A/N: A fair warning, dear reader, I do not speak a word of Russian and have only ineptly utilized a translation that would, as far as I can tell, reflect only pronunciation. Accordingly, nor am I intimately familiar with commonalities in the selection of names. I do not by any means intend to offend anyone of any nationality nor do I mean any disrespect, and ask your forgiveness in advance if I have. This is merely an excerpt from a larger work in progress that introduces a OC named Vladimir who becomes fast friends with Ratchet. It also contains another OC named Elena, please see my profile for a brief background on her character. Hope you enjoy!
Please R & R!
~~~Epsilon
Disclaimer: Alas, I acknowledge that I have no legal standing nor rights of ownership of anything Transformers, that privilege belongs exclusively to Hasbro. *sigh*
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The man who greeted the newcomer had a good-natured countenance, with an almost boyish quality to it, but the protective fierceness that sharpened his gaze was more than enough of a warning that this was not a man to be trifled with. His crisp salute and firm handshake exuded a calm professionalism that demanded respect and acknowledgement.
"Welcome to NEST soldier."
The newcomer returned the salute of greeting sharply, his voice thick with a foreign accent. "Thank you very much sir."
"I'm Major Lennox, and this here—" he motioned to the fellow who had hovered silently behind him thus far, and being singled out, swaggered forward, "-Is Master Sergeant Epps."
The newest NEST member likewise bestowed a salute of greeting to the Master Sergeant, who, much to the new comer's chagrin returned the gesture with a mere wordless and curt nod.
"What's you're name and rank soldier?" Major Lennox inquired lightly.
"Medical Officer Vladimir Ivanovitch Vyachelslav Podedonostsev Konstantinovich."
Lennox blinked.
"Yeah, I ain't gonna remember that man" Epps spoke up for the first time thus far, " What can we call you? I mean that's pronounceable and easy to remember?"
Vladimir the Medical Officer was thrown off stride by such an off handed remark but, before he could surmise any form of a reply, whatever footing he had managed to find amidst such unfamiliar surroundings was proverbially yanked from beneath him. The sound of metal plating rattling, servos and gears shifting with a breathy sigh announced the arrival of…well, Vladimir didn't rightly know. His mind raced to process what it was seeing; a towering monstrosity of metal, which looked more than armed and dangerous, yet moved with a fluidity Vladimir found decidedly at odds with it's dominating frame. And perched like a songbird on that towering monstrosity's shoulder was a shapely woman, the hue of her coppery tresses echoed the flame decals interspersed among its armor.
From somewhere far above Vladimir, a young blonde soldier called out from a precarious position on the scaffold platform that dominated the free space within the hanger, "Hearken! Our All Mighty Rig doth approach!"
In unison, Epps and Lennox turned to yell in answer at the younger soldier, "Shut up Olsen!" This was an entirely bewildering experience for Vladimir, and at the moment he was unsure as to what unsettled him more: the robotic form with the human song bird on it's shoulder, or the odd greeting from Olsen, with Epps and Lennox's seeming routine response to it.
As this great being entered the hanger, Lennox had jerked forward a step as if to move and block Vladimir's view, but realizing such an endeavor was futile, stopped mid motion, "Damn it, I forgot to warn Big Man we were getting a new recruit today."
Epps scoffed, "Warn Big Man? You mean warn Elena."
Seeing that their new Medical Officer seemed to be sliding into what could rapidly devolve into a somnambulistic state, Lennox clapped him on the back, as Epps whistled sharply to get 'the Big Man's' attention, "Vladimir, let me introduce you to Optimus Prime."
"Ya sibya ploha chustvuyu…" Vladimir, unable to help himself, slipped into his native tongue, the incoherent—at least to Epps and Lennox—tumult of words tumbled over each other in an indiscernible rush.
Epps lifted a brow as he regarded Vladimir, "What did you say?"
"You alright soldier?" Lennox's concern shot up a notch. Normally it was a healthy shock to anyone's system when they first met an Autobot, which was precisely why Lennox preferred to mentally prepare new additions to the unit before introducing them to their Cybertronian allies.
From her lofty perch, Elena glanced over at Optimus, "What language is that?"
"Russian." Came the simple reply.
"Oh…" She paused, "Do you understand R—"
Optimus did not hesitate as he calmly addressed the newest human member of NEST, "Och-en pree-yat-na, kak vas zavoot?"
Epps openly gaped, "Oh you gotta be freakin kidding me…"
Lennox decided right then and there that Optimus speaking Russian was by far the most shocking thing he'd ever heard. Ever.
Hearing his native language spoken in the being's earth moving timber in such a perfectly accented and measured manner effectively knocked Vladimir out of stasis and he grasped at this straw of familiarity, " Da… zdrastvooyte….meenya zavoot Vladimir Ivanovitch Vyachelslav Podedonostsev Konstantinovich."
"Minya zavut Optimus Prime. Dabro pazhalavat NEST, Vladimir Ivanovitch Vyachelslav Podedonostsev Konstantinovich."
"Spasiba Optimus Prime…"
"Vy gavarite pa anglIyski Vladimir Konstantinovich?"
"Da…" Vladimir blinked, as his mind reassessed the towering being before him, it took him but a handful of quiet moments for his mind to reshuffle and reorganize what he thought he had known about the world and its inhabitants. Regaining his calm and composure, Vladimir saluted the metal being in a formal greeting, having already neatly accepted the otherwise mind-boggling truths that had just been hurled at him. For the next subsequent minutes, both man and machine conversed freely and easily, as if Vladimir had always done so. But finally grown weary of being a passive participant, Elena casually swatted Optimus on the side of his head with her clipboard. The metallic clang, while dealing neither damage nor discomfort, served to get his attention. Without ceasing their incoherent chatter, he knelt down, allowing Elena to clamber down from his shoulder into his palm so as to enable him to harmlessly lower her to the floor.
In stunned silence, Elena closed the distance between herself and Epps and Lennox. She couldn't help but smirk at Epps' dumbfounded expression.
"You going to be okay there, buddy?" Lennox nudged his long time friend in the ribs with his elbow.
"Its just…I mean…its not like…" Unable to form a coherent sentence, Epps could only gesticulate wildly in Optimus and Vladimir's direction. Elena worked hard to suppress a giggle.
"You look like you just stuck a fork in a toaster and are still trying to figure out what happened."
Finally drawing his wits together, Epps glared sullenly at her, "C'mon! Give me a break! I've never heard Big Man speak anything but English! I mean, did you know he could speak Russian? Where did he pick that up from?"
Elena and Lennox shared a conspiratorial grin before answering together in the deepest voice they could manage, "The World Wide Web."
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A/N: For those of you who are interested in hearing Optimus' Russian ;) (Yes, it is technically a different continuity, but hey, its still Optimus speaking Russian) :
/transformers-news/transformers-prime-39/transformers-prime-arriving-to-russia-174090/