Towing A Seeker Along

Central Tyger Pax - Tyger Pax

A pair of Vector Sentinels gaze down at you as you climb the stairs leading into the city proper...

A grid of streets expands out from the central colonnade of Tyger Pax. The various buildings in the city are used for meetings, office space, and residential centers for visiting dignitaries. Open air theatres dot the city, and swarms of Keepers, mechs dedicated to the upkeep and running of the city, quietly hustle to their destinations.

On the far side of Tyger Pax, overlooking the city on a steep acropolis, is the massive structure called Parthaplex, a silver and blue urban titan recalling a similar Autobot city fortress. It is here that Cybertron's highest councils meet. If the Great War were to end tomorrow, this is where the treaty would be signed.

Torque wasn't happy in the slightest to be doing this. After her previous meeting with Backfire she's not all that eager to see him again, but.. damn that Specter. Hopefully this doesn't lead her into getting shot again, but maybe the Con will have enough sense to obey the observance of no combat in the city of Tyger Pax. The city seemed far safer than your typical bar, so this is where Torque awaits him after sending out a radio summons.

Taking up space on a bench in the city center, Torque is unaware of the hustle and bustle of neutrals walking the streets, instead busy slumping under the weight of her own thoughts. Can she even convince him to tell her his plans? The medic isn't exactly known for her subterfuge.. so we'll see.

Roaring overhead like a proverbial peacock trying to impress its quarry, a familar F-16 jets streaks into view and washes the area in afterburn. Circling once, the Seeker pulls off a quite impressive turn considering the gravity at play.

All of which is RUINED when he smashes into a nearby building. Thankfully, the small store was condemned and up for demolition next cycle. Some Constructobots give a cheer when Backfire emerges from the wreckage, debris still riddled over his frame. Shooting them a look that could kill, the dimwit Decepticon meanders towards Torque and the bench.

"Ah, my prize awaits." he cheerfully smiles, steepling his hands in front of him. "I assumed when you said 'urgent matter' you meant officially coming to work for the EMPIRE!" he shouts, assuming a pose.

"Right?"

The F-16C Agile Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal.. BACKFIRE!!

Torque's antennas twitch at the sudden shift in the air upon the seeker's arrival, familiar roar of engines drawing her gaze up just in time to watch him plow straight into a store. Oh primus.. The femme sighs deeply in mild relief when he emerges mostly unharmed and looks up to eye his heroic pose.

"Not exactly.." She says with a weary smile and pats the spot beside her. "I just wanted to talk, actually. Things have been a bit crazy, so I thought it'd be nice to just chat with a familiar face. And hey, maybe you can convince me by the end of it, eh?"

"Just as long as you keep those.." he trails, pointing at her hands. Her large, glorious, delicious, gentle, strong, soothing, comforting, hands. His optics glint of adoration, sizing up their delicate shape.. obviously crafted, envisioned, divined by the Maker. Such..

Snapping out of his mini trance, "Mitts off of me." Taking the seat, Backfire leans back and puts his hands behind his head in a comforted seating position. "Crazy? How so??"

Torque blinks and follows his enamoured stare to her hands, smirking now as she wiggles her digits teasingly. "Wouldn't dream of it here. We're in a no fighting zone, so I intend to stick to it." Leaning back as well, Torue folds hands in her lap and fixes optics ahead at nothing in particular, more focused at the thoughts bubbling to the surface behind them in her mind. How to go about this..

"Well.." She begins, brows creasing and amber optics flitting to him briefly in a sidelong glance. "I suppose because of you at Tyrest. I heard about what happened, and I thought it was.. odd. Have you been feeling alright? I hear you were acting strangely then.." She poses the question as medical concern, trying to focus on him while inadvertantly seeking information.

"Feel alright?" Backfire looks puzzled, considering the question.

Inside his head, two brain cells are at a constant civil war.. everything else is dead or dying.

"Of course, why wouldn't I??" he asks, suddenly it dawns on him. "Wait, you're worried about MY well being.. aren't you Torque??" he smiles wide. From the relaxed arm position, the Seeker yawns big and attempts to slip on around her neck.

"I mean, other than the core surges."

"Uhh.." But before Torque can answer she feels an arm wrapping not so subtly around her. "Per.. Perhaps.." She mutters weakly, giving in and allowing him instead of straight up punching him like she usually would. Flustering manifests in a faint blush, but in reality she's just battling against several things. Bleeding heart, so to speak, wants to help him, wretching insides want to get away, and dutiful mind to keep her end of he bargain forces her to stay. Ugh... Wait, what?

"Core surges?" A spark of alarm glints in her optics when turning to look at him fully. "What core surges?" They narrow while examining him with medical precision. "Are they.. much of an issue?"

"Hah, not for long!" Backfire grins, leaning in closer. Pointing off in a random direction in the night's sky, the Seeker begins to ramble. "You see, once Farsight figures these surges out.. he said something about science, and well you know me. So anyway, Flatline is gonna make sure he fixes my lasercore with all this stuff we're stealing." he pauses, taking a breath.

Even though Transformers don't breathe.

"Then Torque, you and me.. we'll travel the STARS."

Backfire gives Torque the Stars. Bitches love the Stars.

Torque is all audials at this point, listening to every crazy word the mech rambles off. The closeness is.. slightly offputing, but she endures for the sake of the mission. "So that's what you're doing? Trying to fix yourself?" She frowns inwardly in thought. "And you don't remember any of the.. sciencey details Farsight mentioned?"

She then blinks at the mention of stars and peers up at the infinite sky looming over the city. "That.. would be nice." The femme smirks weakly at him, mentally cursing herself for giving him false hope like that. Con or not, it still bothers her to do it.

"Of course!"

Suddenly standing, Backfire tugs on Torque's arm to pull her up with him. "Can't you picture it now? You, me, drifting aimlessly amongst the stars spreading the embrace of the EMPIRE?? It'll be perfect." Still staring out at the sky, he scratches the side of his head. "Uhh, not really. I mean, I am a TRAINED nurse and all.. but usually I just weld stuff to tables. Something about it being unstable.. needing reinforcement.. needing stabilizers for my unique energon flow."

Combat: Backfire compares his Strength to Torque's Strength: Failure :(

Even though he's failed, Backfire still tugs at Torque's arm in vain.

"Er.." Torque is essentially a stone on the bench, not moving much at Backfire's weak attempts to shift her. "I suppose.. I've never actually been in space before." His further efforts draw a grunt from the femme and she finally stands. "Just hold on, alright? If this is such an issue, why not have your medics fix it? ..Do they even know about it?" She presses him for info now, needing to know the extent of this for the report. They'd have to know about Backfire's medical history, he's on their side! But then Con medicine tends to lean towards the malevolent than the helpful. "I can take a look, if you'd like."

"See, that's the thing!" Backfire smiles again, releasing his hold on Torque's arm. "I'm soooooooooooo special, they couldn't figure it out! Shockwave himself once said there is no way I should be functional, let alone capable of coherent thought!!"

Welllllllll, that explains a lot.. actually.

"So Flatline had this theory that my lasercore has been working overtime with my energon frequency or something.. so they need to upgrade it. Then, maybe the surges will stop?" he asks, not really sure himself. This is the first time someone has asked him anything during this process, actually. Well, the other Cons still care right.. they're just busy with other stuff. Right?

"Yeah, totally.. we can head back to base whenever you're ready. You should meet Farsight, he's so funny." Backfire rambles, attempting to mimic the neutral scientist. "That is very logical and stuff. Ow, stop hitting me!" he laughs, grabbing for Torque's hand.

"Do you need to get any of your things?"

Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Backfire strikes Torque with his You're Moving Into My Place!! (Grab) attack!

Wow, that's.. rather sad. Which part, you might ask? Well.. pretty much all of it! Torque has such a hard time wrapping her head around Backfire. The mech's an enigma and should very well NOT be functioning what with no visible processor. "I see.. and Farsight fits into this how? ..Hold on, what did you say?"

Optics fly wide when hands meet and her mind tries to replay a few sentences back. "Base?? H-Hold on, Backfire!" She mentally and physically reels, not much effort being used in order to keep him in place. "I haven't even made up my mind yet. And.." Crap, think fast! "And even if I did, everyone would be super suspicious. An Autobot suddenly deciding to become a Decepticon?" Torque shakes her head, trying to play up the act. "They'd probably try to interrogate me, and I'm sure you know how that goes. No.. best to play it under wraps for now.. okay?" Please work..

"Why? I've been telling them the last six terran years that you've been a mole for me." Backfire reels from her reeling, which just looks weird. "Because you wanted to evaluate me.. right? I mean, why else would you call me out here? Isn't that why?" he sputters, broken.

Not just on the inside, but also the outside. The one vulnerable chink in his armor, the one achilles heel exposed, left open for an arrowhead to pierce. That arrowhead is reality. And that reality, it comes crashing down upon him.

"Why ELSE would you call me out here, Torque??" he seethes with sudden anger, an orange crackle sparking from his knuckle as its clenched in a fist.

He did WHAT?! If Torque had less control then she would lay him out right here despite the risk, but.. damnit, she can't. It would be a much better answer than the one Backfire is seeking now as hostilities rise. "Because.. because..." She stammers, looking alarmed and desperately searching for the right words. "..I care about you and wanted to make sure you were okay..?" She ventures carefully through a wince.

"LIES!" he roars, stepping back from Torque with the tenacity reserved for Decepticon leaders and bigguns like Scorponok. The pavement cracks under his right foot, tiny fissures jutting out haphazardly like small rivers being created. "LIAR, you're.. you're.."

Sputtering, the Seeker un-tenses and allows his hands to relax. The orange energy that crackled before dissipates. Backfire's roaring turns into a sob.

"You.. your.. a liar." he blinks, mouth agape in timid fear. "You.. lied."

Torque's proverbial hairs stand on end in surprise at Backfire's roar, shrinking back a step. She may be smarter and able to take a fair beating, but the seeker is a powerhouse with the payload he can dish out. One on one she'd lose.. and she has.

The medic is on the cusp of fleeing, but then sobs catch her audial and make her freeze. Is he.. genuinely sad because of this? Primus, what is she doing.. "I'm.. I'm not lying!" She rebukes him, deciding to speak her mind and hopefully calm him down. "Damnit, Backfire, I do care!" He'll find her suddenly stepping in to place strong hands on his shoulder and look him square in the optics. "I shouldn't give a frag about you or any other Con, but I can't stop myself from trying to help everyone! I even fixed you when I could have just left you to die on the road way back when. Can you honestly say the other Cons would have done the same? They don't even know you're sick right now!"

Bleeding heart is on overdrive right now and she can't stop herself from pouring it all out on the table like this. Damn her flaw, damn her caring! It just seems to bring more trouble!

"DO NOT TOUCH ME!" Backfire replies in kind, carefully peeling her hand from his shoulders with a super-heated set of glowing appendages. They sear to the touch, but nothing too damaging. More a show of force, than anything else. Steam rises from them, basking and wafting over the contorted sneer his face has become.

He glares at her for long fixed moments, strong hate boiling up in the well of his optics. "You have decieved me for the LAST time." he scowls, a finger pointed to her chest. "All this time I've been trying to convert you, you've just been laying seeds of doubt INSIDE me!" Backfire jerks a thumb towards his own chest, taking a couple of steps backward. "So yeah, they're busy with stuff. Why do you care anyways? I'm just your little project, play thing to pick up when you're bored?? Another project for you to fix, eh?" the Seeker gestures wildly, arms raised in the air. "Torque the tinkerer, what is she WITHOUT something to repair huh??" he accuses, the scowl turning into a blank face the only show of emotion the bottom lip quivering ever so slightly. "You know what, screw this!"

Jumping into the air, Backfire activates his thrusters and soars away as fast as his engines will carry him. Some afterwash from the thrusters might spill over the area.

<>

A shake, shudder, and shiver; and before your eyes BACKFIRE transforms into a F-16C Agile Falcon!

Combat: F-16C Agile Falcon  begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit.

Torque quickly retracts her hand from his burning touch, frowning while holding it and looking meekly to him. "That isn't true!" She pleads, but changing Backfire's mind is a difficult thing to do so she resigns to taking the verbal assault instead of argue. All the medic can do is remain quiet and draw inward, looking a far cry from the usually rough and tumble femme she tends to be.

Stepping back from the Con as he leaps upwards to retreat across the sky, Torque is left watching from the ground until he finally disappears. Once he does she sits upon the bench and silently places head in her hands with a burdened sigh. She's not looking forward to the upcoming report..

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===================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/191                    Posted        Author Backfire Intel                    Oct 25 2014   Torque --
 * Locked to Intel**
 * Autobot Spinny*

When the video begins, Torque can be seen sitting at a desk in her workshop, obviously tired despite trying to hide it. "At the request of /Specter/" The name is said with a hard edge, "I set up a meeting with Backfire, knowing his.. strange affinity for me. Lucky for me it didn't turn into another fight and I ended up learning a few things about the Tyrest attack."

Torque stands, the camera panning to follow her where she stands behinds a clearboard. On it is a silhouette of a seeker. "As I'm sure plenty of you have noticed, Backfire is.. special. Honestly, he's a medical marvel, what with no visible processor." She takes the laser-pen and draws a question mark in the head section. "Anyway, you may also be aware of his unusual energon, which is highly volatile and would kill a normal mech." Pen switches to green and she draws green lines along the extremities, drawing a lasercore in the center after.

"This appears to be having an effect on his lasercore after so much exposure, experiencing core surges as it grows more unstable. This is why he took Farsight, apparently, to help with this alongside a medic named Flatline." The femme takes her seat again and frowns. "He mentioned a plan to steal more things to fix this issue, so be on the lookout for him. This is all I could gather before he flew off, unfortunately, but hopefully it's enough to help. He.." She hesitates. "He wanted to take me back to base, and I probably would have learned more.. but you know, that likely would've gotten me killed. Anyway, that's all I've got, Torque out."

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 * Autobot Spinny**
 * TEXT ONLY**
 * Locked to Specter**

Don't EVER make me do anything like that again. And don't come around me anytime soon, got it?


 * END OF TEXT**

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