#and ambulon was terrified as all hell

[tzuu-died]

don’t let go

[lord-squiggletits]

I ship Pharma/Ambulon a little and I think the main way I would write about it is an alternate take on how Ambulon thinks of Pharma, or maybe at least an explanation of why he called him Doctor DJD

Because I feel like of all the people to understand what the fear of the DJD could do to someone, it would be Ambulon? He's an ex-Decepticon who had the fear of the DJD instilled in him from the moment he was built as the "if you defect, you die" arm of the Decepticons. He had to have known all of the ways the DJD members can kill people, the way they're specifically chosen for their fanatic dedication to the Decepticons and their love of torture and slaughter. The DJD is a group that exists solely to punish and to terrify.

I just think it's strange in that regard that Ambulon wrote Pharma off as Doctor DJD, maybe assuming Pharma worked for them willingly? But why would Pharma the die hard Autobot who hates Decepticons work with them willingly? Why did seemingly every Autobot jump to the conclusion that Pharma was a traitor and a murderer and not take the whole DJD thing into account? It feels like out of all people Ambulon would understand the fear of the DJD lingering over your shoulder and be like "okay Pharma worked for the DJD but like they probably threatened to murder him to death and I kinda get why he was afraid of them."

Or hell, Messatine being the DJD's base was literally common knowledge. Did Ambulon never think that he was in danger or potentially putting Delphi in danger by being there? Whose idea even was it to put an ex-Decepticon at the station next door to the DJD?

Anyways, I'm not saying Ambulon would really forgive Pharma (especially after Pharma tried to pin everything on him), but I do think that it would make sense for him to feel conflicted about Pharma or maybe some sort of vague guilt like, "well it wasn't my fault he chose to do what he did, but then again what if the DJD had come and Pharma hadn't stopped them?"

Tbh it makes me wonder if Ratchet even explained the tcog blackmail thing to everyone or if he was just like "yeah Pharma harvested organs for the DJD" and neglected to mention the whole "if it weren't for Pharma the DJD would've swung by and killed everyone" detail. Seems like the kinda cunty thing Ratchet would do to Pharma honestly.

[thanksjro]

“Bullets”, a Last Stand of the Wreckers prose story- Ironfist Solves a Murder Mystery

Now that Overlord and Rewind have been exploded horribly in the vacuum of space, multiple people have died, and Chromedome’s horrifically single, let’s take a look at all those Last Stand of the Wreckers extras, yeah?

We more or less start with a Furmanism, as is tradition.

One day Furmanisms won’t be nearly as prevalent within the comic publications, and that is a day that I cannot wait to see. Forget politics, forget misogyny, forget basically NEEDING Death of the Author in effect to enjoy anything the man’s done- Furmanisms are a crutch that everybody in this franchise uses, but nobody needs. They never feel natural, in my opinion. It’s like a literary obligation at this point, and you can tell, because it never quite meshes with any writer’s style.

Anyway, this is the setup for what would happen on Pova- the Wreckers have been watching Squadron X fix up their ship, and now that the thing’s airborne again they’ve gotten itchy trigger fingers. Well, some of them, anyway. Rack n Ruin aren’t so sure about this whole thing, seeing as there are eight of them and an entire battalion up there. Impactor’s working the crowd though, as a leader of such a high turnover rate group is required to do, and that’s the point where First Aid stops reading.

Yep, this is one of Fisitron’s datalog entries, of which First Aid is a fan.

This isn’t First Aid’s first appearance within the IDW continuity- he played a role in Spotlight: Jazz, where he lived up to his name, and in Transformers: Ironhide #1, where he was in the background. This IS his premiere as a major player in a story, however, and it’s here that he’s revealed to be a bit of a slacker- he should be making the rounds at Delphi right now, but instead he’s reading entry logs about the wartime equivalent of a boyband.

He hits a key to quicktab to something at least somewhat medically-related as he feels someone approaching from behind. It’s the CMO, and he is in no way fooled by First Aid’s attempt to hide his shame. He gets back to work, but that particular entry- 113, because of course it is- is still on his mind. Hope he never finds out it’s a load of bunk.

I REALLY hope he never finds out this is all bunk. We all need something, you know?

Of course, First Aid- y’know, not to brag or anything- personally met one of the Wreckers. Roughly five years ago, Springer had approached him at a medical conference on Kimia. Why a medical conference was being held on Kimia of all places isn’t addressed, but it was probably because half the folks stationed there are doctors. First Aid, being a classy guy, fucking ogles Springer the entire time they’re talking.

You’ve heard of “Men Writing Women”, now it’s time for “Roberts Writing Robots”. Yes, this is THAT scene, and it’s on the first goddamn page.

First Aid, wanting to be of use to his idol, offers his medical expertise, completely willing to fix Springer’s nose, give him a breast reduction, and even update the circuit dampeners he doesn’t have. Springer, while flattered, isn’t looking for that sort of help. He’s looking for folks who have a lot to give.

The phrasing he uses makes First Aid think that he’s about to be recruited to the Wreckers- in other words, about to be put in line for a slow and awful death- but Springer clarifies that he’s looking more for eyes and ears to help him, not so much bodies. He hands First Aid a card with his number, and says to give him a call sometime.

Cutting back to the present, First Aid is walking through the rows of patient slabs, where we see an honestly horrifying practice in play- every patient in Delphi has their non-essential functions turned off to conserve power. This includes things like the ability to move, and speak.

Because that couldn’t possibly have any negative repercussions.

He checks in on the Fader he’s been assigned, confirms that, yes, his head IS still missing from his neck, then makes to walk out of the room, only to be startled by the sudden entry of a stretcher and Ambulon. Here, Ambulon is identified as a chief paramedic, as opposed to being a ward manager. Whether this is early installment weirdness or a simple mistake isn’t clear.

Ambulon is quickly followed by Dogfight, Dodger, and Backstreet(’s back, alright!) First Aid gets to work, by checking the three of them for injuries, paying special attention to their Autobot badges.

This is the reason Rung had to call in at the beginning of MTMTE #4, though it might be more because First Aid can’t act like a professional of five friggin’ minutes.

Oh, Delphi’s HR department is getting a call for sure.

First Aid, while a known fondler of badges, has never had this exact reaction. He runs off to make a phone call, leaving the injured Dodger to wait for the surgery he’s going to undergo the moment First Aid gets back.

Meanwhile, somewhere else- I’m guessing Kimia- Rung has an appointment underway with a dude named Flattop.

Flattop’s TFWiki article is one of the most depressing on the entire site, and it’s completely “Bullets”’s fault.

You see, Flattop’s attempting to talk through his trauma, but it’s difficult.

This level of insight is why they pay Rung the big bucks.

The war, while terrible for everyone’s mental health, has given Rung a slew of patients to handle.

Gee, wonder who that medic was.

Anyway, so Flattop’s deal- he was at Babu Yar, which was an event that was apparently so terrible, everyone involved was offered brand new bodies as compensation. He’s currently hiding underneath a table, which Rung identifies as “playing to type”. Flattop isn’t even here to talk about Babu Yar, but it’s good to know that war is still hell.

The reason Flattop’s actually here is this: he was serving under Silverstreak- another one of Rung’s patients, and someone who I’m convinced might actually be a Warrior cat given the name- and was going to check something out when he saw something utterly terrifying.

Rung gets Flattop out from under the table, and they talk about what the Shimmer means. Flattop is convinced that since he’s seen the thing, he’s going to die. You see, folklore in space is very similar to its counterpart on Earth, in that it’s a warning swathed in story to make it easily digestible.

Rung, who tries to keep things rational, offers to give Flattop a few possible explanations for what he saw. Because Flattop had only recently gotten his hot new bod a short while before he saw the Shimmer, it’s completely possible he had had a hallucination due to the adjustment period. Another theory is that Flattop has PTSD. Which, I mean, yeah.

While Rung was busy trying to explain what had happened, Flattop friggin’ died.

Awkward.

Over with Ironfist- because “Bullets” is a prequel- we’re in the middle of a meeting with the Ethics Committee. Xaaron, Animus, and Trailbreaker of all people, have come together to pass judgement on Ironfist’s cerebro-sensitive bullets. There’s a lot of hemming and hawing, and Ironfist reflects on how they got to this moment, while fiddling with a data slug to burn off the nerves.

This is just after the Surge happened, an event kicked off by the betrayal of the Autobot cause allowed Megatron to seize a majority of the Autobot outposts. It was a huge deal, a lot of shit was stolen, including the Weak Anthropic Principle, and it left everyone a little twitchy towards one another. Trust is not in vogue at present.

Kimia’s in a mess of trouble anyway, however, due to the events of Babu Yar, where Gideon’s Glue had rained down on the Autobot troops under Flame’s command, eaten to Swiss cheese by something eerily similar to something being developed on the station.

So an investigation was established. Brainstorm, who’s apparently big man on campus here at Kimia, is questioned, as is everyone else. Of course, no one cops to having invented Gideon’s Glue, because that’s a big ol’ war crime, so the questioning goes nowhere, but now there’s a precedent for mistrust on this science station.

Anyway, back to the bullet thing.

Ironfist’s cerebro-sensitive bullets are designed to hit the head, every single time, ignoring trajectory, ballistic physics, what you think is possible, and the Geneva Convention. It’s fired, it hits the first brain it identifies. Brutal stuff. Effective, but brutal.

Trailbreaker’s not a fan.

I mean, maybe? I guess it depends how gray your morality is. I bet Prowl would like them.

After telling Trailbreaker to keep it professional, Xaaron tells Ironfist that using these bullets would be a literal war crime, and he’s got a little over a day to hand them over to the Committee for destruction. Meeting adjourned!

Ironfist is left standing there until his good buddy Skyfall checks in on him. Ironfist is kind of bummed out, but Skyfall knows how to cheer him up- by comparing him to Impactor, former leader of the Wreckers, and one of Ironfist’s fan-crushes.

Man, this makes the Pova reveal a little harsher in hindsight, huh?

Skyfall invites Ironfist to the Exit Rooms, a place where the Kimia employees can drink and no one will give a shit, and as they make their way over they run into Brainstorm.

Brainstorm gets some interesting development in this story.

That’s right, not only are his weapons completely insane, and in some cases literally abstract, they’re apparently often so incredibly dangerous that the Ethics Committee loses sleep over the fact that they exist.

And Brainstorm loves it.

No wonder Trailbreaker was so annoyed in his Spotlight.

Skyfall asks about what’s in Brainstorm’s briefcase, gets an answer that’s likely a lie, then the boys head over to the Exit Rooms.

Over on Hydrus 5, it’s raining cats and dogs, and this is somehow the Transformers fault. I guess the universe bends to the will of what would be the most dramatic, as everyone takes a break from warmongering to soul-search.

Or ego-stroking. That works too.

Here is our dear Pyro, reveling in the aftermath of a battle that destroyed the natural ecosystem of the land, but at least they kicked those ‘Cons’ asses!

Pyro, who’s revealed to be maybe perhaps not the best at coming up with one-liners, is left alone for a bit as Afterburner goes to check on the rest of their men. As he tries to piece together a speech to deliver, he sees a green something- they’re always green, aren’t they?- and that something is the Shimmer.

Well, heck.

Over on the dilapidated space station of Debris (wow, that’s even less subtle than usual for this franchise) Springer’s holding a bullet. I mean, it’s not really a bullet, and the Decepticon who fired it wasn’t really a Decepticon.

I want you to know that I keep track of how many times 113 comes up in these stories, and for “Bullets" it’s a LOT.

Today’s letter from Agent 113 foreshadows/hindshadows the events of Last Stand, claiming that the DJD hasn’t heard anything from Garrus-9 since the Surge happened. Prowl’s concerned that Fortress Maximus is still alive in there and fighting off the Decepticons while waiting for backup, so he recently called Springer and invited the Wreckers on a mission.

All Springer has to do is pick some sorry sons of guns to die.

Over with Guzzle, who is romanticizing a weapon, comparing his gun to a religious artifact, our dear little bastard man has realized that he does, in fact, have emotions, and is in mourning over his lost comrades, who died rescuing Kup from Tsiehshi. Guzzle doesn’t much appreciate this whole “feeling” thing, and would rather it didn’t get in the way of him shooting statues for no other reason than him wanting to. Then he sees the Shimmer, and feels fear. He doesn’t much care for that, either.

Even Nick Roche is powerless to stop this madness.

We reconfirm the fact that Ironfist is a massive nerd, then are shown that the bullet accident that will have killed him by the end of Last Stand #5 has already happened. Ever so slowly, the bullet is heading for Ironfist’s brain. Every time it hits a new layer of his noggin, he blacks out.

Ironfist is going to leave on his super-fun, not-at-all-traumatizing Wrecker adventure soon, and he’s promised Skyfall his workshop. Skyfall was at Grindcore for a while, and that kind of gave him PTSD, so when Ironfist had gotten accepted to Kimia, he’d brought him along for the ride.

I like to call Grindcore Eugenesis-lite.

Because Skyfall is a reckless son of a gun with access to Ironfist’s workshop, he inadvertently caused a major incident with something called Black Phosphex, which resulted in the deaths of several Autobots because it wasn’t properly tested. This landed him in Garrus-9 for a bit, in a temporary career-path deviation, until it was time to come home to Kimia, just in time for the Inquiry.

Are stans always this intense? Because good lord, Ironfist.

Over at Karashi Delta, in the aftermath of a fierce battle, Rotorstorm is hyping himself the fuck up.

But does he buy it himself?

Hmm, survey says no.

Of course, verbal abuse isn’t the only thing we’ll be getting here. No, things begin to escalate pretty rapidly with Jetstream, who moves from shoving to almost beating Rotorstorm to death in a matter of months, before disappearing from the station forever.

Dang, this Jetstream fella kinda sucks. What’s his friggin’ problem?

Ah.

Again, I can’t stress this enough, Whirl’s awful flipper claws from back during his time as a cop do not make a nice fist. He was basically stabbing Rotorstorm. Who let this man be a teacher?

Rotorstorm is snapped out of his self-deprecating flashbacks by the sight of something on the canyon lip up ahead. It’s the gotdang Shimmer. Rotorstorm books it, not wanting to be caught by a harbinger of death. It doesn’t work, but points for trying.

Back on Debris, Springer’s picked his new recruits. Now all he has to do is call them up. Hey, isn’t Springer green? Green like the Shimmer? How about that.

Back on Kimia, Skyfall’s wandered into Ironfist’s workshop to share the gossip on Fisitron’s latest Wreckers: Declassified. Folks are a bit critical of his writing style, it would seem.

Of course Swerve knows what fan-fiction is. He seems like exactly the type to make fun of it, then read a 43,000 word fic in a single sitting, under cover of darkness, burning with shame all the while.

After making a note on his current Wreckers: Declassified document to ease up on the adverbs, Ironfist switches gears and gets busy on his other project: an Unofficial Wreckers’ Training Guide. I wonder when the switch from Primal Vanguard to Wreckers as a hyperfixation happened for him.

Ironfist asks Skyfall what entry he’s currently on, and the answer is a ways away from the latest one. Skyfall’s a slow reader, but he doesn’t want to just beam it all into his brain because it feels like cheating. He asks Ironfist when he’s going to cover the Wreckers’ mission to Garrus-9, the one that happened while he was there being not-imprisoned. Ironfist gives a non-answer, then asks if Skyfall wants to help with packing up the war-crime guns. Skyfall most certainly does not.

Ironfist starts breaking everything down when he gets a call from Prowl, as happened in Last Stand #4.

Back with Springer, we’re giving our dad a hug, as he greets Kup. It’s here we find out who Ironfist replaced on the Wrecker team for Operation: Retrieval- it was Skyfall. Skyfall had impressed Springer during their last Garrus-9 excursion, and thought that he’d be a good fit for the team, despite the Black Phosphex incident.

Kup goes full old man story time mode about how insanely boring Prowl is, while Springer gets the door. On the other side is Twin Twist, Top Spin, and Perceptor. They hold the vote, Ironfist given immunity due to unmentioned Prowl reasons, and Springer gets ready to call all their new pals.

Back at Ironfist’s workshop, Ironfist reflects on just how his life got to this point. He’s going to join the Wreckers! Never mind the fact that he’ll be going to die, and that’s if the bullet crawling around in his skull doesn’t get him first. Never mind the very likely possibility that he’s being exploited by Prowl. Nah, he’s gonna go on an adventure! It’s gonna be awesome! Yaaaaay!

It doesn’t pay to be blue and naive when Roberts is handling the story. Just ask Pipes.

Or don’t. You won’t get an answer.

Called it.

Ironfist, starstruck, bumbles his way through the conversation we saw in the Mosaic, and so it was that he became a Wrecker. All he has to do is pop on over to Rung’s office, get his head examined, then get his butt on over to Babu Yar.

Telecon work completed, Springer reflects on the fact that Guzzle turned him down. It’s not often someone turns down the chance to be a Wrecker.

Oh, well, never mind then.

Ironfist immediately tells Skyfall about what’s happened, because he’s just so jazzed to be a Wrecker. Skyfall isn’t quite as thrilled, but does his best to be supportive.

And by that I mean he’s not listening in the slightest as he’s already planning out the interior design for the workshop once Ironfist is gone. I bet he’ll get Atomizer to help him, the tacky bastard.

Skyfall runs off to go look at paint swatches or whatever, and Ironfist finalizes the stuff for the Ethics Committee pickup.

Oh, so that appointment wasn’t on Kimia after all. Can we please get some sort of fast-track program for the mental health specific degrees? We can’t keep using Rung for everybody, he’s only one person.

Oh heavens, Ironfist, be careful.

Ironfist gets another call, and we jump scenes before we can figure out just who rang or why.

Brief timeskip, and we find ourselves at Babu Yar, as Ironfist introduces himself to Guzzle and his gun.

Ironfist is about as smooth as coarse-grit sandpaper.

While Ironfist is busy revealing his nerd shame to Guzzle, someone’s decided to be a cocky little asshole.

Oh, dramatic irony. Always a delightful sort of pain.

Rotorstorm cranks up the “I’m hot shit” act to 11.5, doing completely unnecessary flips and talking himself up like he will literally die if he doesn’t.

Off in the distance, something disingenuously impressive comes up over the hill.

Of course, it’s not Optimus Prime, but it is someone who would very much like to be him. Such is the nature of primus apotheosis. Gang’s all here!

This is going to turn out fan-fucking-tastic.

Rotorstorm and Guzzle want to play with the big gun Ironfist brought along, and since Ironfist is going to die anyway, he lets them go for it. This would be why everything was on fire at the start of the miniseries.

Yep. Just gotta make it hurt just a little more, doncha Roberts? Just gotta twist the knife.

Nine months after the events of the Garrus-9 mission, Skyfall is upset. He’s gone and played himself by not attending the Ethics Committee hearings, and they’ve taken all his toys away as a result. He tries to mask his lack of concern for safety precautions behind a facade of missing Ironfist, but it doesn’t get him the weapons back.

Feeling cross, he decides it’s about time he made a visit to the Exit Rooms to blow off a little steam.

Later, he gets a call. Worried that his lack of ethics and/or his drunken squabbling has gotten him in trouble yet again, he’s loathe to answer, but does anyway.

Ghost call!

No, it’s actually a prerecorded message, one that claims that Skyfall killed Ironfist. Ironfist had asked Brainstorm to take a gander at the gun after he got shot, and found that it had been tampered with, set to go off on its own when held a certain way. That’s who was calling before he left for his Wrecker mission. 

Skyfall starts to panic, expecting the security detail for Kimia to bust into the workshop at any second. 

Ironfist knows that only Skyfall could have done this to him, but he doesn’t know the exact motive. Was it because he was jealous of how good a weapons expert he was? A chip on his shoulder about Grindcore? Whatever the reason, Ironfist isn’t terribly concerned at the time of the recording. What he is concerned about is Gideon’s Glue.

Ironfist had, in fact, invented Gideon’s Glue, but he’d been so horrified by what the shit actually did, he flushed it into space and destroyed all research before the Ethics Committee even knew about it. It still got to the Decepticons, though, didn’t it? How could such a thing happen?

Probably not, considering what happens next.

Ironfist is a smart guy, but more importantly, he knows how to reach his audience. Literally, in this case, as Skyfall finds out, when the Enforcement Squad starts trying to break down the door. Ironfist had the message that Skyfall is currently listening to primed for beaming into all of Fisitron’s reader’s brains. Everyone knows what happened. Swerve. Atomizer. Ratchet, who’s over on Earth right now. First Aid, who has enough bullshit to worry about on Delphi without this nonsense. You. Me. Everyone.

Skyfall, in a mad attempt to save himself, throws some of Ironfist’s Wrecker memorabilia at the door, and out pops that last tube of Gideon’s Glue.

There’s only one way out of this one.

This got really intense at the end, didn’t it?

[pastelgrungewrecker]

‘hurt me once, i’ll kill you twice’ or ‘don’t dehumanize bad people, because it’s their humanity which makes what they’ve done so terrifying’ with Pharma and First Aid and Ambulon, please?

Altar Lamb

Don't you lift him, let him drown aliveLet that fever make the water rise

He was tired of hearing Pharma’s praises. He was tired of hearing Pharma described by words never meant for him to touch, never meant to define him. Not after what he did; what he would have continued to do.

And then Ratchet made that fatal mistake, and dared to call Pharma worthy of the title Medical Officer.

“He isn’t worth the paperwork to declare him dead, and you know it.”

Silence answered his glimmering visor and angry words.

“He murdered for fun. He killed selfishly. He sold Delphi to the DJD.”, he intoned like a hymn, “He killed his own, he killed his patients. He sacrificed trust and betrayed our code for selfish gain and we. All. Know. It. And for YOU of all mechs to DARE CALL HIM WORTHY is a filthy mockery of what you’re supposed to stand for.”

Ratchet puffed up, “Aid, you listen here-”

“NO, YOU LISTEN HATCHET.”, bellowed the normally gentle ward nurse, “YOU WATCHED HIM BUTCHER AMBULON. YOU WATCHED HIM RELEASE HELL ON THE INNOCENT AND NEARLY DIED BY HIS HAND!”

Ratchet stammered on his next word, taken aback by the outburst- Drift, on the other hand, on the other edge of the conversation, merely watched in silence.

“WE WERE HELLISHLY OUTNUMBERED AND OUTGUNNED. HE NEVER ONCE TRIED TO GET US HELP, HE NEVER ONCE ATTEMPTED TO FEEL ANYTHING BUT EGOMANIACAL HERO WORSHIP OF YEARS LONG GONE!”

“Aid, Aid you gotta calm d-”

“I’M DONE BEING CALM.”, was the answering snarl, “RATCHET IS HOLDING ON TO DEAD GLORY DAYS AND OLD HEADLINES THAT DON’T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE!”

First Aid stood tall, anger he only dreamed of giving words to pouring in a torrential wave from every nanometer of his field and voice, “I SCRUBBED AMBULON’S BLOOD FROM MY HANDS AFTER PHARMA SACRIFICED HIM, LIKE A LAMB TO SLAUGHTER ON A BRASS ALTAR. AND YOU DARE TO CALL PHARMA WORTHY OF ANYTHING BUT THE DEATH HE DESERVES.”

The silence was thunderous in it’s emptiness. First Aid’s visor narrowed in white-hot rage, a neutron star of ‘beg your pardon’ and ‘by your leave’ begging to burst.

“He was no prodigy. He was no master. And you, Ratchet, are no judge or jury. And you’re no god, capable of forgiving sins you never suffered the effects of.”

First Aid stared into and through the CMO staring at him in shock and some kind of awe, “You don’t get to separate mech from majesty; at the end of the day we know what Pharma was, no matter what you try to paint him to be.”

He turned on his heel before spitting out his final acidic words on the matter, “He was a coward- and a whole hell of a lot like YOU.”

He left the rolling storm he had called in to sit over the table, uncaring of who the lightning struck. And as he left, Drift laughed quietly.

“Well said, CMO First Aid.”

Ratchet whirled in his seat to glare at the spiritualist, who stared back with a challenge in his optics.

[sparkflowerblue]

tarn’s a weird emotional cryptid

[discord log of the keeping up with the skywalkers au w/ @flameofnyon]

ur a princess rodimus: Coming back from non-existence was disorienting, to say the least. Rodimus was separated from the group that had been with him on the Rod Pod. Hell, the Rod Pod itself was gone and Rodimus was stranded. He didn't know if anyone else was back yet - he'd sent out a comm, but hadn't gotten any answers yet. This was the worst part - not knowing if his crew, his friends, his family was out there. He really had no choice but to wait and wonder until someone answered. He'd keep trying the comms until then. "Rodimus to any Lost Light crew, come in. Repeat, any member of the Lost Light, this is your captain speaking, please respond."

darth tank: The comm was probably an accident, because he definitely was not Lost Light crew. Tarn considered not answering for awhile, before he gave in to the inevitable. ::Rodimus Prime. Coordinates attached.:: He'd meet him in person, just to see how he was.

ur a princess rodimus: Rodimus gave a start at the response. The voice on the comm was definitely not anyone he recognized. Not to say he knew every mech on his ship personally and could tell each of their voices from the next, but he'd definitely remember a voice that that. And no one on his ship ever called him 'Prime'. So clearly, this was not one of his crew. But curiosity always got the better of him and Rodimus acknowledge the comm and headed for the coordinates provided. They weren't far and it didn't take long for him to drive there. Returning to his root mode, Rodimus stood tall and with the air of confidence he took when he didn't want anyone to know he was uncertain of his decision. "Got your response. Show yourself, whoever you are."

darth tank: Tarn shifted uncomfortably for a moment, before he finally stood from where he'd been tucked down behind some old debris. "Rodimus Prime." He straightened slightly, stepping out and forward, though he at least tried to be slightly less intimidating than he knew he was. "You're alive, then."

ur a princess rodimus: Rodimus, to his credit, didn't back down when Tarn revealed himself. He knew who he was - hadn't he just seen footage of the DJD at work during Megatron's trial? Who didn't know who Tarn was at this point? He wasn't going to let the mech terrify him, though, and he stood straighter still. "Takes more than my ship disappearing to kill me."

darth tank: Tarn inclined his head slightly. "So it seems." He was careful tp keep any emotion out of his voice, lifting his head again to study the smaller bot. He hadn't seen him in--since the beginning of the war, really. He'd still been a baby. He had no idea what he was like, and that was a little nerve wracking. "Loking for your crew, then?"

ur a princess rodimus: "What's it to you?" Rodimus asked. He put his hands on his hips, optics narrowed slightly. He could tell Tarn was studying him and he wasn't sure he liked this. Tarn, infamous leader of the Decepticon murder squad, stood in front of him and he wasn't being ripped to pieces. "Where's the rest of your merry murderers, Tarn?"

darth tank: Treads twitched in response to the question. "Off murdering, probably. We're in Galactic Council territory, they're probably having a grand time." He'd rather they didn't, but it meant they were not here, where Rodimus and his crew would be reappearing. "Looking to join them?"

ur a princess rodimus: Well, if the rest of the DJD was busy with the council, then Rodimus didn't have to worry about them going after his crew. That was somewhat of a relief. Rodimus wasn't about to relax though; he'd heard the rumors that Tarn was the most dangerous of the DJD, with a voice that could snuff out a spark with just the right tone. Which made him a little uneasy about holding a conversation with the mech, but at the same time, Tarn was giving off no indication that he was going to kill him. Which Rodimus found very strange. "The only ones I'm joining is my crew, as soon as they're all back together. Sorry to disappoint if you were thinking you needed a new mech on board with your murder-y boy band."

darth tank: "No, I think all the slot are full. We're a five mech group, you'll notice." He relaxed slowly, leaning back against the largest bit of debris behind him. "I don't suppose First Aid is on your crew now? Delphi's been abandoned, it seems. I don't suppose you know the story behind that, do you?"

ur a princess rodimus: Rodimus narrowed his optics at Tarn again at the mention of his brother's name. He knew from what he'd been told about Delphi that Tarn had been... nice to First Aid and it made him even more suspicious of the mech in front of him. What did Tarn want with his brother? "First Aid's with us, yes. A couple of my crew rescued him and Ambulon from Delphi. That's all you need to know, as far as I'm concerned."

darth tank: "Ah. Good, then he isn't dead." He was relieved to hear that; he'd seen the corpses, the rust plague riddling their bodies, from the entrance where someone had smashed into the clinic, but avoided going inside to be sure he wouldn't get infected himself. A bot they'd had on hand had been made to go inside, in fact, to be certain it was empty, then shot before he could return and possibly infect them. "I wondered, after the bodies."

ur a princess rodimus: "You're oddly invested in both Aid and I being alive," Rodimus noted. He boldly moved forward, approaching Tarn and looking up at him - Tarn was much taller than he was, but Rodimus wasn't about to back down from that. He wasn't scared of Tarn at this point. In fact, he was curious why Tarn wasn't killing him, why he was so invested in both First Aid and himself. "For a mech with a reputation for death, you're glad Aid and I aren't. What's up with that, Tarn?"

darth tank: He leaned back slightly, shrugging. A supremely odd motion for someone like Tarn. "Does it matter why I'm interested?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I liked the little medic. He was... very talented." Understatement, but he was proud of Aid. "Can't I be pleased someone with talent is alive?"

ur a princess rodimus: "Explain why you're so interested in me, then. Aid, I get. He's always been the better one of us." Rodimus wasn't bitter about it, like he was with other mechs better than him - notably Thunderclash - he was just as proud of his brother as their guardians had been. "Me, I'm just the loud mouth, hot headed, wannabe Prime. Why should the leader of the DJD be glad I'm alive? Shouldn't you be disappointed that Megatron's shot to my spark wasn't the end of me?"

darth tank: Tarn's hands clenched at that, before he forced them to uncurl. "Don't assume you have any idea what I should think," he stated finally. "There's a lot you don't know or understand, Hot Rod." He shifted away from him, looking around to see if they were still alone. "Things you can't know."

ur a princess rodimus: Rodimus tensed at his old name. "Don't ever call me that." He'd left that name behind, wanting a fresh start with a new name that gave him a better sense of the mech he wanted to be and less of the screw up who'd trusted the wrong mechs, made the wrong decisions. "My name is Rodimus. "

darth tank: He gave him a long look, before he huffed softly. "Hot Rod was the name you were given," he muttered, more to himself. "Rodimus, then. It doesn't change anything."

ur a princess rodimus: He hated 'Hot Rod'. It reminded him of Nyon, of Ki Aleta, of stupid Dealer and the spark break he suffered because he'd trusted the wrong mech. "It changed everything. I've got another chance to be better than I ever was as Hot Rod and I'm taking it."

darth tank: Tarn sighed. "If you say so." He stepped away, turning away from Rodimus. "Regardless, don't assume I was glad when I was told you'd been killed by Megatron."

ur a princess rodimus: "Why not?" Rodimus wasn't going to let this go. "Who am I to you that you care whether I live or die? Why are you so interested in me and my brother?" It wasn't common knowledge that he and First Aid were brothers. Outside of the crew of the Lost Light, who were still surprised by the news, that was. Perhaps he shouldn't have let it slip now, but he had the distinct feeling that Tarn already knew. "The only other people who care that much about us are our dads. So who are you?"

darth tank: "The mech Megatron promised your death to." It was, technically true. He'd pleaded and begged for vorns before Megatron had finally declared Rodimus--Hot Rod--Tarn's kill. It had been the only way he could think to guarantee that no one else killed Hot Rod, who had joined the front lines by then. Even more so when he joined the Wreckers.

ur a princess rodimus: "So you are going to kill me." Rodimus still wasn't scared of Tarn. There was just - - some odd sense that Tarn was no danger to him. If Tarn was going to kill him, wouldn't he have done it a long time ago? It made no sense. No more sense than what First Aid had said about Tarn feeling safe to him at Delphi. When Rodimus thought about it, really thought about it, there was something familiar about Tarn's voice that he just couldn't place.

darth tank: "I didn't say that. I said your death was promised to me. I said nothing about taking it." He paused. "I heard Megatron defected to the Autobots and was placed on your ship. Is it true?"

ur a princess rodimus: So what was Tarn's deal? Rodimus studied him for a moment before carefully answering his question. "It's true. He defected and he's on trial. We're taking him to be judged. Optimus decided it was best to put him on the ship, gave him the position of captain. Which he shares with me, despite what he thinks."

darth tank: Tarn snorted. "He's always been talented at getting what he wanted, Pax. Even when he didn't have the authority to want it." He straightened abruptly. "Be wary of Megatron. He has a way with words, and spinning webs. You may be captain but it won't take long for him to turn your crew against you and place himself in power, make them look to him to solve every problem he lays at your feet."

ur a princess rodimus: "I'm already wary of Megatron, thank you very much. He raises his voice and I fully expect to be shot again." Even though the fusion cannon had been melted down, it wouldn't surprise Rodimus if Megatron got his hands on a weapon and killed him. He half expected Megatron to relapse and show his true Decepticon colors. "I'm surprised you aren't threatening to use me to get to Megatron, if I'm honest. He defect, declared the Decepticons disbanded, and ended the war. That's gotta sting."

darth tank: He scowled behind his mask, pointedly not looking at him. "Would it work?" he asked, blandly. "Taking yopu prisoner and demanding they give me Megatron in exchange? It's unlikely, you know. I know my former lord and master. He would simply tell them that you were already dead. Tarn doesn't make trades, you see. I might promise to return you unharmed but I'd just kill you once Megatron was in my hands. That's how the DJD works. He would know, he wrote the rules."

ur a princess rodimus: "Worth a shot." Rodimus shrugged. "I mean, it's not like they're going to believe I had a conversation with you and survived, either. The DJD doesn't just let Autobots go. Except apparently for me and First Aid." Again, he didn't think it was coincidence that he and his brother were the exceptions, but Tarn was being very evasive about the connections between the three of them.

darth tank: He scoffed quietly. "Just be careful of him. If he hurts you--" He paused. What, exactly, could he say? Megatron was still stronger than Rodimus. "Well, I'm sure you know what to do if he does. Anyway, I have things to do, a team to corral."

ur a princess rodimus: "If he hurts me, I have a security team ready to take him out." Just because Megatron was his co-captain didn't mean their security team wasn't on orders to keep an eye on him. So far, Megatron wasn't looking to hurt anyone - hell, he'd even passed up knocking Whirl out when the ex-Wrecker had needled him. "I'd say keep in touch, but I'm not sure either of us particularly want to."

darth tank: Tarn couldn't stop the laugh at that. "Well, I'm sure you wouldn't, at least."

ur a princess rodimus: "Oh, does Tarn, leader of the DJD, actually like talking to Rodimus, bane of Megatron's current existence?" Rodimus couldn't help the snarky comeback. He almost wanted to keep in touch, but it wouldn't exactly look good for him to be in contact with the DJD. "I'll give him your regards."

darth tank: "I'd rather you give them to Skids." He gestured, a vague sort of wave. "Goodbye, Rodimus."

ur a princess rodimus: "To Skids?" Rodimus wanted to question that, but Tarn made it clear the conversation was over and, coincidentally, his comms were going off - Magnus was trying to contact him. He turned his back on Tarn to answer the comm, glad to hear his second's voice again.

darth tank: Tarn began striding away, not wanting to be there when the others came to find Rodimus. That'd cause a fight, for sure.

[lord-squiggletits]

Bc like if I look at it from a meta perspective it's as boring as "Pharma was just meant to be a minor antagonist and any depth he has was added retroactively by JRO when he realized there was maybe something there"

But then if you look at it from an in universe perspective the Pharma Torment Nexus is so much more prominent bc you really have every single Autobot ignoring Pharma being blackmailed by the DJD (including ones like Ambulon who really shouldn't be so dismissive), Ratchet throwing every insecurity in Pharma's face and then leaving him to die without even looking for his body, otherwise chill mechs like Skids saying that Pharma had better hope they don't decide to beat him in prison after they finish the Tyrest business, Pharma having millions of years of exemplary medical service only to have every mention of his name come with "before he started murdering patients" as if that'sthe sum of his entire life's worth.

The entire "the Lost Light is where people go to have second chances uwu" crew not even thinking about or remembering him and no one even mentioning Pharma or going "damn now I know how he felt" during Dying of the Light when oh whoops we're being stalked down by the DJD and it's so terrifying how we're all going to sie horribly. Amd how no one had problems with Drift but everyone hated Pharma. But that's a reach honestly.

Honestly it just makes you wonder what the hell Pharma did that made every Autobot ignore the extenuating circumstances and immediately hate his guts, say he was always a horrible Autobot, focus only on his crimes and never his service, and even say he deserves to be beaten in jail. Like goddamn did everyone just already hate Pharma and him going insane under duress at Delphi was the excuse for everyone to go "I always fucking hated that guy" bc like wow. Even Ratchet patted Drift's head and went 'oh aren't you afraid of the DJD you poor guy' and then went 'YOU FUCKING ORGAN HARVESTER' to Pharma who literally WAS blackmailed under threat of his death and everyone unser his care's death too.

Again the more simple explanation is just "it's not that deep" but spinning an in universe explanation or headcanon is good for whump bc it really rubs in how much everyone just fucking hates Pharma and doesn't give a shit about helping him or paying homage to the fact that he was an Autobot once and he literally fucking dies/is presumed dead twice and maybe one person has anything to say about it at all

Angst is great and the good thing about Pharma is that his whole life (well, mostly his time on-screen but still) is literally just one unending torment nexus of pain, isolation, exploitation, lack of bodily autonomy, torture, mutilation, and dying (more than once, even) and canon has basically nothing to say about this fact, leaving plenty of room for me to come in and write fic going "hey isn't it fucked up that..."