. Shadow had spent decades on Earth with nothing to do but observe the natives, their media, their public faces, and most importantly, when they thought they were alone. Soledad had been startled, or maybe scared, and Shadow couldn't decide if it was because she didn't want to reach her destination, or just an aversion to revealing that information.
Whatever Soledad was trying to avoid, though, Shadow didn't intend to deter the first signs the human was relaxing with her by asking more questions.
"I hear Wherever's nice this time of year," she said, deadpan. "Sorry about the detour through Oh Slag, Anywhere But Here. Hopefully your visit to Somewhere Else will help make up for it.
"I did the random traveling thing for a while," she offered. "Right after I arrived on your planet. Saw all sorts of interesting places." A beat, then, "Scrap, shouldn't have said that. There goes my hope of convincing you I'm from around these parts."
This time Soledad's laugh was louder, richer - more relieved. "Sorry to disappoint you," she grinned, "but I got the real scoop up in Anywhere-But-Here-Ville. Cat's out of the bag, as we say on this planet. ...Don't ask me where that phrase came from, I have no idea. Anyway, the point is I've got you all figured out." She poked Shadow's passenger seat for emphasis. "You are Not Of This World! You are a Visitor from Beyond the Stars! You... are possibly the coolest thing since the invention of cool, and I never say that lightly. Not that pulling me out of that glorified shoebox makes me biased or anything."
She left off poking and stretched in her seat, pulling her arms behind her head with an appreciative hum. "When you've got the time," she added, "you've got to tell me what you all are fighting over. The Eradicons didn't know, and Jetfire's information was out of date." It was probably pretty complicated, but history had been Soledad's best subject. Aside from auto shop.
There, a real laugh at last, and Soledad shifting and relaxing in her seat. A pleased hum ran through Shadow's systems, and she cheerfully kept up the game. "Nope, nothing alien about me. I'm from Michigan; you can google it."
Soledad's next question made her sober a bit, as she thought about her conversation with Jazz the night before. "What we're fighting over is...definitely going to take more time than we have right now," she said after a moment. "The reasons have changed, over the vorn, and I'm not going to pretend I have the kind of perspective to explain. The war's all I've ever known."
Another, longer pause, and then, more cheerfully, "Jazz would probably be willing to give you some background, though. Or I might be able to talk Steeljaw into it. He's a neutral, and I'm pretty sure he thinks I was raised on a woeful amount of Autobot propaganda." She laughed. "Between the two of them, you might get something like a clear picture."
Soledad pulled an arm over her eyes and sighed, frustrated. "A war that's consumed a whole planet, but nobody can tell me what it's about. Seems kinda messed up to me." Her lips quirked. "And yes, I know exactly how hypocritical that sounds coming from a human. 'That dictator has weapons of mass destruction! Whoopsie, guess he doesn't. But hey, as long as we're here...' Ugh."
The name 'Jazz' pinged something in her brain, but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe one of those monstrous Autobot warriors the Eradicons mentioned. She wondered how scared she should be, going to meet them. Shadow was an Autobot and she was awesome, but...
"So... can you tell me about Jazz, at least? And the other Autobots?" Ever so casual, ever so unconcerned.
Shadow didn't respond to Soledad's comments about the war. Not that she was necessarily wrong, just that she was so...dismissive about something which had been growing and changing since before her species had been born. Of course it was complicated, in ways that Shadow herself had only begun to scratch the surface of; complicated and messy and by sheer virtue of being a species-encompassing, planet-destroying war, "messed up."
She didn't say any of that, though, instead focusing on Soledad's question about the mecha she was about to meet until some of the annoyance had bled out of her.
"Jazz likes to see people happy, mostly. Unless you're a Con, in which case ruining your day is kind of his job; he organized that raid we pulled on the Nemesis." Shadow would have been grinning if she'd been in root mode, pleasure over a successful mission thrumming through her, and she was sure her affection was evident when she spoke. "He also authorized me to go back and get you, so...don't hold that against him? He's a good mech, he's good at his job, and he's..." Even in alt mode, a sigh gusted out of Shadow's vents, though she couldn't guess if the sound was noticeable to the human occupying her interior. "He's cohort. Family. I admit I'm biased, but I think you'll like him if you give him a chance."
She went silent, considering her next words, Soledad's dry mockery replaying in her processor. "I'm not going to pretend we're all alike," she said finally. "We aren't a monolith. We're here for different reasons - some of us fight in service to the Prime, some of us fight because we think the Autobots are the right side, some of us fight because it's all we've ever known.
"We're soldiers, and I'm not going to pretend we've never killed Decepticons, or that we won't kill Decepticons in the future, or even that some of us don't like killing Decepticons. I won't apologize for that, either, and if that means you don't want anything to do with us, the offer to take you anywhere you want still stands," she continued quietly. "The one thing I can promise you is that unlike Megatron or Starscream, our leader values freedom and he values human lives. We have human allies. We have human friends. And just like with Jazz, I think if you give most of us a chance, you'll like us."
That was the other thing she hadn't been looking forward to having to think about. Soledad squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the road. "I get it," she murmured.
For a moment she was tempted to take Shadow's offer to take her somewhere else. Anywhere else. She could go on as she had been, and try to forget the people she'd met in the alien warship. Forget Shadowrunner, who'd literally risked her life to save Soledad.
Her heart clenched. Jeff... Everyone... I'm sorry. Please be safe...
"I mean, what are you supposed to do when you get shot at? Not shoot back?" She forced a smile, though it came out more wry than she intended. "I don't want you to get hurt either. The Eradicons aren't bad people - mostly," she amended, "but the people they work for..." She shuddered. "If it's kill or be killed, then I'd rather they bite it."
Cohort; family. Soledad couldn't walk away.
"Just..." she added. "Don't tell me about it if you waste any Eradicons, huh?"
"I've been on the can't shoot back side of things, and I don't intend to be there again," Shadow said quietly. "But I promise not to tell you war stories, either." She forced a laugh. "And trust me, we'd all rather have Starscream in our sights."
She opened a comm to the Autobot base, turning off-road and picking up speed as she called for a ground bridge. Moments later, a vortex of green energy blossomed open, flaring for brief moments before car and passenger vanished within.
{{OOC: Setting up so Soledad can move on to other Bot-base tags and not be tied up by my hiatus. Carry on, madam.}}
Soledad was only fractionally more ready for her second groundbridge trip than she'd been for her first. She didn't squeak or grip at the steering wheel in her hands, or anything else embarrassing, but she felt her shoulders stiffen in anticipation as they entered the swirling green vortex. She expected a jolt, or a sudden surge of speed, or something to indicate they were suddenly traveling across hundreds of miles in an instant in defiance of the laws of physics as Soledad understood them, and it was almost vertigo-inducing when Shadowrunner's speed didn't change. She almost wished she'd closed her eyes: if she couldn't see the light show around her, she could pretend they were still on the nice safe familiar road.
The light started to shred in front of her, dissolving into darkness like a piece of paper held to a lit match, and the pitch of Shadowrunner's engine changed as she slowed. Highway speed gave way to 'pulling into your own driveway' speed; Soledad swallowed past a sudden nervous lump in her throat. This was Shadowrunner's home - the home of the Autobots. The green light faded out and faded out, forcing Soledad to blink rapidly as her eyes adjusted.
The room they emerged in was high-ceilinged (it'd have to be, wouldn't it?) and spacious as an aircraft hangar, its walls echoing with metal and stone. Soledad could see Autobot-sized display screens and consoles from behind Shadow's windows, and metal stairs leading up to a catwalk that would let humans speak with the bots on a roughly equal level. She wondered if that had been there when the Autobots moved in, or they'd built it to accomodate humans. Either way, it wasn't something she ever would have seen on the Decepticons' warship. Starscream would have considered it a waste of space.
Autobots really are different, she thought dazedly, peeling her hands off Shadow's steering wheel and opening the door to squirm out. "So this is home sweet home for you, huh?" she asked, shouldering her backpack. "It's..." It could have used the services of an interior decorator, in Soledad's opinion, but what did she know about alien robot ideas of good interior design anyway? "There's a lot of space," she amended, and was almost surprised when the thought made her grin. Room to run. Room to dance. Room to stretch. No more box! "I like it already."
((OOC: Anyone who's hanging around the bridge waiting for Shadow to get back could jump in now, I guess...?))
Jazz turned from the groundbridge controls, venting a sigh of relief at having Shadow back on-base. And in triumph, too!
He grinned as the human climbed out of Shadow's alt and looked around with every evidence of interest and excitement. Shadow had briefed him on her status, but it was good to see with his own optics that she seemed much more excited than traumatized.
When the human's gaze turned to him, he made sure he was kneeling on one knee to make himself smaller, smiling, and waving in a friendly fashion. "Hey there! Name's Jazz. Welcome! Our human medical staff wants to take a look at you to check you over. You need anything, you just ask, 'kay?"
Jazz got a good frame of Soledad's face and sent a thread off with that and her name. Fowler'd likely be able to figure out who she was, but hey, Fowler wasn't here, and Jazz and Google were. And it was always nice to know whether there was someone out there looking for her.
Shadow transformed as soon as Soledad had moved a safe distance away, her field an effervescent mix of pleasure at a mission pulled off without a hitch, delight at the human currently trying to take in the entirety of their base with one sweeping look, and simple happiness at being safely home and in proximity of cohort.
Home sweet home. As trite as the human saying was, Shadow couldn't deny it was true. She grinned at Jazz, watching him kneel to a more human-friendly height, and crossed to sit beside him, one arm resting across her drawn up knees. Not an entirely spontaneous gesture - cohort, she'd told Soledad, and trustworthy, and she felt the need to reinforce both messages through her actions - but the slight sideways sway, gentle brush of frame against frame, held no ulterior motive but affection.
::She hasn't given me any reason to doubt her story,:: she sent through short range comm, appending a highly-compressed copy of what she'd overheard between Soledad and Jetfire to him, plus the highlights of her own conversation with the human. ::She was a little shaky when we first got off the Nemesis, but she didn't try to run, even when I handed her an ATM card and gave her every opportunity. I think we can trust her.::
She didn't add that she wanted to trust Soledad; that, Jazz would pick up without words.
Lingering back behind the controls, Maximus silently watched the happy scene unfold. Originally he had come to the control room for the consoles, and then to speak with Jazz. He had only heard of the escape mission through that conversation, and despite his reluctance to mingle he had to admit he had been curious to see what the outcome would be. The irony of a former warden watching a prisoner escape had not been lost on him.
It looked as if the escape had been nothing short of a success. The girl looked a little worn for her experience at the hands of the Decepticons, but otherwise well. Excited to be at the base. It struck him that she was the first human he had ever seen. Maximus struggled to sum up his first impression of the species and was a little pained when the best he could come up with was 'small.'
He watched Jazz greet the girl in a friendly manner, and the unfamiliar black femme step over to sit beside him. She looked pleased as well. She should be. From what little he knew it was a mission that had been pulled off cleanly and well. A prisoner rescued from the Decepticons was something to celebrate indeed. Not wishing to interrupt, Maximus remained where he was, still and quiet.
The first Autobot to greet her in their base was a smallish silver mech - relatively small compared to what she was used to at least - who made himself even smaller by taking a knee before he addressed her with the friendly tones, and with the friendly smile, of a well-meaning guidance counselor. Soledad smiled back obligingly, though she stayed right by Shadow's leg when she transformed, and when Shadow moved to sit beside Jazz, Soledad moved too, placing herself so that Shadow was - just a little - between herself and Jazz.
So this is Jazz - the architect of the raid, Soledad thought. Then, I wonder if Shadow told him about Jeff telling her to shoo.
"Nice to meet you," she answered, putting on her best Meeting The Parents manners. "My name's Soledad. Shadow mentioned you. She seems to like you - though she also seems to like me, so I question her taste in people." She grinned, inviting Jazz to share in the joke. "Honestly, I think all I need right now is a shower. Do you have human-sized showers here? Because, well." She waved a hand vaguely. "Autobot-sized shower, you know. I'd probably need a life jacket or something."
((OOC: Fort Max, Sole doesn't notice you yet. When you move or speak she will jump a mile; you may use this knowledge for good or evil as you will. >;D
Edited to be more compliant with character movement.))
"We do, indeed, have human-sized showers," Jazz said cheerfully. "We also have human-sized food, human-sized bunks, and human-sized rec room furniture complete with every human-sized video game system known to humankind, though I imagine that June's gonna demand you hit the other stuff before that last one."
Jazz's optics flicked up to Shadow, whose field was so full of hope and "can I keep it, huh, huh?" that Jazz was surprised Soledad didn't have a tail. And as much as Jazz disliked the security implications of pulling in stray humans.... ::Probably can. She seems nice enough and not inclined to run away screaming. Also in good shape, which is totally your fault. Good job, Shadow.:: His words were ringed with modifiers for professional and cohortly pride. ::You did an excellent job. If I'd known that you'd have that little trouble, I'd've had you raid the gummy stash, too, on your way out.::
::Thank you, sir.:: The formal military glyphs fell away, replaced by the easy familiarity of cohort as Shadow reached into her subspace and pulled out a lumpy metal mesh packet. ::I hit the gummy stash on the way in.:: She tucked her spoils into Jazz's nearest servo; she had half a dozen more well-stuffed containers where that had come from, and Jazz was cohort. Shrugging one shoulder at the LOOK Jazz gave her, she added, ::Jaws likes sweets. So does Bumblebee. And it's not like we're going to get another chance to raid the Nemesis any time soon.::
Soledad muffled a giggle at the passing of the energon goodies - she knew what they were, from watching the Eradicons use them as currency. She'd even been allowed to play with one in her enclosure. She'd used it to teach them about basketball.
"There's video games?" she asked. "Seriously?" She felt her grin stretch, incredulous and delighted. "Okay, I officially love this place. Can I stay here forever? I promise I don't take up much room. And, um, I can fix engines, and do wax jobs, and sing."
She was totally kidding, of course. Not at all praying that they'd say yes.