An Officer And A Gentlemech

Starchamber finishes the makeshift structure for Slag to use while she tries to find a medic. Her patchwork has kept him from leaking, but there's no telling what sort of effect that cyber-venom is going to do to Slag. He was already hallucenating - and Trapdoor will be back.

As such she doesn't have time to be on the look out for visitors; she herself is banged up and rusty-dusty, having gotten into repeated skirmishes with the sparkeater insecticon queen. She's also depressed - her pet hatchling sparkeater got away.

Starchamber will receive a call over the radio: << Starchamber, where are you? Onslaught said you didn't come in to team military manuevers today, and we all know how much you enjoy that. Are you alright? >>

<< Blaster City - or 'Slagtown', I suppose. I'm sorry Blast Off, I got delayed. I went to find our possible Dinobot ally only to discover there was a sparkeater out here. It's been quite the ride for the last few days,>> The triplechangeress sends back. She finishes dropping a large piece of metal over the 'door', making sure Slag has time to recharge without being disturbed. Or eaten.

<< A \*sparkeater\*?!? Are you functional? Do you require a transport back to the base? >>

<< No, they're not as impressive as the legends say. I very nearly had one of its hatchlings as a personal pet - it's an Insecticon or Arachnicon of some kind. Or it was. Has lots of drones. It... is drawn to me. Wants my spark, >> Starchamber replies, sending coordinates to Blast Off for her location.

<< ... A \*pet?\* >> There's a pause. Then: << ... Your spark? Slag it, Starchamber, where /ARE/ y... ah, there we go. Thank you, I shall be there shortly. That sparkeater will /not/ be a match for two of us, working together as sniper and gun! >>

Not long after, a brown and purple shuttle appears in the horizon, soon transforming into Blast Off, shuttleformer, and landing near Starchamber's location. He brings his ionic blaster out and approaches Starchamber, glancing around for enemies. "What happened? Is the sparkeater nearby?"

"No, it's underground. I shot it enough times to drive it into a retreat, and Slag was giving it a thorough going over with his sword. Most of the hatchlings are done for.. more's the pity. I wanted to keep Skippy but I had to let him go. Rescuing Slag was top priority," she explains to Blast Off, turning to face him.

Blast Off ahs, placing his weapon back into subspace. "I see." As Starchamber goes on, he blinks. "...Slag? Skippy? Who is... Skippy?" Another blink. "Slag? What, you're still stuck with that groundpounder?" The shuttleformer shakes his head, tsking. "No wonder it's been a trial and tribulation..."

Looking around, there's no Dynobot in sight. "Well, are you able to come back then? We haven't seen each other for a few days, I was.." He seems to have a hint of a smile under the faceplate, "....missing your company."

"... I don't think I can just yet. Slag's been injured. I really need to look after him. He's valuable to the cause and... he's a fine soldier, Blast Off. I think you'd appreciate that." Probably not what Blast Off was wanting to hear. The other half of his statement catches her offguard. "Missing my company, why? -- Oh! Yes, I suppose not having other Combatronians to be around very often would make you eager for further companionship."

Blast Off raises an optic ridge and stares up at her. "....The /Dynobot? Well, yes... I guess they make fairly good soldiers... weren't they ex-Primal Vanguard like us once?" He sort of shrugs it off, "I'll... take your word for it."

The rest of her comments get a tilt of the head. "...Why?" He blinks. "...What are you talking about? I've had what are apparently the only other Combatronians still in \*existance\*- save you- as "company" for millenia and then some." He lets out a small \*huff\*, then continues. "Besides, they don't... well..." He glances aside a second, then back to her. "...Don't exactly offer /companionship/ the way YOU offer it."

One of his black hands comes up to scratch the back of his helmet, and he adds quietly, "You... really .../helped/ me, Starchamber. I am glad you were willing to wait for me, and I... well, I..." He straightens up and looks at her proudly. "I intend to show you that you did not wait in vain. I am a Combaticon warrior. A SPACE warrior, with a long and proud tradition. You will see me as I always HAVE been, not ... well... you know." He waves a hand, as if brushing aside the horror of the trauma he went through. "Not like I... was."

"I'm glad to see that the repair and therapy worked!" No, she doesn't quite get what he means by companionship. She seems to work better with blunt responses. "Oh I'm very proud of you Blast Off, you came through that like a true soldier. You do our colony proud!" She grins widely.

Blast Off nearly preens. His hands rub against each other slowly, carefully. "Yes, naturally. I always have. I always will." He still hasn't quite picked up anything amiss either. Of /course/ she'd be proud of him. He revealed everything he was to her, something he's never done for anyone else. He showed her who he really is, at the very core of his being. Of /course/ she's impressed!

"Well." His hands drop to his sides. "Shall I assist you then? The sooner we clear this up the sooner we can spend more ...quality time together." The shuttleformer's violet optics gaze up at the large femme, and his mood becomes serious. "I need to let you know something though. I have... always been honest with you. I mentioned Whirl before. I am \*trying\* to let him down gently. I met him before I met you, and our... /companionship/ can never last. We know this and we will end this. I need to concentrate here- with, well, /you/. I DID see him recently, but I do need to end it. I WILL end it. I hope this does not present a problem?"

Uh oh.

"Blast Off... what are you saying? What do you mean concentrate on 'me' - why are you ruining a relationship you already have with someone so quickly and casually to -- are you trying to say you're throwing someone else aside for -me-?" Starchamber is completely flummoxed by this.

Oh uh indeed.

Blast Off blinks, his head tilting back up towards Starchamber. "Well... uh, yes?" There's another blink, then he glances away and continues, "I... Well, you /saw/ who I am. /Felt/ who I am. You know that... that that is not something I share with just anyone. In fact," The violet cast of his optics sheds that light on the femme once again, "You are the first. Of course, " He immediately straightens and sniffs all haughtily and all, making sure to point out: "I COULD have. /ANYTIME/. At all. I am quite a... a /catch/, after all." Yes, he'll just keep telling himself that!

"However, there were none who were... worthy. Or some... like Whirl, who... /were/, but..." He hesitates, looking somber, "It could never work. It could not last. And we both know it." The shuttleformer clasps his hands together. "But then you arrived, a fellow Combatronian, and you /wanted/ me, even when I was too ... tangled with those nightmares Feint left in me to even see what side the sun shines on. You were willing to do whatever it took to /wait/, and help me, and... and..." His oh-so-proper facade fades a bit. "... I think it is important we Combatronians stick together. that... you and I stick together."

His head cranes up again, and it seems a smirk may have reappeared. "A sniper and his rifle."

Starchamber sighs. It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened to her. She'd hoped not to make Blast Off the last.

"Blast Off, I... I'm sorry. I'm not ready for that kind of relationship with you. I don't think you understood what my intentions are." She wants to be firm, but not harsh; there are reasons for how she feels in this matter. "And what kind of relationship could I expect from someone who simply dumps someone to chase someone else they want more?"

Blast Off's optic ridges furrow down as he frowns. Huh? "...What?" He listens, not quite getting this. "What do you mean?" Her last question causes him to jerk his head back in a slightly huffy, disbelieving gesture. "/What/? Did you not hear what I was saying? I was already \*trying\* to break off the relationship. We BOTH are. You know that Whirl and a Decepticon are NEVER going to work. But your appearance and... the things we did together mean that the time has come that I should."

"What if you decide that you like someone better after me, Blast Off? Will you then tell me that 'it was never meant to work out, you know that' while you go and pursue someone else?" Starchamber questions, sounding unhappy as she does so. "You seem to expect a lot from me, that because I wanted to help you repair the psychological trauma you suffered through direct neurological intervention, that some how now we are bound together? I -- I don't see interfacing like that. It's something done to build morale among a cohort."

That hits Blast Off like a ton of petro-bricks. He just stares at the femme for a moment. "....WHAT?" Violet optics flicker in confusion. "WHAT?" For awhile it just looks like that's all he's going to say, too.

Eventually he regains his wits, however. "I absolutely WOULD NOT do that to you. To anyone I commited to.. YOU saw deeper into /who/ I am than ANYONE ever HAS- YOU should know that full well!!" There's a HUFF. "And what ARE you talking about? THAT was your idea of "building morale?!?! I share /everything with you- after all this talk of "DARLING" and "I WANT you" and "don't keep me waiting too long, Blast Off, I have NEEDS...." . Even worrying when you thought I didn't find you PRETTY enough, or suddenly looking sheepish when you thought I was into /mechs/, not femmes, and THAT was why I wasn't responding to your advances??!! And that was just "team MORALE"?"

Starchamber's expression is inscrutable. "And you looked into my head. You act as if you did not know what I meant, what I wanted from you. I wanted first and foremost to help coax you out of your fear so you could function. But secondarily... I had not been with one of my own kind in a very long time. I wanted to share pleasure with you, yes - but I cannot simply make a relationship out of one night. I'm sorry, Blast Off, but what I saw in your head, as delightful as that time together was ... was not what I am looking for in a sparkmate. I am not even certain I'm ready for that. That I ever will be."

Blast Off hears the words, but his processor has to go double-duty to sift through and let all of it register. The first part... the first part he could almost take. He can understand that, at least. But the final part arrives like a supernova, and the shuttleformer finds himself buffeted by something he can almost not bear. He takes a step back, as if someone just stabbed him, then stands there a little unsteadily. "...What. I... I don't understand. What are you saying? Are you suddenly not interested in me anymore? I bare my spark to you and you... did not like what you saw?" A hand comes up to slowly stroke down the edges of his forehead. "I am not asking for sparkmates, I simply thought... we had a connection. And now you tell me that there... isn't even the possibility for something special?"

Starchamber tries her best to explain. "You will always be my precious kinsmech, Blast Off, you never need worry about that. I would give my life for you. But we're so different despite being similar - you want things that I have no interest in. I could care less about culture and quiet and sophistication. I do not care about how others see me - you do. You have the makings of a very fine officer, maybe even commander, but ... I am a grunt. I footsoldier. I live for warfare and struggle and physical violence.... I'm only lucky that I've even lived this long. If you tried to make something special out of me, you would have to be willing to accept that I could die tomorrow, doing what I love to do. I am not certain that's fair burden to put on you, and I will not change who and what I am for anyone."

Starchamber may want to grab some anti-freeze because the temperature in the entire area is about to go subzero. Blast Off feels like he's been stabbed right through the spark. He is someone to whom /trust/ is the hardest thing to find, to feel, to give. It's always been a defining issue of his... he learned long ago that to allow himself to get close to others just meant that that made it all the more easy for them to hurt you. So he has always remained aloof, on gaurd, building a labyrinth of walls between himself and others. To let someone inside those walls? Well, it just almost didn't happen. The Combaticon had only let a very few inside ANY of his walls, and Starchamber? As a fellow Combatronian, a space alt, the gun in his sniper's hands- he had allowed her inside those walls further than anyone had ever gone. And she repaid him with a stab through the spark- or that's how it feels to him right now.

That trust, that newborn, fragile, vulnerable trust... he'd allowed himself to be \*vulnerable\* to her, something he never even allowed himself to be with Whirl- and she rejected the very /being/ that he is. The shuttleformer takes another unsteady step back, looking a bit ill. He glances up to Starchamber, and emotions flciker across his face: confusion, then hurt,.... then ICE. His optics blaze up in a cold fury. "You sure seemed to enjoy yourself when we were together before? What's changed?" He glances around. "Don't tell me you've fallen for that groundpounder? Is THAT it? I'm suddenly yesterday's news because of HIM?" He straightens, gazing at her coldly now, his fists clenching. "You are a space alt, you are ALREADY something special. And so what? I could die too, tomorrow, SO WHAT? I am a COmbaticon as well, have you forgotten this? We Combatronians live with death every day- are you suddenly afraid of it? Are you going to let it's inevitability rule your life?"

Starchamber doesn't want to bark back, but she's nearly ready to meet Blast Off's anger with her own. She didn't want to hurt him, but she had no idea he took what they did so seriously. No idea at all.

"How about you ask Whirl about being yesterday's news?" she smartly retorts. "You have no right to march in here and lay claim to me like I'm some kind of prize to be won! Just because you could hold me in your hands does not mean I'm an OBJECT for you to try to POSSESS!" This is going to get ugly fast. "You let me dominate you like a -drone-. How could I want to be wooed by someone who has no chance of defeating me in combat? I LIKE TO BE HURT, BLAST OFF. DO YOU THINK YOU COULD DO THAT FOR ME? DO YOU THINK YOU COULD POSSIBLY CONQUER ME WHEN YOU SUBMIT LIKE A WHIPPED GEARHOUND?"

Blast Off stiffens, going even colder as Starchamber lays into him. His optics narrow, then he finally replies to her- and the louder and angrier she gets, the more quiet he becomes. It's not a fearful quiet, it's ice cold, contained rage. "You aren't listening... Whirl and I both agree we need to stop seeing each other. We have discussed this several times. We have even discussed the reality that one of us may even have to KILL the other someday, given the way things are going and the fact that he cannot ever become a Decepticon."

Then she goes on, and the insults to his pride (his always incredibly, amazingly huge ego) start a rumble in the shuttle's engines. "I never called you a /possession/- I called you someone /special/ to me. I was stupid enough to TRUST you. You then informed me that it was just "team building"! You want TEAM BUILDING? You LIKE to be HURT? Does it make you all HOT and squirming and spring a LEAK just at the thought? Does pain make your circuits blush and your spark sweat? Oh, well, "/DARLING/", let me GIVE it TO YOU then. Let me give you ALL of me again, then. I hope you can HANDLE me, darling... I'm PRETTY /BIG/."

With that, the shuttleformer has lifted himself up from the ground, instantaneously transforming into shuttle mode- which is actually larger than the femme. Thrusters scream into the surrounding ruins, the sheer resonance causing structures to rattle and the rgound to shake with the roar. Icy smoke expels as Blast Off blasts off- and the resonance of a rocketship when it blasts into the sky is an audial-splitting, form-shaking experience. It rattles to the struts. And where does Blast Off launch himself to? Straight towards Starchamber's torso.

-Combat- Blast Off hits Starchamber with a melee attack!

Well that was unexpected, but Starchamber isn't one to back away from a fight, especially when she's already wound up. Blast Off impacts her hard enough to crack the glass of her cockpit. She's offguard by the sudden transformation, but in seconds she'll have her bearings. It won't be good for Blast Off once she does.

Holding onto Blast Off as he flies along, she radios her hot displeasure, << Oh, is this how you show me what a 'gentlemech' you are? I dissappoint you with my response, won't lay down and let you have me, so now you're going to beat me? You shame your colony, your kinsmech and your Prime! You're a traitor to Whirl and a selfish tantrum throwing abuser to me! >>

She raises her fist and attempts to smash it through the window of Blast Off's cockpit.

-Combat- You miss Blast Off with your melee attack!

Blast Off roars along, though Starchamber manages to latch onto him as he slams into her. Her fist comes slamming down, but the shuttle uses his forward momentum to fly straight past a piece of structural wreckage standing nearby, knocking her fist aside before it can do major damage. << Oh no you don't... >> He snarls back, << What the SLAG are you talking about? You are the one who just told me you do not respect me because you WANT to be "hurt and conquered" by a mech and you claim I cannot do it. I am simply responding to your own accusations, Starchamber. And I will /show/ you the error of your ways. >> (No one who truly knows him has ever said Blast Off had a small ego).

His rant continues, << If anyone is abusive, it is YOU. You dare MOCK me? Mock me for having a brief moment of /weakness/ due to an enemy's psychological /torture/? What happened to helping "your precious teammate, who you just want to heal"? Is that your idea of repair? Fix a fellow Combaticon's wound, then /tear them down/ and castigate everything they are for even having that wound in the first place? //If you think /I/ am the same thing as the wound that was inflicted on me, you are sadly mistaken, "darling"//. Despite interfacing, you don't seem very aware of just who I am, what I can do. The immense /power/ that I hold.

Blast Off, in his anger and hurt, then says something he might regret later. But right now, in his frustration he belts it out anyway. << If standing up against your back-stabbing shames my colony, maybe they aren't WORTH it anyway. Combatronians are apparently back-stabbing, war-at-all-costs-including our own FUTURE, short-sighted idiots. No WONDER we're going extinct!!! >> Something inside him just sort of... dies with that statement, but sometimes in a flash of anger you say things before you can think better of them.

The shuttle then puts on an extra burst of speed, angling up, then arcing down through a labyrinth of half-rotted structures. << By the way, get the PIT off me. It's time for this ride to end. >> With that, he whips through the buildings even faster, until the speed is near-dizzying, then starts rolling right as he sails through some ancient high-rises, trying to knock Starchamber off of him and slam her into the walls. If he succeeds, she'll also get an extra and deliberate emission of the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer that comes out billowing out of his thrusters as he tears away.

-Combat- Blast Off misses Starchamber with a melee attack!

Starchamber isn't able to get that punch in to try to grab hold of his controls and steer him down. As he blats his accusations at her, either blind to or willfully ignoring his own faults in the matter. She makes a mental note that with Blast Off, mental therapy through interface doesn't seem to have worked. He's made the classic mistake of trying to bond with his therapist in a cycle of hurt/comfort.

She takes the opportunity to reach out and grab hold of one of those building structures the shuttle is careening towards, whipping her away from him; she swings out into the air and transforms into her spacefighter mode, and engages engines to full, shooting towards the upper atmosphere in complete and utter silence. Gravity-field flight leaves no trail, no smoke, no sound. She's simply gone.

[IC-Decepticon] Starchamber says, "You've made a terrible mistake, Blast Off. You just don't realize the full extent of it now."

And finally Starchamber is gone... she takes off suddenly and Blast Off veers up in pursuit, but as she rockets away he then decides better of it. If she wants to run like a coward, so be it. The shuttle's engines roar with a mix of frustration, rage and pain somehow all balled up into one as his trajectory takes him down again, transforming and landing on a deserted street. He stands there a moment, feeling numb. He's not even sure what just happened, but Starchamber makes no sense to him anymore. She wants it rough, then she doesn't. She came onto him all hot and /need/ing, then she suddenly gives him the cold shoulder and questions his mechhood.

And he remains like that, just staring into space- until he receives the radio message from her. << How so? Make up your mind, Starchamber. You tell me you only respect mechs who hurt and "conquer" you, then run like a coward when I do? You won't even face me. >>

<< You should never have told me you were 'facing Whirl. I believe that got someone put on a kill on sight list. >>

Her tone is neutral, even and firm. Fuel-curdling.

<< Leave me alone, Blast Off. Leave me alone, or your name will be next on that list. >>

Blast Off's spark turns to ice at that, and with one fell swoop the Combaticon has lost a friend, his kin, and quite possibily his ability to trust anyone ever again. A lesson learned. << Don't worry, I will. And perhaps I should thank you for your final little "lesson" there. I will never forget it, and I shall be even stronger for it. >>