[Video] Writing first person without dialog is difficult!

[meow_mixtape]

[The video feed clicks on to display a dark, empty rooftop. The flickering light filtering up from the street only serves to highlight walls and ridges. For a few moments nothing is really visible, until a pair of small, red, triangular optics appear, staring into the screen

Comments

1/2

[sound_loyal]

[Soundwave would know that signal anywhere.]

2/2

[sound_loyal]

[ . . . ]

Ravage?

[ . . . ]

Report status.

[His vocals sound different, the staticy monotone giving way to the bizarre emotional programming that Shockwave had tampered with. He actually sounds almost... hopeful, somehow.]

[Video, locked to soundwave, and thanks to buttons not being cat-paw shaped, Neytiri. Whoops?]

[meow_mixtape]

!!!

[He'd certainly hoped to get a response from someone he knew, but to have it actually be Soundwave was a blessing.]

[The cassette cat emerges from the shadows fully, pawing at the com until he's relatively certain he's locked it (the only other recipient is apparently some random blue humanish thing). He sits upright, broadcasting]

Affirmative! Reporting for duty, Sir!

Status is... Uncertain. Been monitoring locals, searching for Soundwave or Megatron. Quite relieved to have made contact, Sir!

[Video - Locked, Unhackable]

[sound_loyal]

[Here, he will fix that encryption for you.]

Megatron: to be referred to as 'Magnum.'

Your presence is [ . . . ]

[He pauses, wrestling with the unfamiliar data. The emotional input was as overwhelming as it was when Magnum had returned. He didn't know how to full interpret it, making it seem like useless feedback, clouding his ability to process clearly.

Still, there was a sensation of this being... while irritating to deal with... it was a good thing.]

Ravage's presence: Welcomed.

Sending coordinates.

[Coordinates of Meeting Place - Accept file?]

[gas_guzzler]

[Recieves a ping] Whoa- Jennifer, that you honey? [Peering at the comm] I know I said I'd call back but, I got kinda busy...

[meow_mixtape]

[... what the? Ravage squinted from the shadows, finally assuring himself that it was indeed the triple-changer Octane who was responding. He paused, weighing in on whether or not to reveal himself. Octane didn't exactly have the best track record of loyalty, after all...]

[After a few seconds the panther grinned to himself in the darkness. He crouched and then leaped forward, snapping his jaws right over the camera]
RrrrrrRAWR!

[gas_guzzler]

Whoa~! [Octane ducks out of reflex, nearly dropping the communicator]

Okay, NOT Jennifer... [He tries to remember who is pissed at him currently- but the list is too long]

[meow_mixtape]

[Can't hold back a purring chuckle. He calmly turns away from the camera, flicking his tail in a blatantly amused feline gesture]

Most definitely not. I see that your odd predilection for females of random species continues, Octane.

[ruinedurshot]

What was that...?

[Hesitates as he stares at the communicator. There is something very familiar about those eyes. He lowers his voice just slightly]

Ravage?

[meow_mixtape]

[Blink, blink.]

[No, there's no possible way!

...

What was he thinking, this was Starscream. He'd been disintegrated, then thrown through the depths of space. Seeing him back really shouldn't be a surprise. Now, the question was... should he respond?]

[A few more moments before the panther emerges]

Indeed. And I see you have managed... continued existence as well, Starscream.

[ruinedurshot]

[So it was Ravage. But what is he doing here?]

So it is you.

Of course I am- I'm Starscream the Mighty! I'm far harder to destroy than that dolt Megatron would have you think.

[He's currently furious with Soundwave for not siding with him back when he first arrived. The audacity, really- but a Decepticon is a Decepticon. And as Starscream, the future leader, he should keep up with what every one of them is up to, even when they're being insubordinate!]

Have you contacted Soundwave yet? When did you arrive?

[meow_mixtape]

I have no doubt of your durability. Your return after disintegration was impressive. [and unsettling!]

[And there it was, the self-importance and grandiose boasting. It had been such a long time that he almost missed it. Almost.

Unfortunately, these inquiries left Ravage uncertain. Technically, Starscream was the second in command of the decepticon forces. (or at least he was up until Galvatron destroyed him. Yet Starscream survived and technically was never demoted... Ugh, politics.) Ravage held no higher personal loyalty than to Soundwave and Megatron, but no contact had been made with a Megatron yet. Still he highly doubted Soundwave would approve of free information being given to such a reliable traitor.]

For the moment, he avoided the question.]

I have arrived recently. I have been attempting contact with multiple Decepticons.

IT REALLY IS.

[houndofmegatron]

[When he's not restricted specifically to Dirge's quarters, Scorponok has a tendency to be out and about. He likes to explore the city--mapping the streets and alleyways, adding his own readings on the paving of the roads, the construction of the buildings, the alloys and compositions of the creatures he meets to the default map his host had given him so long ago. His most basic programming was, after all, designed for search and analysis.

He can't help but detect that unexpected, brief broadcast, and skids to a stop, analyzing that, too. There was something very, very distantly familiar about it, a hint of deja vu that he couldn't identify...

Which is probably why he sends a querying ping in return, trying to isolate the source. It must have been nearby...]

AND YET HERE WE ARE.

[meow_mixtape]

[The mechanical panther lounged in his shadow, calmly watching the results of his recent, ugh, exposure. With the unpleasantness over, however, he could relax and fall back on one of his primary directives - spying. Most of the responses on the network were, as of yet, uninteresting.]

[After a few worthy of replying to, the cat noticed a small, subtle ping - rather like the one he'd sent out beforehand. An ear twitched with curiosity. It was barely anything - practically just a drone's preprogrammed response.

...And just like the animal he took his form from, he was intrigued. But how best to go about uncovering this little mystery? He stirred, slinking to the edge of the rooftop and looking out in the general direction the response had come from. After a moment, he decided to take the Soundwave approach, broadcasting in extremely basic text]

Ping received. Request: Identity?

PERHAPS WE ARE MAD?

[houndofmegatron]

[Moving slowly, his chameleon mesh disguising him and his perceptors set to high, Scorponok crept along the outside wall of the building he'd been exploring, his attention focused now on that transient anomaly...

Although perhaps not so much of an anomaly, because that was a response. He froze, in shadow himself down on the ground, his pincers spinning slowly enough not to disrupt the effects of his camouflage. He returned the query in the compressed-data transmission that was...pretty much his only was of communicating outside of direct synchronization.]

::designationisisisscorponokwhowhowhorequests?::

IT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION

[meow_mixtape]

[Ravage really should be making his way directly back to Soundwave... but the little curiosities in life like this make his processors itch. Running his own scanning and analysis in the background, the panther kept to the rooftops, deviating from his path enough to head closer to the unusual transmission.

And it was quite unusual. A quick burst of data that seemed like garbled babbling. It took him a moment to translate. 'Scorponok'. Hmm. No such records in his databanks. Unit probably from a differing universe or time period then. So, where was it from? What faction, if indeed even a Cybertronian? Now he had to know.]

[Ravage kicked up his own signal dampening as he dove into an alley, leaping from wall to wall of the two buildings on either side. He was getting closer to the odd signal, and readied his search and scan subroutines.]

Designation is Ravage. Requesting faction loyalty?

[Locked, unhackable (ilu Soundwave) Also, an actual Kiss Players reference? MY GOD.]

[no_glitter_plz]

Well, if it isn't Black Panther Man himself.

[Oh, Glit is amused! Yes, he knows this is Ravage pre-reformatting, but nonetheless: Ravage!]

I'm staying with Soundwave - I won't even ask if he's found you yet, I know he has. I'm just letting you know that I call dibs on the right side of the tapedeck.

[This is despite the fact that the tapedeck may or may not HAVE a "right side."]

[Locked, unhackable]

[meow_mixtape]

[Now what was this? Not a signature he recognized, and yet one that seemed to know him. Know him well if the, er, nickname was any indication.]

Oh? I see that you have the advantage of me. [A fact he's not happy about.]

[He wasn't sure how to feel about the next statement. The other cassettes were simultaneously nice to have around and very irritating. Rather like siblings as he had come to understand it. Discovering that you had a new one was... interesting.]

Really. Exactly how crowded is the tape deck these days?

Re: [Locked, unhackable]

[no_glitter_plz]

That happens a lot. [Glit swivels his ears, amused.]

Unit designation: Glit. Function: medic; alignment: Decepticon, specifically alias Magnum. ...Status: Independent cassette, currently carried by unit designation: Soundwave.

[Well, that status isn't relevant to anyone else, but Ravage would probably appreciate knowing that Glit had no intentions of horning in on Ravage's boss. Primus knew that Glit wouldn't take such a thing well at all if he still had a master.]

Actually, it's depressingly empty right now. You and I are it.

[Locked, unhackable]

[meow_mixtape]

[Well well. An actual medic. Not that he'd ever let Hook hear that. Still, a skill set that the decepticons could use. The allegiance to Magnum was quite comforting as well.]

I have yet to find other independent cassettes, this intrigues me. [And is a bit comforting, although he'd never admit it] It appears you are quite the benefit to our team.

Only the two, eh? That will certainly cut back on the lan parties.