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Can you charge an Orange Lantern using the White Light Entity?
Cybertron is literally the recumbent body of their creator-god. That makes it a little different, culturally speaking.I realise what he says makes sense, but also I can't help but imagine him treating it using those old "Oh gosh I'll pray for you" platitudes.
"But how can I heal myself? The technology has been lost, the techniques no longer exist!"
"I'll pray for you fam."
Also quite liked using the contradiction to talk his way out.
"I have thought about it and made the calculations, and my cold, ruthless,and logical mindset is more valuable to my cause."
"Cool, cool. And the brain you used to determine that your mind is more valuable this way, is that the same brain that was literally reprogrammed by your enemies?"
"..."
"So, what you're saying is, is that you think the high council programmed you to be good at fighting the high council?"
"...Fuck."
No. If it were Shockwave, they wouldn't be aiming over his head and they would have fired.
That seemed more a result of opportunity and resources. Energon and materials would have been in short supply on the ruined Cybertron, after all. Shockwave may well have planned to forge a whole army of Cybertronian animals, but circumstances prevented it...16th October 2013
Probably A Few Hours Later
"At least we don't have to worry about traps scratching your decals."
Slipstream looks around at the blasted hole that was once Shockwave's roof. Whatever the Autobots did to repair Cybertron has had next to no effect on the heavily damaged workshop that was once home to the greatest mind in the Decepticon cause. She'd assumed that when he turned up on Earth it was because he'd finished whatever he was doing on Cybertron and had decided that it was time to put his work to use. The fact that the Decepticons started using Predacons a little while later gave credence to the idea.
The path of science has ever been plagued by explosive mishaps... Well, if you're doing it right, anyway.That he gave up on Cybertron because someone wrecked his workshop just never occurred.
"We might find something in storage."
At this rate, though, short of divine intervention, transplanting his brain into a Minicon or acquiring a Master-brace, it's a pipe dream..."Don't worry too much." Her partner pats her control panel, though he doesn't touch the controls because it's no time for that. "We've found plenty of useful technical data. Finding a workable method for bio-transference was always a pie in the sky thing anyway."
She thought that was the whole point of coming here; either getting the materials he needed to cyberise more of his body or getting her the materials for a techno-organic avatar. Since they're probably not going to get that, isn't this a waste of time?
Aw, you sweet-talker. Pull, you know just the right thing to say to brighten a femme's mood..."You're not disappointed?"
"I got to see a magnificently desolate alien world in the company of a local guide whom I adore. We downloaded data which we can not merely sell for our own enrichment, but hold over potential enemies so that they daren't attack us for fear it will end up in the hands of their enemies. To say nothing of the repairs it will let us make to the cybertronian technology left on Earth. Sure, we didn't get some of the things that would have been nice to have, but it's not that big a deal."
Indeed, that's what gives life meaning..."You sounded so hopeful when we talked about it. I don't want you to be disappointed and not tell me."
"If I worried about what I didn't have the whole time, I'd never spend any time appreciating what I have. What we have. I hope we'll never run out of things to strive for, but life's pretty good. Isn't it?"
Girl, just imagine all the loot laying around.Huh.
"It is. It really is." She increases resolution on her sensors, improving her view of Shockwave's laboratory. "Still worth going in?"
That's the spirit! Loot, pillage and plunder!"If you can't detect any weapons. It won't break my heart if we don't get it, but I'd still like it."
"Alright."
At least he wasn't inside when she started transforming. That's especially disconcerting, when every panel around you stars moving. Including the seat.She reduces power to her anti-gravity and shifts her thrusters, performing a shallow dive which takes them through the hole in the roof. She tenses as they enter the room, but no turrets deploy from the walls and no voices shout in alarm. Feeling a little mischievous, she pops her canopy and transformers, tossing her partner into the air and catching him in her right hand as she lands on her feet. She smiles at the way his normally calm and confident expression is suddenly discombobulated, not sure which way's up and what's going on, because that's how he makes her feel a lot of the time and this is the best she can to do pay him back.
And that's no idle joke. Titans are big. Big enough to use combiners as action figures.He rests his arms on her forefinger. He regains his calm almost immediately, but she can feel the tremor as his chest pump pounds to increase the flow of fuel to his servos.
"I've changed my mind. We'll find a way to transfer me into a titan, just so I can do that to you."
...I mean, Metroplex is probably still laying around on the surface somewhere..."Sure." She puts him down on what used to be a computer console. "A titan. I'm sure we can find-."
Ptchung!
...Slag. Someone else had the same idea about raiding Shockwave's lab, it seems.The burst of purple energy hits Slipstream directly in the chest, sending her hurtling backwards, her cockpit and the surrounding armour melted to slag!
Ptchung!
Ouch. That's no small wound, either, especially out here in the wastelands.The second shot hits her right shoulder as she stumbles, bursting the joint apart and sending the arm pinwheeling across the chamber, guns halfway deployed as liquid fuel leaks from the wound!
Chm. Chm.
...Double Slag. Indulging in a bit of home defence, I see.At first, all he can see is a glowing red eye.
Chm. Chm.
Then the huge bulk of Shockwave marches into view, gun arm pointed at Slipstream who is struggling to remain animate.
Yeah, not the best sight to go dark on."Slipstream. And.. pet."
He raises his gun arm, pointing it at Slipstream's head as she tried to lever herself up on her remaining arm. She freezes, optics locked on glow of the gun's interior.
He could kill her before she could send the trigger impulse to her guns... But hasn't. Interesting..."I do not know how you found me, but I find the fact that I have the opportunity to remove you as a distraction… Satisfying."
Her eyes dart to her-.
Ah, yes. That's right. Shockwave wasn't always an amoral scientist... He used to be part of the Council, before someone got his chassis censured."Senator Shockwave." The tiny human spreads out his arms in a gesture of appeal that Shockwave almost certainly doesn't recognise. Senator? Was that what he was before the Great War? "What possible good is there in killing us?"
"Ordinarily I would interrogate you for information. But I do not have the resources to spare."
Ooh, appealing to Shockwave's logic? There's a professional challenge.His gun chimes as he charges-.
"I believe that this course of action is illogical."
...Bot's got a point. All over, in fact, but in this case, he's technically right.His gun doesn't move, but his head swivels to glare at the human.
"Slipstream has betrayed the Decepticon cause. Killing her will permanently remove her as a threat. Killing you will permanently remove you as an information leak."
Wrong! That's a goal, not the cause."What is the Decepticon cause?"
"The destruction of the Autobots."
Oh, he plans to.
And a nastier one, yes."I remember, Senator, that you have a rather different answer prior to your…" he points to his face. "Empurata and mnemosurgery."
"A different age."
Oh? What high council are you fighting now? Where are they based? Who are it's members? Wouldn't they be prime targets for assassination?"But you remember it. The aim of a Decepticon is not just to be a Decepticon; that's a circular definition. It is to achieve freedom for all the transformers the old High Council oppressed. To cast them down and ensure that their kind can never regain power. Isn't it?"
"It was. But that definition is no longer relevant."
And no-one ever replaced them, did they?"Oh, I think it is. What are the High Council doing right now?"
"They are dead."
Mostly because there's no easy way to produce new cybertronians. Sure, Cold Construction could work, if you had the materials... But brains are complex."And do the Autobots use cold construction? Do they have slaves? Castes?"
"They do not. This discussion is irrelevant."
I know what you meant, but now I'm picturing his optical orb literally rotating in place."No, it isn't. Because you've recognised the contradiction. Killing us might help the organisation that calls itself 'The Decepticons' in the sense that it gives the group a tactical advantage, but it doesn't do anything to advance the cause that is supposed to define the organisation. Can you be a Decepticon without doing Decepticon things? Without fulfilling the function that defines them?"
"That-." Shockwave's optical unit spins, and his gun lowers as he devotes more time to considering the subject.
And what about afterwards? Would you have reversed the software maiming you suffered, when the Decepticons finally accomplished their goals?"I'm curious. Even after you had the opportunity to reverse what they did to you, you never took it. Why?"
"The capacity for logical thought was more useful to the cause than empathy."
Just one problem with that..."You concluded that logically, weighing up the alternatives?"
"Yes."
Pull uses Logic Bomb! It's super-effective! Shockwave is Confused!"And you did that after your enemies fiddled around with your mind? How do you know that it was a logical decision, when the thing you were using to decide whether or not it was logical was the thing they altered? How do you know you haven't been following High Council programming ever since?"
Shockwave staggers, his gun arm hanging loose. Paul checks Slipstream. She.. doesn't look good, and she's definitely feeling pain, but she doesn't look like she's in danger of bleeding out.
In other words, Shockwave... You've been doing exactly what the Council wanted you to do all along. No rebellion here, merely orders so deep-seated you didn't even know they were there..."I-. If.. the objective of the Decepticon organisation have been achieved-. We… Won. The War would be… Over. Anyone who stands against the caste system… Is a Decepticon. But… That includes all current generation Autobots. Why-? Why didn't I see it before?"
"Because the High Counsel programmed you not to. To think in tactical, act utilitarian terms and ignore long term strategic issues. They didn't want a reasonable, compassionate Senator working against them from inside government and rallying the population to force them to reform. But a cold, hard killer would work fine as a threat to scare the population who were worried about what Megatron was doing in Kaon."
Well done, Pull. Captain James Tiberius Kirk would applaud your skill."That… Is… Logical. Then-. There is no reason to.. kill. And even if you are mistaken about what the High Counsel did to me, there is no overriding reason to maintain this mindset. In fact, my prior way of thinking is more likely to be useful as Optimus Prime forges a new government."
He lowers his gun, deliberately this time.
...Wow, that'll be awkward. Patching up the very wound you caused..."No individuals with the required skills to reverse mnemosurgery survive into the modern era."
"There may be a way around that. If you give Slipstream the medical attention that she needs."
<Knocks on ground> Hey, Primus, you got a second?
Optimus: ...Give me a moment, I need to reboot my audio sensors.16th October 2013
Once Slipstream Is Up And Taking Light Refreshment
The guns are pointing over his head as he strides out of the ground bridge and into the Autobot command centre.
"Hello, Optimus. I need to borrow the Matrix really quickly. Don't worry, I'll bring it back."
I find both of these statements funny, because if this is the continuity I think it is, then both statements are true, considering the final resting place of Rung.Well, that's one way to seek out a skilled practitioner of the ancient art of mind-fucking.
Could holomatter avatars count for Slipstream's purposes?At this rate, though, short of divine intervention or transplanting his brain into a Minicon or acquire a Master-brace, it's a pipe dream...
I realise what he says makes sense, but also I can't help but imagine him treating it using those old "Oh gosh I'll pray for you" platitudes.
"So, what you're saying is, is that you think the high council programmed you to be good at fighting the high council?"
"...Fuck."
Unless you're saying that "to transformer" describes what Cybertronians can do, "transforms".
https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-63#post-2663074Does anyone remember the Alt-Jade that got adopted by Alan? I can't find it anywhere.
Darn it! Forgot that happened.I'm pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of elements of the IDW comics like Shockwave being a senator and having once been more compassionate but I feel I must point out that at this point Optimus absorbed the Allspark to keep it safe from Unicron and then returned it along with the matrix to the core while sacrificing himself to do it. So unless Paul found an alternate prison to hold Unicron's essence or container for the Allspark or any reason really to ensure that Optimus doesn't have to make this sacrifice it doesn't add up as Optimus would be in no position to use the Matrix to help Shockwave.
I can't see them doing that. Honestly, they're more likely to try to persuade any transformer who can get their head around the idea that the Great War is over to come to Earth instead. There's still plenty of transformer stuff on Earth and it's not like Cyberton has good memories for most of them.Despite the inconsistencies, I really like this chapter and hope to see where this is going, maybe Paul and Slipstream agree to help bring word to the other Cybertronian colonies.
Thank you, corrected.Unless you're saying that "to transformer" describes what Cybertronians can do, "transforms".
Can somebody please get rid of Vaermina. I keep hoping that they finally say something positive for once but it's all pointless barbs and shameless misleading drivel. Hate watching is not something you need in your life, grow up please.
According to this it's possible for Mr Zoat to ask him to be banned but:Vaermina is contrarian to a fault, but he isn't breaking any rules. "Annoyance" isn't a bannable offense; that's why there's an ignore function.
So I don't know what level Vaermina has to reach for that to qualify.Please note that OP/Thread Starters/Writers can request problematic posters to be banned from their thread.
Requests to do so do require a reason beyond "Because! Reeeee!", so please politely report a post in question and explain why you'd like such and such user removed from the thread.
I really don't like the idea of banning people. But free speech is balanced by free listening, or in this case free ignoring.According to this it's possible for Mr Zoat to ask him to be banned but:
So I don't know what level Vaermina has to reach for that to qualify.
Ironically since most people have him on ignore (including Mr Zoat) and don't respond to him, most of it is being limited to him doing his daily post basically heckling (and sometimes someone falling for it)
On top of that since Mr Zoat is the one who has to ask, and he has him on ignore for years, it's not like he has any examples to point to the mods without removing him from his ignore list and going through past posts... which would defeat the whole point of having him on his ignore list
Follow of course by 'We needed that!'Assume that the next line is him saying 'Optimus not here? ... What?', because he's got no way to know that's what happened.
In my own experience as a forum moderator, being ejected from a thread should be a punishment for being persistently disruptive. I don't believe Vae has risen to that level, as his posts and the discussions they generate are on-topic for the thread, and tempers aren't getting inflamed.So I don't know what level Vaermina has to reach for that to qualify.
To be fair to Shockwave- he was good at fighting the high council, the programing didn't stop him from joining the cause to fight against them, indeed it made him more likely too by removing the empathy and long term thinking that had him oppose them in the senate. The High council didn't think that it would be logical to oppose them.
Now there's a series I haven't heard named in a while. Maybe I should catch up on the sequel. I really like Dominic Deegan, warts and all.I like that angle, a villianous group modifying a being or creating one, that turns on them because the way they made them to think leads them to consider the villians that created them the enemy. Dominic Deegan had it in its backstory, a civilization created a magical being of law and order, whose first act was to depose their leader, because its creation involved sacrificing many of the leader's own citizens.
Does anyone remember an old Justice League comic where just about every villain ended up with a power ring? It was well before the modern War of Light thing, and contained the first ever appearance of a blue power ring.
Megatron deciding to stop fighting doesn't actually end the Great War. Shockwave, Starscream and probably others can rally Decepticons and keep fighting, particularly now synthetic energon can be created to fuel the war. This version of the SI took advantage of the fact that Shockwave is profoundly logical to convince him not to.Could someone explain the relevance of what just happened? My Transformer lore is weak.
Thank you! That's the one.I do believe you are referencing Silver Age 80 page giant number 1, in which the villains steal a kryptonian crystal, the absorbascan, and the green lantern central power battery, and with the virtual omniscience of the absorbascan learn how to use the kryptonian crystal as a prism to give them all power rings.
Eventually defeated by the justice league using the hero dial, becoming heroes with new powers and abilities so the villains' absorbascan knowledge couldn't act like an arcade gamer who can beat the game by memorizing all the patterns.
He's going to have to figure out another way to help Shockwave, though Optimus does return in Robots In Disguise I assume you won't be doing that.Darn it! Forgot that happened.
Assume that the next line is him saying 'Optimus not here? ... What?', because he's got no way to know that's what happened.
Hmm, good point.I can't see them doing that. Honestly, they're more likely to try to persuade any transformer who can get their head around the idea that the Great War is over to come to Earth instead. There's still plenty of transformer stuff on Earth and it's not like Cyberton has good memories for most of them.
I nod, then turn back to Koriand'r. "No time right now, but if you're interested in a power ring, come and see me after the mission
He's trying but the price is high