Ep1.5 - 'Croupier' - Closed

[Deleted]

<<OOC: For Roulette! Set at the end of Month 2>>

Their forces were still weakened, still scattered in defense of their resources and the limping ship, but things were no longer critical for the Decepticon flagship. The last small mine en-route to the emergency stock in north Asia had, for the first time in this staggered flight, produced more fuel than was necessary to get to the next stop. Eradicons were finally being rebuilt as opposed to just repaired, the structural integrity of the ship was stable enough to put on more speed, and the crew's rations had increased from 'just enough not to self-cannibalize'.

Despite the notable improvements, however, Megatron still broadcast a particular ominous frequency through his colossal field. They were due to arrive at the stockpile in eleven hours - the middle of the night, local time - but collection was not necessarily going to be straightforward. Optimus had been using their stolen fuel to make attacks on energon mines in addition to hunting down the Nemesis. There was nothing to suggest that the Autobots were aware of the Asia cache, but they could ill-afford the loss of more soldiers should they be unprepared.

Megatron stalked through one of the largest passages of the ship towards the Eradicon fabrication center. The large automated machinery that had cold-constructed the drones from start to finish were long gone, but an assembly line of sorts existed on-board. It was Breakdown's department, and whilst the mech's reports had been timely and thorough, Megatron wanted to see for himself how the replenishment of their common soldiers was coming.

Rounding a particularly dark corner and the scaffolding of a repair crew working on the dismantled ceiling, Megatron caught sight of a Decepticon he had not yet laid eyes upon. Roulette had been brought aboard, checked by Knock Out and put straight to work with only the barest report of her status forwarded to him. Megatron recalled her profession and, only slowing his stride to a pace that her small legs could match, beckoned her.

"Roulette: walk with me."

[Deleted]

Getting out of the cluster fluck of a touchdown to the planet had been a nightmare. Not even the memory of Air Raid’s nice aft could take the sting out of such an unprofessional arrival. She’d seen novices operate better and with more tact than her introduction to the Nemesis. And having to get on another, much larger ship, made her want to shriek because if her last trip had given her anything it was less of a fondness for the damn unstable transports.

Then she noted the ship was already damaged…it had nearly taken a drone to force her onto the ship at that point. She’d feigned her reluctance for a mild injury and was escorted to the medbay which had been the only bright side of the entire debacle. Chatting away with the medic had given her a chance to relax and find her center, so to speak.

Surrounded by Decepticons, she was back in her element and had a clear job to do. When she didn’t have a job, she tended to get…fuzzy about things. She didn’t like that feeling and what thoughts it brought about. Thoughts led to questions and she never had answers. So she’d eagerly agreed to join in any work they chucked her way to distract and keep a low profile on the ship.

And it had gone grandly until she noted the big bad himself stalking down the corridor. Internally she cringed and tried to keep her armor from poofing up like a startled bird. It wasn’t that she was scared of the higher ranking Cons…she was fragging terrified of them in the way one could be terrified of certain doom heading one’s way. It was like watching a silver glacier bearing down on her. If she was lucky, he’d just keep on go-

"Roulette: walk with me."

FRAG ME RUNNING SIDEWAYS. Outside she just looked up at him, trying to tone down the wary to a respectable level while inside she cursed her luck, the ship, and anything else that passed rabbit quick through her mind. The fact that he’d slowed his stride (and my, what a large stride he had) for her was just so very ominous.

Mutely she matched his pace, trying to speed up her steps so he wasn’t going too slow. It occurred to her that she honestly had no clue how to speak to a higher rank than say, a captain of a ship. She’d barely had any doings with Shockwave at all and had been so low tier that she’d never needed the language skills to talk to a superior. And Megatron wasn’t just a superior, he was the superior.

I’m going to say something stupid and get my ass blown into pieces…

[Deleted]

The femme fell into grim step, radiating an appropriate albeit excessive amount of terror at being in his close presence for the first time. Roulette remained silent as they cleaved a path through another group of Eradicons, the awakened pausing in their mutterings over schematics and the drones straightening mutely as their CO passed.

Since his return from intervening in the fight between the Eradicons and Fortress Maximus, during which Optimus had been promisingly crippled, Megatron had noticed a lessening in the anxiety his shock troopers expressed in his presence. Now, there was none of the tight crackles in their communal field that indicated a reflection to that dark period when Barricade was absent, and the semi-formed alignment bond taxed to sanity-wrecked extremes. The tightening of their fields to their frames was an automatic and submissive gesture, and entirely normal in light of the sour mood the warlord himself was broadcasting.

They had suffered the brunt of his psychosis then, but his sword halting the killing blow to one of the awakened Vehicons seemed to have helped to restore their absolute loyalty.

Megatron did not waste time or processor threads wondering how Roulette had found reporting in to a limping flagship with a diminished crew and orders to make herself immediately useful. She was unknown to him, unproven in his mind, and he gave her no impression of thinking otherwise.

"You will be accompanying the miners in transporting energon from our emergency cache tomorrow in case the Autobots have caught wind of its location," he stated plainly. The massive spikes adorning his shoulders made it almost impossible to see her even peripherally, but he felt the glow of her EM keeping to heel. "Lieutenant Barricade will be overseeing the operation. You will report directly to him. Make sure that you are armed and ready."

[Deleted]

Well, she didn’t have to worry about talking at all. Seems the Big Bad had little to say except for a pointed order. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or exasperated. While she didn’t mind orders (indeed, that’s how she found purpose after all) she did find it nearly…irritating under the circumstances.

I would gamble that he wouldn’t have ordered me to do anything if he hadn’t spotted me. I doubt he would have noticed I was even on the ship until much later. I should have capitalized on this moment!

But, what was done was done. She couldn’t very well flee off into the deeps of the ship without his noticing. It would take a moment or two, given how tiny she was compared to him. She was walking in a blind spot and had no plans to leave that location unless he said something. Though, this close to him he could easily just reach out and grab or backhand her across the hallway.

“Of course, my Lord.” She didn’t look at him as she continued to walk beside him. He hadn’t dismissed her yet and she wasn’t stupid enough to walk away without a dismissal. Though, it occurred to her she had no idea where Barricade even was. Asking seemed rude and not asking seemed stupid.

[Deleted]

Her response had been a simple acknowledgement of his orders and nothing more. Fitting for a Decepticon in their first direct contact with their Lord, but not quite what Megatron had been expecting from the femme. She was of a reasonably solid build and above average intelligence, new to the flagship and yet to define her place in its mid-tier hierarchy.

He had been expecting something more, and her flatness invoked just enough of his curiosity to keep her present as he made his way to the assembly room.

"You served directly beneath Shockwave during a part of his tenure on Cybertron," he said, mentally skimming through her rather thin record. "What has brought you to the front line, alone and bearing no significant news or resources? Not that your skills are not valuable, or that you will not be put to good use. It is just... unusual."

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Mentally, Roulette smirked. Outwardly her face didn't change but to shift her gaze in his direction for a moment. She wouldn't have pegged their commander to be so curious, but she amended to herself, she didn't really know anything personal about him. Primus knew what went through that mech's mind and she wasn't about to make it a habit to find out.

Serving under Shockwave was a dubious honor, but it was an honor. The mech was brilliant in the fields of science. Unfortunately as smart as he was, he subscribed to a belief that appeared to put his experiments and methods before his fellow mechs. Roulette was loyal to the Decepticon cause but she'd be damned if she was going to be a guinea pig-o-tron because he had time on his hands and a passing idea. Of course, she couldn't very well say that to Lord Megatron without sounding petulant or at worse, unreliable. She mentally ferreted out a middle ground for her reasons for leaving Cybertron.

"The planet has seen less activity and a sniper with no target is just wasted resources. My skills would not bolster Shockwave as I am not not a scientist and find the field tedious at best." She looked away from him with a jerk of her head. Why had she said that? That was just a touch too much information that he didn't need.

Well, nothing for it. I'm not going back on what I just said.

[Deleted]

Megatron smiled just enough to expose the tips of his sharpened teeth. That was more like what he'd expected.

"Ambition to kill without rage or a simple lust for violence is a desire to cultivate, and there are many targets of a high profile here on Earth. The Autobots have begun to align themselves with the native military forces, and though the humans in themselves are vulnerable, their technology is not nearly so weak." Megatron stopped a hundred yards short of the manufacturing plant, turning to look down upon Roulette properly. "It is also advancing from exposure to our own. You should find them... engaging in addition to Optimus Prime's handful of soldiers."

Professional snipers (unlike soldiers who happened to be the best shot in their squad and tended to get sent up towers because of it) were a mixed bunch of personality quirks, but arrogance was common. It was an inevitable outcome of the power they wielded: ending lives without getting close themselves, aloof from brawling violence and the feral brutality that came from pain.

Roulette was a sharp shooter, not strictly a sniper, but the latter was a more valuable skill. Dozens of Eradicons could flood a site of battle and shoot competently, but a sniper the Autobots were not aware of could make a significant difference with a single round at the right moment.

"You will be 'bridged to the surface with Barricade and a squadron ahead of the Nemesis to survey the area and secure a vantage point." Megatron forwarded a datapack of the site to the femme as he spoke, meticulously prepared by Soundwave. "If the Autobots do arrive with human support, don't expose your position for anything less than a Cybertronian. The humans are more valuable as hostages."

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From what she'd seen of the humans, they were passingly interesting. Mostly it was their ambition that made them so notable. They weren't fast? They made machines to compensate. They couldn't fly? Again, they turned to machines. Whatever physical and mental deficiencies they possessed was rivaled by their sheer gall. It was almost admirable if she didn't think they were going to be a big pain in the aft at the end of the day.

She accepted the datapack without a second thought, flicking through it as she listened to her orders. She'd always been a fast reader and learner. Had to in the Decepticon pecking order.

"Are there any particular human targets I should keep my sights on?"

[Deleted]

A prudent question for a sharp-shooter: micro over macro.

"The organization seeking to acquire Cybertronian subjects, known as MECH, do not appear to be aligned with the Autobots. Of those that fight alongside Optimus and his team in a militaristic capacity, we have little data." The remark was electromagnetically wreathed in modifiers of temporary/in-progress/agent-in-field

Megatron's next transmission to the subordinate was of a temporary streaming channel, which was accepted as quickly as the datapack had been. "However, these four are of note." The quick-cut montage contained pinwheeling shots of a man in a suit flying a V-tol jet, and more stable but distant footage of him on the ground. "Agent William Fowler is the liaison between the Autobots and the human government. Commander Starscream held him for interrogation last cycle, but he was liberated before giving up anything of significance."

A tight, chilled shadow rippled across the massive frame, there and gone again. Though Megatron dealt decisively with his second in command's occasional incompetence and gross errors in judgement, he did not ever forget the mistakes.

The streamed images shifted to shaky footage taken by multiple Eradicons across several fights and patrols. A human female holding up a phone was the most frequent face, often with the older male pulling her back.

"These three children have been exposed to us as.... pet companions of the Autobots. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee, specifically." Megatron's mouthplates lifted unpleasantly, the scars in his mesh angling in and highlighting his sharpened dente. "Their value lies in sentimentality."

[Deleted]

She wasn't...surprised that the Autobots had latched onto the local wildlife. They were sentimental idiots at the best of times. But during a war? Bad show, dear friends. They should know better than leaving such bases uncovered and vulnerable. Having assets that were so breakable was just begging for trouble.

Roulette crossed her arms, settling one hand against her side and tapped the slender finger as she thought. "Not very bright of them." She didn't have to suggest what sort of value the humans had. It was very obvious even to the lowest, slowest drone. Grab one of them and watch the Autobot guardians stumble to their knees. It was something to file away for later should the need arise.

"Is MECH going to be a problem?"

[Deleted]

The warlord's answer was a negative grunt, his attention diverted elsewhere. Starscream had engaged a group of NEST fliers, and they appeared to be accompanied (and advised) by an Aerialbot.

Breakdown could wait. The Autobot flier needed to be identified, if not shot down. Megatron hoped that this individual was alone, and not part of a trine in Prime's team. He would not see their aerial supremacy at all threatened.

Optics narrowing as he linked in to Soundwave's monitoring feed -now streaming the dogfight between the Decepticons and Autobot/Humans in the air, Megatron dismissed Roulette with a sharp glyph. "Report to Barricade and see to it that you are useful."

Giving the femme his back, Megatron returned back down the concourse with thunderous steps. The Eradicons shifted in his wake, visors eyeing Roulette with no small measure of curiosity.


<<OOC: To you to close?>>

[Deleted]

The question she'd asked would just have to wait for another day, it seemed. Roulette was hardly surprised at the abrupt dismissal. She'd received her orders and the warlord didn't seem the type to gossip. Not at all like his chatty CMO.

Watching Lord Megatron stalk away (honestly, could he do anything else?) found herself to be the object of scrutiny in his wake. The idle thought of putting on a dramatic flounce just to stir up gossip among the ranks tickled her processor but she doubted the fall out would be worth turning the rumor mill. Instead she gave her field a teasing pulse and gave them a wink, before heading back the way they'd walked, leaving the drones behind. She had work to do and Barricade to find.