Seeker Training

All is relatively quiet in the repair bay, the daylight cycles have ended and darkness is closing in, dimming the room.

 A few breems pass and the sound of jet engines can be heard outside the repair bay, echoing throughout the halls in the Forge. A red and white seeker suddenly flies in, protoforming and making his way towards the back of the room where his brother is slumbering. "Brother," Starscream says, shaking the indigo jet, "are you well yet?"

Curled up in a corner of the room is an oddly painted little femme. When the sound of someone speaking reaches her audials, she uncurls herself and looks way up at Starscream. For now she just watches him.

Thundercracker was asleep again. He gave up trying to figure out what was taking the medics so long in fabricating his parts and after his annoying interaction with deadlock he had decided that sleeping was the best thing to do. And he was doing a really good job at it, giving it his all until.... his optics come online slowly, "I haven't decided," he mutters, "Why?"

Starscream casts a brief glance towards Silence, frowning slightly at her but doesn't say anything to her just yet. "..." he arches a brow ridge at Thundercracker. "What do you mean you haven't decided? Aren't the medics supposed to tell you when you can leave?"

Thundercracker comes fully online, sits up and looks at his leg. It looks fine. He movs it a bit. It feels fine. He starts running some internal diagnostics on it. "Apparantly not. I fell asleep anyway." he shrugs, "Some afthat groundpounder was in here annoying me the other cycle so I went to sleep." he looks at his brother, "Why, what do you have in mind for me to do?"

Silence seems to shrink into herself at the frown, making her look smaller...as if she wasn't already tiny to begin with. She even squints up her optics so they look smaller too.

Starscream offers a hand to Thundercracker to help him off the berth. "I've been training. In lieu of the plans for the Decepticons next major military move. C'mon. I'd like to show you a few things."

 Starscream's gaze wanders back over to Silence and he offers her a smile, but the intention behind it is hard to read.

Silence timidly smiles back and seems to relax. So far, she hasn't really said anything. No, she looks like she's in awe.

"Of course, what good my training has done in the past few megacycles," Starscream says, hauling Thundercracker off the berth. "You'd do well to learn it, too," he says.

 His crimson gaze then burns brightly down at Silence. "I don't think you belong here," he says, smirking a little.

"I'm not hurt, no, but it's better to be in here than in the arena. I don't have any weapons," the little femme says, now that she's actually being spoken to. "I'm trying to keep out of the way, and so far I think I"m doing a pretty good job."

Thundercracker looks at the little femme, "Where did you come from?" he asks ignoring what Starscream just said to him.

Starscream gives Thundercracker a sulky look. Ugh, did his brother just ignore him for the female?! As if! He doesn't even do that. He folds his arms. "Well, why don't you keep doing just that, my brother and I have some important training to do," he says, giving the indigo jet a pointed look.

"From the Master's house. But the dark blue mech said that he wasn't going to wake up anymore, so I should leave. He brought me here," is Silence's explaination. "So I've just been waiting, I guess, though I don't know what I'm waiting for. I'll probably know it when it happens though." She nods a few times to Thundercracker. Glancing to Starscream she asks, "What are you training to do?”

Thundercracker takes in the femmes answer and then realizes hes being stared at. His gaze shifts to the other Seeker, "What?" he asks innocently though with a twist of tease sound to it. "Im waiting on you.”

"You aren't a Decepticon, yet you are in the Forge," Starscream says harshly, "doesn't that picture somehow strike you as wrong? I don't know who brought you here but you don't belong, so get out," he says tersely.

 He huffs at Thundercracker. "Haha, very funny," he grumbles. "Let's go to the arena," he says, "enough time has been wasted."

"A what?" asks Silence. Yeah, there's a lot of things Soundwave didn't fill her in on. Probably just as well. "I was brought here," she repeats, clinging to that bit of information. "If I wasn't supposed to be here, I wouldn't have been taken here."

Thundercracker points toward the door, "lead the way then." and he waits for Starscream to head out before he does.

Starscream shoots Thundercracker a miffed look before entering the arena. "I hope you're well rested," he says transforming. "You're going to need every bit of your energy. See if you can lock your crosshairs on me." The red and white seeker then bolts upward, disappearing into the upper mezzanine.

Thundercracker watches Starscream transform and take off. After a moment he does the same and tries to shadow him to put him in his crosshairs.

At the moment the pair of them enter, Swift Blade is down on the ground, going through the paces of several sword exercises she uses to center herself. However, as the brothers fly around, her concentration is broken and she looks upwards.

His brother is certainly fast, and Starscream makes it very difficult for Thundercracker to aim at him. The red and white seeker ducks behind a pair of hefty metal columns, removing himself from sight.

 "<Ah, Swift Blade, would you like to join our training session?>" Starscream radios.

<< I'm afraid I'd likely just embarrass myself, >> returns Swift Blade politely; she really doesn't embarrass easily. << Hopefully some day soon I'll be restored to be more like the two of you, >> she further adds. << Still, it will be educational to watch if I may? >>

"<Don't be afraid>" The seeker taunts, flying out of the Forge and losing Thundercracker in the process. "<In fact, I take the 'would you like to' part back. Join me. That's a direct order. You'll never get better unless you participate. You don't get better at flying just by watching>"

Swift Blade sighs, transforms, and lifts off. < It has been mentioned many times that I need to be restored to proper Seeker specifications, > Swift Blade returns. < You yourself said I was very slow; practice isn't going to change that. > If Starscream looses Thundercracker, then she can hardly hope to keep up.

"<Fine~>" Starscream says airily. "< I'll slow down for you, but we'll have to get those modifications for you sooner than later >" the seeker decreases his speed. "<We can work on your maneuvers for now>" And he dips a little lower so she can join him.

Swift Blade is patient, but she's not really used to needing others to be patient with her, and that wears on her a little bit. < Oh, believe me, I /want/ to be able to keep up, > she says. < These modifications were not my idea. > She just wants that to be clear. She's not exactly complaining, but she wants the reasons to be attributed to the right people...even though most of them are dead by now, not being as long lived as Cybertronians. < However, I have little say when it comes to the allocation of resources. >

“< I know >" Starscream says. "<Pity isn't it>" He ascends a little bit, hoping she'll follow his lead. "<Don't worry. I'll get in contact with Swindle and you'll be able to keep up, soon enough>"

< Not entirely a pity. Though I've been told I'm too humble and that I should change this somehow, > Swift Blade muses as she follows his lead. She can fly, there's no doubt about that. However, she hasn't had as much opportunity as Starscream, despite her nine million years of age. < Take your time; it's not so much for me that I need these things, but I'll simply be more useful when I can keep up. >

Starscream continues ascending. "<You /are/ too humble>" he flatters. "<And we are going to need useful quite soon>" his boosters activate and he speeds up just a little. "<Hm, well I know you can't fly fast, but how far up can you go…?>"

< I don't see the crime in humility, > Swift Blade admits, gamely trying to match altitudes with Starscream. Though, in the long run, perhaps it's best that she literally can't surpass Starscream. Because if she could, she would try her best and she hasn't had enough exposure to him to realize the sort of person he is.

"<Ah~ Your modesty never fails to amaze me>" Starscream continues to flatter. He protoforms, but his boosters continue to take him higher and higher. He watches with Swift Blade with a coquettish smirk.

< It was seared into me through pain; there's nothing terribly amazing about that, > Swift Blade notes. She transforms as well to be on an even keel. < I imagine our experiences have afforded us very different outlooks from each other. >

“<You're very brave>" Starscream says smoothly. "<And a seasoned warrior. An excellent addition to the Decepticon rank>" he comments as they ascend above the clouds. "<Mm. Well, I don't actually think we're all that different in our opinions..>" the seeker comments.”

< Perhaps, perhaps not. But I doubt you were ever a slave, > Swift Blade points out. < Certainly not for nine million years. > Ah, the clouds, they are lovely, are they not? And it's where Seekers belong. < You have been in a position to have many things; I never have. I had been surrounded by wealth many times, but none of it was ever mind. My years cultivated in me obedience, loyalty, and humilty. But it was an isolated existance. Here there are many like us, but out there, I was the only one. I've been told that there is a special meaning to being a Seeker, one that I should embrace. >

"<...Heh. Not literally, no, but I know what it feels like>" the seeker says, sounding bitter. "<Well, no, not nine million years. But that's besides the point. Maybe I have. But I have never had what I wanted>" Then Starscream quickly moves on to a different subject. "<Of course. Seekers search, seekers find, and last but most certainly not least, we can fly. Therefore we are superior>”

Swift Blade doesn't know enough about Starscream to understand /why/ the mech is bitter. From her perspective, he's had a lot. Far more than her at any rate. Still, one can't mistake the sound of bitterness; not when she had been fighting becoming it for so long. < What do we search for? > she asks thoughtfully. < Also, there are others who can fly that have somewhat different forms. What makes us special among fliers? > It isn't a challenge; she simply wants to know.

"<For whatever satisfies us, thrills us, makes us feel alive. You must remember something, Swift Blade. Seekers are free. They are not meant to be controlled, caged, or enslaved. Anyone who tries to do such a thing is an ignorant tyrant>" Starscraem's tone of voice turns even more bitter. "<We are the fastest and most militarily capable creatures known to this planet--designed to be members of the Elite Guard. However, I, along with my brothers and sisters, have chosen not to be enslaved by the governement. In this way, we remain the best, and the brightest, because like I said before, to be a seeker is to know freedom>”

< A heritage long denied to me, > Swift Blade says thoughtfully. < The Quintessons saw us all as one thing: slave labor to be exploited. I had challenged the thought in my mind for a long time, but had never acted on it. And what is it that you wish to do with this freedom? > she inquires. < What makes you feel alive? >

"<Unfortunately. Except you're out of it now, so no use dwelling on the past>" Starscream says dryly. "<Freedom. Equality. Power. And most importantly, peace. It will come one day, after this pending war is over>”

< All good things. Though, I dwell on the past because of two things. Firstly, it made me who I am. Secondly, it keeps me alert so that the negative things in my history do not repeat themselves, > Swift Blade states. < You are interested in equality and power. If you have power, doesn't that necessitate that others must have less power? And if so, how does that equate to equality? Because if we all have equal power, then no one can hold it over another, rendering it inert. >

"<Well I guess I can't help you if you want to wallow in the misery that is your past>" Starscream says sourly. "<No, you misunderstand. When I receive due power, I will grant equality for everyone. Peace, through tyranny>" He transforms again. "<But I have other business to attend to now. I trust I'll be seeing you again? Good. Keep training, and I'll look into your modifications soon enough>" And with that, he flies off, leaving Swift Blade to think what she wills.