November 13, 2011
(Repair Campus, Polyhex)
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Nova Black walks into the repair campus, a scorched spot on one side of her torso. "Hey, Doc," she says, twitching her wings in a wave. "This isn't too bad." She indicates the wound. "I mainly came to tell you I think those recalibrations you did worked. Though the slaggers didn't seem all that interested in shooting back at me today for some reason..."
Quickrazor tilts his head. He worries, a little, whenever she meets him here, but that's a natural side effect of his function. "No, it doesn't seem to be bad at all...and you will not accept receptor dampeners. Other than a bit of mesh, I can't do much more for that than you could. I suppose the battle went well?" He's honestly curious- he never hits the front lines, and rarely the back...she risks herself constantly. That's one reason Quickrazor respects Nova so much.
Nova Black snorts. "Well, it did until the cowards *blew up* the outpost we were defending." Her engines rev in indignation. "But watching Lord Megatron blow holes in Optimus Prime was fun, anyway. And I got to shoot a few in that toothy scrapheap who pummeled me a while back."
Quickrazor flickers his optics in annoyance. "They blew up our outpost. Autoslag is a bunch of liars, then, destroying resources when they claim equality for all. Bullslag. And you did? Did you save a piece?" He's teasing about her enemy, sort of, only in the way of dismembering him and bringing back bits.
Nova Black shakes her head. "Didn't get a chance to check, Doc. We had to get the slag out of there when it went boom. Anything that was left might've exploded. I can go and look later, though." She gives a harsh, barking laugh. "And yeah. 'Everyone' means the ones they've decided they're protecting, not the ones who can best use it, or who deserve it."
Quickrazor shakes his head ruefully. "They really make no sense. Should I be expecting an influx of wounded soon?" He looks to the door as if expecting half the faction to pour in.
Nova Black nods. "I'd say so. Only reason I'm not slagged up worse is because Teeth went after the guns Starscream repaired and I was helping to defend." She smirks. "Not sure why I'm less dangerous than the slagging guns."
Quickrazor chuckles. "I would think that you would be far MORE dangerous than mindless machinery. I do appreciate the warning, though- I can have a few things ready for shen they arrive. It sounds like you enjoyed yourself."
Nova Black twitches her wings. "I did. Just torqued that they blew the place up after all that. Slaggers. And they blame the famine in the settlements on *us*..."
Quickrazor nods. "It's easier to lay blame than accept what you do is /wrong/. Those who follow that path are so convinced that their way is the only way, it leaves them blind to the masses."
Nova Black shakes her head. "Attack our outposts while calling war senseless." She vents a heavy sigh. "Believe me, I know better than anyone does what those masses think of us. But we wouldn't pretend war is wrong while we're collapsing access to an energon vein..."
Quickrazor stares at Nova. "We are sparked warriors...at least, you are, and those like you. War is in our bodies, and we are honest about it. Proclaiming to sue for peace while blowing a vein to the Pit is hypocrisy of the highest order. Who was present?"
"Lord Megatron, Commander Starscream, Skywarp, Slipstream, and me," Nova answers. "And quite a few of them, including their Prime. And one of those massive 'Bots -- Dinobots, whatever they are. The mech who blew the outpost up was the same one who shot me. Teeth didn't -- he was too busy shooting at the guns to try and disable them again, but he did insult me." She snickers. "Called me 'Scarface,' as if I was ashamed of it." Her optics flare and she growls. "I'd have my scars buffed out if I wanted to hide from my past."
Quickrazor stills. "Your face...is exquisite the way it is. That Autobot knows nothing of what he speaks of. I rathet expect the Air Commander to appear...he has the worst luck...but our Lord? No."
Nova Black ponders a moment. "I don't know -- he was fighting Optimus for most of it, and maybe it's not a fusion cannon, but still, that blaster Optimus has isn't something I'd want to be on the wrong end of. But Lord Megatron gave much worse than he got, from what I saw." She snickers. Then after a moment she adds, "Exquisite? Heh, I don't know about that. But did you know... Robustus, the medic who betrayed us, offered to fix my faceplates? A long time ago. I told him no."
Quickrazor smiles. "I figured if you had wanted them gone, they would be. And I see nothing wrong with how you look. As for the firing capabilities of Prime's blaster...I don't believe I've treated anything that resulted from him. The only fusion burns I've personally seen were on Psykeout...who, curiously, has dropped from the face of Cybertron."
Nova Black nods. "I know. I -- I was impressed with that when I first got to know you. That you -- you looked at me, but didn't assume."
Quickrazor looks around, as if checking for observers, and finding none, brushes his fingertips across those scars. "They are part of you. So many look similar...but you show who you were, who you are, and who you will be...at least in my sight." He lowers his hands and looks away. "I am pleased to say that you will be just fine in two cycles. Just don't overwork the tensioners- that could necessitate replacement."
Nova Black leans into his touch for a moment, turning away slightly as soon as he lets go. "Glad to hear it, Doc. And I'll try to stay out of trouble for a few cycles, then."
Quickrazor smiles. Two fingers catch her hand. "I'm glad you are safe. Staying out of trouble is not necessary...I only ask that you return." He lets go, thinking. "I haven't found a likely sparring partner yet."
Nova Black twitches her wings. "At least you've been looking. If you can't find someone, you can keep sparring with me." She grins. "But remember that if you do end up in a fight, it probably won't be with me. There's only so much I can teach you about everyone *else's* fighting style."
Quickrazor looks thoughtful. "I already know that I cannot hit a Guardian at thirty paces with a laser rifle, so I shall stick to the blade for now. I was going to ask Echo, next time I saw him...he is of comparable skill to me, I think."
Nova Black laughs. "You both could use some practice, yes. I was helping to teach him as well, but I've not seen him for a while."
Quickrazor nods. "He came in with a minor injury and spoke with me...though he seemed to have you mixed up with Slipstream. Speaking of her...how are things?"
Nova Black's optics flare. "He *what* now?"
Quickrazor twitched both doorwings. "Thought you were Slipstream? I tried to inform him..."
Nova Black scowls. "Idiot. As far as Slipstream... the same. She's decided she was a fool to ever trust me with her secrets." She scoffs. "As If *I* was the one talking slag about that grounder she bonded with. *I* don't care about her preferences. I care about her loyalties, and I don't understand *why* she takes up for someone who is gone and someone who is dead. It's that simple."
Quickrazor nods, wanting to calm her. "Well, things will come to a head, one way or another. For now, though, she's not been adjudged a traitor, though you told me who has the information. Perhaps the investigation is underway."
Nova Black nods. "I'm sure it is. And I'm not callin' her a traitor. I'd blast her if I was sure of that. I just -- I don't like it, Quickrazor. She promises me a place in her trine -- and then I'm not good enough because I don't take her every command as gospel. She knows about offering bonds she'll have to break, so she wouldn't be one to offer that foolishly, not if she learned anything from her broken sparkbond." She frowns, a spasm of pain crossing her face. "She offers -- that -- to me, and then comes to believe that was a mistake, but traitors, I should understand?"
She paces, her lasers glowing hot with energy. "Even if she is not one herself, what the *slag* does she expect from me? I agree that I accepted her offer too rashly. I'm glad not to be in her trine. But she knows everything you know, Quickrazor. She *knows* I am loyal... and yet she believes I should agree with her opinion of those who were not?"
Quickrazor frowns, taking Nova's hand to emphasize his point. "You are /more/ than good enough for any trine I could imagine, and your absolute submission should never be a requirement. Any type of bond is not made lightly, and she should KNOW that...yet she thinks you understand how her spark and mind work. She is blinded by idealism...and that is /not/ the Decepticon way. I heard her speak of them myself, right here in this medbay. She still has sympathy for Shred, and for her mate, who by all rights should be scrap by now. I know why you disagree with her, Nova, and I an with you in that disagreement."
Nova Black's engines rumble. "So that's what it was, then. Robustus and Shred were bonded? I should have suspected it..."
Quickrazor nods. "I believe they were, yes."
"Which is precisely what Slipstream herself lost." She continues pacing, her wings twitching. "Then maybe that's why she wanted so badly for me to understand it." She frowns. "But I don't. They lost everything -- and should have, as far as I'm concerned."
Quickrazor's optics whirl in curiosity. "Do you include Slipstream and her broken bond with that? Obviously Shred deserved less than what she got- she at least died honorably, which she didn't deserve. Robustus will live with her loss for vorns, unless we recapture him and execute him for his crimes."
Nova Black shakes her head. "I don't know. I just meant that... Slipstream relates everything back to that bond she had. Her feelings about those two --" her faceplates twist in disgust "-- must have something to do with that. It makes me -- wonder."
Quickrazor looks serious. "Wonder what? I know that bonds are strong. Warhammer and Blade Wind were very, very close. If one had rejoined the Well before the other... I doubt he'd have stayed long."
Nova Black nods. "Yes, that's what I have always heard. But -- to put that above your loyalties -- I don't understand it. Not after learning what loyalty means." Her engines rev again. "She keeps saying that it changed her, that becoming *different* made her *better*. I changed too, Quickrazor. Just not in a way that she understands."
Quickrazor looks directly into Nova's optics. "You know well my thoughts. Yet I cannot put even you before my duties and loyalty I swore the day I received this." He touches the brand on his forehead lightly. "Change comes from experience and time. Sometimes from necessity. Your changes showed you who you are. She cannot understand that, as she has never been forced to stand in the crucible and burn while the slag of the old spark melts away."
Nova Black gives Quickrazor a small smile. "I -- would never want you to put me before the Empire, Quickrazor. I would never ask for that." She twitches her wings. "And I could never put -- this -- us -- whatever this is -- before my loyalties. Before my home." She reaches out to put her hand to his arm. "I -- this means a lot to me, Doc. Whatever it is. But my place here means everything."
Quickrazor tilts his head, glad to hear the words. "I...am glad that it means a lot to you. You know my feelings." He strokes her hand almost fervently, two elegant fingers on her roughened hand.
Nova Black's optics brighten and she pauses for a long moment, cycling air quietly and simply feeling his touch. Then she looks up. "I should go. Plenty of 'Cons got slagged up worse than I did in that battle, and you have a job to do."
Quickrazor reluctantly lets go of her hand and nods. "Yes. Be safe, Nova. Please." *Because I do not wish to lose you.* he thinks to himself.
Nova Black turns to go, twitching her wings in a wave farewell. "See you soon, Doc."