re_alignment_logs | INDEPENDENCE DAY

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INDEPENDENCE DAY | open log

WHO: Gunmax & OPEN AS HELL
WHERE: The Haven area -- a clearing's been picked out.
WHEN JULY FOURTH AWWWW YEAHHH AMERICA.
WHAT: Gunmax has stated that there will be FIREWORKS. So here is the place to celebrate the fireworks going off! Completely open and anyone is welcome. Chances are the Brave Police will frown upon any scuffles between 'Con and 'Bot, so if something comes up, they will probably escort your afts. This is an opportunity to socialize a bit the best you can ~~BEFORE THE IMPENDING ATTACK.~~
NOTES: For those that Gunmax promised to pick up on his motorcycle, assume that he already has, for your own convenience!
WARNINGS: AMERICAAAA.

Granted, he knows. He gets it, the Brave Police are in a bad situation because this place is all about the freaking Cybertronians, so they don't really have much fuel to pass around in order to be comfortable.

Heck, at this moment, they're barely scraping by.

Usually, the cheering up portion is left up to Yuuta and on a normal basis, he'd probably just watch fireworks on a TV and call it good because no one in Japan really gives a damn about American customs. That's fine, whatever. But then there's the lack of Yuuta and he knows how that's affecting Deckerd and this entire place is a mess, so Gunmax feels like he needs to do. Something. For all of them.

This isn't normally his place to do that sort of thing, but Deckerd's long since earned his trust and friendship and so has McCrane.

It's why asking for a thing like fireworks isn't an easy choice -- they do have important things to do -- and making this next decision is even harder.

Gunmax parks the motorcycle and steps off. Almost affectionately, he pats the seat before crouching down.

"Sorry girl," he says with a sigh. "Just some of your gas, all right? It means I can't take you out as often as I'd like, so don't get too lonely."

He pops open Gunbike's gas tank and starts to drain some of the gas into one of his containers.

"Thanks for understanding," he muses to the bike, eventually closing off the tank when he's satisfied. The motorcycle isn't empty, but he'll have to be even more stingy than usual in using her.

Poor thing.

He gives the bike one more pat before he heads out a bit further into the clearing.

Time to start the show, he thinks.

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He hadn't been too keen on the idea. His mind was more in survival mode at this point. It was such a strange situation, and to be honest he'd been a ball of anxiety and uncertainty since they arrived. He kept it on the down-low for the sake of his comrades. After all, he's supposed to be the fearless leader, right?

It's not just because he misses Yuuta. He can deal with that, despite it being a painful separation-

It's just everything at once. The whole alien landscape.

Even if it's not his own holiday... he admits, it is nice to have something familiar. Even if it's just a bit of pyrotechnics.

So he's pulling up in vehicle mode and parking, settling down on his wheels. He takes a moment, rather than transforming, watching Gunmax tend to his work.

Briefly, Gunmax is a bit preoccupied; he's juggling a few things at once. A few more cans of food for Korra and the other few humans here, the rag he promised McCrane --

Honestly, he wishes it was as easy as just going back home. They can't keep living like this. This isn't what they were made to do, and he's starting to get more concerned about the other two. When the heck did he have to start looking out for others like this, anyway?

Eventually, the items are settled down and he turns to face the patrol car.

"Hey." Gunmax crouches a bit looking into his partner's headlights. "You wanna fuel up?"

"Hello, Gunmax."

He pauses, and changes to his robot-mode, sitting down a bit heavily on the dusty ground. It really has been one thing after another. He never imagined this kind of situation. Having McCrane and Gunmax to help him has been immeasurably nice though.

"No, no thank you."

He wants to. Goodness knows, he wants to, but he has one fourth of a tank left, and he can survive on that for a while.

Gunmax's lips go into a flat line of disapproval. No, he can't force Deckerd to take it, and he really doesn't want to guilt him into it, but he has to do something.

The biker sits down beside the Brave Detective, setting the container down in front of the patrol car.

"Just a swig, then. C'mon, I already had it planned out that we'd share it three-ways."

There's a pause and oh boy he's going to regret doing this. Gunmax cycles his vents into a sigh, and he gives his partner a firm look.

"...Please, Deckerd."

He's about to refuse it a second time but Gunmax says please and it gives him pause. The biker is rarely that polite. Deckerd sighs and accepts the canister from him with a nod.

Best to humor him. He takes exactly a third of it, though.

Only what is needed and no more.

"Thank you."

He hands it back, rubbing a hand over his face plates.

"So... fireworks. Is that still happening?"

That's more like it. He'll sacrifice a bit of his self-image and dignity if it means getting Deckerd to cooperate and fuel up. If it means for all of them to survive. Some things can be sacrificed.

The canister is set down onto the ground next to them; he folds his arms back behind his head as he peers up at the sky.

"That's the plan. Just waiting on a few people to show before it gets started."

He pauses, then glances at Deckerd again. Gunmax debates asking him how he's doing, but he already knows and that kind of emotional talk can be left to McCrane. He's probably better for it.

"Glad you agreed to do this, though."

Gunmax is pretty sure he was right in that they need something.

"Well," He laughs, looking slightly sheepish, "You were right on that front. We should have something. Just a bit of a taste of home, I suppose. Morale is just as important as anything else."

The Brave Detective lets his hand drop to his lap after a moment.

"Sorry to have tried to stop you. I shouldn't let myself get agitated like that."

Thanks for the ride, Gunmax!

[Korra's heart is still pounding from the explosion McCrane caused. Has to bring it up.]

That was...really crazy with McCrane, right?

"Brooding and getting so serious isn't for you, Deckerd. So, let's take advantage of a bit of fun while we can. Got it?"

Gunmax shrugs and looks back out over the clearing.

"Don't worry about it. You and McCrane were just focused on making sure we're getting by. Just glad you two came around to the idea."

He stands up and rolls his shoulders back once. "I'll go ahead and make sure everything else is ready. Just sit back and relax, all right?"

No problem, Korra.

[He gives a snort at the mention of McCane.]

Yeah, but at least he's still in one piece. Thanks for helping him out.

No prob. I'm guessing he'll be late, unless he's had his fill of fire today....

But hey, I saw Swindle found some gas! That's good, right? Were you able to get some from him already?

Nah, he's coming. Or I'll drag him over.

Mm, I did a little bit of bartering with him. It's a big help, anyway. I plan on picking it up after we get these fireworks done.

Sweet.

How long are we going to wait for more people?

Oh, you can show me the borders, exactly where you want the fireworks contained.

Probably a few more minutes. Not sure if Wheeljack is showing, but Annie wanted to stop by. And I want to wait at least until McCrane gets here.

Sure. Follow me, kiddo.

[The space is nice, at least. He gestures to have Korra follow him.]

So, I have some of the fireworks lined up here and ready to go. It'd actually be pretty convenient if you could light them for me, if you're okay with that.

Otherwise, just do your bending thing here. Nothing flammable besides the fireworks, but I trust you to know what you're doing.

"Haha, I guess not."

He'll leave that to Duke. He doesn't say it aloud, but Duke is rather broody. Not in a bad way, it's just how he is. Deckerd likes him too much to think ill of him for it.

"Got it." He tries, bless him. But after chewing on that awkwardly, he'll leave the English to Gunmax.

"Alright, you don't need any help?"

[Korra follows.]

Sure, I've got that covered.

[Korra approaches the fireworks, and crouches down on her knees to eagerly examine them. Her eyes rove around, but she doesn't touch.]

Look different from the ones back home.

There's a laugh when he hears Deckerd trying to emulate him. It's weird, hearing those words from anyone else, especially Deckerd.

Gunmax shakes his head. "I'm good. I just need to make sure it's set up okay. I've already more or less got everything ready. I just want you to sit there and enjoy the show, partner."

Frankly, the more he can get McCrane and Deckerd to simmer down, the better.

Oh yeah? I'm not sure how yours look; I just kind of picked up whatever looked familiar to me.

Suppose yours might be more traditional looking...

My favorites were the ones with dragon faces.

What's traditional to your world?

Mm, well. For someone like me, the ones I'm used to are the ones that look a little bit like tiny rockets.

[This is totally where fireworks are happening now! So if you just want to jump to watching them, here's where you should probably tag in.]

McCrane was, of course, late.

He didn't enjoy being late, but he also didn't enjoy leaving the smoldering wreck of the car where it might catch fire again later, and so he'd taken his time in removing flamable objects from around it.

That had helped.

What couldn't be helped were the burn-marks, the dark smudges that Korra's water couldn't get off without the assistance of soap. Diligently, he'd worked at the stains he could access, trying to rub off what he could but realizing he was going to take off paint before he took off the burn. The paint, itself, seemed to be what was charred. He couldn't help that.

Instead, he added 'soap and paint' to the list of things he needed to get, and looked up, just as the first of the fireworks were going off.

There was somewhere he needed to be, right now.

He rolled up, moments later, and transformed to watch.

It's a good sight. A bit meager for the Fourth of July, but hey -- he'll take it. And quite frankly, it's less about the holiday right now and more about a little entertainment.

They've had enough to worry about, quite frankly, and this is a good way to make it... lighter. If possible.

He catches sight of McCrane and lifts a hand as he approaches him. With a short laugh, he comments, "You look a bit more like yourself, but still a bit off. I don't think my rag's gonna do much for those burns."

Gunmax pauses, then jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "Deckerd's back there. We might as well sit back and enjoy the show, right?"

Korra summoned flame to her fingertips, and shot out a neat stream that lit each firework fuse.

She stood back, watching Gunmax's fireworks in awe.

Then she stepping back and finding the right place, she took her stance. Korra bent out a long, thicker stream of red fire, and morphed it into a dragon. She made it spiral into the air with a twirl of her entire body.

Edited 2012-07-05 05:04 (UTC)

"Not bad, huh?"

And then, it seems, it's Korra's turn. Gunmax kneels down, keeping his distance as he watches the Avatar at work. Honestly, he didn't expect her to get so creative with the fire.

It's interesting to see what these benders can do.

"Oh yeah. Remind me, a little later -- I have another can of food I found. Wasn't sure if you needed it, but while I was looking, didn't see the harm naturally of grabbing it."

"Really? Thanks, Gunmax!"

And she's inspired. Bending the dragon with one hand and concentrating, she summons orbs of hotter blue flame in her other hand. She throws one--two--three of the blue fireballs in the air, and has them dart around, and the red fire dragon dart around after them. Finally she has the Dragon 'devour' the blue orbs of flame, which actually just fade back to red and merge with the dragon.

"No problem."

There's a pause as he watches her work. From what he can tell, this is more than just a wave of hands and making the fire appear; Gunmax doesn't know much about martial arts beyond what Power Joe practices and some moves he's seen Shadowmaru share. But he can see enough in Korra to understand that there's some kind of connection.

The fire she displays here is downright an art and he can appreciate it.

It's a good show.

Lo and behold, Deckerd is, indeed "back there". Should they turn to look, he's sitting, and he lifts a hand to wave a greeting before getting up to come say hello.

"Ahh, McCrane. Feeling any better?" He tries not to draw attention to the leftover smudges.

Turning to Gunmax with his usual patient smile, he actually seems excited, "I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you prepared, Gunmax."

Doing something pointless like this...

Is actually kind of nice.

"I am still grateful for it, Gunmax." At this point, any extra cleaning would have been better than none. He was sure that if they could just manage to survive, they would be able to live here. Somehow. It was just not what he ever expected to have to do.

Between Gunmax's greeting and Deckerds, though, he could't help but smile one of his soft smiles. Even on the hardest days, they'd always managed some time to themselves, and denying it hadn't been helping anyone.

He was looking forward to this.

Trudging toward Deckerd, he sat down on one side, leaving the other side for Gunmax. It was almost comfortable, here, though he didn't have any inclination to 'sit back.' His backside was still too sore for that.

"Korra makes for an efficient car-wash, even if she didn't understand at first to wait for me to get in crane mode." He's still not sure how he felt about being washed like this by someone who was not his team. It seemed too personal.

"What are we celebrating tonight?"

At the other side of Deckerd, Gunmax plops back down and folds his arms behind his head as he leans back, peering up at the sky. There's a small snort; while the others feel more comfortable getting washed in their vehicle modes, Gunmax doesn't exactly have that choice.

Not a discussion he'll really get into.

"Well, she's still learning about us." Gunmax shrugs.

Celebrating. "My excuse was the Fourth of July. But I think it's about something else right now."

With McCrane on one side, and Gunmax on the other, Deckerd feels almost at ease for the first time since he arrived. Sitting in the usual, very 'human' way that he had picked up from Yuuta in his early days, le just listens to the meandering conversation. He'd be content to just let them converse, the comforting sound of familiar voices, but that wouldn't be terribly nice of him.

Deckerd laughs at the thought of Korra trying to wash McCrane in his robot mode. It must have been awkward.

"That is true," he agrees with Gunmax, "She's a very nice girl, though. I think she is also an important ally."

His chin meets his hand.

"Fourth of July... what does it mean in America exactly?"

"She seems to know everyone here," McCrane agreed, finding all the information she'd given him incredibly useful. She'd been there to help him out, more than once, and she was human.

That was significantly more familiar to him than all the other robots they'd been talking with.

Still, it wasn't as familiar as this. Being here. Talking about work, and about each other. He could almost imagine that this junk pile was on earth, if it weren't for the Lambda's looming presence and the lack of Build Team at his side.

"We could all use a wash, though." He reached out, rubbing a smudge on Deckerd's arm. "When we're fueled, we should visit one of the temples. I have heard mentions of robot-sized showers." The offer was specifically directed toward Gunmax, only belatedly realizing that the situation must have been even more difficult on him.

Other than that, however, he was quiet. He wanted to know what the Fourth of July meant, too.

It's the oddest thing, at least to Gunmax; he hasn't opened up to many outside of the Brave Police. But Korra's behavior seems to accommodate all of them in some way. For him, her impulsiveness but also her sense of loyalty has touched him a bit. It helps too that they bear the same mark. For all of his unspoken concerns of the glyphs, it brings him some comfort to know that maybe it doesn't really mean a damn thing.

So, thus far, the Avatar's been a great asset to them. Like McCrane, much easier than most of the other robots here that just seem too bizarre or alien to him and rather unimpressive.

"Robot-sized showers. Well, that's a thing all right." Gunmax snorts. "Figures the temples would have running water. Still no gas or oil around, I bet."

He'll get that resolved a bit with Swindle, though.

At their insistence, Gunmax cracks a grin and lowers his arms. "All right." He first hands over a canister to McCrane; the rest of the fuel has been saved for him.

"So, it's probably good Duke isn't here for this." Gunmax smirks broadly. "The Fourth of July is America's Independence Day. That was the day in which, a little over two hundred years ago, America declared independence from England after America won the war between the two countries. America wasn't interested in being bossed around by England, basically, so they had a falling out. I know it doesn't mean much for Japan, but there you have it."

"Ahah yes we could all use a good wash," Deckerd seems a little embarrassed at the smudge McCrane draws attention to- but he's covered in dirt and grease anyways, so it's kind of futile.

The thought of washing himself, while he's sure he's plenty capable, is odd. He's already missing the talks he would have with Yuuta and his sisters.

"Hmm. I think Duke would take it in stride. He's got such a good nature."

Deckerd is of course, always the first one to have a good word in on the knight. They've become such close friends. Like everyone on the team, Deckerd really doesn't have a bad thing to say about any of them.

"So that's what this is... interesting. Though history is interesting, even if this isn't earth."

Edited 2012-07-07 07:27 (UTC)

It's hard to be bothered by any of their dirtiness, especially in respect to his own. If they were in a different situation, he might have been, but dirt came second to survival.

He just doesn't like to see the team in this state. "Oil, yes." He reaches out to accept the offered canister, staring at it for a moment, knowing where it came from and what it means to Gunmax. It isn't diesel, but he will live. Inefficiently, but he will live. "The Cybertronians use it. But not gas." He looks down to his refueling hatch on his side, and flicks it open carefully. "A robot named Drift brought me a small amount before I came, but I don't know how long it will last." It would be something, though. Maybe enough to refuel Gunmax's bike, and use that for a while to get around.

"So it's about freedom," he says, softly, agreeing with Deckerd that the story is interesting to hear. "I hope we can do as well on our own as America did." It's not quite about that, he knows. This isn't a freedom that he imagines any of them want, but they'll manage, he's sure of it. They're cut off for the first time, but they've survived worse.

He looks up, watching the fireworks paint colors over the cloud-less sky.

"I'm glad that you did this, Gunmax," he says, after a moment. Weathering this situation together has been more of an accomplishment than he's realized. Seeing the fireworks is already making him feel better, somehow.

"I'm sure Duke would like to pontificate on the nitty gritty bits of history, too." Gunmax waves his hand a bit. "He's a bit of a detail-orientated guy."

When McCrane opens the hatch on his side, Gunmax snorts and covers his mouth for a moment, trying not to laugh at the appearance. He's already given Deckerd crap for that old-fashioned method previously. Seeing McCrane fuel this way doesn't make it any less funny to him.

He debates giving him a hard time. He decides to go easy on the crane for now, considering all that they've been dealing with.

"I think we're doing okay so far," the biker comments, tone faint. "I mean, it's just the three of us, but we're managing."

One of them needs to be the confident one. Might as well be Gunmax.

At the last comment from McCrane, he laughs. "Well, I'm glad I did this, too. But it's nice you're both agreeing."

"Well, if we figure out a way to refine it, we might be able to work something out. I'm going to keep asking around to see if anyone knows anything. While it is nice to see such charity amongst these robots... we cannot sustain ourselves on the kindness of others forever."

They'll have to sort something out, and that, Deckerd tasks himself with, quietly.

"For now, I suppose let's not worry, though. It will only wear on our nerves, and that's the last thing any of us needs."

He laughs to punctuate his point and leans back a bit more, watching the haphazard fireworks.

"You did do a wonderful job with this."

If he just looks at the explosions, he can imagine he's back on earth at some festival with Yuuta.

"Duke would clarify..." McCrane nodded, letting his thoughts wander. "And Power Joe would tease him for it." He finished refueling, catching Gunmax's expression for a moment with surprise, and glancing down to reseal his hatch, feeling strangely embarrassed but handing the can back nonetheless. "Drill Boy would take the gasoline when nobody was looking, and Dumpson would fetch it back, while Shadowmaru muttered under his breath about how it didn't matter, and watched the fireworks with that sad look he sometimes gets." McCrane smiled, a little, thinking on it.

It would be like home, if they were here.

It wasn't bad, though, like this. "Ratchet says he may be able to dilute the energon so that we can ingest it. If he can't, however, we may need to consider getting our engines overhauled."

The description that McCrane lays for their missing members is specific and on the dot, he imagines. He can see it easily, with Yuuta looking on with his eyes wide in wonder and innocent laughter. With all of them, it'd be nice.

This is just going to have to do.

He accepts the can back from McCrane, giving him a side glance in amusement before turning his attention back to Deckerd. "Much appreciated. It was some hard work."

Back to the topic at hand, though. Lovely. This energon business seems to be getting them into an odd fix, doesn't it?

"You mean replacing them?" That oddly discomforts him.

Starscream was spending the fourth of July alone, like a boss. A boss with absolutely zero employees to a company that'd gone bankrupt months ago.

It would have been hard to miss the fireworks what with the whole LOUD NOISES and BRIGHT COLOURS and PERMA-DUSK thing that was going on, but Starscream was content enough to watch them from afar. Liege's mountain temple allowed a ~~distant~~ perfect view. Besides, he had no desire to mingle with the Autobots, the organic vermin they were so fond of, and the smaller constructs which tried to approach a Cybertronian's complexity, but fell woefully short. Also, it had taken him so long just to reach this stupid temple he wasn't going to walk all the way back down the damn mountain just to see what the commotion was all about. These fireworks weren't even that impressive; they couldn't hold a candle to what Cybertron could've produced in her Golden Age. Starscream was only watching them from this balcony he'd claimed because ~~Liege's home decorating skills were terrifying, and he didn't really relish going back inside right now~~ he was bored, and might as well take in the sights.

It was ~~beautiful~~ cold out here -- not cold enough to really hinder any of his systems -- but he still shivered, just on principle. Putting more weight on his arms, he leaned a little further over the railing. Then, after carefully looking both ways, he angled his wings wide, trying to catch a stray, weak updraft. Almost, but not far enough. Leaning out even further, centre of gravity who knows where, Starscream raised himself onto tiptoe, and then off his feet completely.

The next burst of colour went off, and fireworks almost forgotten distracted as he was, Starscream startled, flailed, and nearly overbalanced. A liberal use of expletives was involved too.

((TL;DR: Starscream is a crotchety old loser. Happy belated Freedom Day.))

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INDEPENDENCE DAY | open log

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[OOC: He promised Korra a ride, right?

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He sure did!

Re: He sure did!

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FIREWORKS

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Re: FIREWORKS

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Liege's temple OTA but more an example of Starscream chilling with all his best friends (party of 1)