re_alignment_logs | So I'll reach up to the sky [closed]

WHO: Jetfire, Liege Maximo
WHERE: A solar system a fair distance away from Cybertron. YAY.
WHEN: Around now.
WHAT: Jetfire's been stuck IN SPACE for a week due to the modifications Liege outfitted him with to break the barrier the Lambda creates around Cybertron so he could take readings of the Lambda. Said "in space" was a solar system too far away to quickly get back, but Jetfire's been working on it, okay? he might need a lift, though.
WARNINGS: None.

A week ago;
It had been absolutely amazing and gratifying to finally be able to break near-orbit and get beyond the barrier the Lambda created. Jetfire was aware of the dangers, though not all of the things that might happen from approaching what was basically not just the origin of, but like the Badlands magnified.

It was a bad idea, it wasn't safe, it wasn't fair to... particular people to put himself at risk. However...

They needed more data on the Lamdba, and Jetfire was made to reach escape velocity, to break gravity and go into space. What happened, though, wasn't any effect from the Lambda. Instead, approaching the pulsing, unpleasantly lit space-time anomaly on a wide vector just shortly after breaking through and getting beyond the limit he had been able to reach before, navigational and positional equipment suddenly disagreed on where he was, plus something else and...

He wasn't sure what happened, but suddenly he was just... elsewhere.

Elsewhere in a system with fourteen planets of varying size and make, spinning in their orbits with three suns as their center.

He knew he had to land and take stock of the situation, so he chose one of the stable ones, one of the ones which were on the close-end to the sun of its carbon-standard habitable zone. Later, Jetfire would decide it had been a bad idea, because that planet was a veritable jungle.

Plants everywhere, of all sorts, everything growing so the eye (or optic) could literally see it. The only reason he'd stayed on that planet after confirming everything was all right but the modifications would need... well, modified, was the fact that there were plants and thus fruits and they had organics back on Cybertron, and it would take long enough to get back on his own that he could take a brief advantage of the situation, right?

He still regretted staying as he figured out what he could and couldn't take with him. Seeds germinated within minutes, whether in air or buried in the planet's soil, taking a whole plant had it growing even more madly, probably because of the suddenly-limited subtrate available to it, and it bloomed, set spores, or whatever and then died within hours. Jetfire also found he couldn't really stand still anywhere, as any number of plants found a vertical, warm "pillar" an excellent place to grow up on.

After he'd realised he'd had to take fruits, because for some reason, as long as the seeds were in the fruits, and as long as the fruit wasn't crushed or otherwise destroyed, the seeds within didn't germinate, there was the issue of finding fruits that would hopefully be edible for humans. Jetfire had reasonable information to go on, but not as much as he'd like...

In the end, before he left, he'd at least gotten something more than probably-edible fruit from the solar system; both that planet and one other were liberated of a few rocks, plus soil from the unpleasant jungle planet, for the future seeds. It hadn't been easy to find something to keep all this in, but a few empty energon cubes plus some primitively carved containers from large rocks which he weren't going to keep were put in his cockpit.

There was nowhere else safe to keep them, even if it wasn't a pleasant thought. What if one of the fruits broke and the seeds started to germinate?

Now:
That thought occupied a shameful amount of his thoughts while he navigated towards the outer edge of the solar system, having located Cybertron but knowing it'd take... longer than he'd want, longer than he was comfortable with to get back.

He didn't have any choice, however, because he doubted there were any help to be gotten. His comms didn't reach far enough, and the Link was, understandably, dead.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It had been too long.

Although he had other projects he was working on simultaneously, the Lambda project had been, and remained, his chief concern. Until he was able to control the fluctuations of the Lambda, his own work would be subject to it. Until he was able to get someone close to the Lambda, he would not be able to learn about it. Until he learned about it, he would not be able to control it, and thus the cycle would repeat.

He.

Stagnant.

It was unacceptable.

The fact that Jetfire had disappeared was an additional wrench in his gears. He had double-tested the modifications he'd made onto the shuttle-craft, and there was no reason for them not to work, yet failed they had.

They had failed, but Jetfire had not died.

He would have felt so ignominious an end as that.

Jetfire's connection to him was not weak, either, which led him to begin searching in his spare moments of time--first nearby, running calculations on where the sudden spike of energy from Jetfire's disappearance might have led him to, then further when he realized just what must have gone wrong.

He was not as adept as Vector in making space bridges, but he was experienced with them, at least.

In front of Jetfire, a flash of greenish light would appear, a puff of effervescence that dissipated into the void of space.

::I found you.::

Luckily, that green flash was enough to cause Jetfire to cut his engines in time, flipping around and transforming in one smooth movement, ready for...

Well, almost anything, but not quite the luck of being found. He hadn't expected that at all, and had, reluctantly, accepted that it'd take months if not more, to get back to Cybertron.

::... You did, yes. Thankfully so, given the distance between this system and Cybertron.:: Not as if he wouldn't have survived, but things had already ended up difficult, even if he sort of had brought this upon himself.

The communication was enough to confirm his suspicion, and thus he drifted forward, slowly, watching the jet that was nearly the same size as he was.

Initial scans concluded that the malfunction had not damaged any major systems, and that Jetfire was preparing for spaceflight. He was also not alone.

That was curious.

Often, in his own explorations, Liege had brought back various entities to study and dissect. This did not seem different, and such forward thinking would have to be rewarded at some point.

::You would not have had enough energon to make it back, if my own guesses are correct. What are you bringing?::

There was reluctant agreement in Jetfire's nod, and behind the protective layer of his helm, Jetfire grimaced slightly at the question as to what he was bringing.

::Nothing overly interesting, unfortunately. I'm not even sure if the few ore samples I managed to bring are worth it, but they're not common at any rate. Most of the... er, cargo is fruit. Given the organic population and the dearth of easily acquired sustenance for them and given that there was nothing else interesting to bring...:: Jetfire trails off and shrugs.

But yeah, he wouldn't have gotten all the way to Cybertron. He had impressive range, but he didn't have the sort of supplies that'd allow him to cross more than a system or two. Really, he should've stayed put, but... Well. It felt better to move.

::Anything not seen before is worth looking at, I'd say.::

For Liege, the conversation is almost downright pleasant. He can hardly be upset to have found his missing Refugee with equipment not only intact, but with additional samples for study. Granted, it wasn't the Lambda that was being studied, but they would have time to attempt that again once Liege looked over the schematics to see what had gone wrong.

::Especially that which can keep the organics from spending all their time searching for resources. There are much more important tasks to embark upon, after all.::

Confirming Jetfire's assessment with yet another scan, he held out a hand.

::Are you eager to return?::

::There's that, of course.:: And really, if he wasn't so very sick of plants, he'd be pretty interested to study the life-cycle of something that grew from a seed to mature, fruiting body so fast, but that could wait a month. Or two.

He hadn't been injured, and he'd picked up a few things... it wasn't a complete loss.

::Inefficient, as well as unfortunate, which was why I didn't leave the... er, plant planet as soon as I could; it did seem worth it to find something suitable for consumption for them to cut down on the time they'd need to waste on that... And yes, I am.:: He doesn't underscore it more than that, but there's a certain intensity in his voice that he can't quite hide even if his expression is.

So he takes the offered hand with no hesitation at all, because really, there's not many other options available.

::I would like a few, for my own research.::

He accepts the hand, and concentrates. Despite how often he used to travel out into the unknown, Vector has always been the best at sudden movement through time and space. It's really too bad his brother doesn't take advantage of that as he could.

Still, it isn't long before there's a presence around both--like the vibration of nonexistant molecules, a change in temperature, and...

Suddenly, Liege's tall mountains around them, a dust of snow still falling lightly.

::I wish to go over your datalogs of what happened just before your jump. We should be able to try again, soon. Beyond that...I believe a number of individuals are waiting for you.::

Being transwarped or... spacebridged in person, by nothing but the individual wielding the power was one of the oddest things Jetfire had experienced, even if it was over quickly enough it didn't precisely matter.

But still, that raw... potential, of space turned outside in--- Briefly, the thought crossed his processor if that was what Skywarp felt when warping? Taking off the external protective helmet, Jetfire nodded.

"I should put away the containers with fruit, but I can take a few with me for when we look over things. I should..." He trails off briefly, looking first in the direction of Liege's temple and then towards Megatronus'.

"Be back in a few breems, perhaps. I... doubt I will be detained very long after necessary apologies have been made."

If only because he knows Starscream. The Seeker would be angry, and would sulk and would want to have nothing to do with him for a bit after he apologised.

"That is acceptable."

The amount of time did not matter, so long as Jetfire returned. Even if he did not, Liege would be able to repeat the experiment with another individual, but that was not something he would have been pleased with. Jetfire had impressed him, in his own way, and he did not have any interest in training another to do what Jetfire knew to do implicitly.

"It is..." Hm. How did one say this? "It is good to have you back." That sounded close enough. "Give my regards to Starscream."

After a moment, he smirked.

"And do be sure to give him one of the more aggressive plants, if he asks for one. Maintaining patience while he nagged me about your whereabouts was no small feat."

"Thank you." Inclining his helm, Jetfire started to cycle up his flight systems again. He should probably refuel somewhere between putting away the fruit and returning to Liege, if only to fill up on the energon part in his booster tanks.

"And, I'll... ah, see what I can do. Not sure how interested he'd be." Jetfire paused, shaking his helm. "I do apologise for his behaviour on my behalf."

Because while he couldn't (wouldn't, shouldn't) apologise for Starscream in general, apologising for how the Seeker behaved when he did so because of Jetfire in some way? He'd at least try.

With another shake of his helm and just the faintest trace of a huff, Jetfire lifted off the ground and steered towards the garden in Alpha Trion's quadrant.

So I'll reach up to the sky [closed]

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