Epoch, an aside
Here Comes the Snake
Joshin Yasha (joshinyasha@yahoo.com)
Their silence filled the quarters within the Decepticon stronghold. Neither had spoken since he arrived, and the silence was beginning to agitate him. He leered up at the female before him, nodded slightly, and picked up a cube of energon from the table and sipped from the corner. He said in greeting, "Pleasure."
Misery's gun never wavered within the grasp of her extended hand. "The door did not open, nor did any of my sensors indicate the presence of someone around this room. How did you get in?"
The silver and blue Decepticon pulled himself to his feet, smiled, and disappeared with an audible crackle and sizzle of air that flooded the space he previously occupied. While Misery swept the room with her arm extended, she sent her free hand to her backside to fetch her other gun. Surprise met her when she felt the gun pulled from her back before she could reach it, and then even more astonishment when her wrist was enveloped by his hand and jerked upwards. "As you noticed by now, I can jump with or without a sound."
When he released his grip on her, Misery spun around and put her back to the table, but rather than raise her weapon a third time she left it pointed to the ground. Her helm twisted to the side, inspected the spot where he had previously been before he left the room, and then the spot upon his return. "You displaced the air when you returned, which is why there was no explosion."
"Very astute observation. My last post never bothered with the technicalities, nor did they care up until their most untimely deaths."
"You must be Stricture," she approved his returning of her second gun by wrapping her hand around the butt, spinning it once, then holstered it (along with her first gun). "I read your file. Seems your last unit met with an unfortunate demise at the hands of the Autobot Ultra Magnus and his crew."
Stricture narrowed his golden hue red optics and frowned, "Despite what that report says, I did not abandon them. I fought right until the end, and it was just bad business that I was the last one alive."
"Of course," she wiped the air clean with her hand absently, as if to say she did not care for the details. "Why do you think I selected you from the invoice and not any of the other outstanding soldiers?"
The frown instantly changed to a grin plastered across his face, "Because you saw my photo and thought I was good for an interface or six?"
"Aside from that obscure fact, I chose you because of your potential and for your talents," Misery gripped the chair as she circled the table, pulled it out, and sat down in one fluid motion.
"So you admit that I am a hunk of electrifying metal."
"Nothing of the sort, merely an aside to a fact that I was not contemplating before now."
"But you think I'm cute nonetheless. Awww, my lugnuts are fluttering!"
"I only hope that your skills with a gun are on par with your crudeness," Misery was never tempted to cross her legs before the male watching her - she was suspicious that he might try to make more of it than the innocent action it was. "You are aware what it means to fail my interview."
"It means no other unit will have me, and I'll have to watch my backside everywhere I go because they all think I'm a deserter anyway." Stricture's face sobered once more, causing him to contemplate the options presented to him, before he decided it would be wise to take the seat opposite Misery and comply with her questions. "Look, if you don't want me, then say so now and I won't waste your time."
"I do not want you, but I will see if I will have you nonetheless."
Stricture's face twisted to an uncertain expression, and then confusion overtook him when the black and blue Decepticon female threw her helm back in laughter. It was then that he realized, "Haha, the lady's got a sense of humour after all!"
"Indeed," she narrowed her optics and glanced at him out of the corner of her red eyes while her helm tilted against her right shoulder. "I believe you are the first to witness me make a joke."
"I would say that I'm flattered, but that's not a very Decepticon thing to say, so I'll pretend neither of us acknowledged it for our own good," he nodded to her when he realized she thought he had said something smart.
"It is good that you have enough common sense for your own good. No wonder you survived your last commander," she narrowed her red optics, looked a question at him, and then continued, "I am only interested in smart soldiers. Prove to me you have some intelligence beyond flirting."
Telling her to go shove a hot poker up her aft was his first thought, but he had a lot more sense than that. "Being a smart soldier isn't about point and shoot, it's about being able to exploit opportunity when presented with it. I disabled an Autobot defense grid by overloading the grid with bodies - dead and alive - while undertaking fire in the Battle of Two Tides. It resulted in our flank overtaking the South ward and destroying the Hexleon pile driver, thereby securing the resources of the planet for High Commander Megatron. Not only that, but during the Hiiva Invasion I teleported inside their stronghold, pretended to be them, and managed to lower their security so that more of our soldiers could get in. That resulted in the deaths of four hundred Autobots and Autobot supporters. Any other cumbersome details you'd like me to recount, or are you satisfied?"
"How did you discover you could overload the security grid?"
He drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly to show his displeasure, but continued regardless. "After one of our soldiers got fried in it by an Autobot, I realized it was wired into their main generator since it diverted more power the longer something was pressed against the grid. The fools must have done it intentionally after a short in power, so I started throwing Autobots and the dead against it until it finally blew out all their power. Satisfied yet?"
Misery drew a sip from the energon cube Stricture had previously energized from, then nonchalantly asked, "How well do you work with others?"
The rolling of his optics went unnoticed, but the displeasure in his voice of being asked the stereotypical bureaucratic nonsense was definitely picked up by the female, "It's nice to have backup, but if you're ordered into a solo job, then you're on your own regardless. Can we move on to better questions now, or do you just like hearing me talk?"
Her fingers folded over the edge of the table as she spoke accurately and to the point, "I am building a team of smart soldiers, capable of thinking for themselves. But I need to know that they will obey me when given orders."
Distance closed between them when Stricture put inches between their faces, his smirk returning as he spoke, "But I bet you also want soldiers who'll tell you when you're wrong, but also have something better to add."
"Astute. There is hope for you yet," a wicked grin graced her lips, and then every ounce of seriousness returned to her. "I need a second."
"Your offer is generous." The expression on his face never wavered, but the twitch of recognition that flashed behind his golden-hued red optics was enough indication to Misery that he understood the opportunity being presented to him.
"I feel I should explain my reasoning."
"Oh, feel free," he returned to his seat once more, reclined, and gave her his full attention.
"Most soldiers would not question their superiors, but the background I have read concerning you shows that you do not hesitate when it comes to articulating a better plan of action. Although your previous commanders have not utilized your talents properly, I offer you the opportunity to be my second in command. The chance to be brilliant awaits you."
"The duty to ensure my commander commands, and that our troups do not dispute your authority." He finally blinked his optics out of deep thought, and parroted his helm in acknowledgment. "You take care of me, and I'll take care of you."
"Precisely," she grinned and extended her left gauntlet. "Shall we formalize the deal?"
Stricture looked to her hand, then enveloped it with both of his. "I take the Indigo oath. I shall willfully serve you until my dying day. May my glory be yours, and yours unto mine. I shall allow none to dispose you as my commander."
"I return your oath in kind," Misery placed her free hand over his two that still held her left. "Let us rise together, captain and second," as she spoke, Stricture repeated her words while they stood formally. "May you walk where I cannot, may you see where I cannot, may you listen where I cannot. To this, I honour Indigo."
"To this, I honour Indigo." Stricture bowed his helm to her, accepted the terms of their new companionship together, and twisted his hand so that his fingers interlocked playfully with hers. "So, now that I have myself a job, I gotta say a few things. First, can you remove the damn bomb you put on my back from earlier? Second, you won't ever need a bomb to convince me to do something. Third, don't ever put a bomb on me again."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah. Your speech patterns are the fraggin' pits."
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