Shard Hoppin' and Therapy

You send a radio message to Whirl: Alright whirlybird, I'm bored, where are ya' so I can pummel ya'?

You receive a radio message from Whirl: Air Raid? Is that you?! Wow, long time...wait a minute, you're on Cybertron too? No kidding! I'm in Magnaron...well, I /think/ it's Magnaron. Looks a lot different than the way I remember. West on the New Cyber Highway from Iahex.

You send a radio message to Whirl: Magnaron huh... prepare to get Raided! (death metal cranks up)

Magnaron

''Millions of years ago, Magnaron was the biggest intersection on Cybertron, which gave it serious strategic value, and because of that, nowhere else on Cybertron has seen so much fighting. Over the years, Magnaron was transformed from an intersection into a blast crater, a lake of toxic waste, a deep abyss from one of Unicron's pincers, and a lake full of Quintessa's water, a memento of the Quintessons' attempt to retake Cybertron.''

''This, its latest incarnation, is the result of the structural stresses of the recent move to the Alpha Centauri system. The abyss, the lake, are no more, sealed by the compression of the crust. Instead, a huge but shallow depression marks the location of some of the fiercest conflicts on Cybertron. Overhead, bloody-hued Mia hangs in the starlit night sky like an ominous portent of violence to come.''

Whirl is perched on top of one of the crystal 'trees', one that's partially fallen so that it's leaning against a few others. His knees are bent so that he's almost squating there. He might be hard to spot, if his blue color scheme didn't clash so much with the clear crystals.

Whirl raises one clawed pincer-hand to wave at Air Raid, but doesn't move from his spot.

F-15 Eagle  wasn't kidding. The moment he spots Whirl he makes a sharp dive into the 'forest', twisting vertically so he could weave between the shards. He was aiming to knock poor Whirl straight off his perch with the very tip of his wing, cackling like an idiot. "KAPOW!"

Whirl's waving slows, and then his hand freezes in place as Air Raid flies closer and closer...in fact, he's coming STRAIGHT AT WHIRL! Whirl starts to straighten up, but then has to dive sideways to avoid getting pegged by the wingtip. Whirl tumbles once, sliding down the angled side of the leaning shard he was on, then manages to shift so that he's sliding down feet-first. He sets one of his clawed hands on the crystalling surface to slow and then halt his descent, just before reaching the base of the 'tree.'

"AIR RAAAAAIDD!!" he bellows in a thundering voice.

Then his voice turns amused. "That was great!"

"Ahaha!" Raid twirls and banks back into the air, his death metal still blasting from his cockpit - it was a wonder the glass was still intact. "Ya'damn right it was," he boasts, "Get your aft in the air! Or do I have to smash you from the ground?" He circles and aims his nosecone back at the chopper, looking to possibly impale Whirl if the mech wasn't fast enough.

Whirl watches Air Raid coming back for another pass, but he seems ready for him this time. "In the air? C'mon, we both know--" He pushes off from his crystal shard and leaps for another one dozens of meters away. "--there's no way I can keep up--" This column is tall and thin, like a pillar. Whirl's lanky frame stretches with both arms extended to get more reach, then his hands close on the sides of the crsytalline surface just as the Aerialbot streaks through Whirl's previous position. "--with those two big engines!" Whirl's legs swing out to the side and then whip 180 degrees around the giant spike, feet finally making contact with the stalactite on the opposite side. He plants his feet against the column to brace himself against his hands, holding him in place as he finishes his sentence. "But I can still get you on the turns!"

Fairway puts his hands on his hips. "And what's this?" He says, unsure whether or not his voice is even audible from where he is.

"You leave my big engines out of this!" Raid calls, laughing, and finally turns down his music just in time to hear Fairway. He descends and transforms midair, landing heavily on his feet neary Whirl. A solid kick is delivered to the crystaline column Whirl is braced against, perhaps to shake him down. He was adamant about wrestling. "What's what?" he asks Fairway.

Air Raid folds and compacts, transforming into his robot mode.

Fairway smiles at Air Raid. "A friendly competition, hmm?" He looks to Whirl. "I don't think I've met either of you yet. I'm Fairway." He doesn't wish to interfere, so he just sits back and doesn't say anything more.

Whirl tries to hold on tighter to the crystal 'tree' as Air Raid kicks it, but begins to slide down. Then Whirl releases his handholds and straightens his body again, launching himself away, across the space to the next shard, this one part of a copse of crystal fragments. A mid-air twist lets Whirl land feet-first on a small outcropping of crystal. Then he turns back to look at the Aerialbot. "See if you can catch up Air Raid!"

Turning his attention to Fairway briefly, he waves one pincer-like hand. "Whirl's the name! And aerial acrobatics is the game! C'mon, I bet even you can get in on this one."

Air Raid points at the DeLorean, "Fairway, I know that name, heard about you from a friend through a friend through another friend. Don't worry, good things!" He hums the theme from Back to the Future. "Bet a lot of people pester you about that, eh?" he asks while darting after Whirl, motioning for Fairway to come along. "His name ain't Whirl, it's ProtectobotReject."

Fairway chuckles. "Indeed, I do hear a lot about that movie. I have only recently seen it." He wrings his hands. "Crystal hopping, eh? Well, I'm game, I suppose, though I know not how well I will perform by comparison." He approaches the nearest crystal and does his best to scramble up the side of it. It's quite hard, and he thinks he looks pretty silly.

Whirl watches Air Raid getting closer, then begins shuffling sideways along the ledge-like outcropping of crystal on his shard. He edges as far as he can go, but the ledge becomes less pronounced as he goes until it's dwindled to nothing more than a slight ridge. Whirl drops and grips the ridge with his pincer's, then begins shifting sideways, moving hand-over-hand like a rock climber - or a lead climber, to be precise. He even gouges out chunks of crystal as he goes to make convenient handholds for the others. He leads the way around the radius of the huge crystal shard until he can reach the next one in the cluster, then scrabbles for a grip on that one. "Protectobot?" he calls back to Air Raid as he goes. "Oh, you mean Blades? Yeah, he's cool...a little slow maybe, and I'm not just talking about his airspeed. But you gotta admire that attitude!"

"Just don't get skewered!" Yes, Fairway looks silly, to Air Raid anyway. Let's all have a good laugh at the be'wheeled mech. Raid lingers to watch him for a moment then continues the pursuit, following the path Whirl had laid out. "Yeah I guess," Raid grunts as he climbs sideways along the large shard, "Though he's an ex-'con, and sometimes he acts like it. You ever see him go berserker in a fight?"

Fairway isn't exactly sure what to do now that he's up here. He makes his clumsy way up to a ledge and stands with his arms out, weaving back and forth. This isn't quite his bailywick. "I've heard tell of Blades," he calls out, "and wouldn't want to meet him on a bad day."

"Berserker?" Whirl repeats. "In a fight? No, I can't say that I have," he admits. "In a fight, I'm usually kind of...um...well, let's just say I'm not always completely observant myself in combat. Not of other Autobots, at least. The Decepticons, I keep my optic on them all right, but I kind of assume that I don't have to worry too much about other 'Bots in a fight." Probably a side-effect of fighting with the other Wreckers all those years. "And as for being an ex-Con, well..." Whirl comes to a stop on the wide top of a shard that's been truncated - probably fractured from some terrific impact. But the result is a large platform with space to accomodate all three Autobots. "As far as I'm concerned, it's the 'ex' part that counts."

Air Raid makes his way to the flattened surface and waits at the edge to help Fairway up. "Suppose you're right. Fireflight's not all that observant either but he gets the job done, and you do too." Turning to take in the view, Raid stretches his arms out and takes a deep vent, "Ah, the great outdoors!"

Fairway accepts Air Raid's help up. "Great indeed. Would that it were still in its original orbit . . . and unmarred by Unicron. You're an Aerialbot, yes?" He turns to Whirl. "It's good to meet both of you."

Whirl nods absently, also taking in the view. "Likewise." After a bit he nudges Air Raid. "Looks a little different when you're flying so high above it, huh?"

Air Raid gives a solid nod, "Yessir I am, and I look like a damn seeker, so sometimes people shoot at me out of instinct, it sucks! Hmm? Yeah, it looks like someone shattered a huge glass bottle and didn't clean it up. So Doc," he's referring to Fairway, "What's your function, standard warrior?"

Fairway nods. "It does. I have been among humans on Earth now for a few months, and have not seen much of that planet, but I have to say that I still cannot conceive of any Earthly view being a rival for any Cybertronian one." He turns to Raid. "I'm a mechanical engineer, friend. I'm been serving as a medic lately, which is not my speciality, but I'm growing quite fond of it."

Whirl tilts his head to one side, examining Fairway. "Medic, huh? Well, I guess it's got it's own kind of excitement. Running out in the middle of all the lasers and missiles, grabbing a downed buddy and dragging him out of harm's way, then patching him up so he can go scrap a few more Decepticons..." he nods approvingly. "You must be in high demand with all the action we're seeing lately on Earth and on Cybertron."

Fairway shrugs. "I suppose one could say so. I had the pleasure of performing a battlefield patch on Optimus Prime himself. That was...quite a thrill." He thinks a bit, looking out over Cybertron, and then amends his statement. "The current Optimus, anyway."

"Dunno' if I could handle a job like that," Raid shudders, and pauses. "Current Optimus. Do you doubt that it's truly him? You wouldn't be the first. Rumors are flyin' around left and right."

Whirl says, "Yeah...well, I hate to ruin the wonder of the moment and all," Whirl actually doesn't sound very sorry at all. "But it's not like this is the first time we've seen Optimus again. It's not the first time we've seen Hot Rod back, although it sounds like that's already over. But all of these Optimus sightings and returns we've had over the years...they might not usually turn out so great in the end, but one thing's for sure. They make things interesting!"

Fairway nods. "That's certainly true, friend Whirl. I want to believe this is really Optimus Prime. To tell the truth, it's Hi-Q I'm concerned about."

Air Raid arches an optic ridge at Fairway, "Why does he concern you?"

Fairway lowers his voice a little, as if he feels that what he's about to say is best not spread too far. "During the fight to retake the Crossroads at Polyhex, he fought with much brutality - even cruelty. This only abated for an instant, and immediately after he complained that Hi-Q was acting weird. I have to wonder whether or not Hi-Q may be part of what is making him so violent."

Air Raid looks fairly intrigued now. "No kidding...! I bet that's why! You're pretty smart Fairway," Raid notes, not particularly the brightest crayon in the box himself. "It makes sense. But we can't rid him of Hi-Q, so..."

Fairway nods again. "Quite right. But we could study Hi-Q. Find out everything there is to know about him - and if he has anything to hide."

"Hmm yeah...good idea," Raid nudges Whirl, or rather punches him in the shoulder, "Your thoughts?"

Whirl says, "Well, there's always another option. I mean, Hi-Q is a Nebulan, and organics are a lot less sturdy than robots." He says this casually, matter-of-factly. "So why not solve this little problem the easy way?" He pauses. Wreckers are ruthless, true, but surely Whirl doesn't mean...

"Therapy! Counseling! Anger management!"

Whirl shrugs. "It doesn't work for everybody," his tone is knowing now, as if he's speaking from experience, "But with Hi-Q it might be worth a try."

Fairway says, "It may just. When an Autobot Commander returns from the dead, it's only logical to take every precaution and to go down every avenue of inquiry regarding his resurrection. We should bring this matter to Prime directly."

Whirl nods in agreement. "Yeah, let's take it to Prime." He pauses, then cocks his head to the side. "Wait, which Prime?"

Air Raid settles incredulous optics on Whirl, with the most epic of smirks. He doesn't get a chance to dismiss the therapy idea, seeing as Fairway agrees with it. "Good question...should we talk to Rodimus about this first?"

Fairway nods. "Yes, that is a good idea. It's best to get any doubts out in the open." He looks wistful. "Rodimus is wise. He will be hear us out. I am most concerned, however, about the Decepticons' response. I would not put it past them to try and capitalize on any doubts among our ranks."

Whirl sounds amused. "Well, it sounds like the only doubts so far are whether this Optimus Prime is too violent." He chuckles a bit, as if the thought of someone being 'too violent' is silly and laughable. Then he sobers up a little. "Still, you've got a point. Whatever we do, we should be keeping an optic on the Decepticons just in case." He takes a few steps towards the edge of the platform. "Speaking of which, I think I'm gonna do a little recon. Take it easy you two!"

"It's settled then, the three of us should talk to Roddy." Raid sets a fist in his palm, feeling a bit self-important. He should hang out with smart 'bots more often! "Later Whirl." He turns to Fairway and quickly tenses, "Think fast!" A punch is flung at the DeLorean's shoulder. Don't blame him, he was looking for a sparring match and never got one!

Fairway pats Whirl on the shoulder as he leaves. "Farewell, friend Whirl," he says. He is caught entirely by surprise by Air Raid's punch and reels briefly, nearly falling, but he manages to right himself again. He laughs. "I hardly think speed of cognition is a factor, Air Raid!" He attempts to punch Air Raid back, although not as hard because of his uncertain balance.

Air Raid bounces to and fro, not unlike a boxer, and manages to dodge that punch, but only barely, as it nicks his collar. "Oho," Raid aims a kick at Fairway's chest, teasingly humming that theme again. It's usually now that his teammates tell him to buzz off, so Fairway's participation is valued. "Just how many 'friends' do you have, Fairway?"

Fairway is no great fighter, though it would pain him to admit it to himself. Has no room to dodge the kick and is knocked off balance. He recovers with something of a playful shove. "You refer to my idiosyncratic way of referring to my fellow Autobots as 'friend'," he says, "It's a habit I developed decacycles ago, as a mining contractor. But, all who would treat me with respect are friends."

Air Raid pauses a moment, not bothering to dodge that shove. "Idiosyncratic..." It takes him a moment to bring up the definition. "Hn, okay Doc," he shrugs, hands on his hips, "You can consider me one then. Look forward to fighting along side you. Gotta' turn in, Silverbolt's comming me." He shakes the former contractor's hand and backs towards the edge of the crystal. "See you around Doc. Strong winds!" It was an expression shared among his brothers but he always wished it upon ground mechs anyway.

Fairway smiles and waves. "And I at your side, friend! Farewell! See you in the future!"

Air Raid salutes, transforms, and takes off into the evening sky.