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| - A strange chemical scent wafts through the room, and the sound of armored heels on the floor both preceed Firestar's arrival. Her head pokes in, a cigar clamped between her teeth as she looks left and she looks right to make sure that nobody is present. Then she makes a beeline straight for the table where Elita lies. Very briefly, she runs a scanner over the other's frame. Then, she is leaning over the table in question; one hand on the cushioning and the other resting on her unconscious friend's forehead; a look of deep concern on her face, precisely the kind of look that she always keeps to herself. Perceptor has absolutely no regard for human rest cycles, and finds it odd that the others have chosen to adapt to it. Well, they had been stationed on Earth for quite some time. But, at any rate, Perceptor is heading down to the repair bay to check on Elita One. He has been busy, as always, but he feels guilty about what's happened to her. After all, he had been the one to request her to lead the patrol contingent on Alkor Zephyr. Perhaps he had sent more along with them... He sighs, shaking his head. He hopes he can find a way to revive her, but he knows it isn't likely. The doors to be repair bay slide open with a hiss as the scientist walks in. He stops for a moment, surprised to find Firestar there. It would seem he wasn't the only one who hadn't begun mimmicking human rest patterns. "Greetings, Firestar." he nods, acknowledging her presence, though he sounds glum as he takes note of the readings on the various displays around Elita. It doesn't look good. "...." he starts to say something, but for once in his life he has no words. Crosscheck and Sit-Com did all that they could for her, the unusual Junkion repair methods notwithstanding, together they did an amazing job, still neither of them managed to harness the delicate nature of the work Alpha Trion had created. The mood is somber still, several days after the encounter on the Antimatter bridge, though that begins to change when her support system lets out an unusual beep. Light appears in her eyes as she gasps, "The courier?!" with a deal of urgency. Her chest crackles with that strange purple hue, "Did Moonracer manage to warn Imager that...". Suddenly she disappears, reappearing several feet away, "Have to warn them. Shockwave set a trap." Again she dissipates in a purple afterimage, appearing across the hall in one of the control rooms, "I'm not losing Cybertron to that maniac. There's still..." She phases a third time,Firestar would recognize some, if not all of these references, scattered throughout the long underground war back on Cybertron. Firestar bites down hard on the end of her cigar as Perceptor suddenly walks in and comes very close to mangling it. There is a strange look on her face as though he had just interrupted something and the concerned look slides away to the standard, confident mask that Firestar always wears over everything that vaugely even threatens to resemble her feelings. Her ultimate poker face. "Perceptor." She says to greet him, her palm still on her friend's forehead. "I know. Fully qualified medic an' all. Ain't t'first time this has happened either. Thought we'd got the problem fixed back thirty or forty years ago an' all." Then, she is timestopped. When Elita is moving again it takes Firestar a good thirty seconds to recover and figure out exactly what is going on and she immediatly reaches into a nearby drawer for an injectable sedative and keeps it concealed in the silver of her left hand. Then she begins to walk towards the control room in question and ignores Perceptor. "C'mon, lady." She's saying. "What'd Arclight tell ya 'bout usin' your timestop in rapid succession? Think with yer head in t'now, not back then. You recognize me, dontcha? Go way back, we do." Perceptor nods at Firestar. "Thank you for attending to her. Your efforts are greatly appreciated." But then Elita moves suddenly, Perceptor is pleasantly surprised. She's dazed and possibly not even out of stasis lock completely, but at least it's something. Though he's worried that she's only damaging herself even further by using her special ability in rapid succession like that. "Elita One--" he begins to say, but decides to let Firestar handle this, since the fem certainly knows the other Autobot much better than he does. Elita was more likely to respond positively to her old comrade. He stands back, hoping Firestar will succeed in sedating the pink fem and forcing her to rest more. Elita-One snaps back to Firestar, "Listen, I'm the only one qualified to fly the shuttle, I need you to keep the drones at bay. That beam Shockwave's projecting is bad news, whatever it is." She appears a few feet away on the floor, <>> She points at Firestar, "You've got.....you've..." She pauses, as if catching herself sleepwalking, "There....was a..a disrupt..or?" "Earth..." She answers for herself as she stands back up, "I'm not dead...." She turns, surveying the area, "Perceptor...did we...did we win?" She asks with a twinge of pain in her voice. Then her attention is back to her comrade, "Firestar..." She says softly, as if having not laid eyes on her in quite a long time, "I'm..sorry, I must have been replaying old memories." Perceptor looks rather relieved that Elita seems to be recovering. Much better already, though still damaged. He nods slowly at her question. "Well...I suppose you might say that. I succeeded in destroying the matter bridge, which was the ultimate objective." He doesn't mention that he also nearly died himself. "I am relieved that you are have recovered significantly. We had feared for a time that you would not survive. Firestar visibly relaxes as Elita-One seems to come out of it. It genuinely has been awhile since Elita has seen her old friend, at least four or five years. But to a species that lives for millions or maybe even indefinately that may or may not be an eyeblink. "Never could teach ya to stay in bed when y'were supposed to, could we?" She chides, crouching down and attempting to take one of Elita's arms and put it over her own shoulders so that she can hoist the other Autobot-Lady to her feet and begin to walk slowly back towards one of the beds. "An' you were, but no 'pologies necessary. Let's get y'back 'fore you pass out. Someone ought not t'have been usin' that stupid timestop. Again." She holds her head, "I am relieved to know I did as well, though I could use about a thousand cycles of defragmentation..." Grateful for Firestar's support, though of course she'd never willingly ask for such a thing...and Firestar knows it. "I did what I must, you know that." She pauses as she passes by Perceptor, "No casualties?" Upon seeing his face, she relaxes a bit as well, "Then it was worth it...It is a great loss of that bridge but...well, some things can't be helped. We managed, we survived." Silently she wonders if things could've gone just a bit better if he were still here though, if he lead the squad. "As for me, I think its time to sit my actuator down, my gyros are the only thing not spinning..." Again, with Firestar's aid, she returns to the repair bay to sit down. Elita One looks towards Firestar, a bit of warmth in her voice again, "Why, Firestar, you sound like you built me from scratch or something." Perceptor shrugs. "The danger the bridge posed to galaxy far outweighed its potential benefits--even if the Decepticons would never succeed in capturing it. I am grateful for its destruction." He pauses, then sighs. "I...apologize deeply for the injuries you suffered. I should have prepared a larger contingent." He hadn't expected such a large enemy force to show up. Of course Firestar knows it. That is why she doesn't ask, she just does. Having little to contribute to the conversation between Elita-One and Perceptor due to her not being at the altercation in question her focus is on assisting her friend to move. Once she has Elita lying down, she rests one elbow on the bed itself and the other reaches out to find her friend's forehead just like a few minutes ago."So. Since I'm actin' like I built ya from spare parts an' all, ya gonna be good and lie here an' get better, or we gotta turn that stupid thing off?" Elita raises her hand to Firestar for a moment, as she turns back to Perceptor, "You deal with what you're given, Perceptor. The defenses were sound, the defenders fought well...we did what we could." She pauses, "We did more than anyone could have expected. We learn how to tap that strength, and we get better. It's just how it works. You're a good mech, Perceptor...don't let it trouble you." She nearly chuckles to Firestar, "Alright, alright, I know I've got some cycles to catch up on, have to get ready for the next big mission...I'll stay put." She touches Firestar's shoulder, "Thank you, my friend." The lights start to dim as power is cycled to other parts of the building, leaving the room in a restful state. Elita lays down, giving a soft wave as those involved start to go their seperate ways, when she suddenly finds herself asking, "Perceptor?...." She pauses, "Nevermind...It can wait. See you all in a few cycles." Firestar taps Elita on the forehead. "That's enough otta ya." Her voice says, and by the time the thank you comes she is already turning away and heading for the door. Her cigar is clamped just a little extra tighter between her teeth. "Good night, Perceptor. Rest well, if'n yer gonna." Perceptor is grateful for Elita's encouragement, though he can't quite get past the guilt just yet. But it's better now, since she's back online, so he nods, anyway. "Thank you. Your edifying words are appreciated." He turns to leave, having much to attend to, but stops momentarily when Elita says his name. But then she seems to have decided not to speak up yet. Part of him is curious, but he also knows she needs the rest. The scientist then begins following Firestar out of the repair bay. He shakes his head at her mention of him resting. "Frequent recharge cycles are a luxury I cannot afford."
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