Keep the Peace

Log Title: Keep the Peace Characters: Blaster, Delusion, Soundwave Location: Harmonex Date: December 23, 2018 TP: Harmonex TP Summary: Blaster spends some more time in Harmonex, and realizes just how difficult keeping the war out will be. As logged by  Delusion

Log session starting at 20:09:05 on Sunday, 23 December 2018.

                                                          

'''Soundwave is watching the crystals while listening to the radio. He rubs his temples as he checks the internet for research on something. He looks...baffled.'''

'''Blaster wanders around the city, recording certain frequencies and then playing them back to see how they react with other crystals to form new harmonies. For someone who wants to join the Guardians of Harmonex, he's sure letting himself get distracted by the musical environment.'''

'''The sound of Delusion's jet form reaches the area first, flying subsonic instead of her top speed. She soars over the city before transforming and dropping down in robot mode.'''

'''Soundwave watches Blaster as he records and plays back the harmonies. He almsot seems bemused. "Hmm. Remember when I fidst found the harmonies. Soundwave was obsessed for weeks." He says. He hears Delusion land and nods. "Welcome."'''

GAME: Blaster PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Average difficulty.

'''Blaster looks up as he hears Delusion's engines, followed by Soundwave's harmonic voice. He stops his record-and-play and walks over to join his usual enemies. "Hey!" he calls out. "Bad dudes! What evil are y'all up to today?" He plasters on a big grin and carefully steps around debris until he finds something big and solid enough upon which to sit.'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Good evening, Blaster. Apparantly, according to the chatroom. Merry holidays on Earth as well." he shrugs. "Apparantly thats the topic of the day." he moves to sit on the ground by the collection of crystals.'''

Delusion begins to stroll through the city, hands clasped behind her back.

'''Blaster laughs. "A happy holiday to you, too." From the speakers on his shins, Blaster plays a few bars of Jingle Bells, but altered so it harmonizes with the background music of the empty city. "Oh, hey, man!" Blaster adds. "I heard you played a prank on our resident prankster --- Dust Devil. How'd you do it, man? I've been trying to get back at the little twerp forever since he swapped out all my tapes with 'Never Gonna Give You Up'."'''

'''Soundwave tilts his head. "A prank? That's one word for it. He was attempting to get too close to my operations. So I used some equipment back in Tarn to amplify my telepathic abilities and entered his mind. I gave him..everthing he ever wanted." he says.'''

'''Delusion listens to the conversation and begins to hum.. not quite tonally. She seems to be able to find the exact edge of where a note won't quite blend but sounds like it ought to.'''

'''Blaster laughs again, slapping his thigh. "Oh, man! That's rough!" He grins at his Decepticon counterpart. "I have a list of a few other Bots that have pissed me off - can I hire you to do them, too?" Blaster chuckles, drumming his feet on the broken ground. He then turns and frowns at Delusion's humming, which grates on his nerves worse than nails on chalkboard. "Yo, Dom-Domme," he calls out. "Whatcha tryin' ta hum?"'''

'''Soundwave matches the tones eerily, perhaps providing backup to Blaster's music a bit. "If you want, I can put them next on my list." he says, quite seriously. "Soundwave can do this to anyone he chooses." He says. He doesnt say how difficult it was or that he got lucky getting in there. No. Soundwave is superior. Soundwave can do anything. Thats the message he wants to get across.'''

'''Delusion looks over at Blaster. "Nothing in particuar," she says. "Just enjoying the harmonics."'''

'''Blaster nods again, laughing. "I'll make a Bottom 40 list, and check it twice - I already know who's naughty and nice." He smiles at Soundwave's harmonics, and even makes an effort to smile at Delusion as well - it is the holiday season, after all. From his speakers he emits tones that compliment Soundwave's soundwaves while cancelling out Delusion's. He smiles as if maybe not aware of his speakers' effects.'''

'''Soundwave does twitch as Delusion's notes are just off. "Try a little higher." yes. He is very sensitive so such things. "You almost have it, Delusion." a rather frightening thought is she might be doing this on purpose to mess with him. He leans back, giving Blaster a greatful look as the disharmony is gone for a moment. "Yes. I fully expect to get coal." his voice says in its normal synthethized monotone.'''

GAME: Delusion FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Delusion realizes after a moment that she isn't hearing her own tones reflected and looks over at the two musicians, but she can't quite tell which one is canceling them. The Dominicon hides her disappointment with a smirk. "You expect a large red elf to deliver fuel to you?"'''

'''Blaster smirks. "Yeah, man. I mean, we can all use more energy sources, but with Cybertron revitalized, are Earth fossil fuels really the way to go? You need to get on green energy, man. Let me install some solar panels on your back." From his tone, it's obvious Blaster is kidding. "Besides,if anyone was gonna visit you, Soundwave, it'd be Krampus, not Santa." Blaster adds some dramatically threatening chords to the harmony.'''

'''Soundwave looks to Delusion "Absolutely not. Its a foolish Earth thing.' He chuckles. "I'll add Krampus to the demons taking me to Unicron." he says. "Green energy. It is an alternative. But it takes a long time to gather that sort of energy." He says. "Megatron is not a mech for patience." He says. "And just how long do you think Cybertron will stay revitalized?" he asks. "Soundwave is glad to see it is healthy enough to prduce things like.." he motions to the crystals. "These."'''

'''Delusion nods. "Just one of several flaws in Megatron's leadership."'''

'''Blaster makes an 'ooh, damn!' face as Delusion questioning Megatron's leadership to the face of one of his most loyal lackeys. "Gauntlet thrown!" he laughs. He looks back at Soundwave. "How are you going to defend the leadership of someone who destroyed an entire planet and hasn't won a damned thing?" he laughs challengingly. "You're right -" Blaster glances around. "We have all this again, but we can be sure it's only a matter of time before Megatron fucks it all up."'''

'''Soundwave crosses his arms over his chest, glowering for a moment. "Megatron's plans will come to be. Soundwave will make sure of that." he says his harmonic tone deepening a bit. "It will be only a matter of time. Megatron might not be patient. But Soundwave is." he says. "As far as Harmonex is concerned.... Megatron will eventually find it to either be a distraction or not worth protecting. Soundwave has been recording the harmonies for that time." He says. "Soundwave hopes that he is not the one ordered to destroy the crystals directly." he places a hand on one as if to take in the harmony physically.'''

'''Delusion shrugs. "It's likely," she opines. "It's not like Megatron has any honor left, and kindness is, of course, a weakness to be avoided at all costs. But that could be avoided by some other Decepticon deciding to remove the crystals in order to make you suffer, Soundwave. Starscream would do it for petty jealousy. Venom might if he thought them a weakness. Shockwave if they were too much of a distraction."'''

'''Blaster frowns, sobering up as Delusion recites a litany of those who would destroy Harmonex for their own purposes. Without him even realizing it, the music from his shin speakers grows somber. He leans forward. "Delusion - Soundwave: What if each of us took a few of the crystals and squirreled them away, just in case the city is destroyed. We could keep a seed for a new city, if and when the war is over."'''

'''Soundwave places a hand on the crystal again, listening quietly for a long time. "Soundwave will defend the crystals to the best of his ability. Soundwave is t he only Decepticon who has shown interest in protecting the crystals." He says. "Soundwave has been trying to prove he can still do his duties and guard the crystals. Soundwave is not sure if the crystals will survive being moved. Would they continue to grow, to thrive, to ...sing as they do here?"'''

'''Delusion spreads her hands. "At this point, we don't know why they sing here, do we?"'''

'''Blaster looks at Delusion. "No, we don't. Part of me is tempted to try to lure Perceptor or Skyfire here, but I don't want to increase the Autobot presence if I don't have to. Like I said earlier - I don't want to give any excuse for the Decepticons to bring in Shockwave." He frowns. "Who passes for a scientist amongst the Domincons - Widget?" He sounds more curious than insulting. "Anyway, I'll learn what I can, and do nothing to the crystals before consulting with the rest of you - dig?"'''

'''Soundwave nods "Soundwave will not report more then he has to to Shockwave. Shockwave is aware of Harmonex, however." He says. "Recommendation: Record and send video footage of how the crystals are set up. Soundwave does not think its an echo- the ones near the buildings resonate just as well as the ones away. The ones in the bowl of the ampitheater Dust Devil located sing just as strongly, though in that condition they are mesmerizingly strong."'''

'''Delusion mms. "Widget is an amazing technician, but her interests lie in optimizing and improving, not investigation of phenomena. Of all of us... perhaps Discretion would have the interest and skill. Unfortunately, she does not wish to endure Soundwave's proximity unless she must."'''

'''Blaster smirks at Delusion's last comment. "I can understand THAT, but Soundwave is probably right. I should record what I can, and then report in. Don't worry - I'll keep information about this place to a minimum. Last thing I want is our favorite venue gettin' overrun by those who'd trample our tunes underfoot." Blaster stands. "You two try to stay out of trouble," he advises. "I'll be back." With that he takes off to start scanning crystals for later analysis.'''

'''Soundwave nods "Soundwave understands why. Soundwave stands for eveyrthing the Dominicons do not." he says. "Loyalty unwavering, dedication, support of the cause andw aht needs to be done.." He shakes his head. "Soundwave does however respect what the Dominicons mean to Harmonex and will resect their position." He nods. "Until we meet again, Blaster." He grows silent for a moment.'''

'''Delusion arches an optic ridge at Soundwave. "The Empire Knightmare pledged to no longer exists," she says. "If Starscream hadn't dishonorably interfered, this would be a very different conversation."'''

'''Soundwave ahs. the root of the problem. "What did Starscream do to make you defect?"'''

'''Delusion arches an optic ridge. "The duel between Knightmare and Megatron? It was supposed to be an honorable combat, and Starscream shot her."'''

'''Soundwave blinks in surprise. "What? Starscream interfered in a gladitorial style call to combat? Well its Starscream. I do not know why Im surprised.." he drops the third person briefly. Thats how surprised he is.'''

'''Delusion shrugs. "It was, in some ways, merely a last straw, but a significant one."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "This leads me to question. Why would she call him to a challenge anyways?"'''

'''Delusion smirks. "You should ask her yourself."'''

Blaster continues to scan and record crystals, but while doing so he drifts closer, as if eavesdropping while trying to look otherwise.

'''Soundwave shakes his head. "She won't stay here long enough for me to do so. You are the only Dominicon that does not fear Soundwave."'''

'''Delusion chuckles. "Oh, I don't think any of us actually fear you- but Discretion has a sniper rifle, now, and shooting you would disrupt the truce. And as that would be the easiest way to keep you out of our radio broadband, she finds the thought quite tempting."'''

'''Soundwave keeps that piece of information for later. "You do not think my surveliance units would keep me safe from such things? I do not keep and train cassettes for show."'''

'''Delusion spreads her hands. "Perhaps if you used them as living shields," she says. "The whole point of having a sniper rifle is to be too far away to be noticed before killing someone."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Suddenly, Soundwave feels the red light thats only really visible in movies." He smirks. "Should Soundwave be more cautious when moving outside the city limits?"'''

'''Delusion shrugs. "At the moment, your continued presence here makes it easier to keep other Decepticons out," she says blandly. "If that ever changed, however, there would be no point in leaving you alive."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Is this a threat Soundwave should mobilize against? Decepticons and Autobots alike are free to come and go in Harmonex. If Soundwave were to tell Megatron there are no further interests in Harmonex, you would lose your shield as well." he tenses.'''

'''Delusion chuckles. "I would not interfere with -peaceful- Decepticons.. those few you could find."'''

'''Soundwave crosses his arms. "Soundwave has made no attacks against Harmonex. We are an army. We do not have many paccifists."'''

'''Delusion smirks. "I am well aware. But there are those who can behave themselves. And so long as they continue to do so, the terms stand. When one side or the other pushes things to far? That's when the battle that will destroy this city will happen. You keep thinking it's inevitable. But it's a choice. One made by each person who either shoots.. or doesn't."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Soundwave is a realist, Delusion. How long until someone shoots? My bet is on Dust Devil."'''

'''Blaster breaks off his eavesdropping, and simply approaches the other two. "I'm heading back to Iacon. If I see Dust Devil, I'll give him a kick for you, and try to keep him from destroying everything you guys have built here."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "The thing is he doesnt do it on purpose. He really thinks hes helping out here. Its one of the reasons I was working on taking him out. He is...unstable."'''

'''Delusion shrugs. "It is unlikely this place will last forever. But how many things do? It is here now." She nods to Blaster. "To be fair, what Soundwave did invites retaliation. But that's for Autobots to do, and I would prefer if it was not sought here in the city."'''

'''Blaster nods to Delusion. "I'm sure they'll be retaliation, but it won't be here, and it won't be today. Keep the peace, y'all." With that, he turns and walks towards the edge of the city.'''

'''Soundwave nods "Soundwave is sure it will bring it. But if it is here it would be a mistake. Harmonex is a safe zone for now. Any attacks on it by either side would be suicide." he says. He rubs his temples at something.'''

'''Delusion smirks. "Well, so long as I'm here.." She goes to work on some power conduits, having let that slide while other matters were pressing.'''

Log session ending at 21:59:54 on Sunday, 23 December 2018.