Transformers Prime: Convergence is a plot and character-development driven roleplay forum based upon canon material of TFP and RiD, but incorporates characters, elements, and plotlines from various other continuities to craft a unique story. Our community is welcoming, laid back, and dedicated to making each roleplay experience a good one.
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Spacewarp clutched the armor plating over her chest as she made her way down the halls of the Nemesis. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had to decouple her HPS, only that the process to hook it up to her wasn't that pleasant. Sticks and stones, she thought. The payoff would be worth it in the end; the Decepticons were in dire need of a tactical advantage over the Autobots. Even if the HPS itself wasn't that needed advantage, the technology that built it would pave the way.
She had yet to meet this universe's Shockwave in person, but if he proved to be as similar to the Shockwave she was familiar with, this meeting wasn't going to be a day in the park. Once she had reached the door to his laboratory, Spacewarp knew there was no reason to wait around. The seeker slid open the door, peering inside.
Getting used to the Nemesis and falling into a routine were easy, understanding the strange things going on around.. Not so much. There was a multitude of mecha who were new to the Decepticons, not that having more on their side was a bad thing, but they just didn't fit with his version of the past. He still wasn't quite settled in yet, but this 'convergence' of different realities took priority over most things. It was troublesome and illogical for so many mecha to be 'crawling out of the woodwork'.
Looking for a logical solution to everything was just simply a part of his very being, but being pestered during it would easily awaken his less.. Amiable tendencies. Hence the drone laying out on an exam table, devoid of a helm, signs that Shockwave had taken the liberty of blasting it off for him. Spacewarp sliding open his laboratory door nearly garnered the same cold response, except that, when he gave her a short stare, he found himself unable to place her. Ah, one of the 'convergence' mecha, best to keep those alive, at least the Decepticon ones.
"Take a chair, I will get to you once I finish this." He motioned with his only servo to a line of chairs placed straight up against the wall, much like something you would see in a doctor's office. Then, he diverted his attention back to the formulas in front of him on the datascreen, quickly finishing off a few before placing them into a locked datafile in his system, something not even Megatron was privy to. Afterwards, he turned to fully face his guest, optic brightening and helm fins perking forwards. "I suppose you are one of the newer mecha to this reality.. I do not know what I may have been like in your's, but in this reality, I do not like to be troubled with trivial things. Unless you have something of importance for me, then it was highly illogical for you to have come.. But do go ahead, you have my full attention."
Translation: 'You better sure as Pit not be wasting my time or I'm going to make you wish you never stepped into my lab.'
Yeah, he was exactly like her Shockwave; the arm was new. She took several steps off to the side of the laboratory door, waiting patiently for the Decepticon scientist to finish his work. Shockwave was just about as charming as Spacewarp remembered, charming being an operative word for no-nonsense and cold. Out of all the differences between her universe and his, she had secretly been hoping he'd been a happy-go-lucky bot with a bubble gun for an arm. Just a hope.
Spacewarp stepped up to the side of the lab's examination table, as requested. "I bring a gift from my dimension," she said, holding nothing in her hands. "But I am no scientist, so I fear my description of said 'gift' would not do it justice."
The seeker tilted her gaze down to the table below her, optics lighting up to project a holographic image. "That being said, I'll let 'you' explain it for me."
An image of Shockwave Aurex 005.0 Kappa appeared a moment later, in all his alternate glory. There were quite a few similarities between the two Shockwaves, but one key difference. They both possessed the same frame, same red eye, but the Aurex Kappa Shockwave had no cannon for an arm. He apparently retained both, although the one that would have been a cannon was sitting segmented in some sort of localized force field. The segmented arm still behaved like it were connected to Shockwave's body, even though it wasn't. He stood behind a small device, apparently giving a presentation.
"During the war with Unicron we managed to burn through 47% of our planetary Energon supply, with an additional 20% lost when the planet-killer consumed 26% of Cybertron. These are unacceptable losses if we intend to maintain martial control over the colonies."
He gestured to the device before him, continuing, "Our experiments into spacebridge technology were met with too many problems to consider it a viable alternative to spaceflight. As such, I have developed the Hypermatter Phase Shifter. Based off of hyperdimensional mechanics, it enables a Decepticon Seeker to briefly breach into a higher plane of existence to achieve a much greater speed. We may be confined beneath the speed of light in realspace, but such restrictions do not apply if the medium is shifted."
"The Type III variant of this device will be provided to squadron leaders, while the Type I and II's will be assigned to squadron XO's and other seekers. The Type I and II models are both capable of bringing their user to the speed of light, but without a Type III to loop their feedback through, they are incapable of accelerating past it. The Type III HPS has been designed with a looping feedback field, capable of connecting a squadron's collective HPS together, thus enabling them to breach hyperspace. Work into the Type IV is ongoing."
The recording shut off.
Spacewarp didn't wait for a response from Shockwave before opening the plating covering her internals. Lo and behold, there was an HPS mounted inside her. She'd been told never to try and remove it without the help of a qualified technician, but then again none of those qualified technicians existed anymore. The Decepticon gripped one side of the device firmly, starting to remove it from her body. The HPS didn't seem to like that very much, as several arcs of electricity shot out to bury themselves into Spacewarp's arms, painfully. Her pained groans grew into a roar as the device protested more the further it was removed, spitting out more voltaic bolts of energy. Her eyes went blank as she finally removed the HPS entirely. At least now she understood the warnings she'd been given about it.
The color returned to the Seeker's unmoving optics a nanosecond later. Spacewarp set the HPS down on the table for Shockwave to examine it. "This is... the Type IV.."
Oh, a 'gift'? Shockwave would have to say he wasn't very impressed so far, and she was doing anything to make him think better of her.. At least not yet. True to his evaluation, she was from a different continuity, and had a different version of himself there. As he observed the hologram, he found that he and 'her' Shockwave had very few differences, the only blatant one being their cannon arms. Somehow, this other version of himself had discovered a way to form a arm and servo around it.. He'd have to look into that at a later date.
Right now, his focus was on what his other self was discussing. They had nearly burned through their energon and lost a portion of their planet to Unicron, the planet-killer. For a long time he did not hold much stock in such a belief that some monster from old folk tails could be real, but.. If in this continuity, Unicron was a real and present danger.. He might have to go back and reconsider his views on the topic.
Ah.. In this reality, spacebridges were not an option. It made sense though, for spacebridges were and are a great strain to use on either side of the war. Now this Hypermatter Phase Shifter.. It did make sense for a viable second option. Alright, so this was her gift? Showing off what he had done in her continuity, perhaps to others they would find pride in it, but he only found irritation. He did not have time to go chasing after theories...
His helm fins perked up as he watched her open her plating and proceed to rip one of the devices shown in the hologram out of herself. If she had simply said so, he would have removed it himself, but if she wanted to rip it out in a show of bravado, then by all means, she could do so. Once she set it upon the table, and pulled herself back together to explain what type it was, his optic brightened and he picked it up with one clawed servo.
Shockwave turned it over, this way and that, looking over the lines that had connected it to Spacewarp and over any external interests. He'd have to take it apart at a later date. First, there was some questions he needed answered. "Firstly, thank you. I appreciate your service and dedication to the cause, what you have shown me here today is enough to garner my favor." That was true. He always had some sort of respect for those loyal enough to the cause to risk their lives to benefit it.. Especially by approaching him. "Second, what is your designation and why were you given the Type IV HPS? What caused myself, in your continuity, to deem you worthy of such a devise? Or did you steal it? Be honest." His voice seemed to be warm, welcoming almost, but still there was the edge of the tone of his voice. If it had been stolen, he would most likely kill her and drain any knowledge he could get from her processor. He despised mecha who would lower themselves to do such things to their comrades.. Too bad he couldn't kill one in particular.
Spacewarp felt the several small pangs of pain following the removal of the HPS, pushing through them regardless. She straightened her crumpled stance, standing once more with all the dignity of an officer of the fleet. The Decepticon folded her hands behind her back, looking Shockwave in the eye. "I am Spacewarp, Captain of the 5th Cybertronian Air Cavalry. But that title carries no weight here."
The seeker brought her arms around again, folding them over her chest once the introduction was over and done. "The first three iterations of the HPS were designed solely for use in times of war, when opportunities to recharge the devices were presented frequently by our fleets. By the time Shockwave perfected the Type IV, we were no longer at war with the Autobots; the Energon crisis was now our mortal enemy, instead. The newest HPS was by far the most efficient model, meant to operate without recharging for extended periods of time."
She looked down to her disconnected HPS before continuing, "Shockwave provided them to us so that we might use them to locate sources of energon on other planets. I found my way into this universe before I could report back to him, however."
"Yes, sadly it does not, but worry not, Spacewarp. You will still have a purpose here." Afterwards, he listened intently, optic bright and helm fins perked forward. So, in her continuity, this trivial war with the Autobots had been set aside for more important matters. He briefly wondered if Megatron was out of the picture at that time.. It was unlike his current commander, at least in his own continuity, to turn his optics away from his only, idiotic goal. Kill Optimus Prime himself. Primus, sometimes he wanted to hunt Optimus Prime down himself and finish it all.
Thankfully, for her sake, she had not stolen the HPS. It had been given to her by the Shockwave of her dimension. Before she became stranded in this continuity, she had been looking for energon for their planet. A noble cause that she needed to return to as soon as possible.
"It is sad that you might not ever get back to him.. Due to the clash of all these continuities, I have taken it upon myself to record each and every one I can. One day, I hope to send those separated from their own continuity back, as long as they are willing. However, as I stated before, I must gather more data." He seemed almost saddened, or at least his voice did. Under his optic, he activated scans to investigate the inner workings of the device before he actually had to dissect it. "Hopefully, I might get you back to your own. You have a noble cause that should not be hindered by the troubles of my own reality. Till then, I will make sure you are worked to your full potential while stranded here."
There it was, precisely what Spacewarp had been hoping to hear. Not the detail about being sent back to her home, but about being put to good use. That was all she'd ever wanted, really. Sure Spacewarp might've been an air captain back in her own universe, but she'd only ever led troops out of job necessity. Deep down in her spark, she wanted to be used to the fullest extent of her ability. It wasn't something she could explain to others, and yet she felt Shockwave could tell just from a distance.
She was slightly confused when Shockwave betrayed seemingly genuine concern for her, having not expected even a modicum of compassion from him. Though upon further thought, she mused that Shockwave was merely feeling empathy for the Shockwave that Spacewarp knew, having to crunch the numbers about a missing energon scout. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for it. Then again, maybe she'd just been spending too much time around Starscream.