Closing a Deal

There's an old saying that a poor man would drown in a tea cup and in the case of a certain insect that's come to pass. While every bit used to Spartan living conditions and one of austerities more vocal proponents, even the Insecticon has found a vice to enjoy among the perks of Decepticon membership. Overclock is in the maintenance room almost completely submerged in a hot oil bath and adding her own instrumentation to the white noise drone of the overhead televisions.
It sounds rather like a freighter idling it's engine.
The whole of the beastformer... Insecticon... thing that is Overclock is submerged out of sight beneath the bubbling oils, with just her head poking out and leaned back against the lip of the bath. Her facemask and unlit visor are still on even bathing but the rest of her panelling is hanging on a nearby wash rack being sprayed and scrubbed clean by automated arms along with two other sets of matching metal. Lounging in the oil with her even if it makes the bath a little crowded, a pair of similarly unarmoured Vehicons flank the femme on either side.
Thundercracker has taken Megtron's suggestion and contacted one of the bugs. After the radio contact the Seeker decides to seek out (pun intended) Overclock for some face to face negociations on what he wants and presently he opens the door. "Where are-- oh.. oh wait." Thundercracker stammers a bit seeing paneling being scrubbed and not on the tf it belongs on.
One of the Vehicons looks towards the door as Thundercracker arrives while the Insectibeast continues to relax, motionless. "Come on in. You wanted to talk, right?" Overclock asks casually.
Thundercracker looks a bit uncomfortable still but steps in and closer to where Overclock is. "Yea... I gather some of you are looking for a home base? Do I have that right? A safe place to live -- set up a..hive?"
"My Queen and I are borrowing space right now. Our hive could always use more room," Overclock agrees, glancing between the Vehicons at her side. With how the bath is sized the three of them are probably overlapping beneath the oil. "Why do you ask?"
"I need more energon for the Seekers." Thundercracker says bluntly. "There are vacant towers in Vos. Megatron informs me that you....Insecticons can make energon?"
At that, the femme laughs. "Do you hollows learn nothing of history? Before your lot found a way to mine the ore yourself, living alongside us is how you got your daily fuel. And we're still better at it," Overclock adds with a touch of pride. "I'll need to remind Megatron of that once my hive grows some more and see about replacing those mining operations..."
"So you'd like to house Insecticons in the towers of Vos in exchange for a portion of energon?"
Thundercracker studies her for a moment and then nods, "We give you shelter, you give us energon." hes never had to make a decision of this magnatude before, the ramifications it could have and all those affected by it. Needless to say hes a bit unsure but if Megatron has faith in him, hes going to do his best.
"Shelter is easy to come by, we have a whole planet, and even we can't make energon from nothing," Overclock replies, beginning to sound less like a young hatchling and more like the daughter of Animatron's largest hive as the conversation turns political. If only through significant effort, some of Scorn's lessons got through to the thick-skulled femme. "How developed is Vos' recycling industry? I imagine a polity full of flyers has its share of waste metal."
Thundercracker thinks for a moment. He has no idea Vos's recycling industry, hes a Seeker. "I - why dont you rework the recycling industry to better suit both you and the Vosians?"
Thundercracker hopes he faked his way thorugh that well enough.
"That's the idea," Overclock affirms. "We'll need the Vosians' cooperation if you want a hive there to flourish and yield energon. Can we count on that?"
Thundercracker flicks a wing, "I will do what I can but it might be a bit rough at first... Im sure you can understand why."
"You mean that most Vosians view Insecticons as ugly, bottom-feeding animals," Overclock fills in pointedly. "But you Seekers hold a more enlightened opinion... right?"
"Well..." Thundercracker begins, "Lets just say there will be some platform friction -- not sure how else to put it, until both sides realize they can benefit from each other."
"Your side conveniently forgot once it began mining its own energon," Overclock notes. Here the Insecticon pauses and for the first time turns to look at the Seeker herself. "You -are- of a more enlightened opinion yourself - we -aren't- ugly, bottom-feeding animals to you... right, Thundercracker?"
Thundercracker knows he has to answer this right for his sake, the other Seekers and for his leaders sake. "Right." he says finally. And who knows maybe once he interacts with them as they set all this up he might not feel so bad about them in the end.
"Good, I'm glad someone on this planet has learned," Overclock says as her engine purrs approvingly. The bare mechanisms of her arms and shoulders rise out of the bath as she rests them on the lip as well and the very top of her alt-mode's head - her chest - pokes out too. Even with only this much showing, the unusual arrangement of hoses and struts shining with hot oil betray that her frame design, Insecticon frame design, diverged from modern Cybertronians' early and heavily in their shared history.
The claws of a naked hand beckon the Seeker over. "We did start off on the wrong leg too, didn't we, Thundercracker? Join me for a bath?"
The Seekers wings hitch back in surprise and he glances away "I .. uh. I mean.. I have to ... wait.. I need to tae care of stuff." he stammers.
"I insist." the Insecticon replies with a firmer tone. The Vehicons on either side of her eye the Seeker and hiss in unison, perhaps laughing, although with how crowded the bath already is they might just want Overclock to themselves.
"Our races will be living together in Vos. Why not start here? A good faith gesture," the femme continues, her voice softening again as she beckons a second time. "We won't bite."
Thundercracker can not beleive what hes about to go through for his leader. The Seeker looks at the Vehicons and slowly gets in the tub. He gets settled into the oil and just loos at her like 'ok'.
One Seeker alone would find comfortable room to stretch their wings in one of the maintenance room's baths. One Seeker with two muscle car alt-modes and a femme the size of a truckformer will find a lot less room. The Vehicons on either side don't adjust themselves for the new mech's presence and Overclock has stretched her full length under the oil, even if it's left her legs entangled with the drones on either side. The Insecticon smiles beneath her facemask as Thundercracker immerses himself and she leans her head back against the wall, letting her optics fall upon the ceiling. "There. Take a soak, relax for a bit. That's enough business talk for one cycle." Out of sight, Overclock's tail proves to have been stretched out furthest and it brushes up one of the Seeker's thrusters.
Thundercracker works a bit to get comfortabe in the crowded oil batch and his big wings. And suddenly something brushes against his left thruster. He looks at the Vehicon that is on his left side that he thinks is near his thruster. "Mech..." is all he says then he looks at Overclock, "Yea...enough business..." he tries to reax a bit.
"Was that the right leg to start off with?" Overclock jokes without looking over. Her tail swishes from side to side and bumps the other one in turn.
Thundercracker raises an optic ridge at wht she says and then his other leg is hit. "What is that?" he ass quietly.
"Just my tail, it won't bite either," Overclock answers as the pointed end of the appendage pokes out of the water between the Seeker's legs. It curls up and inward towards the femme as she stretches it and the segmented panels flex along its length.
Thundercracker stares at the tail hovering out of the water between his legs and then looks at her after she flexes it. "Do I want to know what you do with that?"
"Do you want to see what I can do with it?" Overclock asks sportingly.
Thundercracker looks from the vehicons surrounding him to her. "Will it hurt?" he asks.
Overclock hums thoughtfully. "Maybe if it gets in your optics," she grants.
Thundercrackers optics widen slightly, "Wait what?"
The Insecticon's tail uncurls between Thundercracker's legs again as Overclock lowers her head to look across the bath. The sharp point of the appendage stops facing the Seeker's head and a spurt of oil sprays from it. It's hot and seems to have come from the supply they're soaking in.
Thundercracker splutters and then wipes the oil from his face. "Alright." he laughs a bit. Hes not sure about Insecticons but he realies hes got no choice but to learn about them. "So what are Insecticons like? I mean... how many kinds of you are there? How does your society work?"
Overclock laughs heartily at the Seeker's reaction and lets a weaker spray mist him again before her tail sinks back out of sight. "I bet your tailfins can't do that, can they? Hehe..." The femme's shoulders slip back under the oil as she stretches out again. The claws of her feet poke up briefly to the left and right and the Insecticon lets out a luxurious sigh.
"Excluding me, we have about six... castes, I think you say. But unlike you hollows we don't rank them. Every Insecticon has a role and all of them are vital to the hive. That's our society, that's who we are; a hive."
Thundercrackerlistens in tently and then looks at her feet for a moment "Sounds like your society is a lot simpler and smoother then the one Im from."
"It is. It's really... nice," Overclock agrees. "Your problem is you're out of touch with the natural order."
Thundercracker frowns, "What do you mean by that?"
"You sputtered at the thought of sharing a bath with me," Overclock notes with passing amusement. "And your Functionist Council worked constantly for giga-cycles to maintain just one list of what everyone's roles are and who is better than whom. It's like watching a headless drone trying to navigate an empty room; every single obstacle is your own fault."
"But can this argument really work on me?" Thundercracker asks, "Seekers are in their own league - we are above I think most of the rules the council set for everyone else. Vosians, we make our own standards by what we are and what we know."
"All roles are vital, not just whatever yours is," Overclock lectures, then she pauses and rubs her facemask. "Ugh... I'm beginning to sound like my mother."
Thundercracker laughs, "Well perhaps both sides so to speak can adjust to how it should be then with our new arrangement?"
"Let's hope," Overclock grants. "...And speak of my Queen, she's done with her meeting. I guess I've soaked enough for another decacycle."
"What do you mean?" Thundercracker asks. "How do you know shes done with her meeting?"
"She just told me," the femme answers simply as she untangles herself from the Vehicons and stands up out of the bath. Oil trapped along the surface and crevices of her frame splashes off as Overclock rises to her full height and stretches out again, arms raising above her head as her tail points straight behind her. If there were any remaining questions Thundercracker had about Insecticon physiology, she might have just answered them. Following suit, the two Vehicon mechs prove themselves to have a more normal Cybertronian appearance - and seem to be muscle car alt-modes for a reason.
"You're welcome to keep soaking if your paint can stand the heat," Overclock offers as she gives her frame some time to drip dry before leaving the bath entirely.
Thundercracker finds himself staring at her for a long moment, "Huh? Oh yea paint.. yea it can handle it." and the oil does feel good. Its been a long while since hes had a nice oil soak.
That draws another laugh from the Insecticon femme and the view proves both descriptions soundly. "Not so ugly, right?" She agrees, putting a hand on her hip as she looks down at the soaking Seeker. "You hollows have no sense of aesthetics if you can't appreciate a frame like this." Just for good measure, her engine gives an authoritative rev.
"Who says I cant appreciate it?" The Blue Seeker says before he can stop himself.
Overclock's tail twitches at the unexpected compliment and she giggles despite herself. "Well keep bringing me good offers and maybe we can keep trading fringe benefits. You're not as stuffy as you seemed at first brush, Thunder." The femme leans over and taps the Seeker's helmet in a friendly manner with the back of her hand before straightening back up and raising out of the bath, first lifting and shaking out one leg, then the other.
Category:Autocracy