[X]: Go with the autobots to meet Jetfire
-[X]: Convince Eudaimonica and Nightcaster to come with you so they can rest and recharge before heading into another fight.
-[X]: Convince the local primitive law enforcement the Protectorate to send a representative with you to the Autobot base to discuss what's going on and coordinate.
Obviously Jetfire is going to want to speak to the PRT or someone else authorised to speak for human governments too since Autobot secrecy protocols have been breached. Both Earth Bet and Primal Earth since people connected to authorities of both timelines have witnessed the Autobots in action and they're not likely to accept (nor would Jetfire approve of) a mindwipe (and of course that wouldn't even work on Samus and Arne). Of course that doesn't mean that said negotiations have to happen with Samus and Arne present. They could be off-screened if you'd prefer to not have to listen to an inexplicably cockney accented Su-57 from space talk politics with the adults instead of stuff more directly relevant to our two kids.
[X]: Go with the autobots to meet Jetfire
-[X]: Convince Eudaimonica and Nightcaster to come with you so they can rest and recharge before heading into another fight.
-[X]: Convince the local primitive law enforcement the Protectorate to send a representative with you to the Autobot base to discuss what's going on and coordinate.
Scheduled vote count started by FreeWhisky on Oct 16, 2020 at 8:59 PM, finished with 6 posts and 17 votes.
[X]: Go with the autobots to meet Jetfire
-[X]: Convince Eudaimonica and Nightcaster to come with you so they can rest and recharge before heading into another fight.
-[X]: Convince the local primitive law enforcement the Protectorate to send a representative with you to the Autobot base to discuss what's going on and coordinate.
[X] Samus
- [X]: Fight a rearguard action to allow your allies to withdraw to a more advantageous position. This will require you to try and distract the Rikti long enough for your allies to flee rather than seek to engage them to destruction.
[X]: Have yourself and the autobots split up to engage different squadrons separately, holding down all their attention and keeping the less durable humans out of harm's way. Allow PRT and Protectorate to split up to engage as they will.
[X] Arne
- [X]: Engage Rikti in close-quarters combat to prevent them from being able to focus on allies. You are the most durable person in the group and would attract the most attention. This will keep your allies the safest.
[X] Arne
- [X]: Engage Rikti in close-quarters combat to prevent them from being able to focus on allies. You are the most durable person in the group and would attract the most attention. This will keep your allies the safest.
Prepare yourselves for the glory of chav cockney Jetfire who sounds like he's trying to ask you for cheeky nando's with the lads as well as a bit more exposition on just what is going on from some people who know more about the situation.
That being said, the decision to commit to a certain organization will not come until the end of the first arc. Gotta get you used to the possible choices first after all. Then drop you with the choice between who to stick around with and and form the nucleus of the Earth Shield that this planet and its interdimensional siblings will need to defend against the oncoming storm.
[X]: Go with the Autobots to meet Jetfire
-[X]: Convince Eudaimonica and Nightcaster to come with you so they can rest and recharge before heading into another fight.
-[X]: Convince the local primitive law enforcement the Protectorate to send a representative with you to the Autobot base to discuss what's going on and coordinate.
Samus
Subject is a sort of robotic mimic known as a Cybertronian named Bumblebee, presently taking the guise of a 1984 Volkswagen Beetle. Spatiochronal analysis suggests that he is not from either this universe or from yours but reveals an age of 5,379,129 Earth years. Analysis indicates that subject is powered by novel energy source referred to as "Energon". Energy readings are especially concentrated in the core region of the body within a spiritual analogue referred to as the Spark. Bumblebee is fully sapient and is capable of altering configuration between vehicular and bipedal mode. The presence of multiple concealed weapons has been detected, but overall systems are inferior to your own in efficiency and sophistication; compensated for by greater size. Further analysis indicates that subject is incapable of intelligible vocal speech due to relatively recent damage. Bumblebee's records indicate that he is a native of the colony world of Velocitus in the whirlpool galaxy.
Addendum: Scans of the subject demonstrate that Bumblebee has a similar technological basis to subversive signal but has not been compromised by it.
Samus' Notes: Aww, poor guy! Who hurt him like this? Maybe they're still around, and I could help out? Hopefully, he'll have some answers for us.
Arne's Notes: We must have spooked him pretty badly if he's disguising himself this poorly for someone who's five million years old. I don't think he's behind the signal though.
Target is a Cybertronian taking the form of a HondaJet referred to as Windblade. Windblade is capable of unusual psionic abilities referred to as "city speaking" due to quirks within her Spark. Windblade also demonstrates similar components to Bumblebee and is of a similar age at 5,382,764 Earth years. Cross-referencing between Distant Sight probing, electromagnetic scans, and signal interception suggests that Windblade primarily prefers to fight in close quarters combat with an energy sword over long-distance combat. Scan data confirms that subject would demonstrate capabilities well in excess of what her alt-mode should be capable of, allowing for vertical take-off and landing. The subject is also not the source of the attempted subversive signal.
Addendum: Subject is aware of scans.
Samus' Notes: A psychic fully mechanical machine not made by a Progenitor culture? That's really interesti-Oh blessed Spirits of the departed she knows.
Arne's Notes: I'm curious as to why it's called "city-speaking?" Might be a specific type of Cybertronian that takes the form of an entire city? That'd have to be an absolutely huge ro-oh. Uh sorry.
Windblade's Notes: Ask next time, please.
"We'll go with you then." You said, offering a brief nod to Bumblebee who gives you a finger pistol gesture.
"-An excellent choice!-" He played, probably from some game show based on the sounds before he started signing at you in a series of gestures your armour translated as soon as he made them.
"<You'll do great with us minicon. We just need to get you sorted with Jetfire, and Red Alert and everything should be good to go. What's your name though? I'm Bumblebee.>"
"+I'm Samus! Samus Eabha Aran. This is my bondsmatch; Arne Eriksen Skjoldr.+" You said back via text message to Bumblebee who seemed to have a moment of realisation.
"+You're not a Cybertronian?+" He texted back as you nodded and dismissed your helmet with a flash of light while everyone else was talking, Arne following suit.
The fade of yellow and blue exposed your young faces to the air of winter and the frost of an early morning blizzard, but you had suffered far colder. You stroked back your ponytail, the golden hair in its usual tomboyish, practical cut that so many people couldn't peel their eyes away from whenever they looked over you. After a year of mingling with your own kind again, and two years of socialisation practice, you were starting to become somewhat aware of how beautiful most people your age found you.
Arne's red eyes had, for the most part, lost the characteristic bags beneath them that you first saw him with two years ago. He had improved so much healthwise after starting to leave Zurvduat's care more often, and his everything seemed to improve after he left his auspices entirely. His platinum coloured hair blew slightly with the winds, and his slender, boyish face sucked in a breath of this planet's air for the first time.
He wrinkled his nose a bit though and muttered about the stench of air pollution that you found noxious yourself until you willed yourself to ignore it. Your suit had informed you that this planet had an overabundance of pollutants associated with primitive chemical fuel usage, but smelling it with your unfiltered nose was another thing entirely. You almost wanted to vomit; how could people live with a smell like that?
Bumblebee studied your face and made a beeping noise of wonderment before signing something that, thanks to downloading the relevant sign language into your memory you were able to decipher unassisted. "<You look great, Samus! You too, Arne!>" You beamed at that, you were quite self-confident regarding your appearance and had come to enjoy the compliments you got, as long as they were respectful of course.
"Thanks! So, I'm guessing a ground bridge would be some sort of terrestrially limited portal right?" You said it didn't take much to piece that together based on the way they talked about it. It seemed pretty self-evident to you. However, you could probably forgive the other humans here for not guessing it if they weren't used to regularly using teleporters.
"Which means you either want us to get there really quickly or don't want us to be able to figure out where the base is from the journey there. Right?" Arne added, getting a quirked metallic brow from Windblade that you found quite curious. Despite being so much older than humanity, they both seemed so oddly human. Fascinating...what could possibly drive this level of convergence you wonder?
"You two are clever. Reminds me of some of the kids we used to work with back on the Earth in our universe." She said with genuine praise, Arne gave a quiet but thankful nod and a bit of a bashful smile while you just widened your grin.
You had however, noticed that both Eudaimonica and Nightcaster were staring at the two of you; gobsmacked by your countenance. You didn't need to be a psychic to guess at their emotional state, though you cleared your throat briefly. There was work to attend to and things that needed doing after all. There'd be time to see if they were worth indulging the interest of later.
"Hold on, power armour or not, the two of you are still minors, and this is not in your pay grade to handle." Armsaster cut in; everyone quickly turning their attention towards him.
"They're not citizens of your country, relax. We're pretty good with taking care of other people's trouble anyway." You felt a bit miffed at that; you weren't anyone's trouble! You frowned and pouted, getting a look of realisationrealisation from the Autobot.
"It means we're good with kids! Don't worry. Bumblebee here's worked with thousands of human children over the years. You'll be in great hands." Windblade said before she extended a hand and kneeled down to something closer to your level, the ground shaking slightly from the movement of a large robot.
"We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the Planet Cy-" She started before you interrupted, not quite able to contain the urge to speak out.
"Cybertron, but Bumblebee wasn't created there because he was from the colony world of Velocitus, right?" You said, Windblade seemed to be slightly annoyed by you blurting out, but quickly got over it as her expression changed back to a neutral one.
"Yes. That's it. Though there's something rather interesting." She says as she looks at her left arm's vambrace and brings up a panel of some sort.
"What is?" Arne asks.
"The two of you aren't from this universal cluster or stream. Nor from theirs, or even from ours." She said, though to you it seemed mostly like declaring the obvious. This wasn't the 51st millennium after all. The stars were slightly wrong, and there were many anomalies regarding the planet's chemical makeup that didn't quite fit existing records of this period that you had access to.
"Mhrm, we fell in through a wormhole junction." You started explaining before Arne raised his hand to speak. Something you granted to him as he nodded in gratitude and started his explanation from the top. Tracking down some mysterious interlopers who were present at the facilities you were studying how to properly socialise within before finding both groups of interlopers were fighting for access to a wormhole station—one which was about to go supercritical and vaporise large chunks of the solar system.
"Sounds like space bridge tech to me. But we know groups somewhat matching that description. It's been a difficult time tracking them though. We're too used to tracking other robotic infiltrators to get our heads around organic espionage tactics sometimes." Windblade said, not quite sighing though the disappointment in her voice was evident. But then, could she even sigh to begin with? It's not like she had lungs.
"We could help locate them. We're...pretty familiar with how they work. Studied them in a lot of detail for," He paused, hesitating before finishing his sentence. "Personal reasons. The raiders took my homeworld; the Pirates took Samus'. But I'd think it'd be better to just...give you the data about them. It's not really," He steadied himself, making sure he was breathing properly. "Something that's fun to talk about."
Arne was hesitant to talk about the interlopers in too much detail. You were too. They were cruel, evil organisations who revelled in carnage and slaughter and had to be stopped; but focusing on the memories they left behind was painful. The feeling of the hot ash and the radiant warmth of a burning world lingered in your memory like a phantom, a raw nightmare.
Bumblebee looked with understanding and reached out a hand for the two of you to touch. "-You've got a friend in me-" He clipped, pulling the quote from a song to show his sympathetic nature.
"So why exactly are we putting this much trust in two traumatised teenagers?" You flicked your eyes over to the PRT Officer who overheard that statement and glowered at him.
"Come on, did you see them? They're already superheroes in my book!" Nightcaster said enthusiastically.
"Whatever their capabilities are, it's not wise to trust these sorts of negotiations to minors, it would be more efficient to get a proper governmental representative to handle this sort of diplomacy." Armsmaster said, exhaling with a sigh.
"They're not going to speaking on your behalf. Have you been paying attention at all to what I'm saying? They're not under your jurisdiction." Windblade said, palming her faceplate briefly.
"Apologies for interrupting. But given that these are unattended and stateless minors with clearly parahuman abilities; they would in fact, fall under our jurisdiction. I don't mean any disrespect, but you are an alien and a machine. We would be better suited to handle them and find them cover identities while they stay here." The patriotic one, Miss Militia you gathered, said, stepping up and rubbing at her arm.
"No way, I wanna go with the robots!" Eudaimonica said, folding her arms and stamping her feet into the snow and huffing.
"They are not unattended mortal! A Demon Prince of the Underrealm stands before you with a solemn duty to watch over at least one of them! And I will be happy to look after the other three!" Winterpyre snarls.
"We can make our own choices. And I'm going to choose to go with the Autobots. Come on Arne, Eudaimonica, Nightcaster. I want to see what they have waiting there." You say with a cheery and excitable grin.
Arne
You stifle an odd look thrown at Miss Militia's direction. She was clearly trying to be as nice as she could, but the American themed garb she wore put you off.
In the history texts you read, Omdynisch historians did not regard America's two hundred and sixty eight-year history kindly. A minor footnote in history mostly remembered by late pre-space faring human history students founded in genocide, built by slavery, empowered by empire, and then choked to death under its own failings decades in the making. Something remembered alongside other variably obscure mistakes such as Rome, the United Kingdom, the Third Reich, the Japanese Empire, Terra Prima, or the Hominid Domain.
All this made her seem suspicious to you, untrustworthy. Your distant sight didn't inform you of any immediate danger from her but you had your eye kept firmly on her at all times. A venomous snake would have set you off less, and you can tell Samus had some trepidations herself. While the Federation remembered the United States somewhat less bleakly, the Chozo had little regard for it.
But you were willing to give her at least a chance to speak.
"Would you not be willing to at least allow someone to speak for us to accompany these children and present our case? It would do a great deal to alleviate potential conflict." Miss Militia said, clearly insistent on getting at least a bit of her foot in through the proverbial door. A turn of phrase you were still not entirely sure about the meaning of, but the English engrams you had downloaded into your memory told you it was common now.
Bumblebee raised a pair of fingers to indicate that he recommended at least two people.
"Shouldn't they be someone actually authorised to speak at this level? Most of these people are just...police." You say, doing your best to avoid scorn in your voice and noticing that the officers gathered couldn't help but stare at your platinum hair and scarlet eyes. You academically knew your hair and eye colouration was exotic at best at this time, but you still felt uneasy with the way they were looking at you, talking as if you couldn't hear.
"(They're cute kids but the boy looks like some kind of vampire.)" You heard one of them say as you almost felt a twitch go down your arm.
"(They ever even get any sunlight in those suits? The girl would get sunburned to death and the boy would probably just burst into flames.)"
"(Knock it off, we're still here because of them.)"
"(Space shit, I'm telling you. Probably not even really human. Could be a hologram or some terminator shit. Both of them changed shape like one of them.)" You clenched your fist and seethed but Samus' anger always burned hotter than yours.
"I CAN HEAR YOU! We're not robots and he's not a vampire!" She shouted, snapping her head back towards them and then resting a hand on your shoulder and nodding at you.
"Yeah, please...don't talk about us like we can't hear you." You said, not quite shooting a death glare at them, but making it clear you weren't happy with the way they were talking about you.
"...Oh man that is some amazing hearing." Nightcaster said with a gulp, tugging at his scarf and whispering something about hoping you couldn't read minds too. You couldn't, not yet, the training for that had yet to commence. But you were able to get a read on his mood, nervous, excited, a bit at a loss of what to say.
"Hey, you two." You said, pointing towards the teenaged outverser heroes who looked towards each other and then nodded in acknowledgement. "Come here. It's probably better than standing out in the open like that." He said as the two made a quick teleportation jaunt right to where you were standing. Your eyes scanned over them, seeing the fatigued exertion in their movements and their quicker than normal breaths.
"You should come with us, get a bit of rest at the Autobot base." You said, Samus nodding enthusiastically as the two seemed to realise just how much taller you were than the two of them. Especially fully geared up; where the few extra centimetres of height added by the armour made the gap in height even more marked.
"<We were already planning on letting them do that, but thanks for getting them to get over here! I'd love to let them hang around the base.>" Bumblebee signed.
"Now, you all. When can your representative get here? I'd rather get the kids out of the cold as quickly as possible." Windblade said, resting her metallic hands on her hips and looking down at the PRT officials.
"Negotiators have been on their way since we first spotted you." Armsmaster said cooly as you were alerted to the sounds of distant movement. You hadn't regarded the PRT as a threat and so had largely ignored their presence in the causeways of destiny, and thus only now when they were in hearing range were you aware of the helicopters surrounding the area. Loaded guns clicked around you and orders to move out were given as a short, plain-looking and ungainly woman stepped out of the winding down blades of a Helicopter and the demons of Eudaimonia barked, snapped, and hissed at the sudden presences around them.
A handsome if a bit overly square-jawed for your tastes, clean-shaven brown-haired man in a blue domino mask also descended from the skies, seeming to carry a tremendous deal of reverence from the other protectorate heroes gathered here.
"Oh god oh fuck I don't wanna go to jail!" Nightcaster said as he backed up towards Winterpyre who snorted steam from his nostrils in apparent contempt.
"Yo, what the fuck dude you bring the entire precinct down on us?" Eudaimonica hissed.
"I've come to understand that this is a first contact situation yes? So please, take me to your leader." The man said as both you and Samus' helmets flashed back into existence.
Legend, actual name Keith serves as the overall commander of the Protectorate parahuman team and is considered to be one of the most important and respected parahuman heroes within the United States of America. Considered a gay rights icon and an upstanding paragon of all a hero should be, Legend is well known for his incredible resilience, speed, and luminokinetic firepower. Able to convert his body into light or bend the passage of his light beams to gain an advantage in combat situations, Legend is often referred to as a "flying artillery weapon"; though such statements belie the significant degree to which his firepower exceeds the standard of artillery weapons in this time period. Though well regarded, Legend upholds standard contemporary American viewpoints on criminal justice.
Samus' Notes: Oh, he can shift from matter to energy? Hrm, I'm wondering what mechanism that the symbiont taps into in order to let him do that. I'm disappointed in his views on Law and Order though. But I suppose the Orthodoxy here is what it is. I'm hoping to change that though.
Arne's Notes: So essentially he's the biggest policeman in the precinct and a glorified mascot. The less I have to interact with him the better.
Subject is an ordinary if unhealthy human whose genetic code fits into the norms of the current era, including a predisposition towards heart disease, stomach cancer, and low metabolism. While lacking in any abilities above the baseline human norm and possessing a physique poorly suited for combat or survival situations, Emily has significant influence as the Director of PRT affairs within the Eastern New England region. A survivor of an incident with a quarantined parahuman known as Nilbog, Emily is often regarded as spiteful towards parahumans whom she considers to be prone to grandiose showboating over getting actual results.
Samus' Notes: Oh, a bureaucrat that's...do I have to deal with her? I really don't like talking to stylus draggers.
Arne's Notes: So she's both prejudiced and a police bureaucrat. Gods give me strength.
"So is that your choice of representatives?" Windblade asked.
"At ease please, let's avoid an intestellar incident. Clean up whatever salvage is left." Piggot said as she looked at the situation with a quirked brow. Clearly trying to give the impression that she was maintaining her cool despite how bizarre everything was.
"Now hold on a minute, this tech is several grades above anything this planet mass produces. You can't just help yourself to it without thinking of the possible consequences." Windblade said, raising a hand as Piggot raised a brow.
"This isn't your country I'm afraid." She said somewhat coldly before a swirling green vortex opened up behind the two autobots.
"So, I guess we'll be riding in style. Take me to your leader." Legend said, getting Bumbelbee to palm his face and play a prolonged clip of groaning.
"Wow jeeze dude watch the cringe. How long did you wait to say that line?" Eudaimonica hissed after exaggeratingly recoiling away from Legend.
You didn't get it. You understood it was a reference, but you didn't comprehend how it was meant to be funny.
"Okay before the next attempt at comedy makes me want to offline myself, Jetfire's waiting." Windblade said, ushering those welcome to join through the groundbridge, taking you through a swirling corridor of...green.
Fascinating. You'd love to talk to the builder.
Samus
On the other side of the portal was an extensive base built to accommodate the varying sized frames of the Autobots. It seems like it had been here quite a while, and your scan visor identified the minerals in the still visible parts of the rock as common to the Arkhangelsk oblast of Russia, near the arctic circle.
"Heads up, humans." A slender feminine Autobot said, wheels on her feet spinning slightly as her blue frame shifted to turn her blue optics to you. You dismissed your helmet and arm cannon in flashes of light and offered an enthused wave, getting a smile back from her in return as she muttered "kids" in an appreciative tone.
"Bit busy Arcee, if I don't get the polarity of these couplings right I could do one of two things. Teleport a chunk of Mars on top of Arkhangelsk or form a black hole." A plaintive and somewhat scatterbrained voice shouted back over the intercoms.
"...Black Hole?" Eudaimonica gulped.
"That's just Wheeljack. Don't worry, if one of his experiments goes wrong we've got a spacebridge ready to dump it into infraspace." Arcee said. This put you at ease, at least proper safety protocol was being observed, but it certainly seemed to cause Piggot and Legend no small amount of concern.
"Bee! You creep, why did you reveal yourself in front of this many hum-" A blue and white female Cybertronian said before stopping when she got a look at the two of you and then at Eudaimonica, her Demons, and Nightcaster.
"...Oh scrap, a multiversal event. Perfect." She said with a prolonged sigh.
"Glad to see you too Strongarm." Windblade said as Bumblebee simply shrugged at her accusations.
"Alright, as much as I'd like to get the full procession of everyone in the base, I was promised a meeting with your leader." Legend said, dusting off his hands while Nightcaster whispered something to one of his shadows; a command for it to go scout around the base.
As if on cue, a red and white Su-57 flew through another swirling vortex before shifting into a bipedal form; standing tall amongst the other autobots who mostly took the forms of cars of various stripes.
"So anyway, as I was sayin', Iacon Dreams is fine an' all but if ya want proppa bloody banter ya gotta hit up Maccadam's; absolute ledge that one." He said as a humanoid figure popped out of the cockpit that had formed part of his chest. A figure that your scan visor indicated had technology it recognised.
Arne's eyes lit up as he made a realisation and then preformed a fist on chest salute that was recripocated by the figure in the apparent shape of a Russian fighter pilot. The ebony nanite shell around their robotic endoskeleton rippled and transformed into a more combat standard form to reveal a smooth plated robotic body; black, red, gold, and white plated with a crimson V shaped "visor" that formed its optics. The optic and solar corona symbol of Section 13 of the Commissariat of Public Security of the Omdyn of Democratic Omnipragmatist Council Republics decorated their pauldrons. A grilled mouthpiece glowed red as they spoke in a courteous, androgynous voice.
"Skjoldr? Certainly not the person I was expecting to see here. Miss Aran, a pleasure to meet you too." They said, pausing briefly before folding their arms behind their back. "I am Operative Kyrion, Section 13. I understand that you dealt with a Space Pirate Wormhole station? Certainly, you live up to my expectations for progenitor touched such as yourselves." They said, getting you to almost flush your cheeks with pride at his praise.
"Yeah! Then we ended up here, but well...how did you get here if you're from our reality?" You asked as Kyrion nodded and adjusted the antennae on the sides of their head into a flattened position.
"Similar methods, different goals. So I'd like to ask you, would you care to assist my erstwhile compatriots and I with something?" Kyrion said.
"Of course!" You responded.
"What do you need Urglik?" Arne asked.
"Are you keen on halting efforts at Imperial acquisition and expansion? These iterations of Earth have eyes on them. Dangerous eyes. Not just from our universe but others." They explained, and you nodded enthusiatically. This sounded like your chance to continue on your journey to be the hero the universe needs. Arne of course gave a nod as well, as well as an affirmative.
"Part of Section 13's mission directive is to halt all forms of imperialism, and to protect indigenous pre-FTL cultures from those who would seek to conquer them. We don't know why they're interested in these realities. We're not even sure on who all of them are. But we can't let them have it." Kyrion said.
"See, this chap's got the right bloody idea. Autobot priority is to ensure the liberation of all sapient life. So me an' Kyrie 'ere 've been busy. Then you dropped in and well, from the looks of it; you could 'elp out with our lack of lads." Jetfire said before Piggot finally harrumphed, tired of being outspoken.
"Aren't you forgetting something? You're all extraterrestrials on American soil and are going to have to go through the appropriate channels. You can't just d-" Piggot wasn't allowed to finish her sentence.
"Actually this is Russian soil!" Wheeljack cut in over the intercoms.
"...I'm going to need a drink." Legend sighed while you and Arne shared a laugh.
"Well...I suppose that we all need to begin some rather...involved talks. I could speak on your behalf if you'd like; though it's of course up to you." Kyrion said.
"Yeah, there's probably going to be a lot to speak about." You said.
"Though of course, you have a Rikti problem near Brockton Bay to deal with. Perhaps that would be best dealt with first?" Kyrion said.
"Well, I could show the kids around instead. Get them used to the place if they're going to work with us." Arcee said.
You then remembered something else, the Virus. "Excuse me, do you have any information about some malware going through the information networks on this planet?" You asked, Arne briefly looking towards you before turning to the Autobots as he dismissed his helmet and arm cannon.
"Maybe we should see what's the strategic situation first?" Arne said, always laser-focused on duty first. Something Zurvduat drilled into him for years.
Options:
[]: Participate in the talks under Kyrion's wing
[]: Participate in the talks as peers
[]: Hit the Rikti near Brockton Bay first
[]: Tour the base with Arcee
[]: Investigate the computer virus
[]: Take a look at the strategic situation on Earth Bet.
[]: Write in
No point in throwing in with anyone specifically while it's all friendly and cooperative, communal even, and this seems a poor time to go off galivanating around who knows where in some backwards failing empire.
hmm I'm not opposed to letting Kyrion take care of the minutia of these talks. Mainly because I worry that they would be ungainly to do in a quest format.
Given these talks have started now it would be bad form to go back to the USA and start extraterritorial opperations. It would give Legend and Piggot a leg up in the negotiations we probably don't want to give them.
With that in mind I'll vote for looking into the virus so that we can present our findings to Kyrion and the autobots after the talks.
Alright time to write out INTENSE NEGOTIATIONS. Should be fun and also reveal a bit more about what the fuck is going on to you all. I guarantee a good time will be had by all very soon.
Jetfire is an Autobot Aerial Commander and a trusted compatriot of the leader of the Autobot Revolutionary movement; Optimus Prime. The commander of the decorated Crimson Comet Wing of Aerialbots and the squadron leader for the Red Meteor Squadron, Jetfire is one of the most well regarded Autobot aerial aces. Jetfire is 286,989,731 earth years of age and has spent more than 225,733,127 years of that time fighting the Cybertronian Civil War. With an aerial victory count in the trillions, Jetfire is feared by his enemies and borderline worshipped by his allies. But to those who work directly with him, he is also fondly regarded as a surprisingly easy-going and understanding commander who works to help others improve; maintaining a down to earth attitude towards his soldiers and allies. Jetfire also is a highly dedicated scientist and works continually to keep his equipment up to date, improving his combat chassis continually with an ever-changing arsenal of equipment suited to the needs of his mission.
Jetfire is currently posted to this incarnation of Earth on the orders of Optimus Prime to monitor and counteract potential imperialist efforts not only by the Decepticons but by other powers. Due to choosing to base within the territory of the Soviet Union which his Autobot team has helped to stabilise to provide a safe operating area, Jetfire takes the form of a Soviet Su-57 jet to help blend into one of his primary fields of operation. This form suits his highly manoeuvre focused fighting style exceptionally well, and his ability to remain airborne in both robot and vehicle mode and fight with highly augmented reflexes gives him a crucial edge over many opponents.
Samus' Notes:
He doesn't initially give the impression of being that old, but there's a lot of wisdom hidden behind that image of just being a friendly face. Oh I can't wait to ask him all the questions I have in my head. He must have so many interesting experiences if he really is that old. And hrm, if he's intervened on Earth to preserve the Soviet Union, he's probably got a very developed understanding of what this Earth's politics are like.
Arne's Notes:
When I get the chance, I really want to talk to him about his thoughts on how I can improve the Sleipnir. I'm sure he'd have some opinions once he gets to have a look at it. Maybe he'll even like what I worked on? I just hope he doesn't find me to be bothersome. It shouldn't be too hard to get into his good graces at least; we'd probably agree on a lot of things.
Arne
Samus, of course, spoke up first, always the outgoing one. She cleared her throat and raised her hand, getting the attention of Jetfire who flicked his optics away from Piggot and Legend almost immediately.
"Ey, the twist and twirl wants ta speak up lads. So why don't ya put a sock in it fer a tick er two? Go on Samus; my receptors are open wide as the Channel." You were unsure of why an alien robot who was more than two hundred and fifty million years old spoke like a working-class east Londoner from the 21st century, but you at least were able to follow his words.
"We'd like to sit in on the negotiations, but as our own party. All due respect to you Kyrion." She said, looking towards the Section 13 agent who offered a nod and a fist on chest salute in acknowledgement. "It's just that; I'd rather we be free to voice our own concerns. We're not here officially or anything after all." She said.
"Of course Samus, Arne. It would do me a great deal of honour to listen to what progenitor-touched would have to say regarding our present situation." Kyrion said with a friendly but not overly formal salute.
"We just need to get our bearings. I think we'll be able to start figuring out what to do once we've got all the pieces." You say, getting some nods of approval from the gathered autobots.
"Well, we're kind of out of our like, depth here. But I guess as the Primal Earthers here we kind of have to speak for our dimension?" Nightcaster said with a shrug, having a hard time peeling his eyes away from all the technology on display. At the same time Eudaimonica was trying to poke at a console before a minicon arrived at its post.
"You are rather young however. Perhaps it would be best to allow me to handle such business until portal corps can send a representative?" Winterpyre suggested as Eudaimonica groaned in frustration in the background.
"As much as the four of you impressed in the frenzied AAR I was passed, you're all minors. With all due respect, and I do mean that; this sort of diplomacy is best left to adults. You should probably get acquainted with..." He paused, looking around for a second as if he himself was not quite sure what to say, finding all this to be about as overwhelming as you did.
"All of this." He finished.
"With all due respect, you have no authority over us. We're not here to represent any country or group. We're just going to be there to well...speak for ourselves." You said, laying a hand on your hip as you spoke.
"If you're going to make decisions that affect us, it's only fair to let us be involved with them!" Samus added, stepping forward a bit and puffing out her chest slightly beneath her varia suit.
"I don't know, just call me uncomfortable with the idea of letting kids sit through an alien contact scenario without supervision. Neither of you even have the proper papers for your legal existence." Legend said with a somewhat resigned sigh, clearly thinking that he was only trying to be reasonable in the face of a very unreasonable situation.
"We don't need supervision. We're able to handle ourselves." You say, cutting in. Legend gave you the impression of meaning well, but probably being too set in the ways of what he was familiar with to mesh all that neatly with you.
"Be that as it may, there are rules and protocols that still need to be followed, young man." He said placing both of his hands on his hips and looking at you with a pose you figured was meant to be heroic and inspiring. But to you, it came off as perhaps a bit patronising.
"We're not babies! We've dealt with things like this before!" Samus said, huffing and narrowing her eyes at Legend.
"Yes, you clearly do have a level of experience somewhat atypical for your age. Mayhaps we should be a touch flexible?" Piggot said, giving Legend a brief look before he gave a nod.
"Alright, I suppose this is out of my jurisdiction. I'm not even sure what jurisdiction means at the moment when I've got two kids who've fallen from space who sound like they tumbled out of Dublin and Reykjavik. Then a demon prince, two kids from the near future, and now apparently robot aliens have been among us since the Reagan administration." Legend admitted with a sigh, briefly rubbing his face and murmuring about how a warm mug of coffee would do him wonders right about now.
"...Who wins the twenty twelve presidential election?" Legend hazarded an ask, looking at you and then at Eudaimonica.
"...Barack Obama?" You say, shrugging. American history was a short-lived footnote over forty-eight thousand years of history; it didn't really command that much interest from you beyond it being held up as an archetypical pre-spacefaring dystopia in Omdyn history.
"Nat Brown." Eudaimonica said with an enthusiastic nod.
"...I have no idea who either of those people are." Legend admitted, shrugging.
"For what it's worth, our answer would be different too." Arcee said.
Bumblebee signed a message to the group, indicating his relief that the gathered parties here could be reasonable at the end of the day and offering his assurances regarding his experience with children. His movements were energetic, quick, but always easy to follow, fingers and joints moving with incredible flexibility for a machine to make every word discernable even for novices at sign reading.
"I mean if the Volkswagen says it's okay..." Legend said in a way that you thought was meant to be a joke based on his inflexion, but you weren't entirely sure on all the nuances of early 2010s American English. Especially when the English you downloaded into your memory was of the British variant due to its greater longevity and ease of availability.
The uncertainty made you nervous about possible responses. Was it alright to laugh? Laughing at the wrong time tended to make people give you weird looks, so you decided to hold off on it for now. So instead you decided to steer the conversation elsewhere.
"What are we going to do with Eudaimonica and Nightcaster?" You asked, looking to the two mages as they played around with some spellcraft energy to while away the time, a matrix of shadowy and pyronic magic weaved from tendrils of arcane energy. You weren't sure if they were forced to be as precocious as yourself or Samus, they seemed to be much more...like normal kids, chattering away and focusing their attentions on silly games.
"I can speak on their behalf for now." Winterpyre said with a polite tone, one hand behind his back and the other offering a surprisingly gentlemanly genuflection even as mystical energy crackled dangerously around him.
"Is it...he legally permitted to do that? Are we even certain that their claims of being from another reality are true?" Piggot said, dusting her coat off to push away some of the snow that had accumulated onto it while she was outside.
"Well, I know what's bloody what on their royal berth, so I'm giving it the jolly ol' plums' cup." He said while giving what was rather clearly a thumbs up and not a plums' cup. Based on his accent you figured "royal berth" was also some sort of rhyming slang...Earth? Strange way to express it but as long as he wasn't diving headfirst into incomprehensibility, you supposed it was fine.
"Well, if they're not going to be sitting in themselves, mind if I show them around?" Arcee asked, looking towards the two children who looked towards one another with excitement blazing in their eyes. An expectant, almost pleading sensation radiated from them like the sword of Damocles, almost choking you with how badly they wanted to poke around every nook and cranny. And the cheer they gave when Jetfire, Bee, and Windblade gave their thumbs up almost hurt your ears.
"Aww, look at how eager they are to explore! Ah, we're going to be such great friends I can tell!" Samus says, grinning like a maniac while you made your own coy look of appreciation for a fellow explorer's eagerness to dive into the unknown and uncharted.
"Yeah, we should probably well...do that too when we've got time." You say to her, making her tap her chin and nod energetically at you in agreement.
"Very good idea Arne! Probably after we've cleared some immediate priority missions? Then we should have enough free time to relax a bit." She said, giving you a thumbs up that turned into a shared fist bump and armlock between the two of you—your secret handshake.
"Now that's sorted. Come on then chinas we've got some biz ta sort out. Come on, off ya go then, chop-chop!" He said jokingly as he gestured to the door that had just slid open to let them through.
The walk down the hall was somewhat uneventful save for when you spotted some other human children in costume looking down from a walkway built to allow humans or minicons to access some higher up areas easily.
You offered one of them a wave as she looked in your direction and gave a bashful smile upon seeing your face after having dismissed your helmet. Though bashfulness gave way to pure interest, and you sensed a number of other emotions curling from her; coloured sensations tingling your mental senses.
"Hello." You said plainly, not trying to embellish your statements too much since all you were doing was offering a greeting.
"Privet tovarisch." She said with an interested, raised eyebrow expression and a wide grin. One that made you feel seen in a distinctly pleasant way that gave you a rather warm sensation inside. You figured her for about the same age as yourself, and if you had to guess she probably wasn't in full costume, especially given how poorly her outfit disguised her face.
The Russian girl was wearing some manner of domino mask and a colourful but practical looking military produced costume with green coloured inset plates, red trimmings, and the occasional gold highlights; she looked rather nice. She was definitely someone who spent a lifetime continually working out, with the armour padding of her suit giving a good impression of the contour of her musculature. Closer examination also showed that the outfit seemed to have attachment points, confirming your suspicions that it was meant to be worn with another outfit.
"Hi there!" Samus said with distinctly more energy, waving with enough force to create a whipcrack sound from her arm as she had a large grin on her face.
Shortly after making contact, the slender black-haired and green-eyed Russian girl whispered something to a nearby companion in a more red outfit as the blond set down his fighter pilot styled helmet and ran his hands through messy locks. He gave the impression of having recently been sweating quite a lot, and you could see a few beads still dripping down his forehead.
Another look at him confirmed that he was built for agility and finesse rather than raw power, and the insets of his suit seemed mostly to accentuate the muscle groups of his body in a rather flattering manner. Like her outfit, it had attachment points, and like her, he wore a small mask that covered part of his face but not quite enough to be likely to guise his identity from anyone who knew him. He shrugged off more of the plating of what you presumed was his full armoursuit, offering it to a drone who took it off of him as he wiped his brow and dabbed at his face with a cloth.
He said something to the girl as she called to him, waving to the both of you and giving a nod of acknowledgement to the man in the commissar cap.
Your armour immediately downloaded knowledge of the languages commonly spoken in the region into your memory, and you were able to pick up on what you heard.
"Jetfire must have found more aliens Molotok." The boy had said before you understood them, though with the knowledge of the Russian language you had now you were able to decipher it.
"Yes, though right now they look more like cute teens, no Serp? The girl's hair is like gold and the boy? Ah, Nichjose!" She said back with some excited chatter while a man in an officer's cap sipped at his coffee behind them and glowered at Piggot and Legend.
"Ah, da. They are easy on the eyes. But they're probably going to be busy with the Autobots for a while. Especially when they've got the Protectorate golden boy with them." He said in response. He said the word protectorate with notable scorn, and looked at Legend as if he were some roadkill a cat dragged into the house.
Legend muttered something about having fully expected a frosty welcome from this country while the Russian boy and girl giggled to each other.
"Fucking hell how are we going to keep this quiet." The man in the officer cap said before palming his face.
"I think we've got uh...some appreciators." You say to Samus who smirks with enthusiasm and a raised eyebrow.
"Mhrm. Which one do you like better?" She asks with a sly, cunning grin on her face as the two of you begin to flush.
"...Come on you know that's not a fair question." You say as you bashfully turn away from directly facing her.
"Yoohoo, snowhair! Welcome to the Rodina! Come see us when you have the time, da?" The girl said before blowing a kiss towards you and smiling. Samus giggled at you and pinched your cheek in a way that only made you feel more embarrassed.
"Maybe we could all get together hrm?" Samus said daringly while you made a little smirk and a scoff before wiggling your eyebrows at her.
"Ah, a salute to you is in order krasotka. I look forward to getting to know you both." The boy said, smirking and giving Samus a quick, informal salute that Samus grinned at, but met with a thumbs up rather than anything quite so stiff as a formal military gesture.
Actually named Irina "Irinushka" Vladimirovna Kuznetsov, Molotok is a young parahuman attached to the Soviet Otmolsoza (Special Protection Youth Division of the Soviet Union) and a native of the city of Arkhangelsk. Irina bonded to her extradimensional symbiont following an encounter with a rampaging tinker made robot of Swedish origin derived from the illicitly acquired corpse of a Decepticon slain in an aerial engagement acquired by the tinker Svartalfar before the Autobots could recover it. Originally developed with the hopes of helping to fight Endbringers, the lingering code from the fallen machine's repurposed Cybertronian components meshed poorly with its new programming when Svaltalfar thanks in part due to Gesellschaft sabotage; resulting in a monstrosity that rampaged across the baltic for two weeks. Due to the severity of its attack on Arkhangelsk, she has a double bond to her entity.
The incident gave her the ability to store, manipulate, and amplify kinetic energy for various purposes, such as absorbing incoming blows, forming shielding, significantly augmenting the force behind her impacts, move objects, enhance or drain speed, leech energy to accelerate natural healing, or even releasing them as impact blasts or shockwaves. Her status as a general-purpose take all comers melee combatant, and tremendous capacity for punishment has made her indispensable to the Sentinels at Arkhangelsk. However, Irina has been diagnosed with a martyrdom complex and a tendency of unnecessarily taking on the burdens of others and worsened mood if unable to offer assistance. All while she often refuses to ask others for help even when in need out of a feeling of not wanting to burden others.
Samus' Notes:
Based on the records that I can access she's done really well for herself even at a young age! I'm hoping her therapy is going well at least. I can emphasise with the pain of having so many people you know killed in a single moment. Maybe I should talk to her when I can?
Arne's Notes:
She reminds me of myself in a few ways, but I'm not sure what I can really do to offer help besides commiserating with her. And would that be what she needs? It works with Samus, but her circumstances are so different in a lot of ways. I think I'd need to get to know her better to say for sure.
Viktor "Vitya" Zinovyevich Pasternak js a parahuman member of the Otmolsoza and one of the Arkhangelsk division's foremost generalists. Vitya is able to "sharpen" objects, reshaping them at the molecular level for additional efficiency such as making a cutting edge a monomolecular blade and reinforcing them with extradimensional energy to prevent them from breaking; including himself. Also a double-trigger, Vitya can apply his sharpening and reinforcing to more esoteric effects, such as sharpening his senses, enhancing his accuracy, self augmentation, and getting more efficiency out of used objects. The sharpening effect ends briefly after he ceases having contact with the object, but lasts long enough to be used with projectile weapons.
Vitya was "triggered" in the same incident that saw Irina being bonded to her entity, albeit in a separate part of the city during the rogue machine's rampage. The Otmolsoza partnered the two, due to being the same age and having had a prior relationship before manifesting their abilities, thus leading to the aliases "Hammer and Sickle" under the tutelage of the experienced Soviet parahuman "Nakoval'nya" or "Anvil". Vitya's profile lists him as a brave but sometimes overbearing would-be classical hero and party loyalist who holds people to high standards. While well-meaning and making an effort to be kind, Vitya has difficulties with holding back criticism even when entirely unsolicited. However, his versatility and commitment have ensured that he commands a significant deal of respect within Arkhangelsk.
Samus' Notes:
Hrm, I think I can see why he's something of a local favourite! Very committed to his tasks and also pretty striking to look at. I wonder how aware he is of how his abilities work? There might be ways I could help improve on his process if he wants my help with that. I am, however, less sure on his commitment to party loyalty.
Arne's Notes:
His tendency to follow orders without exercising his freedom to question them enough aside, he seems to be somewhat reasonable to work with. I'm not sure I'm going to like hearing him needle me about perceived faults though, I've gotten more than enough of that over the years.
Commissar Nurzhan Maulenov serves as the political officer in overall command of overseeing the Arkhangelsk Oblast's Divzasovyuz division's morale, mental health, commitment, and ties to civilian life. Kept deliberately separate from the Divzasovyuz (Special Protection Division of the Soviet Union) Stavka in order allow him more freedom to operate, Nurzhan takes his work with a relaxed and understanding attitude and tries his best to ensure that the parahumans he works with remain happy and healthy. Nurzhan also holds the secret position of the Soviet Union's primary political liaison to the Autobots based in the outskirts of Arkhangelsk, a task that he feels overstretches his time between these two duties. However, the Kazakh officer remains determined to do the best he can with the resources he has at his disposal, even if he often regards the Autobots as less than sensitive to the possible geopolitical effects of their actions.
Nurzhan is also known for his deep-set hatred of the Gesellschaft organisation not merely out of ideological reasons, but also due to the suffering his Jewish matrilineal family has suffered at the hands of Nazi movements. He has long entertained dreams of one day destroying the entire organisation, which have only intensified as the Gesellschaft and its vassal organisations such as the Empire-88 have begun to militarise and expand their operations with the aid of unknown benefactors at ever-growing rates.
Samus' Notes:
...Nazis? Here? I...I hadn't thought about this possibility of such movements existing here...hurting people. I'm going to help him get what he wants out of this Gesellschaft. They're all going to pay.
Arne's Notes:
If he seeks Nakam, then I'm all for helping him. He doesn't need to offer me anything in return. This...if there was nothing else was on this planet to worry about I'd still help him with this.
Behind you, Piggot glared daggers at Nurzhan who responded with his own gesture of pointing both fingers at his eyes and then back at her. Clearly, while the records you were able to access say that the Cold War had, for the most part, faded into the background; there were still geopolitical rivalries of substantial intensity. A tension that you could feel in your bones and just about see making sparks in the air as Nurzhan stroked his moustache and said something to a dark blue and red minicon who tended to a terminal behind him.
"I'm hoping Jetfire has an amazing explanation for this." You hardly needed to be a psychic to tell that he was certainly not pleased.
It was rather like home, for all you and Samus enjoyed each other's company, your home countries were long at each other's throats with civility enforced primarily by the existence of more pressing mutual threats. Samus, despite her beliefs being quite close to yours, still believed in the Federation's potential to live up to the Chozo's dream for it. You, of course, were somewhat more sceptical.
"Alright loves, 'ere we are. Got plenty of seats sized fer all sorts and if ye can't find one well...they transform so there's that. Nifty innit?" Jetfire said as he opened a large door for all of you to go through. Kyrion had already found their way to a seat which shifted in proportions and configuration to let them ease into a seat without seeming overly tiny within it, something the two of you did shortly afterwards.
The seats raised themselves up to the level of a table-sized for Jetfire as he sat himself down in a far larger chair, waiting for Winterpyre and the two Americans to make themselves comfortable. At last, Nurzhan joined in, sighing as he folded his hands together and tapped his earpiece to make sure that if he needed to hear anything important, he would.
"Hrm, I noticed something interesting Arne." Samus whispered to you, your head turning towards her and tilting in questioning.
"Yeah?" You asked.
"We're the only two people here not representing anyone else." She says, swinging her feet in the chair and humming jauntily.
"Right, so first order fer today. We got ourselves a bit of a buggered situation. Got more possible extraterrestrial er extraversal problems rubbish bargin' their way into these earths. Now for the longest time, they kept all quiet-like. Working in the background, then you came in." He said, flicking a finger over to the both of you.
"So...us arriving caused things to escalate?" You asked.
"I did feel some sort of...presence when we first came here?" Samus added.
"Startin' with you takin' out the bell ends runnin' that bloody awful wormhole party function" More rhyming slang, probably Junction. "We got spikes of unusual energy. Gubbins that usually won't even turn on when we try ta muck around with the Primus damned things started flashin' on. Now we can't bloody use the damn things bu-" He said as he brought up a series of holograms that made Samus just about leap out of her seat and slam her hands into the table.
Samus
"I know what those are!" You shout as your expression transforms into a wide grin. You were positively ecstatic, your whole body almost alight with energy as the implications of what lay before you sank in. You were just about trembling with joy and excitement and had to calm yourself with a quick breathing exercise not to make quite as much of a scene.
"Young lady, perhaps it would be best for you to wait for your turn to speak instead of interrupting?" Legend said, less than impressed by your outburst only to be met with a sour look from you to inform him that you were less than appreciative of his demand. You weren't a baby, and you resented being treated like one when you could more than handle yourself.
"Tovarisch, perhaps you should consider the unusual circumstances of this meeting and assume that she has good reasons to speak up?" Nurzhan said in surprisingly fluent English, stroking his brown moustache and ruminating on the situation.
"He's correct Legend. Given her, unusual capabilities, we shouldn't treat her or her companion too much like other children." Piggot said, getting a look of concern from Legend before he sighed and nodded.
"Now, I think I didn't catch your name mister and miss?" She said.
"Samus Aran. Samus Eabha Aran. But just Samus is fine. Don't call me Sammy though, it's...weird when I don't know any of you enough." You say, perking up a bit and shifting in your seat.
"Arne Eriksen Skjoldr." Arne said, straightening himself to avoid slouching in his chair. A reflex you've tried to help him avoid after recognising exactly where his fear of not sitting exactly properly came from, and a tap from your hand onto his shoulder broke him out of the reverie and got him to relax just a bit.
"Irish and Icelandic, yet your technology is not of tinker origin from the report Bumblebee forwarded. You are from space or perhaps a different universe da?" Nurzhan said with curiosity.
"Yes! It's the year fifty thousand and fourteen where we're from. We turned fourteen just yesterday!" You said before you ran down the usual explanation for him, noting him quickly getting out a tablet and furiously writing down notes onto it with a stylus.
"He doesn't even need to look at what he's writing." Arne said, his voice a low whisper with no small amount of impressed awe at it. Especially for an unaugmented human.
"Forty-eight thousand years in the future...hopefully this is not time travel." He said with a look of concern, steepling his fingers.
"They do not taste of the sands of years to come from the time deserts of this realm. Their soulsong quivers in tempos unique to them, just as mine does yours and Jetfire's does to the rest of us." Winterpyre crackled as he clenched his skull like jaw and snorted out a gust of steam.
"I figured as soon as you mentioned the president. So, I suppose it would be useless to ask what is in store then. Shame, I was going to ask for lottery ticket numbers." Piggott said with a slightly mirthful smile.
"Well obviously, even if this were time travel our presence here would either ensure a stable time-loop or create a differing branch; it would take very specific circumstances to really alter his-" You make a realisation after blurting out once more that fires off in your brain like a fusebox having some switches turned.
"Oh that's a...joke...sorry...but uh...ahem." You clear your throat and flush a bit red, feeling embarrassed at having missed the humour in that sentence.
"But to ah, get back on topic. We do recognise those holograms." Arne said, gesturing to the vaguely avian, partly insectoid, all lanky but definitely humanoid statue holding something in its outstretched arms while a cyclopean monolith sheltered another prize in a humming field of energy. While you looked at the avian statue with enthused joy, Arne's expression was one best described as "emotionally mixed" as he looked at the cyclopean edifice and its teardrop-shaped head.
"Chozo and Alimbic artifice. And many other progenitor cultures too! They must have visited this place during some extraversal research and left behind some relics. Ah, I wish my papas and mamas were here, I'd love to show you them in person!" You said, looking wistfully at the Chozo hologram in particular, reaching towards it briefly and making a soft smile.
"Hahah, well guvnah Kyrion's given us some details but if yer keen on giving us the rundown." Jetfire said, a jovial laugh coming from the Autobot.
"Oh, of course, the two of you are outright Progenitor-Touched, raised even. I'm just a spy at the end of the day. On this, I defer to both of you." Kyrion said respectfully.
"Oh, the Chozo are fantastic. Wise, ancient, and benevolent beyond measure. When I lost my first family, they took me in even when I had nothing to give them. Just out of the kindness of their hearts." You said with a beatific smile. Warm memories washed over you like the golden rays of the sun on a pleasant spring day.
"Most have left the material realm for one reason or another. But the ones who stayed still watch over the stars, helping to stop conflicts before they can happen. They even formed the Federation to help bring different cultures together peacefully." You said wistfully, brushing a bit of hair away from your face. A splotch of blackness on the causeways of destiny however gave you reason to flash a look of concern towards Arne.
"The Alimbics were...an Empire, the Tetrarch Order. Allies, then rivals of the Chozo until they all disappeared fifty thousand years ago." He said, avoiding describing them in overly specific details. His face wrenched itself with confused emotions. Love and resentment clashed inside of his troubled mind, and you laid a hand on his hair and scratched at his scalp in a way that made his tension just melt.
"Thank you." He muttered to you before taking the offered hand in his own and giving you a quick smile before turning back to the gathered group.
"They were...extremely advanced, more militaristic than the Chozo, more dominating. Some were buried on my homeworld in a deactivated battlecruiser and chose to take me in after Cylosis was...Kyrion can tell you the details." He said, fearful of confronting those memories head-on.
"The Chozo raised me on Zebes; the Alimbics raised him on Sentus Primaris. They augmented us with their DNA and helped us design our power armour and ships. Though we had to do all the hard work there, really." You said, deciding to take up the speaking role for him as he tensed at having to talk about his adoptive family. You didn't blame him; you wanted to scream whenever you had to retrace the steps made on K-2L in anything but the vaguest terms.
"They even educated us in well...nearly everything. But when we finished learning about the sciences, philosophy, history, and combat a year ago; they sent us to get social education amongst our home countries. We're in our first year of it. I think we're doing pretty good! At least, I know I've had a lot of fun." You say, beaming a bit as the gathered group nods intently.
"Yeah it's...been pretty good to get away from Sentus Primaris. Hang around other children more. Learn what I've been missing." Arne added, smiling a bit and giving you a sly smirk.
"Oi, so how'd you two meet anyway?" Jetfire cut in.
"Oh. On our twelfth birthday our guardians thought it'd be for the best if we were introduced to each other. Cultural exchange, we got along uh...very well." He said, his knowing look towards you making the both of you glow a bit as you snorted and shared his flush, breaking down into a bit of a giggle.
"So the gist is that both of you are only partly human." Legend said, making you narrow your eyes at him. You didn't like being called "half" human or "half" chozo. You considered yourself both in equal measure. A child of two worlds but wholly of both. You were Samus Aran just as much as you were Aira-Sekh. Being called partly human felt...denigrating.
Arne's mood outright soured in response, and he muttered "says the man with a symbiont stuck to his brain" under his breath. His humanity was always essential to him, and the very implication that he might be less than entirely human made his spine crawl.
"Tovarisch, perhaps you should leave the American obsession with hyphens at home, da?" Nurzhan said, raising a brow and looking up from his tablet.
"Remind me again why we're letting the Soviets sit in on this when this conversation is about an American incident?" Legend said, looking towards Jetfire with a mixture of displeasure and demanding curiosity.
"Cuz' yank, we got this base 'ere on their permission. Yer government wasn't exactly keen on letting a revolutionary movement set up camp so we bounced off over and 'fore you know it bob's your uncle. We gotta liaison with your government though, guess you're just not wearin' a fancy enough hat to speak to 'em." Jetfire answered casually.
"...Wait are you saying that they?" Legend started.
"Area 51 china. Relations' kinda frosty though."
"...Of course." He said. He felt clearly troubled that his own government would decide to keep something like this a secret from him. You sympathised with him.
"Hrm, now I'm curious as to whether you have a similar presence in Primal Earth's Soviet Union." Winterpyre said, licking their teeth and smouldering in the corner.
"'Course we do." Jetfire said with a shrug before looking back over to you.
"Right, anyways. We popped off onto your planet in the eighties, followin' Decepticon Space bridges in our Primus-Damned forever scrap. Turns out this planet, like the version of Earth we're familiar with; soddin' full of energon and other sundry resources too. Absolute motherlode 'ere. Dark Energon too." Jetfire said, his robotic interface with the holographic table showing Jetfire's ship entering orbit, sending out shuttles to more than one incarnation of earth.
Then it cut to autobot prospectors finding all manner of ample resources; especially powerful looking red crystals and glowing liquid red ores. This must be the energy that you detected in Bumblebee and the other Cybertronians and based on how it was shown being used; their whole society must depend on it. You saw it being used for everything from making more of themselves to fuel, weaponry, and even blood transfusions; using seeds of naturally occurring Energon to create far larger batches of pure grade synthetics.
Then it cut to images taken of a dark purple and malevolent looking counterpart to that red substance, the necrotic energies of the twisted energy making your skin crawl even in holographic form. Your spirit recoiled at the very sight of a substance like this, an offence to the very soul itself.
Even worse were the images of clearly dead beings twisted back into a horrible unlife, mauled transformers pulling themselves back up hungering for sparks or changed into more...advanced undead monstrosities and even dead organics lurching to mutated undeath. Inanimate machines twitched into a dark parody of life and animus, transforming into fearful robots with purple eyes of malice. Living beings shooting themselves with its sinister power to gain a clearly unholy power from it that made you lay a hand on your chest and muttered a prayer while Arne made a knot symbol with his fingers to ward himself against evil.
Nurzhan had already seen this before, but Legend and Piggott whispered amongst each other with concern. At the same time, Winterpyre howled with hissing hatred at the sight of the Dark Energon, pulling back and making a sound like a disturbed crocodile.
"So why didn't you see fit to tell us about the presence of materials valuable to your civilisation before?" Piggot said with a soft but definitely displeased tone.
"Because Autobot Prime protocol is ta try an' fix up these cock-ups with minimal disruption. We just start blowin' all this wide-open an' they ain't gonna keep playin' all sneaky like. Then, of course, yer end; we act openly, and we flip yer whole bloody world topsy-turvy. We'd have every bell-end starting an arms race or worse." He started.
"Course that's startin' ta get damn near impossible as every smarmy git tries ta knick off with more and more dosh makin' a right fraggin' omnishambles out the whole planet. Then ye got the knock-on effects from all these wazzocks havin' a butcher's and blimey the whole thing's buggered."
There was a profound silence.
"...What?" Legend finally said.
"What I'm sayin' is that we're probably gonna have to shift to public knowledge soon, even if your governments want us ta stay secret. Efforts at keeping this contained are gettin' undoable. Activity's bein' stepped up all across the board." He said, folding his hands together.
"I 'aven't got a lot of lads 'ere. Stretched thin as is. I was 'opin' that you could put in a word and ask for us ta cooperate. We're not gonna share our weapons kit as a rule unless absolutely necessary. But maybe we could coordinate." He explained further.
"We will primarily seek to deal with...extraterrestrial and dimensional affairs rather than overtly interfere in your local business. Though as the scale of interdimensional and terrestrial contact continues to increase the sustainability of noninterference decreases." Kyrion said, gesticulating naturally and calmly.
"We are in the dark regarding much of what goes on in the shadows just as you are. But I think this breach in secrecy can be put to good use. Especially with some noted centers of non-native activity already afoot; much of which is clustered around Brockton Bay." Kyrion added.
"What about us? We're obviously not of this Earth." You ask, turning to Kyrion whose visored optics flicked over to you.
"For the time being, a cover identity will suffice. As for your armoured operations, well; falling from orbit wasn't that subtle. Especially when we probably won't be able to keep the answer to whether you are alone in the stars secret for much longer." Kyrion said as Nurzhan and Piggot both looked towards them with alarm.
"What exactly are you referring to?" Piggot said.
"That the Rikti were willing to commit two platoons to chasing after two primal earthers suggests they've built up a formidable presence. They're going to make use of it soon." Kyrion said bluntly.
"Yes, the altered bloods must be amassing an army from the local population. Tell me Piggot, has there been word of monsters in the sewers and the homeless disappearing?" Winterpyre said, tapping at his skeletal nostril pit and then flicking his blazing gaze towards her.
"Yes...but there's rumours of monsters in every sewer and the homeless disappear all the time." She said.
"Doesn't that concern you? Ever?!" You say, blurting out and standing out of your seat.
"It's...not a good thing if poor people disappearing is just a normal thing." Arne added.
"Missing persons is not my jurisdiction miss Aran and mister Skjoldr. We're as...Jetfire said, stretched thin enough dealing with parahuman problems."
"Well, we can help with that!" You said, thumping your fist against your chest.
"Ay, I can groundbridge in some support meself. Might 'elp the squishies avoid gettin' fragged." Jetfire added.
"Tovarisch, would you be open to some international support? This is a matter of the whole of the Earth after all." Nurzhan said, looking up from his tablet.
"I will...likely need to refer to my superiors on that." Piggot said.
"If it would please you, we are well aware of what the Rikti can do. We could help navigate their bases if it would please you, mortals." Winterpyre said.
"Course, Windblade says ye've got some fancy scan bitz there ye two. Might be able to 'elp with IT on trying to crack the virus programs disseminated through all our monitored earths. Then we've got some local stuff 'ere in Arkhangelsk ye might wanna look at. Finally, there's something over 'ere in Germany that might be worth yer concern. Been buggin' Nurzhan for ages." Jetfire said, forwarding your suit some mission data.
Options:
Asking for more info/assistance: Pick three (limited due to time-sensitive nature of available missions)
[]: Ask more about the Autobot presence on Earth
[]: Inquire more about the PRT
[]: Look more into the situation in Europe
[]: Ask for more information on the Rikti
[]: Ask if Jetfire can retrieve your ships for you
[]: Ask Kyrion about Section 13's presence on the planet.
Mission choices:
Pick one mission to undertake.
[]: Mission 1: Rikti Tikti Tavi
Enemy: Rikti
Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth Bet
Mission Type: Search and destroy
Objectives: Determine scope, nature, and intention of Rikti presence near Brockton Bay, eliminate hostile Rikti forces.
Difficulty: Moderate
Rewards: 2 Chozo artifacts, 2 Alimbic relics, High quantity Rikti Salvage, improved relation with PRT and Brockton Bay characters, access to Brockton Bay PRT facility.
[]: Mission 1a: Computer Woes
Enemy: ???
Location: Various, Earth Bet.
Mission Type: Investigate and extract
Objectives: Find at least three clues on Unknown Computer Virus, will require multiple destination visits.
Difficulty: Unknown.
Rewards: 2 Chozo artifacts, 2 Alimbic relics, reduced ability for Virus disseminator to track movements and monitor activities, unknown salvage, improved relations with Autobots.
[]: Mission 1c: Nazi punks fuck off
Enemy: Gesellschaft, Empire-88, Mysterious Benefactors
Location: Munich, Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany, Earth Bet
Mission Type: Party crash.
Objectives: Uncover nature of the Gesellschaft's newest benefactors allowing the organisation to operate at far higher threat levels than normal, interrupt scheduled trade deal between Gesellschaft and Benefactors.
Difficulty: Easy.
Rewards: 2 Chozo artifacts, 2 Alimbic relics, unknown salvage, improved relation with Divzasovyuz and Primal Earth, access to Divzasovyuz facilities.
[]: Mission 1d: Tundra Terror
Enemy: Unknown
Location: Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Federative Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Earth Bet
Mission Type: Track and rescue
Objectives: Investigate monster presence and rash of disappearing persons; locate and rescue missing persons.
Difficulty: Unknown
Rewards: 2 Chozo artifacts, 2 Alimbic relics, unknown salvage, improved relation with Divzasovyuz and Section 13.
(Squad composition select is currently unavailable)
[X]: Ask for more information on the Rikti
[X]: Ask if Jetfire can retrieve your ships for you
[X]: Ask Kyrion about Section 13's presence on the planet.
hmm I'm torn between which group to make better friends with. It sounds like all the enemy groups are well intrenced so I don't think I can narrow which option I preffer with triage or trying to takeout the smallest threats first.
Edit: Gunna go with this one because A) Punching Nazis is the most wholesome action possible and B) These characters are the least familier to me so it will be most fresh.
[X]: Inquire more about the PRT
[X]: Look more into the situation in Europe
[X]: Ask if Jetfire can retrieve your ships for you
[X]: Mission 1c: Nazi punks fuck off
Gonna be honest, I just want to turn Samus against the cops as much as possible. Maybe she'll even not become the GalFeds errand girl in the future this way.
Also when given the option to punch a Nazi you punch a Nazi.
[X]: Ask for more information on the Rikti
[X]: Ask if Jetfire can retrieve your ships for you
[X]: Ask Kyrion about Section 13's presence on the planet.
[X]: Mission 1c: Nazi punks fuck off
[X]: Inquire more about the PRT
[X]: Look more into the situation in Europe
[X]: Ask if Jetfire can retrieve your ships for you
[X]: Mission 1c: Nazi punks fuck off
I have to admit, I'm damn curious about what you're planning to do with the Worm!Soviet Union. Worm Canon tents to be a tad nonsense once you get outside the US, so it's not like you could do a worse job.
[X]: Ask for more information on the Rikti
[X]: Ask if Jetfire can retrieve your ships for you
[X]: Ask Kyrion about Section 13's presence on the planet.
