Marissa's Arrival [OPEN]

[no_catsuit_thx]

Characters: G1 Marissa Faireborn, open
Content: Marissa arrives and has a run-in with some local fauna.
Location: Within Iacon city limits (there are a lot of towering gold buildings)
Time of day: Approximately 1800 per Marissa's digital watch, low-light conditions
Warnings: mild violence, fictional or incorrect military protocol.
Status: Active/

Comments

np, I was at work most of today.

[no_catsuit_thx]

Marissa watched the red and white Transformer unfold to his root mode. She had witnessed the like before, but never gotten entirely accustomed to it; She still found the gestalts, like Computron, particularly stunning.

The greeting was a bit terse, but considering Marissa was wondering the same thing, she did not let the tone bother her in the slightest, but replied in a firm tone, "That is just what I want to know. I was on a routine flight between Earth and the Lunar Colony and then suddenly found myself here."

She did not wish to assume, but perhaps the ambulance alternate mode and his gesture toward her specific injury indicated he had a medical function. Marissa responded to his question with an introduction. "Captain Marissa Faireborn, Earth Defense Command. I encountered a technological lifeform not far from here. I'm not sure what to call it, but it's fast, and has sharp claws. Rather pointed muzzle. Missed major arteries, fortunately, but it's a rather deep gash."

She looked up, smiling, despite the pain. "I can see you are an Autobot. May I have your name? You aren't First Aid by chance?" She thought he fit the description. Marissa had dealings with the Autobots - and even a few Decepticons - but was only personally familiar with a few.

Re: np, I was at work most of today.

[my_achin_struts]

Half dozen capacitors (no), spare main wiring assembly (no), a handful of fuses(nope), box of band-aids (close but not quite), one of Bumblebee's spare game controllers (what the slag?)...

"Ah ha!" Ratchet proclaimed, fishing out a full medical kit. Should be enough in there to at least get her patched up and hopefully not hurting for a bit. "The lunar colony, okay-- wait. The what? What lunar colony? Sari never mentioned any Lunar Colony!" he groused.

"Earth Defense Command? What's that?" Either this Marissa was certifiably crazy, or something very, very weird was going on.

"Name's Ratchet. Never heard of First Aid," he replied, gesturing toward her leg with a roll of bandages that he'd removed from the kit. "You ever heard of somebot named Soundwave?"

[no_catsuit_thx]

Marissa was comfortable with exposition, having some experience liaising between humans and Autobots in her EDC career. She went into a practiced explanation, "Thanks to our peaceful exchange with the Autobots, which included the establishment of the joint human-Autobot defensive organization Earth Defense Command, we've been able to expand our reach to Luna, Mars, and more recently to moons of the outer Solar System, where we're involved in terraforming projects. My understanding is that not all Autobots would be apprised of our joint ventures, just as not all humans concern themselves with threats beyond our globe." Marissa then continued in a more casual tone. "My Dad often visited the Lunar Colony, without the family, but I insisted this time. I was on my way to meet him."

"Ratchet," She said then, "Your name sounds familiar, as does Soundwave. Is he a Decepticon?" She had access to dossiers on known Decepticons, but had only encountered very few personally.

She gave a nod at the bandages "I think I can wrap the wound, if you would keep watch. What with the fox-like creatures and the tremors, I thought it best to move from the area to find some shelter."

[my_achin_struts]

Not all Autobots.... "Yeah, well, there's just one major problem with that idea. See, the only Autobots I know of that have any relations with Humans, besides, 'ew, an organic, get it away from me', is Optimus and the rest of his team. Which includes me. So if anyone would know anything about this 'joint human-Autobot defensive organization' of yours, it'd be me," he groused, handing over the bandages.

"And, yeah, Soundwave is a rotten Decepticon, and I'm beginning to think that this whole thing is another one of his virtual reality tricks!"

[no_catsuit_thx]

Marissa listened to Ratchet's arguments. "Optimus...Prime? He's alive?" She asked, quietly. If there was one Autobot everyone on Earth knew by name, it was Optimus Prime. She had already been an EDC officer at the time of his death. Internally, she was processing what she had heard and observed: Autobots who were disgusted by non-technological species, no EDC, virtual reality.

Marissa took the bandages in her left hand. She looked up at Ratchet. "There is definitely something going on! The state of Cybertron-Earth relations you describe is not at all what I remember. This could be virtual reality, or subconscious fears made real, or Quintessons corrupting the space-time continuum." Her suspicion was with the Quintessons, of course.

[my_achin_struts]

Ratchet turned a look of wary confusion down upon Marissa and frowned. "Of course Optimus is alive! Why wouldn't he be? It's Prowl we lost, not Optimus!"

"Stupid slaggin' ninja-bot," Ratchet continued in a low, rough mutter. Prowl's loss... hurt, and he still wasn't ready to forgive the Decepticons for putting them all in the situation in the first place that had resulted in Prowl's sacrifice to save Optimus. Save them all, really. "Shouldda been another way." He glanced away, ostensibly keeping watch for more predators, but mainly to hide the swift wash of sorrow that crossed his features.

"Quinte-what-ons?" he asked, turning a grumpy scowl back down on her. "Space-time, what?" He shook his head and frowned again. "You're taling Perceptor-ese. My bet's on Soundwave slagging with our heads again."

"Course... there's a good way to test that theory..." he mused, frowning hard as he attempted to think his surroundings, or even himself, different. It had worked the one time, after all!

Nothing changed, though, the street remaining creepily deserted - except for that slinky, bladey looking critter over near an adjacent alley, which dashed off quick enough when Ratchet used his magnets to fling a refuse can at it - himself remaining achey and creaky and generally crotchety and not young and vibrant or any number of organic critters he'd pictured, and the skyline staying that same dark, unfamiliar Cybertron. "What the slag... Why isn't it working?"

[no_catsuit_thx]

"Prowl?" She asked. She had never met one with such a name, but it had a familiar sound, like 'Ratchet', something remembered from reading others' mission reports. "The only ninja robot I recall is one reported to have been constructed by the famous scientist, Dr. Fujiyama."

Marissa went quiet, recognizing enough of Cybertronian expressions that this Ratchet was upset by a loss, in the way many she knew had been touched by the deactivation of their leader. Where and whenever Ratchet was from, he did not know the Qunitessons. Being familiar with the discovery that Quintessons had made the Transformers she knew, she decided now was not the time to suggest this could be the case with Ratchet. It had been a shocking revelation to Rodimus and the others she knew. And the mention here of Perceptor led Marissa to believe complicated theory of space-time manipulation could wait. Finding herself here here in these curious circumstances was a lot for her to process, as well. She simply explained in a quiet tone, "An alien race we encountered."

"You were thinking our minds were being affected?" Marissa asked, struggling herself to understand Ratchet's theory. "Perhaps for now, we should make the assumption that however implausible, the simplest answer is true: we are here, together, despite remembering different past events. Maybe, there are others here with us, allies, perhaps. I sent a distress call, but received no response."

[my_achin_struts]

"Dr. Fujiyama? That doesn't sound like one of ours," Ratchet replied with a frown. Sounded suspiciously like a human name, come to think of it. Sumdac notwithstanding (since he'd based his work off of Megatron, after all), Ratchet had his doubts about some human managing to create something as sophisticated as a Cybertronian.

Just look at the Dinobots. Human tech, Allspark birth, and dumb as a sack of hammers.

Frag. The Dinobots. Ratchet suddenly found himself wondering if anyone had bothered checking up on them since Prowl had... had been lost. Just one more thing Ratchet needed to do when he woke up. Or got home. Or whatever the heck it was that was going on.

Ratchet heaved a sigh, nodding as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm beginning to think that you're right. Captain Marissa, was it? Yeah," he intoned unhappily. "It's Soundwave's MO, but things just aren't adding up, so... Wheeljack used to say, 'If it looks like a duckatron and it quacks like a duckatron...' Or something."

He dropped down into his alt mode, the passenger door swinging open for her as he sighed again. "Might be better if you hop in. More of those things might come sniffing around, and I can protect you easier if we can both run."

"Say, you said you put out a transmission? I never heard anything... Maybe I should try on the Autobot bands, eh? I don't have the Elite Guard freqs, but I can at least hit the open bands," he offered, before putting his suggestion into practice.

// Autobot Ratchet to any Autobots within range. Anyone out there have their receptors on? //

[no_catsuit_thx]

Marissa Grinned up at Ratchet. "Captain Faireborn, if we're being formal. You may call me Marissa," she said. "Sounds like we have ourselves a duckatron."

She marveled again at the transformation, and then stepped up into Ratchet's passenger compartment. "Thanks for the lift." Something she had learned about the Transformers: even those who didn't travel with smaller-scale partners, like Blaster, took quickly to transporting humans. She'd learned not to think of it as crawling inside someone's body, but seating herself on or in a vehicle that, whatever its mode, was also an ally or friend.

"My transmission was on a standard EDC emergency frequency, but considering the organization was not known to you, that may have had something to do with the lack of response."

Marissa then adjusted her own communicator, and confirmed she could also receive the transmission. She lowered the volume to avoid feedback.

"Are you equipped to scan for other broadcasts? Perhaps, like me, there are others transmitting, but on unfamiliar frequencies. I'm no expert, like Blaster, but maybe we can confirm the presence of others, and maybe narrow down their position."

[giri_guy]

Even as Marissa spoke, a voice crackled over both of their radios. //Autobot Ratchet, this is Rodimus Prime. En route to your position. What's the situation?//

[my_achin_struts]

"You're welcome, Marissa," Ratchet grumbled, but, by now, it should be pretty clear that Ratchet's default tone is somewhere between "grumble" and "grouch". Hopefully Marissa doesn't take it too much to heart.

"Yeah, could be," he agreed, taking a moment to secure his bearings before choosing a direction that would lead toward where he'd once been partnered with a massive Sentinel/ship. "Course, it could just be that we're alo--"

As their radios crackled to life, he bit off his words. "Or not." He won't admit to how relieved he is to hear another voice, especially such a familiar one. Optimus would have been better, but beggars can't be choosers.

// Nice to hear a familiar voice, Rodimus Prime, // Ratchet replied. // Just trying to figure out what's going on. The city looks a bit too deserted, if you know what I mean, and-- //

Ratchet broke off there before he mentioned Marissa. While Cybertron felt like home, it didn't totally look like home. Ratchet couldn't take the chance, though, that it wasn't home, especially with him transporting around a human in his cargo compartment.

// Say, uhhh... Sentinel Prime wouldn't happen to be with you, would he? //

"Stay off the radio, Marissa," he cautioned. "Mechs I know aren't too keen on the whole organic life thing. I'm not sure how Rodimus is gonna take you, but I know most of the other mechs we should be running into will completely flip their gears if they catch sight of you."

[no_catsuit_thx]

Marissa was just removing her helmet and jetpack, as the communication from Rodimus Prime was received. "Rodimus," she said aloud, as she set down her helmet, trying to find a respectful place in Ratchet's interior.

She was somewhat puzzled by Ratchet's request, but she respected her new ally's request. She remembered he had said his past included some different Earth-Cybertron relations.

"I take it you also know a Rodimus Prime?" She asked. They both knew Optimus Prime, though his fate- fates apparently differed. There was something significant, Marissa felt she was missing. "The Rodimus I know is a friend," she said confidently. There was no other Earth term she knew that explained a relationship between an alien head of state and a military liaison that was simultaneously like that of a concerned sister and a younger brother.

[giri_guy]

//...Huh? Sentinel Prime?//

The name of his... pre-predecessor? Grand-Prime? Whatever - was only vaguely familiar to Rodimus, since he'd died long before Hot Rod had even come online. Still, there were all kinds of strange mechs running around on this version of Cybertron - it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that Sentinel Prime was here too.

...Wonder what he'd been like.

Visual contact had been made: no enemies within sight or scan, although Rodimus kept Wheeljack and Perceptor's warning about giant slugs in mind. The red-and-white vehicle was - ...not the Ratchet he'd known as Hot Rod, unless he'd gotten a major overhaul post-offlining.

...Oh, 'Jack and Perce were going to be so disappointed.

He transformed and asked uncertainly, "Ratchet...?"

[big_bang_mech]

Wheeljack had wanted to race Rodimus there, but he didn't know where they were going, so he settled for staying right on the flaming winnebago's tail the whole way. Tires screeching, he skidded to a stop and popped open a door to let Perceptor out. He eagerly scanned this new mech, excited that it might be his Ratchet, even with the unfamiliar ambulance form. You never knew with Cybertronians, after all.

One quick scan made it obvious that this was not his Ratchet.

His suspension sagged and he hunkered down over his tires in disappointment. So close...

[vita_scientia]

Despite knowing better, despite promising himself that he would not get his hopes up too far, Perceptor had slowly given in, allowing himself to do exactly what he had promised not to: hope. At least for Wheeljack's sake.

It was not that he did not also wish to see his lost friend, however... he did not share quite Wheeljack's level of... enthusiasm for the idea. To be honest, Perceptor was afraid. Afraid of that moment when he would have to stand before Ratchet and admit that he had failed. That he had not only failed to save Prime, but that he had even failed to protect or save Wheeljack.

Having faced two of his three greatest fears and the figures of his worst nightmares, Perceptor was loathe to leap into the opportunity to be faced with he third. Even so, he would not begrudge Wheeljack this opportunity to be reunited...

Except that, as the engineer pulled up, and all of his nervous energy suddenly fled him like fluid from a broken beaker, Perceptor knew, even without seeing for himself, yet, that this was not their fallen friend. A quick scan of energy signatures confirmed the suspicion a moment later. "I am sorry, Wheeljack," he murmured softly, wishing, not for the first time, that his alternate mode was not so... non-conducive to camaraderie.

He waited patiently for Wheeljack to open the door and allow him to transform, leaving Rodimus in charge of the introductions.

[my_achin_struts]

"Yeah," Ratchet agreed. "Promising young kid. Top of his class. Probably be the next Magnus, if what everyone says is true," he explained. "Less Optimus beats him to it, that is. Last I heard, batch of slag-sucking 'Cons nailed his team out on the edges of the spacebridge system. Got hit with a nasty form of Cosmic Rust. The tech savvy types were working their servos off to fix 'em back up. Said he'll make a full recovery though."

The distant pings of Autobot energy signatures just feathered across his sensors, and he altered course in their direction. The vehicle that appeared around a corner and headed toward him, was not what he was expecting. Not unless Rodimus Prime's cosmic rust treatment included a whole isolation suit that doubled his bulk and transformed with him.

That would explain the confusion in his voice, then. This kid - everyone was a kid to Ratchet, except Alpha Trion, and after watching this Rodimus transform, Ratchet didn't see any reason to alter that opinion yet - had probably never even heard of Sentinel.

"Strange things are afoot at the Burger Bot, or so Sari would say," he muttered. "This the Rodimus you know?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet enough that it wouldn't carry beyond his interior.

Weird and weirder. This kid had some of his Rodimus Prime's looks - the colors, the spoiler, the arm kibble, that devil-may-care smirk hovering in the wings of his expression - but it sure the slag wasn't his Rodimus Prime. And he wasn't going to dump Marissa out to this Bot's tender mercies until he knew that these mechs wouldn't freak out at the sight of an organic.

"Yeah, I'm Ratchet," he grumbled loud enough to carry. "Who're you?"