by Smokescreen85 » Sun Aug 16, 2015 11:13 am
- Motto: ""A look can be deceiving; a touch can be lethal.""
- Weapon: Twin Shoulder-Mounted Rocket Launchers
Skies above Australia -- Autobot Shuttle Longevity -- CCCU
Howlstrike got tired of waiting for Bluestreak to exit the CR chamber and decided to hop onto an adjacent med birth in order to begin receiving some much needed repairs to his shoulder joint. There were other injuries the former Predacon had sustained during his fight with Hardhead, but those were not quite as serious. Most of the other CR units were filled with the wounded and even if there was a free one, Howl didn’t want to miss Bluestreak’s reaction to his new, more accurate paint job. Finally, his name and colors would match whether the chatterbot liked it or not.
While a medical drone toiled away on his shoulder joint, Howlstrike glanced over at the CR chamber containing the Autobot gunner. Any time now, Blue, the tracker thought with a slight groan under his breath. Bluestreak’s injuries hadn’t been that severe, had they? He seemed in one piece with only some dents and abrasions and possibly some internal damage, but nothing that should take numerous cycles to fix. Mech up and get out here already before I drag you out of there myself!
As if on cue, the CR chamber’s control panel beeped several times, signifying that the repair cycle was finally complete. With baited breath, Howlstrike watched as the nanite-rich fluid emptied from the chamber and the door slowly opened with a hiss. Shooing the med drone away before it had time to finish, the hunter sat up on the berth and swung his legs over the side as the image of the newly re-colored Bluestreak came into view through the mist emanating from the CR unit. “Well, well, look who decided to wake up! Ol’ blue-bot, himself. How you feeling?”
Bluestreak, a bit confused by Howlstrike’s overly friendly tone, stepped out of the CR chamber and began to stretch each of his limbs as remaining still for so long can cause stiffness within the joints. “Um, not bad, Howl. Thanks for asking.” The tracker flashed the chatterbot a toothy grin, allowing a slight chuckle to escape his vocalizer. “What the frag are you smiling at, Predacon? You think something’s funny?”
“Yep, I sure do,” Howlstrike responded, his toothy grin as wide as ever. “Whenever you’re around I find myself amused, but especially now, BLUEstreak! Hahahah!”
The gunner stared back at the former Predacon with a perplexed look on his faceplate. What the slag was Howl on anyway? “Are you drunk on high grade or something? You know if you drink too much of that stuff it’ll rot away your systems over time. That happened to a buddy of mine once a while back. Had to have his whole fuel pump replaced. Took him forever to...”
“Oh, shut up and just look down at yourself already for Primus’ sakes!” Howlstrike’s demeanor had gone from smiling to annoyed in less than an astrosecond. Of course, that was easy for any mech to do around Bluestreak’s non-stop chattering.
“Look down at myself?” Bluestreak replied back, still very confused with Howl’s recent behavior. “What’s the big deal.....HEY!!!” The gunner glanced down to see that his normally black chest plate/car hood was now silver. He then examined his arms and found that while his forearms were still black, his upper arms and shoulders were now a navy blue as were his hands. Upon further inspection, Bluestreak now had silver thighs instead of red and his lower legs and feet were also a dark blue color! The chatterbot then spun around and looked at his reflection in the window of the now closed CR chamber door where he could see that his head and door wings were also navy blue. The gunner quickly realized that his color scheme had somehow reverted back to what he had when he was a mere merchant in his home city of Praxus before it was destroyed by the Decepticons.
“What the frag happened?!” Bluestreak exclaimed as he spun back around to face Howlstrike once again. “I mean I didn’t change the color settings on the unit before entering. In fact I wasn’t even the one who initiated the repair....” For once the gunner’s voice trailed off as he glared directly at the former Predacon, remembering that it was Howl who had literally thrown him into the unit and started the cycle. “YOU! It was you who did this wasn’t it!?”
“Very perceptive, Blue,” Howlstrike replied, still grinning. “And I can now actually call you that and it make sense. Heh.” The chatterbot’s visage became one of sadness and rage, his mouth actually quivering as a result. “Now now, Blue, it’s okay. You’ll get used to it. I mean, you are called Bluestreak and not Silverstreak, you know.”
“But that’s not why I’m named Bluestreak!” The chatterbot shouted as he lunged at the tracker and pushed him back against the medical berth. “It had nothing to do with my coloring, you idiot Predacon! It hadn’t for a long time! Yes, I was once this color scheme but that was before my home city was destroyed by your ‘former’ comrades! Afterwards, I changed it to black in order to mourn their deaths! And now you’ve gone and ruined it!! You fraggin’ spawn of a glitch!!!”
Howlstrike was a bit surprised by the strength displayed by the smaller mechanoid, allowing the clearly upset ‘bot to push him back against the berth. However, when the chatterbot began to pound on the hunter’s chest, Howl’s own demeanor quickly changed from amused annoyance to outright anger. “Okay, I’ve had enough of this!!” Howlstrike retorted as he shoved the gunner away from him and back against the closed CR chamber. “Look, this was all only meant as a joke, Blue! It’s not the end of the slaggin' world. We just avoided that, remember? I’m sorry you lost your precious city, but maybe it’s time you got over it already! That was many vorns ago! Stop mourning their loss and start remembering them!”
The former Predacon paused for a moment as he took a step back from Bluestreak, who had started to calm down. “Now, if you want to change your colors back then fine! But, if I were you, I would consider keeping the blue and silver look as a way to keep your lost citizens’ memories alive since that’s how you looked when they were still functioning. Think about it, Blue.” Howlstrike then pushed the chatterbot aside and activated the CR chamber door. “Now, do me a favor and set the repair cycle for me once I’m inside. I still have some injuries to take care of. Think you can manage that?”
Bluestreak gave the former Predacon a hard look, crossing his dark blue arms over his newly silver chest plate. “I guess,” the gunner huffed as he turned towards the control panel.
“Oh, and Blue,” Howlstrike added as he grabbed a hold of the chatterbot’s shoulder. “If I come out of here pink, I will rip you apart and put you back together in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine. Got it?” With a hard gulp, Bluestreak nodded. “Good 'bot.” Howl then patted the gunner on the cheek before entering the CR chamber and leaning back against the inner berth. The doors then closed with a hiss while Bluestreak entered a series of commands on the console. Astroseconds later, the unit filled with the same nanite-rich fluid that the gunner had just bathed in.
Bluestreak took a few steps back as he considered actually making Howlstrike pink in color. However, the hunter’s warning still echoed through his cranium and he decided against doing anything so rash especially against the likes of a former Predacon. Instead, the chatterbot walked over and stood in front of a nearby wall’s metallic reflective surface and stared at his new blue and silver color scheme. It was like looking into the distant past when things were so much calmer and peaceful. The war had come to his doorstep so long ago and changed his life forever. No longer was he a mere merchant selling goods in the streets. Bluestreak was now a warrior, a gunner in the Autobot army fighting to avenge all those lost in his home city. It wasn’t just the mourning of neighbors that caused him to change his colors. It was the fact that he was no longer the same mech as before. But, was that really true? After all, deep down he was still a peaceful merchant at spark.
So, was Howlstrike right then? Was it time to stop mourning the lost souls of the past and instead start remembering them and himself as they once were? Perhaps. Keeping his original blue and silver colors would be a good way for Bluestreak to honor their memories now instead of allowing himself to be consumed with survivor’s guilt. Maybe, I guess, the gunner thought inwardly as he walked away from the reflective surface and headed out of the CCCU. Of course, the hatred for every last Decepticon would not go away. Not ever.
Still, Bluestreak was unsure of what he would ultimately do, but one thing was certain. In order to change his colors back he would need to spend another cycle in a CR chamber and Blue wasn’t about to take one up when another injured ‘bot would need it far more than himself. Therefore, the gunner decided to keep his new look, at least for the time being. Maybe he would eventually change it back or maybe he would keep it. Regardless of his paint scheme, those graphic images of dying and dead mechs would continue to haunt him and only non-stop chatter would help keep them at bay. The endless talking is one thing that would never change about Bluestreak.