Epic Bar Brawl: Autobot Aftermath

 Socket says, "All right, that's one more finished job."

 Sideswipe says, "Somebody get her an Enercookie. Stat."

 Socket says, "Sideswipe, when was the last time you had a systems diagnostic?"

 Sideswipe says, "Half past nobody cares."

 Socket says, "I'm sorry, that's not an acceptable answer. Let's bring up your medical records, shall we?"

 Sideswipe says, "Have at it. I'm already bored. You can't make it worse."

 Socket says, "Hmm."

 Socket says, "You're over due for a checkup."

 Sideswipe says, "Good luck with that."

 Socket says, "Well, I can always put in a request with the chain of command."

 Socket says, "We cannot afford to have you less than your best."

 Sideswipe says, "That's impossible. I'm me."

 Socket says, "That's very cute but reality has a nasty way of catching up with you."

 Sideswipe says, "But do what you gotta' do. I stopped caring after Enercookie."

Iacon General Hospital - Iacon There are many hospitals in Iacon, but none as prestigious and well equipped as Iacon General Hospital. The numerous state of the art facilities housed within the hospital offers around the clock emergency repairs, upgrades, and mundane upkeeps. Iacon General Hospital is staffed by many of the Autobots' brightest minds where the non-combatants can do their part in contributing to the war effort.

Contents: Socket Springer ICU Pod 2 ICU Pod 1 Spanner

Punch arrives from the Science and Technology District to the south. Punch has arrived.

Springer is presently checking his armor over after Socket finished repairing and replacing pretty much all of it.

Socket is filing the report on Springer's condition, updating his medical records. Everything has to be filed in triplicate, with the correct seals, insignias, and proper font. She's as bad as Ultra Magnus about this.

Arcee suddenly appears in the doorway, staring inside the room but not saying anything.

Springer is facing away from the doorway.. though he does feel a disturbance in the Force aka that shiver down the back.. he continues to act normally for the moment as he goes through his self-checkup, "Thanks, Socket. Everything seems to be moving along smoothly.. no bumps or clicks that aren't suppose to be there."

Punch walks calmly and quietly into the main entrance. He's taking his time as he's a bit earlier than he expected. Doesn't matter though, shift change can't be too much longer, just a case of killing some time.

"Good. I'd hate to think that at my age I'm leaving behind a few tools when I work!" Socket chuckles. She is aware of Arcee's presence simply through the change in Springer's body language.

Arcee steps inside, her footfalls clicking on the immaculate hospital floor as she crosses the room to check on the patient. The look of supreme disappointment on her face speaks for itself.

You dont live long as an operative without being able to put disperate facts together quickly. Seeing Arcee ahead of him, the reports he's recently read and the recent comms chatter Punch realises it might not be an uneventful wait to the changeover. Best thing is just to be here, be quiet and provide support where it's needed.

Springer takes a few more moments to delay the inevitable... err finish ensuring his own health, as well as give himself some time to think. Then he does a quick scan of the medical bay for other ways out, without looking quite in Arcee's direction. And finally, he just sighs and turns and decides to try and head off /some/ of the fallout, a hand drifting to the back of his head in a somewhat embarrassed expression, "I screwed up, I made mistakes, and did not handle what you said very well.. I did not want you to see me in that state so I made Air Raid take you out even over your objections. After this long of not seeing you, I did not want to see you get hurt over something I was going to do." His words come out rather rapid-fire, not quite on the level of a certain Bot who shall go un-named but far quicker then he normally talks.

Socket remains out of it. Best to let the younger 'bots work this out.

Arcee stops, and just glares at Springer. If looks could kill, she'd probably be in the process of smelting his armor with her optics right about now. She doesn't interrupt him when he speaks, but allows him to say his peace while she stews in a silent fury. "What...I don't...what's even gotten into you," she exclaims. "Remember when we used to be able to talk about anything?? Is that over now? No, I wasn't expecting you to be /thrilled/ about it, but I am completely APPALLED at what you did. Completely and utterly appalled. It isn't even like the thing that...the thing that upset you in the first place, the circumstance, that it even EXISTS anymore. You completely lost your  over something that's done and over with. What...the hell. WHY. Just why. Now we might need to face repercussions that include losing territory, and a nullification of long-standing neutral treaties." Springer turns his head and looks over at Socket, "You really think I should just be honest and blunt about it, like you said earlier?"

Socket turns around in her chair. First she looks at Arcee, adjusting her "glasses" (ultra magnification lenses), and then she turns to Springer. "If you are going to get off on the right foot with her, I would suggest honesty, even if it is painful to do so. Without honesty there is no trust, and without trust, there is no basis for communication or understanding."

Arcee nods in silent agreement with Socket's words of wisdom.

Halo arrives from the Science and Technology District to the south. Halo has arrived.

Springer walks around the repair table he had been on so he faces Arcee dircetly, standing right infront of her. "Honesty.. that I can do, I screw up anything else." He crosses his arms, and fidgets a bit from foot to foot. "First, my actions had no excuse, and I'll deal with any consquences my actions hav caused.. even if I must be sent for trial. I did not expect to be.. quite.. as effected by what you said as I did... but the fault was still /mine/." He turns and stares at Socket for a second, then grumbles to himself, "Ah screw it.. can't have any worse fall out then my actions last night." He turns back to Arcee, watches her for a second then reaches out and grabs her, kisses her firmly before letting her gogo, "The fact you were with him pissed me off, even if a brief time, even if it was over by now.. it still happened, and I could not just let it go. I missed seeing you, missed talking with you, missed spending time with you when we could.. and being away for so long made it hurt even more when you told me." He pauses, collects his thoughs, also prepares to get slapped, "So... whatever happens from now on.. whatever may come because of what I did.. /You/ can consider this my declartion of war.. for you, Arcee."

Socket simply smiles. Ah, young love. It warms the depths of her old engines.

Arcee probably WOULD slap Springer's faceplate clean across the room -- if he were any other mech. But...he *isn't* any other mech. He's *Springer*. And hearing this level of honesty from him seriously stuns most of her rage into a dormant state. As well as getting kissed -- now that's a serious stun, right on the level of most standard issue stun weaponry. "......." Arcee's mind goes into a strange, silent feedback loop for a few moments, as she tries to gather her thoughts together. Well, this wasn't *entirely* bad, she decides. The situation needed some work, but it could have turned out a lot worse. "Well...what can I say to that," she exclaims in a softer tone. "Alright, fine. Let's just...deal with the aftermath right now. There's going to be repercussions of some sort, let's just deal with them and...and go from there. Okay? We have a lot more to deal with right now than just this. We need all hands on deck for what's coming our way, and we all need to stay focused." She looks at Springer with a hopeful expression.

Punch steps forward to make his presence felt. "It's worse than that, Buzzsaw's already edited and broadcast his footage - he's always recording, remember? So Springer and the rest of us by association are the wrong end of many questions from many places right now."

Socket thinks on this a little bit. "I wish I had more skill in the arena of political negotiations. Unfortunately all I have ever done is humanitarian aid." Tapping her chin she ponders aloud. "Perhaps I could volunteer to do medical work. Open up a free clinic."

Springer seems happy he didnt get slapped, and he does his best deep bow to Arcee, "As my lady commands then." He blinks... and sighs as he realizes Punch was there, seems he had been rathr focused on Arcee at that point, "Then do what you need to do.. throw me to the wolves then. It was my actions that caused it.. Air Raid and Sandstorm were simply following my wrongful orders."

Alfa Romeo Pandion  revs in, having reached the end of an adventure that began with beating up Runamuck, and ended in an epic off screen journey. The car comes to a stop in the center of the bay, lighting effects dimming down before Halo transforms into robot mode, looking a little more beat up than she'd typically allow anyone to see. She beelines for on of the med stations, but not before waving her datapad at Springer. "Quite the celebrity these days," she chides.

Halo twists from sleek car to flawless HEROIC AUTOBOT!

Swoop arrives from the Science and Technology District to the south. Swoop has arrived.

Punch says, "Are you being intentionally slow ? It's irrelevant who actually fought under who's say so. The nanosecond any Autobot broke the neutrailty agreement we're all guilty and over a barrel. There's nothing I can do, especially since I traded my magic wand for a disguise a long time ago." He shakes his head. "Besides I'm far down the food chain. Arcee or Jazz could fill you in on damage control."

Arcee smiles over at Socket. "Sage advice never goes out of style," she points out. "And mechs of all stripes need to hear it, sometimes." She nods to what Punch has said. "That doesn't surprise me...Buzzsaw is always filming everything, and that footage has been sent to all the news outlets now." Springer gets a slight shrug and a smile. "Damage control is not really a punishment, it's just a clean-up assignment."

Robot Pteranodon <Swoop> makes his way into the hospital. Why? Voices! Voices....always voices... they tell him...someone is here? Well, that's the obvious deduction when there's voices coming from the hospital's main room. At least it's not like there's voices in his head telling him things.... Nope. NOT AT ALL. Still, there's lots of mechs here, and Swoop momentarily forgets his promise to not bring wings into the room (and subsequently break things), but he catches his error and transforms after only one clipboard suffers an errant slap out of a gumby's hand. "Why so many here?"

"Springer was in for repairs," Socket explains to Swoop. "Arcee came to visit. As for the rest of you? Well, I'm assuming you're here for treatment."

Robot Pteranodon <Swoop> transforms into his Robot mode.

Swoop nods slowly. "Swoop does need some..." He glances at a spot that's still sporting a few holes from Blitzwing's miniguns...and part of him has to pause and think how long ago that happened without him getting it patched up...

Springer simply... stands there for now. Last time he did something it got him in even more trouble... though he did kiss Arcee in the end.. so maybe it was worth it.. hmm...

Punch is a little worn out looking, even by his own standards of tiredness. Also, he might be looking microscopically. . . twitchy?

"Hmm. Looks like you could all use a bit of maintenance," Socket assesses. She looks stern. "... Why are we not on a schedule of routine system diagnostics? We're fighting a war, the last thing we need is to have mechs collapsing on the battle field due to worn parts."

Arcee stands beside Springer, clutching his hand. So there's that. "Punch, are you okay? How's your head, I probably shouldn't have tried to fix your radio glitch," she says worriedly. When Swoop enters, she smiles cheerfully. "Hey! Did you blow up Shockwave yet?"

Swoop says, "Swoop fighting. Not spend much time in here when fights to win." He leaves his logic at that. ... ish. Maybe. It makes sense to him, at least. "Not bad, really. Swoop have worse, and win fight too.""

Halo has left.

Punch looks over at Arcee, siles warmly and tries to enfuse his words with a bit more energy when he says "I'm great. Doing wonderfully. I'm glad to see you are too. I'm just over following up on something minor. Something checked outta inventory, someone thinks they left it 'somewhere around here', usual everyday stuff." Turning to Socket he says "I'm just fine Doc, don't mind me."

Socket seems more serious now. "No, I'm afraid that's just not going to cut the molybdenium mustard, mechs and femmes. Preventative maintenance goes a long way towards keeping you all in top fighting condition," she explains. "This cavalier attitude towards health may be fine when you're blowing up Decepticons on the field but it is NOT all right when you are here on base."

Swoop says, "This why Swoop come here now. Not make sense to not come here when not have Decepticons for fighting." He scratches his head and looks around. "Not...right if Swoop here? Maybe Swoop leave and come back later?""

Punch raises his hands in surrender and says, "There's nothing that a few days on a regular schedule won't fix. Only problem is any time things like they're going to settle and I'll have a chance at resting and revitalising my real life . . . something comes along and I'm needed elsewhere. It is what it is and, short of time travel, there is nothing that can be done to remedy that malady. I'll just be finding that missing inventory item and be on my way." Despite his best efforts the tremble is joined by brief notes of sorrow in his words.

Socket observes Punch, now more worried for him than ever. She shakes herself out of it - there's little she can do when someone does not want help. "Very well, Swoop, have a seat on the circuit slab and I'll get to work."

Swoop nods as he makes his way to one of the slabs and settles down on it, looking at the damage for a moment... he almost looks proud of it, to be honest. After all, it was a fight where he came back with a 'prize' in the form of pieces of Blitzwing, after all.

Springer simply keeps quiet for the moment.. seems he said his peace.. so is shushing up now.

Socket gets out tools, pushing her 'glasses' up on her nose to examine Swoop's injuries on a molecular level. "Ah, yes, I see," she mumbles to herself, taking stock of how deep the wounds have gone. "Swoop, dear, do you like the idea of scars?"

Swoop blinks at the question. Was that really a question? "Swoop not care. Not bother how Swoop fight Decepticons..." He looks at the spot in question and shrugs casually. "Is problem?"

Punch starts looking through a drawer. Almost as soon as he's opened it he closes it again and says "Excuse me, I just . . . need some air. I'll be back shortly." He walks out of the facility but can be seen clearly through the glass of the main door. He's just resting against the external wall.

"...What is he doing, that mech...so strange sometimes," Arcee murmurs with a puzzled frown, watching Punch with some suspicion. Suspicion is usually merited. Except when it isn't. That close run fifty-fifty split is what makes it such a tricky thing to trust. Punch seems to recline from a standing to sitting position as far as the keen eyed can see through the glass. Make of it what you will.

Swoop watches Punch leave the room and narrows his optics. "Swoop think him have problems...need help. Maybe is problems but him not want others knowing?"

"This could very well be the case, Swoop. Let me see if he'll talk to me. He might not want to, because he's in my department, but...maybe I can point him in a direction he needs to go." Arcee heads over to the door, and steps outside to look at Punch. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Only a question. I know you dinobots are quite happy to wear your war wounds for a bit," Socket muses, as she begins cutting away sections of ruined armor with a laser scalpel.

Swoop returns his attention to Socket. He won't even pretend to know he can talk to Punch to figure out what the problem is specifically... he's not that in-tune with the concept of casual conversation with that intent... "Swoop not care either way." He glances at the work being done. "Hmm. All right then, I'll stick to the basics," Socket muses, setting aside broken components in a dish nearby. "Now, can you lie back for me? I need to have a look at your internal systems to make certain there's no deeper damage."

Swoop settles back quite comfortably as requested, an optical sensor tuned into what is going on outside out of simple curiosity.

Punch looks up at Arcee then tries to do one too many things at once. Standing up to a formal position, concealing the lit enercig in his hand, kicking away the little nest designed to hide the ash. . . today there are no beginnings of his talents. Concedeing defeat he says, "You caught me. It's been a hard day today in more ways than one. After so long whilst under cover I got used to them. As me, without the disguise, I rarely indulge but some days . . . I need something more than the thoughts in my head to draw from."

Arcee laughs. "You can smoke, I'm not the smoking police," she teases Punch. "I was just concerned that maybe you were under some pressure. You do have one of the most difficult assignments, despite your transformation modes making it a bit easier to accomplish. It must be very stressful at times."

Socket sets to work, opening up Swoop - she probably doesn't need to install pain-dampening code blocks in him. He doesn't seem to be in any pain whatsoever. Marvelous thing, these Dinobots. "Ahh, there's a bit of wear in here. Some dust too, a few missing teeth on your secondary actuator set... yes, you need just a little work done in here..." Marvelous things indeed... Pain is but an opiate that is rewarded from fights...

Swoop frowns at all the names and diagnosis tossed his way. "Swoop not care what broken or not right. Just fix, so Swoop return to fighting and winning war for Autobots." He chuckles softly before returning his focus to Punch and Arcee.

Socket raises her head and looks directly at Swoop. "Young mech, I will not tolerate that tone taken with me," she firmly states, while still arms deep in his innards, resoldering and replacing damaged circuits with such speed and diligence that it might as well be muscle memory.

Punch smiles. You could swear that someone, just off camera, had charged him straight from the source. as he stands he bobs his head a little from side to side and says "Thank you. I just find that it's not always well appreciated so, whilst home, I treat it like I'm on recon. I've never thought of the job as difficult. Merely something I have to do. You're right though sometimes it pains me to see . . ." he takes a deep draw from the the cig, exhales but fails to find the strength to finish his thought.

Swoop gahs. "Swoop not mean bad tone! Swoop just saying... Not think Swoop ever understand so not think important to hear." He nods curtly. Though, his attention returns again to the two outside. "Think him doing good?"

Arcee ponders the thought of getting an enercig off of Punch, then she considers Springer in his current mental state, and...passes on that notion. "Well I appreciate what you do, very much. You have a unique talent that, as far as we've been able to tell, no one on the Decepticon side possesses. I think what would be the most difficult thing for me, personally, is befriending Decepticons in a Decepticon guise, and being convincing about that friendship but knowing it was all a sham. Does that ever trouble you?"

Punch says, "When I'm talking toa Decepticon I'm working an asset. Saying what the want to hear, being what they want to be. You know . . " Punch takes a stride back so only Arcee can see him and shifts into his 'disguise' ". . . like this I am a Decepticon ?" Punch becomes himself again and steps back to where he was "Physical stucture, mental architecture, everything. After a while it feels like you're being bent into a different shape. Once I'm 'me' again it goes away but . . . it's a part of me. I suppose that's what eats at me. I can't risk living /my/ life doing /my/ own thing as /it/ may need me at any time. To stay so far from people I'd love to get to know, have friendships, become close to . . . but I can't. In the end . . . I'd only disappoint."

Socket softens a bit and smiles. "I always try to explain to my patients what is being done, so that they can be comfortable. No surprises, and if they want to know how to better take care of themselves, they can learn." She reaches for canisters of solvent and drip-feed lines.

"Well, what you might need to do is...to treat Counterpunch as a role you must play, more than a twin sharing your processor," Arcee tells Punch. "He may feel more like a twin brother to you, but if you let it get that far, you're risking losing yourself in that persona, and the result is...?? Well, that crazy Duocon Flywheels, for one. You don't want to become like that. So when you infiltrate...make it an art form. You are stepping upon a stage, to play a very important role."

Swoop ahs. "Make sense. But Swoop still not understand. Swoop know is not important for Swoop. Not in bad way! Is..." He pauses, working on figuring out just how to put it. "Is...confusing? Yes. Confusing. And Swoop not ever understand. So Swoop not try. So not important to explain."

Socket pats Swoop on the shoulder. "All right then, I'll keep it nice and simple for you." She finishes clearing out old grease, dust and sand from Swoop's innards. "Nice and clean! I'm going to make armor patches, so sit tight."

Punch says, "Playing a role? I will certainly try but those roleplaying games I tried on Earth . . . couldn't get the hang of them. Kept losing the dice. I suppose though as I already know how it ends I don't want to hurt anybody when it does." Taking another draw and letting it plume out - Punch waits a moment then he says, "Don't worry though. I'm not going to go losing the plot any time soon. The costume's stuffy and uncomfortable but it's just that . . . a costume. A very fancy one ,I admit, but it'll take more than spare parts to break me. I suppose I need to work on the life of Punch instead of the role of Counterpunch sometimes. You never know . . . it may help."

"I think it would help you feel a lot better to make a few friends," Arcee suggests to Punch. "Work on the life of Punch. Sure, we run around here like a bunch of busybodies, but we work well as a team because we support one another."

Swoop continues to watch the two conversing operatives, but...well, he soon loses interest. It appears they've got things handled. ... or taken care of... or addressed, or whatever it ended up needing to be. He looks back at Sprocket. "Swoop promise not to break so often. Swoop Dinobot, so is...good promise, Swoop think."

Punch certainly looks as if the weight of some planet has been removed from him but he now looks a bit sheepish. "Umm . . . so . . . what is there to do outside the whole war/politics/explosions/giant planet eating things ? I'm kinda new to this . . . any help?" He finishes his enercig after asking.

Socket chuckles. "I believe you completely, Swoop." She goes to the nanolathe, creating replacement armor patches, bringing them over and applying them to Swoop with micro-welders.

"Go explore Earth! Ever been Terran-side? It's quite an interesting civilization," Arcee suggests. "Now, of course it isn't free from conflict, but I think you'll discover an organic, carbon-based lifeform that is just as strange and fascinating as it is...oddly familiar. Or if you want a *complete* escape, head out to one of the casino destinations for a few days, and gamble a few shanix for fun. Just...watch your account, because there's a lot of fraud going on out there. Um...I would recommend heading to a bar, but after last cycle, I think I'm done with bars for a while. Maybe a few thousand cycles."

Socket tries not to snicker at that.

Jazz arrives from the Science and Technology District to the south. Jazz has arrived.

Arcee is sitting with Punch, having some kind of discussion with the mech while he smokes an ener-cig. Socket has just finished repairing Swoop. And Springer, earlier. Busy day.

Jazz looks...and this is pretty much shocking for him..Jazz looks annoyed. And not just a little annoyed, he looks as annoyed as an Intel director who just had the enemy win huge points in a smear campaign all over the Neutral's news feeds. His optics hit on Arcee and Punch and he walks over.

Although Punch has felt better for talking things through, he sees Jazz coming and tries to get back into a working frame of mind. Ditching the cig and flaring his optics to tip off Arcee, Punch says "Sir." and gives a neat salute.

Arcee looks over and sees...irritable Jazz. Well, drek the mother of all dreks. Time to face the music. She knew there would be fallout from this, and this was only the beginning of it. "Jazz," she greets with her best neutral expression.

Socket politely goes about filing medical reports in the background. There are times to speak, and there are times to be silent.

"Hey there Punch, Arcee, just the femme I was lookin' for.." he holds out a datapad that is playing the footage that has spread all over Cybertron at this point, "I'd like to hear some explanations before I go takin' any actions prematurely.. Let's go ahead and start with what I know from my own lookin' into it..a) it ain't doctored footage..unfortunately, Buzzsaw is too smart to put anything out I could take apart that easy. b) all witnesses say that Springer took the first overt act of violence, meanin' ours weren't defending themselves..and that the Decepticon's have the moral high ground.. Please tell me there's some mitigtating circumstance..like poisoned energon in their drinks..or somethin'."

Arcee watches the footage she is quite familiar with now, and nods. "The only thing doctored about that, unfortunately, is the voiceover bit," she admits. "I've spoken to Springer about this already, and he's aware there's going to be consequences to his actions." She pauses, looking at Jazz and wondering to herself if it's going to be helpful one way or another to give him further details. She decides to herself that she'll furnish details when prompted to do so.

"And?" he prompts, "I'm assumin' that since you were there an' have rather intimate knowledge of Springer, you might have more to say than just 'yep it's not doctored and I told Springer he's going to get in trouble'..?"

Punch thinks for a moment then says "To be honest Jazz I think you need to downplay this as much as you can. Yeah, Springer has the same idea of world politics as I do about partying but the harder you punish him the harder you punish us all. People are just going to assume all Autobots can't be trusted. It's the smart play."

"...." Arcee hesitates for a moment as Punch gives Jazz his opinion. "Okay, yes, we did *not* go into that place with the express mission of ruining a neutral pact," she says. "I picked the spot because I had something a little upsetting to tell him, and...and he took it a lot harder than I thought he would. After we had the discussion, he was pretty much focused on wrecking the place."

Jazz shakes his head, "That doesn't fly Punch..the turbofox is outta the bag, we've got mud on our faces now from this. Springer and Sandstorm are both Lieutenants, with authority to command troops, and yet prove they can't even command themselves in such a public fashion. Frankly, I expected better of the both of em.. I mean, everyone knows Air Raid is a hot head and gonna get hip deep into any trouble he can find.."

Socket listens quietly to all this going on, finishing the medical updates as needed. She ponders the situation.

"I did try to talk him out of it, but it was a bit late for that," Arcee says. "Believe me, I don't like it any more than you do. I knew that once he decided to...to have me forcibly removed from there, that it was going to get ugly."

Jazz sighs, "That's another thing.. Arcee, you gotta learn to flex..you had the rank and authority, they gotta learn to listen to you.." He shakes his head, "it compounds things even more though. Not only did they smash up the bar, but they forcibly ejected a superior officer who attempted to stop it, after ignoring her telling them to stop. Any way you cut it, there's gonna be some serious repurcussions off'a this one.."

Arcee nods. "I know. If I had any idea he was going to get that upset, I probably wouldn't have said anything to him at all. He's a little used to getting things his way...or bending the rules to make them go his way. But he knows he screwed up. He's willing to pay the consequences."

Punch puts up his hands and says "It's not about right and wrong in this case - it's about news stories and media coverage. I'm not saying don't take action but put out a statment saying things like 'regrettable incident', 'it's being dealt with through internal disciplinary channels', 'Only a few individuals not representative of the Autobots as a whole' . . . stonewall it. You make it known that anyone's getting real heat for this outside of here Springer and company become heroes in the minds of anyone looking to ignore orders, the Cons keep the story at the forefront of media coverage for longer and you, personally look dumb for taking ineffective action. It's not right but it kills the story. Then you can give 'em both barrels if you want."

Socket clears her throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but there may be a simple solution to this for the time being."

Jazz says, "Gimme a little credit here Punch, I wasn' gonna air our dirty laundry in the forum of public opinion. We took a big enough hit as is there. But internally, there's gotta be a reckoning. Autobots have been slippin an' forgettin that we're the good guys here as is, and now they're startin' bar brawls because they're in a bad mood and can't behave like the Prime's expect of em?" he shakes his head, "Nah.. There's gonna be an internal reckonin' from this Punch. Ain't no choice as I see it.." he looks over to Socket, "Always willin' ta listen, watcha thinkin' Socket?"

"Firstly, Jazz is absolutely correct. Springer's actions in both starting the fights and disobeying the direct commands of a superior officer - simply because of her gendercasing - is not only ruinious to our reputation, it is an act of gross insubordination and disrespect. Sandstorm's willingness to participate under Springer's influence, and Air Raid's naive cooperation in the matter indicates that we are in dire need of a housecleaning," Socket begins, her voice firm and her expression resolute, as she stands from her workspace, setting aside her reports.

"I would, respectfully, suggest that chain of command place the individuals in question on in-base suspention with temporary reduction of rank. If you believe that our soldiers are losing their sense of morality, then psychological evaluations are long overdue. War weariness and traumatic stress disorders can do things to the mind of a mech - believe me, I have become intimately familiar with over the course of my time as a doctor." She steps forward, walking over to Jazz, Punch and Arcee.

"They may need to be reminded of what it means to be an Autobot, and that may well coincide with regaining something of our good name in the process. I suggest that our guilty parties return to neutral territory - with permission of the local governments - and perform works of community service and good will. It's what Optimus would have done."

She smiles and adds, "If nothing else, the experience will be humbling enough that it may make them reconsider brash actions in the future.

Arcee listens to Socket quietly.. She can't feel much worse about this bar brawl incident than she already does. Socket's advice seems to make a lot of sense to her, she nods as the older medic speaks her mind. She's probably seen this sort of thing happen before in the past.

Punch listens patiently, he's gave input from the angle he can see but, past that, he's glad that he doesn't make the plays. It's easier sometimes just carrying out orders.

Jazz frowns slightly, "In the most part, that's rather along the lines of what I was thinkin' as well Socket. I'm not confining anyone to quarters or base, because we need every warrior available on tap. But they'll make reparations to the owner of the Steel Balloon, as well as servin' community service for the local neutral government to atone for their misdeeds. My recommendation will be, as I said, a reduction in rank until such time as they prove they are able to command their own actions as well as those of others. And it's time the 'Wreckers' be reabsorbed again into the proper command structure. They aren't gonna have free reign to just go do as they please.."

"As you say, sir," Socket nods. "I'm sorry to simply interject and run, but it's been three days since I've seen a recharge and my fuel cells aren't what they used to be. I'll have to find someone to take up the next shift."

Arcee has been quiet throughout all of this, staring at the floor. Wreckers may live as if there are no consequences, but they can't always cast the long arm of authority aside.

Punch has been making every effort to be objective but is failing utterly. He glances over to see Arcee looking at the floor and his face becomes unreadable. After a moment he says "Is that everything Sir? If not I'd like to raise an issue."

"Have a good rest Socket.." then looks over to Punch, "of course Punch.."

Punch says, "I've been overly optimistic with my current schedule. I've been so active since I got past my problems I've not even set up quarters yet. I've been charging on the run and been on the back and forth to the field so often they've installed a revolving door for me. I need to cut back a little on the workload a little. Just so I can find myself. Sir."

Arcee comes out of her floor-staring abyss momentarily, to smile at Punch. Well, *she* thinks he's earned a little 'Time Out For Punch' time already.

Jazz laughs, "Punch ol' buddy, you get you some rest. And get quarters set up.." he glances over, "Arcee, can ya see about puttin the paperwork through to get him properly set up with quarters and whatnot? Something where he can come and go without too much attention would be best.." he says, "then I want you both to cut back on the hours ye're clockin for a while, get some rest and recuperation and whatnot. Arcee, consider the Steel Balloon situation off your plate, I'll be dealin' with it instead..I think you're too close to the problem, an' I'd rather play the bad guy than have you do it."

"Of course," Arcee answers. She figured that Jazz would remove her from Springer's fallout, and she has mixed feelings about it, but no doubt in her mind that it's the right decision.

Jazz pulls out a datapad and starts writing something up on it..probably a report..and maybe orders.

Punch smiles, and says "Thanks. I'm just going to have a quick walk over there, out in the open air - not smoking or anything like that . . ." Hey, we all got our vices.

"If enercigs are your worst vice, you're a pretty nice mech," Arcee tells Punch with a slight grin.

Punch positively beams and says "Nice . . . I can work with that. Want one?"

Jazz finishes his typing and looks up, "Ugh..no thanks. Jus' be careful where ya smoke thos things Punch, remember, the kids out there look up to us, an we've got a responsibility to set a good example for em!" Yep...Jazz is an afternoon cartoon show.

You say, "Ummm...no thanks, I think I'll pass...Springer's been a little bit aggro recently, and I wouldn't want him to take anything out on you," Arcee says to Punch. Jazz gets a smirk. "Yeah, says the guy with the martini bar in his office." Wink."

Jazz grins, "An' no recording devices that ain' mine..nobody gonna know what goes on in my offices. And if Springer can't get his crap under control, I'm gonna come down on him like a Dinobot dropped from orbit. His personal issues are his own, he starts attacking Autobot's for it, I'll have him locked in'a brig for the next decade if need be."

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===================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/157                    Posted        Author Disciplinary Action Report        Jun 22 2014   Jazz -- --Text only--

Regarding the recent incident at The Steel Balloon, I cannot express in words how truly disappointed I am that Autobots have put us in a situation where indeed, the Decepticons hold the moral high ground and public opinion. It's bad enough we have to fight this unending war against them, but making them appear the good guys in any situation simply shifts us into an even worse situation. In order to restore the good name of the Autobots: 1) Springer, Sandstorm and Air Raid will make reparations to the owner of the Steel Balloon for all damages, Springer to pay 40%, Sandstorm 40%, Air Raid 20%. 2) Springer, Sandstorm and Air Raid will serve what community service the Neutrals deem appropriate for their infraction. 3) Springer, Sandstorm and Air Raid are not to be in neutral territory without a Lieutenant or higher escort for a period of at least one month, to be evaluated after that time is over.

--Locked to CoC, Springer and Sandstorm--

In addition, the lamentable lack of judgement shown by Springer and Sandstorm, both holding Lieutenant rank, as well as the complete disregard for a superior officer's orders, to the point of laying hands on her in order to remove her from the premises when she tried to intercede, is inexcusable. As of this time, both Springer and Sandstorm have been reduced back to Private, until such time as they can prove they are both worthy of the trust as well as capable of carrying out the duties inherent in holding rank. In addition, I've transferred them to the Military division, so as to clarify that indeed, they do fall inside the rank structure of the Autobot's and are subject to the command of their superior officers.

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Message: 3/160                    Posted        Author Request for Reassignments         Jun 23 2014   Hot Spot --

LOCKED to CoC

Jazz, Sky Lynx, Elita, et al:

Request for IMMEDIATE TEMPORARY TRANSFER of Springer, Air Raid, Sandstorm, and Sideswipe to Operations. If these Autobots have enough time to hang out in bars long enough to start bar brawls and argue like Delskors, the alien race from Delskorra that communicate strictly in tantrums, they have plenty of time to help me rebuild Earth ORPHANAGES and help me teach human students about the dangers of not checking the power source of your smoke detectors.

We are currently short handed with First Aid assisting the Aquantians and Groove is still on his spirit quest. I'll make good use of these knuckle heads.

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