A Matter of Choice

-News probably travels fast when a shuttle comes to Cybertron, considering the fact it isn't really the ideal vacation spot for the rest of the universe. It's not even the ideal vacation spot for Cybertronians. This particular shuttle, however, crash landed and most likely it will draw out those who have a duty to investigate as well as those who have general curiosity.

Due to the crash, the shuttle is in bad shape, though it's intact enough to at least offer shelter. It is not of Cybertronian make, which might be worth noting. The being sitting on the boarding strip, however, looks distinctly Cybertronian. She has her hands on her knees and wears an expression of patience.

-Well, Prowl is one of those types who has a -duty- to investigate. The craft does not appear Cybertronian in origin, but its inhabitant does. Odd. At any rate if there are survivors, it's part of his responsibility to ensure that they are able to secure a proper place in society and are not dangerous to it, either.

       So Cybertron's current chief of security along with a small police squadron set out to Thunderhead Pass to see if they can't shed some more light on the situation. Just who was in that ship and where did it come from? One of the colonies, perhaps? He examines her from a distance off first, attempting to determine if she seemed likely to make any kind of hostile move.

-And who else likes to scout around for mechs and fems in unfortunate situations other than the ruler of Vos himself, Starscream. Of course, the seeker is always on the lookout for mysterious happenings such as these, in hopes of drawing yet another pawn into his game of manipulation.

He hovers closer to the crashed shuttle, but not too close--he doesn't want Prowl seeing him. Not yet, anyway.

-Seeing as how no one has fully approached her yet, nor spoken to her, the seeker-femme continues to sit in place. She's rather still and doesn't seem to possess the need to twitch and fidget as some individuals do. While she is armed, with a pair of swords, she doesn't have a lot of ranged weaponry apparent on her person. Her hands do not hover over her weapon the way they might in someone who is anticipating using them soon.

-Prowl watches for a few moments more, then approaches carefully, weapons stowed but ready just in case. Whether or not he is aware of Starscream's presence is not immediately obvious. She doesn't appear to be critically injured or anything. Is she waiting for someone? Or something?

"Identify yourself." is the first thing out of his vocal synth. Not a harsh demand nor a friendly request, and stated in an unreadable tone. Prowl never was one for pleasantries.

-The ruler of Vos nails a landing on a rocky outcropping behind the shuttle and studies the other female seeker. He smirks a little. Starscream approves, she flies. For now, he doesn't interfere. Instead, he simply watches as the chief officer approaches her.

-This is just as well, for Swift Blade was never used to having pleasantries directed at her. When she is spoken to, she focuses her optics on Prowl, taking only a moment to assess his appearance before she answers, "Swift Blade." She doesn't volunteer anything else, but she keeps her gaze on the mech's face, expression expectant. Since her back is to the shuttle, she doesn't realize that there's more than the two of them here.

-The seeker continues to watch, his arms folded. He descends from the rocky outcropping though, coming closer to Prowl and Swift Blade, optics gleaming as he surveys the two of them.  Starscream waits patiently, for the right moment to intervene...

-"Then, it seems, I will have to answer a few questions," replies Swift Blade with a little shrug. "Feel free; I have no particular attachmet to the shuttle and nothing to hide." She stands slowly, keeping her hands in view, and steps away from the shuttle. "I had nothing but myself to bring." As for Starscream, well, she still isn't aware of his existence.

-Prowl nods to the other offficers, and they move to begin searching the craft, both inside and out. They'll be going through -everything-, flight logs, nav computers, arsenal, rations, fuel reserves and systems. One of them notices Starscream watching them, and sends a private comm his boss' way.

       Meanwhile, Prowl begins the questioning. "So your name is Swift Blade...where did you come from? Are you from one of the colonies? Or have you simply been off planet?"

-There shouldn't be anything untoward in the shuttle. It's a simple craft, desgined mostly to leave a larger vessel so that one can get to a planet without taking the whole spaceship in. The most it has in the way of weaponry is a simple pulse blast to repel anything that might harm the shuttle, but there are no targeted weapon systems aboard. Onboard computers will tell that the small shuttle left the docking bay of a ship not too long ago and came directly here, after which teh sensors picked up a storm, which caused the shuttle to crash.

"I was sold into slavery during the Quintesson occupation," she states. "I had been working as a slave since until I was granted the freedom to return home, which I did as soon as I could." Her optics stay on Prowl; she doesn't seem the least bit concerned about what is happening to the crashed shuttle.

-"Mhm." Prowl seems to be keeping record of everything she is saying on that datapad. "So you have been with the Quintessons all this time? But recently they let you go? I gather that your craft suffered some damage that caused a crash?" The data from the ship has already been uploaded to the Decagon databases, but the officer is testing her...to see if what she says matches what the numbers say.

-Once Starscream notices that he's been discovered by one of Prowl's lackeys, he emerges from behind the shuttle, gesturing grandiosely. "Prowl, long time no see, my dear friend," the seeker laughs, peering around as the other Autobots search the downed shuttle. "I'm sure you won't mind if I just, tag along with the inspection team for a little bit? Good, thanks. You're such a dear." He enters the ship and looks around a bit before joining Prowl and Swiftblade outside. He grins. "A slave, you say? Well~ that's unfortunate."

-Swift Blade shakes her head. "I was sold to a flesh species at first. I exchanged hands several times and spent a great deal of time in stasis." She frowns briefly. "I doubt the Quintessons themselves would have done so." She speaks the name with great distaste. Then she looks momentarily embarassed. "I'm afraid that I didn't have much experience flying shuttles in my time; a more experienced pilot would have handled things better, but none of the ship's crew wished to come this close to the planet," she confesses. "It seems as though this place is not well viewed by outsiders."

When Starscream reveals himself, she looks frankly stunned. Her optics linger on him for several minutes. They look similar enough that she is really sensing, perhaps for the first time, that she has found herown people. "Unfortunate, yes," she finally agrees. "It left me rather isolated."

-"I see." Prowl replies with a nod. It seems she flew into that storm due to a lack of piloting experience. And it comes as no surprise that the others refused to come near. "And what was your position before you were abducted?"  He glances distastefully at Starscream, but ignores him for the most part.

-Yes lady, look all you want, feast your optics on the magnificence that is Starscream. He smirks and leans against the shuttle, angling himself just right so that the light highlights his luxurious physique. Of course, she couldn't have possibly found a better candidate to represent the seeker subtype.

"I could help you," Starscream says in a sly voice, "teach you the ways of this planet and how to fly spacecraft--you know, all those useful skills you wish you had."

-Swift Blade looks rather uncomfortable with the question. "I was quite new then; I don't remember much from that time," she says, her expression one of consternation. "I came back because I didn't fit in out there," she waves towards the sky, "it seemed only reasonable to go back to the planet of my origin. I only learned enough to know the Quintessons were gone."

It might not be admiration, per se, but Swift Blade's optics often do stray towards the seeker mech. She had been around all sorts of different beings, but hadn't seen other Cybertronians much since she had been taken from the planet's surface millions of years ago. "Learning is important, and I have a lot of it to do," she says in response to Starscream's words.

-Hm. So she hadn't experienced much of life on Cybertron, then. Prowl takes a moment to consider this, and nods at her latter comments. "Indeed, it is. But now that you have successfully arrived here, what do you plan to do? Certainly not -return- to yet another form of slavery, correct?" Yes, Starscream, he's looking at YOU.

-Oh how the seeker loves to be looked at. He couldn't care less if her gaze isn't admiration per se. His chassis swells, and he grins broadly as he stands directly in front of her, blocking Prowl rudely. "Which, of course, is what I can provide you with. I am, after all, the ruling entity of the city Vos and the president of the flight academy there. And since you've had the misfortune of crashing here with little other than the armor your back, I'll give you free tuition for a semester." He slides a hand under her chin so that she's forced to look into his optics. "Come on now, how could you refuse?"

When Prowl makes a comment about another form of slavery, he just laughs and slings an arm around the officer, "And what do you know about slavery, Prowl? Except how to orchestrate it, since pointing fingers and giving orders seems to be your only strengths. You're a lucky mech, you know, that chair you sit in at your office is hella comfortable." He grins. "Ah, I'm just kidding, mech, you do a swell job being Sentinel's second in command..."

-"My intention was to avoid it, yes," Swift Blade said. "I didn't anticipate that slavery would be an issue with the Quintessons gone." She shrugs her shoulders. "What I plan to do is simply learn more about where I came from and see if I have a place here. No more, no less."

She smiles faintly towards Starscream. "What sort of academy?" she asks, with a spark of interest, though she looks a little uncomfortable at being mech-handled. She listens to his banter towards Prowl with interest; these two are definitely people of distinction on Cybertron, which is what she had been waiting for to begin with. However, though she learned politeness in her years, she isn't the most discerning when it comes to the motivations and deceptions of others.

-"Not more comfortable than yours, Starscream. But I hope you aren't taking it for granted; after all, you might not have access to it for very much longer." Prowl glares at the Vosian and shoves him off rather indignantly with that subtle threat. Why does he have to -touch- everyone?

       He returns his attention to Swiftblade. "Unfortunately it still is, albeit less glaringly obvious. As for finding a place here, an assessor can help you with that. Of course, we could always use more able-bodied people to help keep the peace around here...things haven't exactly been stable as of late. There was a reason the rest of your crew didn't want anything to -do- with us."

-Starscream laughs again. "Don't be like that, Prowl, I was just /joking/. Besides, that's no way to treat an old friend," he says, feigning a hurt look.

"Why, the best on all of Cybertron, of course," the seeker brags, "you'll receive basic education and be given the opportunity to specialize in two areas: flight and another science of your choosing. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to learn about where you're from. And don't worry about fitting in--hang out with me, and you'll blend right in." He smirks.

-"They kept their distance from me and weren't very forthcoming with information. But they were paid to deliver me, so that is what they did," Swift Blade said. While she detects some animosity from Prowl to Starscream, she has no clue why this might be, and as such, tries to ignore it. "As much as I would like to be helpful, I believe that learning a few more things would be wise. I could hardly help keep the peace with my current ignorance." She winces slightly; it is not an easy thing to confess that you pretty much know nothing about where you are.

Turning to Starscream, she inclines her head. "It would seem ungracious to not accept, though I wouldn't wish to cause any issues by doing so." She pauses. "My last master, the one who freed me, was working on joining the most prestigious science academy of his planet; the requirements were quite steep." Unspoken is her doubt that she would meet them if that is the case here.

-Starscream smirks broadly, looking very pleased. He gives Prowl a facetious look. "Don't worry, you should be free to choose to do whatever you like, regardless of what other people think."

"Heh, well, I can make an exception here and there," The ruler of Vos says with a devious half smile, "as long as you prove yourself to be an apt student. Which I'm certain you will." He transforms, "Look me up in Vos. Although you may not have to--my residence is the largest one in the city and is attached to the Vosian flight academy. Can't really miss it." He also radios her his hailing number. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you soon." He laughs victoriously as he flies off.

-Prowl hands Swift a small dataslug with a vid containing footage of the recent breakout at Kolkular as well as Sentinel's grave words regarding it, more specifically the one that had been broadcasted publicly not too long ago (+bbread 9/16). "It's really not all that complicated, but here. This should fill you in." Really doesn't take much more for one to figure out who needs to be apprehended before they do too much damage, right?

       He raises an optic ridge at Starscream's offer. "I would be careful about making exceptions to the rules. I can't imagine the other students would be very pleased if they found out that you didn't require someone to apply as everyone else did."

       He turns back to Swift. "Well, thank you for your cooperation today, Swift Blade. I would suggest visiting an assessor to determine what sort of position you would be best suited to." The rest of the unit has finished searching the craft. Prowl turns to leave. "If you have any further questions, my hailing frequency is on that data slug I gave you."