Log Title: Diplomatic Discussions Of Dangers
Characters: Calyhex , Crosscut , Ghost , Incognito
Location: Death Zone - Northeastern Cybertron
Date: January 22, 2022
TP: Calyhex TP , Peace In Our Time TP
Summary: Crosscut comes upon Ghost and Incognito in Praxus and learns a few more things to bring back to Optimus.
As logged by Ghost
Death Zone - Northwestern Cybertron[]
The Titan, Calyhex, has returned to Cybertron. And in far sadder of shape than when she departed. Greenery and muck abounds, and an entire 'wing' is missing, shorn away. The repair crews have come together to work on her, clearing and cleaning while she slumbers, in a recovering sleep. A side panel opens and a form climbs out, dropping to the ground.
Ghost
Ghost walks slowly away from her egress of the titan, hand on head, looking bemused. Fluttering up from a crevase comes that raven partner of hers, backwinging to land on her shoulder.
Crosscut travels out to the forbidden Death Zone, one of the few Autobots to travel here in a long while. His ridiculously small Honda City R mode bumps slowly over the blasted terrain. Crosscut takes his time - the last thing he wants to do is get stuck in a ditch out here and must call for help. Finally, though, he approaches the city, slowing even further. He takes in Calyhex's pathetic state, and then belatedly spots Ghost and Omen. He turns off, cautiously approaching the Decepticons.
The titans landing did leave much to be desired, a controlled crash at best that did tear up the surroundings once more after they'd been claimed for her landing pad. Ghost flexes a wing, then the other, turning to look at the scaffolding that's been erected even in this short amount of time, a fleeting smile crossing her face even as Omen nips her finials, grumbling. She then turns, picking her way across the new furrows slowly, planning on hitting up the Aerie for fuel and.. a bath. She's covered in -ick-.
Crosscut suspects he's not been seen, so he beeps his quiet horn politely, and then transforms. "Greeting, Ambassador!" he calls out, just loud enough to be heard. "Is everything alright?" He glances back at the damaged city, pretending not to notice Ghost's current state. Crosscut himself is dusty from the drive out from Iacon. Rather than take a shuttle, he's elected to drive across the country, taking in the recovering atmosphere.
Ghost looks up at.. Oh.. Finials flick back as she realizes she's.. well. not at all 'ambassador-looking' right now. Omen kraa-grumbles, settling fluffed on her shoulder. The 'con pauses, then raises a hand in greeting, a small smile, crooked wryly crosses her face. "Greetings, Ambassador." she returns, voice scratchy as if she's been yelling.. a great deal, recently. "As far as I'm aware, unless something planet shattering has happened in.. oh.. the past 3 or 4 days that I missed?" She gestures to the titan-city, "I've been.. hmm.. out of contact. How are you?"
"I am well," the Autobot diplomat replies brightly. Still looking at Calyhex, he adds, "I am both pleased and concerned to see Calyhex back on Cybertron - although it looks like she had a rough time away," he says sadly. Turning back to Ghost, he asks, "Shall I ask Ratchet to send some people to help with repairs?" He looks over the current slate of workers, trying to identify their origin and political leanings.
Ghost flexes wings, one or two of the blade-feathers bent slightly. "I am glad that she is home as well. I worried." Tone soft, finials flattening, "She's been slumbering since we landed. It was not a good landing. It -was- a good crash." She peers at Crosscut, "Praxus and Tyger Pax are tending to her. Any offers of aid should go through Incognito as he's been gracious enough to meet me here to help her again.." Omen nips and Ghost sighs softly, "I am endeavoring to advise her so that she stays -out- of actions that could paint her as leaning to wards either factional divide our planet has. But medical.. Yes, there are those inside that may benefit. I haven't found the caretaker nor the other two yet and I worry."
Crosscut nods in understanding. "Maybe I'll reach out to my contacts in Crystal City and Valvolux, then," he amends his offer. "The last thing I want is for Starscream to think the Autobots are officially assisting Calyhex and bring her into the war. She barely escaped that already." His face is masked, but his voice sounds concerned. "How about you?" he asks, finally looking her over directly. "Are you injured? I could call someone neutral for you as well..."
Ghost nods slowly as she turns, peering at the titan as expression slides fond, "She came -home-. It was hard for her. I.. appreciate your understanding. I do not want her pulled into the war. She's.. She's too damaged, spark and mind, really. And dangerous." Wings tuck into her back as she waves a hand, "I'm fine. Just a cortical ache and some exhaustion. Nothing a good defrag and fuel won't fix."
Crosscut nods again, not pushing his help on Ghost. "Maybe you and I can work together to convince our respective leaders to keep Calyhex out of the war? Do you know if Starscream has any designs on her? I ask because I'm willing to advise Optimus Prime to leave her alone. I won't try to recruit her to the Autobots for her sake. I know you can't control Starscream's actions, but I'd appreciate knowing where you stand."
Ghost's finials twitch and she lets out a soft 'ahhh...' "I'd.. reconsider Crystal City. Shockwave.. It is.. well it is Decepticon now. He's laid claim and has made effort to remove undesirables. Cryotek and his ilk." She tilts her head, optics narrowing as she considers.. "If Starscream tries, he may well find himself with some sort of terminal, short-lived, illness." Her expression slides grim before she perks finials forward, "But I will insure that he is aware of the mutual agreement in play to leave Calyhex out of our mess."
Crosscut nods as Ghost confirms his suspicions about Crystal City. "Thank you for the information. I will use it to try to avoid unnecessary conflict with both Calyhex and in Crystal City." His tone is honest and frank. "I thought I'd let you know we found Imager - she'd bonded with a creature from within the Alyon desert. Unusual activity there," he comments cagily. "My hope is that both groups can continue to work there without conflict as well."
GAME: Ghost FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Immense difficulty.
"There are threats far greater -- and far more insidious -- than Starscream." Incognito's voice carries, at least loud enough for Ghost and Crosscut to hear; the work crews, thankfully, are keeping busy elsewhere. "And for all of his words and bluster, Starscream's kept very quiet otherwise, as if he thinks he's going to turn around and find Megatron behind him, fusion cannon at the ready."
Ghost blinks, tilting her head to the side, the gesture mimicked by Omen on her shoulder. Finials flick forward, "Merged with some creature.." she hmms, "A good deal of oddities have been happening there as of late. Temperatures, warmth, dreams.." she trails off before twitching at the addition of another voice, then narrows optics, peering at Incognito before sketching a bow, "Thank you, Incognito, of Tyger Pax, for coming to aid this Titan once more. All I can gift you is my gratitude."
Crosscut raises his optic brow and widens his optics in surprise, but his voice sounds pleased. "Incognito of Tyger Pax," he says as well, offering a formal Tyger Paxian bow. "The Autobots thank you as well... unofficially, of course," he says, with a knowing glance at Ghost. "As for threats, could you care to be clearer?" he asks, turning back to Incognito. "If there is a warning I should bring back to Optimus Prime, please, give me what information I need to protect Calyhex and Cybertron."
Incognito inclines his head politely to Ghost. "There's only so much poring over data given to me by the Salvation team that I can take before I have to force myself to pause and focus more on the here and now," he replies. "Thankfully, it gives Tyger Pax another chance to show its' quality."
He pauses at Crosscut's words, glancing back at Ghost briefly. "You haven't told them? Well, no matter... the turbo-cat's out of the bag now." He looks at Crosscut. "The ancient Cybertronian vessel that was in Earth orbit for the last twenty years is... awake. And, last I heard, has managed to move to somewhere in the vicinity of Saturn in Earth's Sol System. And worse, we know where it came from."
Ghost raises brows before she looks at her hands and actually seems to be ticking thoughts off. One finger at a time. There's a pause and then a "Slag. I've been in and out of so much weirdness, Incognito. Pious pools, dreams, the planet talking to me, femme-napped and tortured, random Autobots trying to kill me, relocating a titan, trying to keep said titan out of Megatron's hands.. I.. it got lost in the chaos. My apologies. I did.. manage to tell Starscream about it.. recently. "
Ghost narrows her optics, "Wait. I thought -you- were going to talk to Optimus Prime about it?"
Crosscut looks between the two, waiting for them to figure themselves out and tell him what's going on. Finally, politely, he butts in. "The ship?" he inquires. "What have you learned?" he asks patiently. He looks from Ghost to Incognito. "If you were going to inform Prime, I gather it's a threat to the entire planet?" he surmises. "I can set up a meeting," he offers. "And give a summary in the meantime."
"I've been... distracted. The information Aegis and the Salvation team gave me was a lot to go over. But I did say I would do it." Incognito sighs, then looks at Crosscut. "The Chaos came from the Hub, near the center of the galaxy. There's a lot of Cybertronians there, though apparently... I'm not sure what they call themselves anymore. But we do know their leader: Liege Maximo." A beat's pause. "Yeah, /that/ Liege Maximo, the one who baited The Fallen into killing Solus -- before he didn't -- and all that mess." He shakes his head. "I can't count on getting a warship from either side, so... I was planning to just build a ship to try and take the Chaos out, or some weapon powerful enough to blast it from afar. It's been spying on Earth for the entire time it's been in orbit, and now it has... well, probably more than enough information for him to start whatever he's been planning since he abandoned Cybertron before the Second War."
Ghost's finials slick back, "Optimus does need to know." She quiets, listening to Incognito, nodding here and there then adds, "The ship itself is -alive-. It isn't an Ai. I. felt-saw it. They had been watching Earth for over 20 years." Omen waaarks softly and adds in a chortling rasp, "Buir got intel. Ship knows we know. We know where ship's master live. All the data." Ghost hrmphs, "Omen - please." Wings flick. "Megatron disappeared with his latest ship." Looking over at the titan a moment before refocusing on the here and now. "The team left you with information? All I got out of that trip was a weird side quest into the pious pools apparently."
Crosscut nods slowly. "So, you think Earth is the target, by this Liege Maximo, exiled member of the Thirteen?" he asks in confirmation, wheels spinning within his red-helmeted head. Thoughtfully, he asks, "Do you think Calyhex is a direct target, or just part of the overall threat Liege Maximo represents? I've heard of this Hub, and their cyberforming practices - if they attack Earth, all of humanity could be lost."
"Ironically, it's what I asked them for as part of their trip into the past. Gave them a data-chip for all the information they could get, and they delivered." Granted, that isn't quite all there was to it, but it's truthful enough regardless, replies Incognito "I think Liege Maximo will stop at nothing to manipulate every possible angle to his advantage. If he thinks he can manipulate Calyhex to cause further chaos, he'll do it without a second thought. We just thought The Fallen was bad... Liege Maximo is a large part of why The Fallen became what he did."
Crosscut nods slowly. "This is helpful information, and important. I'll try to get you resources to help Calyhex, without the direct assistance of the Autobots." He glances at Ghost. "In the meantime, I'll get this information to Prime. Thank you both." He bows and transforms, racing back towards Iacon as fast as his little wheels can carry him.
Ghost glances at the sleeping titan then back, "I don't think she's a part of his plans. I've seen her, she's truly broken." Wings flutter. "She's as much of a target as we all are." Optics flicker and dim, "Thank you, Crosscut, Incognito. For helping her despite it being me who asks. She won't ask. She's that broken." Omen warrks softly, "Yes yes, I know. Primes and war and a blackness blotting out the stars, stealing the warmth away from Cybertron. Be careful and cautious."
"At this point, I'm not taking any chances. I have to assume he knows about her and her condition, and that he'll use that information in some way, shape, form or fashion to achieve his goals, whatever they may be." Incognito sighs quietly. "I feel like I'm almost floundering, trying not to drown."
Ghost wobbles a bit as she turns and peers at Incognito. "You and me both. Some seriously weird slag has happened." One finial cocking forward, the other laying back as she reaches up to absently feed the raven a rust stick.
Calyhex 's lights start to flicker on as she slowly awakens. She places her holograms up, making herself look like a beautiful golden building straight from the golden age. A familiar small holo-femme stands at the gates to the entrance, just watching the workers. No one from inside has come out or anything.
Incognito shakes his head. "Honestly, one of the reasons I hadn't talked with Optimus yet was because... well, frankly, I didn't expect much of anything to happen. Autobots mean well, but... even now in this quasi-"peace" of ours, both sides seem tense and just waiting for one or the other to make the wrong move and catapult us back into war again. And I know better than to think the Empire would willingly offer a ship as well. I'd be better off literally building my own ship or superweapon to try and take the Chaos on."
Ghost's finials flick as Calyhex 'stirs', expression shading absent a moment before she nods, "Both sides have been burned many a time to let peace just settle like a comforting blanket." she muses, "And those that bear no emblem even more so as the return to war tends to be far more violent after such failures." She cocks her head, optics narrowing, "Too many of those leading have no desire for an actual peace, an actual discussion to resolve differences, to step back and look at the others point of view and accept that both sides have been wrong." She gives a shrug, "My side more than the other, I know. We are a violent sort that enjoys war and the thrill of such things."
"I prefer just calling them all 'Arends' and leaving it at that. More often than not, I'm convinced that we fight because we a) know nothing else, and b) don't know how to stop fighting in the first place." 'Cog shrugs. "It's... more complicated than that, I know."
Ghost peers over at Incognito, "Aren..." Brows lift and she -giggles- softly. "Oh.. much more.. Are you Belgarath?"
Incognito glances at Ghost and assumes that stoic façade, though there's a glint in his optics. "Well, at this point, I do rather feel like the equivalent of a seven-thousand-year-old wizard, though Primus knows it would be nice to have access to the Will and the Word."
Ghost tiredly giggles, exhaustion apparent in her posture. "I'm.. just going to sit down.. Don't mind me, I'm very tired." She settles down on the ground, leaning just a bit back to rest against some of the torn up debris. "Would it? I think it'd be too tempting for those of our kind and our age to not do something stupid with it." Blinking. "Thank you." tone sliding thoughtful, "For helping Calyhex. She's broken.. and dangerous. But that isn't her fault. They did this to her."
"True. Most likely, there wouldn't be nearly so many of us because the first instinct is to destroy our enemy... and in so doing, unmake ourselves." Incognito snorts. "Calyhex is both, yes," he admits. "And just as it isn't her fault, we should all be so kind to one another." He pauses for a moment. "I feel sometimes like I'm trying to atone for my past. Guess we all have that feeling at some point or another, though."
Calyhex continues to listen for a while. She hears them talking. "How to make it up to them for helping me come home." she turns and talks to her own wall. "I could leave everyone in the city some cubes but I don't think I have enough energon. Hmm. We will ponder that as we sleep."
Ghost nods, settling herself comfortably on the ground. "There are many of us with a fierce temper yes. The temptation. Ahh.." She shakes her head, peering off at the Titan. "If more of our kind could think of atoning for poor choices, our world would be on a better path, Incognito." Finials flick, "I need to head back inside, try and find her caretaker and the two others."
Incognito nods. "And I--" he pauses as a signal comes in, and chuckles faintly. "--am apparently needed by one of the repair crews for some advice and new instructions." He looks at Ghost, then offers her a hand to lift her back to her feet. "Looks like we both have things to do."
Ghost takes the offered hand and hauls herself back to her feet. "Thanks. I think I could just curl up and sleep anywhere right now but.. duty calls." She tips wings as way of a salute. "Might still do that I need a warm place though. See you later, Incognito of Tyger Pax." She waves a hand and turns, heading into the holo'd titan, to find a place to rest and look for her friends. not in that order.
The holo ghost-like hand of the small titan hologram reaches out for Ghost. "Come. We have warm energon and your room is open and clean. We have energon, and the ball will start at midnight if you want to attend. Same to you Incognito. Good to see you both. We of Calyhex thank you."
Incognito looks up at the hologram of Calyhex and smiles. "Thank you, Calyhex. For me, it's enough to know that you are home." He looks at Ghost. "Rest well," he tells her, before turning to head back inside and see what his repair crews need help with.