Quick fic bit

[koilungfish]

27/3/07 - Listen Before Speaking

         "Why don't we just go out there and get him?" Air Raid asked.
         "Sssh!" ordered Red Alert, "I'm listening!" He leant closer against the door that separated them - in the dubious safety of a half-collapsed basement, up to their knees in gravel and liberally covered in dirt - from the wide open outdoors and the Decepticon who'd shot Air Raid's tail-section off.
         Sunstreaker laid a hand on Air Raid's shoulder, transmitting his comm signal directly into the Aerialbot's hull. [You want to go jumping out there and find we're facing Megatron or something?]
         [Are we?] Air Raid replied, touching Sunstreaker's hand with his own.
         [Could be.] Sunstreaker looked down at the melted-off stub of Air Raid's tail-section. [Whoever it is has a plasma flamethrower, which isn't standard for anyone on Earth right now.]
         [Someone new?]
         [Someone found a way into the locker with the big fun toys in it, more likely. Or Thundercracker's upgraded. Or Megatron's testing a new weapon here. Or it's Starscream.]
         "Just the one," Red Alert whispered. "Heavy. Bigger than an Insecticon."
         [Well, that's mostly good,] Sunstreaker said, looking up at the sagging ceiling, spilling streams of dirt down onto his distinctly dusted bodywork. [At least it's not Rumble. I hate digging myself out of his messes.]
         [How's Red doing that?] Air Raid asked, trying to stay still as the gravel slid around his wound.
         [He's got good audios,] Sunstreaker replied. [Not quite as good as Soundwave, but better than just about anyone else.]
         [He can tell who's out there just by listening at the door?] Air Raid asked, looking at Sunstreaker in total surprise.
         [He could sit at one end of the Ark and listen to your mob whining at the other end,] Sunstreaker said, hefting his gun and running his thumb over the arming stud, activating the electron-pulse function. Air Raid looked at him sourly.
         "Big, slow," Red Alert murmured. "Flat feet. Not Long Haul. Not a Seeker."
         Sunstreaker felt his tensors ease down a notch in relief. [Thank Vector Sigma for that.]
         [Why? Isn't Megatron more dangerous?]
         [According to Bumblebee, Megatron's issued an edict making Earth a no-kill zone,] Sunstreaker said, watching Air Raid boggle.
         [What - but - why? They're -] The Aerialbot waved his hands in silent bewilderment.
         [You ever seen Prime get angry?] Sunstreaker said softly.
         [No...]
         [If we get home with our heads on our shoulders, go ask Teletran-1 about a human called Lord Chumley.] Sunstreaker winced slightly. [That was just Prime getting warmed up. The 'cons know we out-number them two to one. We've got you, we've got the Protectobots, we've got Omega Supreme and we've got more guns in the field that they have, double. They know we could take 'em. They know if they kill one of us then Prime'll blow his entire fuse-box and we'll be onto them faster than magneticks on a neutral, so Megatron's banned any killing. He's a nasty sneak like that.]
         [Is that why you and Sideswipe charge around like lunatics?] Air Raid asked, and Sunstreaker suspected he heard a tinge of admiration in his tone.
         [Nah, we were built that way.]
         [So what's so bad about Seekers?]
         [In case you hadn't noticed, there's this Decepticon called Starscream who has a little trouble following Megatron's orders...]
         [Huh. So why the frack don't we just invade their base and finish them off anyhow?] Air Raid asked, shifting eagerly in his gravel-pile.
         [Because Optimus Prime says so,] Sunstreaker said, keeping his optics on Red Alert for a signal to move.
         [That's it? Because Optimus is a coward?]
         Sunstreaker scowled at Air Raid, who glared back defiantly. [Listen, if we weren't in danger, I'd fetch you one around the nosecone for that. Don't let me or anyone else hear you calling Prime a coward. If he says no go, he says no go for a reason, even if we scrubbers down at the bottom of the assembly line don't know what it is.]
         Air Raid looked sulky. [I don't understand Autobots.]
         [Trust me, the feeling is mutual,] Sunstreaker replied. [You want to know the reason, ask Prowl, if you can stay awake for the whole explanation.]
         Red Alert sighed.
         [It ain't Inferno, Red, he's noisier,] Sunstreaker sent.
         [I've always thought sarcasm had no place on the battlefield,] Red Alert said. [It's not Soundwave, or we'd be spotted by now, and it's not Megatron; too light and too loud. Too heavy for Scavenger. Too big a footprint for Hook or Scrapper. Could be Mixmaster, could be Bonecrusher...]
         "So it's a big, heavy truck, right? That makes it Prime, right?" Air Raid asked hopefully, forgetting to use his radio. Sunstreaker raised a hand to swat the Aerialbot as Red Alert jumped back from the door, skidding in the gravel, and flattened himself against the wall.
         Outside, there came a deep bellow, the pounding of huge footsteps even Sunstreaker could feel, and with a rending crash a gleaming sword slammed through the door, ripping it in half and spilling in daylight shattered by a bulky body outside.
         "No," said Red Alert, apparently addressing the blade, "that makes it Motormaster."

Final Version Posted

Comments

[lunatron.livejournal.com]

[Trust me, the feeling is mutual,] Sunstreaker replied. [You want to know the reason, ask Prowl, if you can stay away for the whole explanation.]

Away? Awake, likely. Anyway, nice bit of character out of Air Raid, and go-go Ultra-Hearing Red Alert!

And whee for Motormaster and his sword.

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Typo? What typo? ¬.¬

The problem with writing Aerialbots is that Silverbolt and Slingshot dominate the characterisation stakes by miles.

Thank you for the mental image of Red Alert as a go-go dancer ;)

Yay for Motormaster?

[lunatron.livejournal.com]

You can take the beta out of the Lunatron, but you can't take the Lunatron out of the beta. Or something.

The problem with writing Aerialbots is that Silverbolt and Slingshot dominate the characterisation stakes by miles.

I am somewhat fond of both Air Raid and Fireflight, but that is mainly because a) I have an Aerialbots plot sitting around I'll never use and b) they have good players at TF2K5. So I like to see them get attention in fics.

Thank you for the mental image of Red Alert as a go-go dancer ;)

Lunatron: providing mental images since the internet. But yeah, I dug him having ultra-hearing.

Yay for Motormaster?

Not really the character. More that he's a nice, fun option for 'big truck', and you remembered that he has a sword.

The whole political rammifications of 'no killing' is interesting. How do you reconcile that with all the carnage in the comics?

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

I'm not complaining. I'm just narked I keep missing my typos.

Good for you. A lot of members of gestalt teams never appear apart from their teams. As if they're all glued together and go around in a wodge.

Hey, it's canon :: points to TFU:: Besides, in his job, he ought to have uberkeen senses. Which is probably why he's neurotic.

He's also about the only person you could mistake for Optimus Prime from a distance.

Comics = different version of the same continuity. Politics not the same, in this particular instance due to Comics Prime being kinda unstable and much more likely to turn violent suddenly.

[ravenclaw-devi.livejournal.com]

The whole political rammifications of 'no killing' is interesting. How do you reconcile that with all the carnage in the comics?

I should let Koi speak for itself, but my guess here is that this fic is going with the cartoon (where there was no killing prior to the movie) rather than the comic.

[ravenclaw-devi.livejournal.com]

...and Koi already replied. Oops.

[ladyrazorsharp.livejournal.com]

Ah! This explains why no one ever got killed until the movie. *g*

I like Sunstreaker's explanation for why they don't storm into Decepticon HQ. He might be the first one into the fight most of the time but he ultimately trusts Prime to know what's going on..."I'd fetch you one around the nosecone for that"...nice. ~_^

I like Red's line at the end.

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess ... :)

I've had the feeling for a long time that Prime's war is about preserving what's left of the Autobot culture and identity, rather than about winning territory. He wants their home back, but not at the cost of becoming the war machines their enemies are.

And if the Autobots respect Optimus, they won't like hearing him badmouthed. De natch.

Red Alert is becoming increasingly fun to write. I just hope he's not becoming increasingly out of character.

[ravenclaw-devi.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. And I do like that you're writing Sunny as someone who ultimately does have respect for Prime. Nice counterbalance to all the psycho!Sunstreaker out there. :)

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Well, he wouldn't get far in Prime's unit if he didn't respect the godboss, would he?

[twilit-wanderer.livejournal.com]

I know I said before that I like seeing Red Alert handled well, but it's worth repeating. So, yay! Also nice to see Air Raid. I don't see the Aerialbots around much (though that may be because I'm not looking in the right places, I suppose).

Anyway, I liked the conversation here. Lots of little bits are added in (such as Megatron's apparent no-kill policy) without it becoming a boring info-dump.


Though, one thing: [At least it's not Rumble. I had digging myself out of his messes.]

... Did you mean "hate" digging?

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Hopefully this goes some way to counterbalance the amount of WOO WOO WOO Red Alert that's out there. I'm trying to write Aerialbots individually to try and get a bit of a handle on them as characters, not as a group. You never seem to see one alone in fics, other than Slingshot.

Glad for that. People keep saying they like my dialogue. Makes me wonder what I'm doing that they don't like.

Oh, drat, typos. Thanks.

[ravenclaw-devi.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to write Aerialbots individually to try and get a bit of a handle on them as characters, not as a group. You never seem to see one alone in fics, other than Slingshot.

And kudos to you for that. They're people (characters), not just the Superion Delivery System. (Same goes, analoguously, for the other gestalt teams.)

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Whenever I see Aerialbots in fic, they seem to be the Slingshot's Mouth And Undifferentiated Aerialbot Chorus Line Delivery Service.

[twilit-wanderer.livejournal.com]

Maybe you'll start a trend and people will stop treating him as a complete lunatic.

Alas, I'm actually not very good at pinning down what I don't like. I know when there's something, but I can't always pin it down. That said, there's not really anything in this that sets me off, so, uh. No idea.

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

That would indeed be nice. I've noticed that Sunstreaker in particular attracts "battered baby syndrome" - fic in which the protagonist is portrayed as a martyr, in which his less positive character traits [i.e. bad temper, being antisocial] are treated as things those around him should fall over themselves to compensate for, and especially a tendency for the characters around the protagonist [designated snugglebunny aside] to treat him coldly, unsympatheticall, even cruelly. Basically, the canon cast go OOC in order to batter baby so the author can 'set the world to rights' by making the cast 'see' how wonderful baby really is.

Meh.

Battered baby syndrome gets on my nerves.

[twilit-wanderer.livejournal.com]

Never heard it referred to as "battered baby syndrome," but the name fits well.

That's entirely understandable. :)

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Probably because I think I just made the name up. It fits.

[ravenclaw-devi.livejournal.com]

Aerialbots... *chuckles fondly*

Yay Red Alert and his 1337 listening powerz!

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Red Alert has many abilities! Such as not being a paranoid wibblefroth! And having a gun! Which allows him to shoot Decepticons who try to rape him! He also has a shoulder-mounted missile launcher! This doubles his capacity fot shootind would-be rapists!

Can you tell I'm narked about the amount of Red Alert rapefic around?

[seiberwing.livejournal.com]

Would you like ice cream with your WORD pie?

Also, he has a commlink.

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and yes, yes he does.

[dragoness-e.livejournal.com]

No, really?

I was particularly torqued at one Starscream/Red Alert rapefic I read, because both were badly OOC. Even if Red was crazy during "Autoberserk", he was anything but submissive. If anything, he was more likely to go off violently on an obvious enemy like Starscream. Starscream had to talk very fast during that episode to get Red Alert to trust him.

[dragoness-e.livejournal.com]

And kudos for using Motormaster. So many people forget he's more than "center unit in the Menasor gestalt delivery system". Sword, big truck, big nasty atomic rifle...

[dragoness-e.livejournal.com]

Was it Drag Strip who brought down the Aerialbot? Dragster has the plasma cannon in vehicle mode, according to his tech specs.

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

I may need a towel to wipe up my dripping sarcasm.

You make an excellent point there. Red Alert was confused, yes, but at no point a whimpering heap in the corner.

I'm rather fond of Motormaster, for strange and obscure reasons I hope to actually get into a fic one day. He's interesting.

I'd presumed it was Motormaster playing with a plasma flamethrower he found somewhere, hence there only being one 'con around. Besides, if they were both there, there'd be a whole lot more noise, no? Possibly Motormaster pinched Drag Strip's gun ...

[sapphirebreeze.livejournal.com]

Ah! This one I enjoyed quite a lot! The characterization and conversation was good, we have multiple characters who frequently get very bad presentations in fic coming to like (I also like Red Alert here better than in the one I commented on earlier). Air Raid has that thoughtless, rash bit of youth thing going for him that gets them in trouble. I also enjoyed the "punch line" at the end.

[He could sit at one end of the Ark and listen to your mob whining at the other end,] Sunstreaker said,

This line made me snicker, if for no other reason than because I couldn't help but think, "Oh, and he's one to talk," (and for the record, when I thought that, I only had in mind the canon bitching he tends to do about his paint job, nothing from any fics). :)

[koilungfish.livejournal.com]

Heh. I'm getting rather fond of poor old Red Alert, given the amount of abuse he gets in fanfic, especially recently. If you look at his TFU he has sensory perception on a par with Soundwave, and he lives in a volcano. These things combined cannot help his nerves.

I'm trying to learn how to write the Aerialbots individually; Silverbolt and Slingshot have good characterisation in the cartoon, but the other three far less so. Air Raid's the easiest one to start with, being more of an active character, hence the "fools rush in" sense about him.

Sunstreaker is another one of those characters who suffers from poor-to-little characterization in the cartoon and comics [he was kinda dead for most of the comics!]. He gets, what, that scene in MTME, another scene in Insecticon Syndrome and an issue of Perchance to Dream where he bails out on Jazz in a fight and lets humans get killed rather than risk his paint [oddly, it looked kinda like a panic attack ... hmm ... now I have ideas].