So how are we adjusting?
A/N: ... I have no idea how Clint Eastwood talks really. Gah.
And as far as Starscream's electronic lingo... I'm making it up as I go along. Ish... :O he sounds so smart!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere in the New Mexico desert
Starscream had exited the medical bay in some relief, though mostly sulking since his weapons systems had been taken offline. Ironhide was leaning against the wall to his right outside the door, waiting for him. Both exchanged silent loathing glares before Ironhide uncrossed his arms and pushed off from the wall,
"... Well? You coming or what?" The Autobot growled, obviously enjoying this about as much as Starscream. Said Decepticon just continued glaring and motioned for Ironhide to lead the way. But he wasn't about to have a Decepticon walk behind him, so instead motioned for Starscream to go ahead of him. There was another tense silence of mutual hatred before Starscream gave in and walked forward with Ironhide guiding him from behind, "We go left here." Ironhide placed a hand on Starscream's shoulder to guide him, making the Decepticon tense up and jerk his shoulder away from him.
"Don't touch me, Autobot." No matter how much Optimus would like and want for the two to get along, it wasn't going to happen. Ironhide had removed his hand with a slight shove forward.
"Just move it, punk." He growled. The both of them walked on in mutual silence until they reached a doorway that Ironhide told him to stop at, pressing the open button on the pannel next to the door. "That's the terminal you'll be starting at. It's not in use, so it won't interrupt anything in progress like communications." Starscream analyzed the terminal carefully, looking skeptical,
"... This is going to be a part of your base of operations?"
"Just shut up and work. Don't try anything funny because I'll be watching." Plasma cannons charge behind Starscream once more, adding the unspoken 'or else'.
Their conversation (if it could be called such) faded quickly, the only sound now being the clink and clatters of Starscream pulling at wires within the large hole in a computer terminal they had recently built for Autobot size. And no, the hole had not been torn open; they had removed a panel to get to the wires. At the moment, the small clinks and pulling movements from Starscream had become more tense as he progressed. Finally he pulled out from the terminal, numerous wires in hand, very annoyed look on his face,
"Rrrgh..." Starscream cast a whithering glare at Ironhide, "What imbicile wired this?" The wires were held up in his hands for emphasis that there was clearly a lot of work ahead of him. Ironhide glared back at him, hydrolics tensing a bit,
"We're a little short on help. I did it with some humans." The demolitions expert responded, glare just daring him to try and dissrespect his work. Starscream on the other hand just scoffed as if to say 'I thought so'. Which of course made Ironhide want to shoot him. Again. Lots of things the Decepticon did made Ironhide want to shoot him.
"Well do me a favor and do not ever deal with electronics in here again." Starscream was pulling apart some of the wiring with expertise, clearly focused on his work while Ironhide fumed behind him for having been told that his wiring skills were bad, "The wiring is inefficient by far. Primitive at best." Starscream was just ignoring the angry Autobot behind him by now, clearly in 'the zone' as Sam called it, "I can easily improve energy efficiency by two-hundred percent." The Decepticon was combing through the wires and looking at them all carefully, pulling out some of them entirely and tossing them aside before reattaching others. There was a few moments of silence in which Starscream just worked and Ironhide decided this was the most boring and aggrivating job he'd ever had.
"... Mind telling me what you're doing exactly?" Ironhide asked a bit gruffly, since he had nothing better to do. Starscream didn't answer for a while, eyeing more wires and scanning them to see where they went.
"... Rerouting power more directly. Getting rid off this useless clutter," He pulled out a group of wires with a slight growl of annoyance for emphasis, "... connecting communications so they make sense, and increasing this terminal's abilities and range over the base." There was another pause as he scanned the wires and clipped them before reconnecting them, "... You have everything short ranged, don't you? This terminal can only control functions within a certain vicinity of it?" Ironhide was trying to see his point at this rate.
"Yeah...? Same with all the terminals. It was a rushed job." He sounded a bit deffensive about it since everyone had pitched in for what they could, "What do you know about electronics anyway? You're an air commander." Ironhide grumbled, watching as Starscream pushed finished wiring back into the terminal and pulled out more to examine them. The air commander just scoffed.
"Lord Megatron didn't always prioritize in favor of keeping everything running as much as winning." There was a loud wrenching noise as another group of wires were pulled, "So keeping everything running fell to me when Megatron wasn't being energon conservative." Starscream's voice was in a rather bitter and annoyed tone at the memory. He reached in farther to connect other wires and see where certain connections led, "If you can't minimize the usage anymore, then you have to change how it's used." More wires were tossed out behind him, "Maximize efficiency." there was an electronic fizzling noise from inside and a small flash of light as a spark went off, earning a growl from Starscream. Ironhide was (sadly) impressed that Starscream was so well rounded. Though the reason he knew how to repair himself and improve electronics was that Decepticons were more or less; BAD with teamwork. While knowing how to do everything yourself was good, Ironhide liked being able to trust others better. Trusting others with electronics instead of doing them himself allowed him to become the top-notched warrior that he was. And not getting his tailpipe whooped like Starscream had was always a plus.
"... Optimus is right you know. You'll need to learn to get along with others if you want this peace treaty to work." Ironhide figured a change of subject was in order, and it was to another issue he was seriously doubting. Plus you tend not to think about lying when you were absorbed in work, which seemed to be what Starscream was doing. The Decepticon just scoffed, making Ironhide narrow his optics.
"Between Autobots and Decepticons, 'getting along' is a far stretch. Not killing each other is a better start." Starscream's voice echoed from inside the terminal, acompanied by the sounds of work, "Prime is fooling himself if he thinks all Decepticons are going to just accept this after years of hating Autobots." Even though Ironhide agreed with Starscream, he still had to stand up for Optimus.
"... It would help if you actually put an effort toward the peace treaty."
"And just what do you think I'm doing in here? There is no way that all Autobots are going to 'get along' as well. There's a bit of a trust issue between us. It's most likely that the Decepticons will become divided with the death of Megatron." There was a loud bang as Starscream's arm collided against one of the walls within the terminal after pulling on some wires and having them come out more easily than originally thought. As an added note, "... You're going to need longer rolls of wire in order to link controls farther through the base. Though it would be best to connect all terminals together in order to share functions. With the exception of the holding area and access to the power grid." Those two should have restricted access due to their importance. Ironhide let his mind wander a bit on the issue of 'trust' and 'Decepticons'.
"... If you Decepticons knew how to trust one another with individual tasks, you could be a better fighter." Of course he couldn't help adding a smug tinge to his voice, which made Starscream stop his work and pull out of the terminal, glaring bullets.
"Are you trying to say I'm no good on the battle field?" Ironhide tilted his head about as if thinking about it.
"Well you were taken down and captured by a bunch of humans..." Starscream was still glaring at him.
"I was not taken down by those insignifigant little meat bags."
"Ohh you're right. I took you down."
"You didn't do it on your own."
"Are you saying I couldn't have done it on my own?" Their verbal battle was heating up fairly quickly.
"Yes I am. You Autobots can't do anything on your own. Without your comrads, you're useless and weak." Surprisingly, Ironhide didn't pull out his cannons, but took a step forward with a smug grin on his face as he poked at Starscream's chest.
"Then I think you would make a fine Autobot since you're obviously so weak on your own." Starscream pulled back in slight shock (and maybe a little admiration) at the quick and effective comeback. But no one beat him in insults, mostly because they quickly ended with gunfire and he tended to be quicker on the draw. He couldn't help but to grin and lean forward assertively to counter,
"And you would make a fine Decepticon with your habit for destruction." Ironhide hadn't expected such a quick response, and was having trouble taking a taste of his own medicin. His plasma cannons engaged,
"You take that back. I am not like a Decepticon." He growled threateningly. Starscream, however, didn't back down, just sneering directly into his face,
"Oh really? Then how does one blow up a planet on accident?" Ironhide was oh-so very close to losing it.
"That planet was going to go anyway." He growled, plasma cannons charging. The both of them were interrupted, luckily, by the sound of the door sliding open, the peace maker himself standing in the doorway; Optimus Prime. There was a moment of silence in which he assessed the situation before talking.
"... I'm going to assume the both of you are getting along well." Optimus watched as Ironhide disengaged his cannons and stepped away from Starscream.
"There's no way I'm going to work with this slagging Decepticon." Ironhide pointed at Starscream for emphasis. Starscream knew that Optimus's presence pretty much guaranteed he wouldn't be shot. So of course; he pushed his luck
"What's the matter, can't hold a decent conversation without blowing something up?" He sneered, nudging Ironhide's arm where the cannon was. Ironhide pulled his arm away and swatted at him.
"Pipe down, punk. Mommy and daddy are talking." Ironhide growled. He was used to talking with his fists, so a verbal battle was something he was a novice at. Up against a pro. Starscream just grinned,
"Oh really? Does this make you the daddy or the mommy?" The destructive Autobot could have blown a gasket from Starscream's pestering and insults,
"The daddy!" He blinked after a moment, turning to look at Optimus who had his arms crossed and eyebrow raised slightly as he watched the two fight, "Uh... not that I'm saying you're... the mommy, Optimus." Ironhide supplied a bit akwardly. Starscream had broken out in laughter behind him, arms curling accross his gut as he doubled over. He'd successfully lured Ironhide into a verbal trap. Which the spoken of Autobot was not very happy about.
"You shut up before I make you shut up!"
"Now Ironhide-"
"Oh yeah? You and what army, Autobot?"
"ARGH!" Ironhide leaped at Starscream, forsaking his guns and just punching the jet in the face. Who of course retaliated and fought back as they fell over and fought rolling around on the ground. Optimus just sighed, wondering if Ironhide's weaponry should be taken away from him the next time he had to watch Starscream.
"Alright, the both of you calm down." Optimus stepped forward, grabbing both of them and managing to pull them apart AND pin them down, though they were both struggling, "CHILDREN." He tightened his grip on both of them to make them cease their struggles. Which they did, death glares aimed at one another. Optimus sighed, "You are going to both have to work together and learn to get along if you want to set an example to others."
"There's no way I'm working with him!" They both yelled in unison. Optimus Prime let the both of them up,
"Ironhide, you need to calm down. Starscream, you will show me your work with the terminal." Both transformers were brushing themselves off, exchanging glares before walking away from one another, Starscream walking to the terminal and bringing it to life to check the latest improvements. Optimus stopped behind him to overview it.
"More work still needs to be done. If there had been a decent electrician amongst you, this could be done faster." Optimus had ignored the spiteful comment, merely watching the updates and scanning the inner wiring of the computer.
"... This is... impressive work, Starscream." Optimus stood back up, looking over at the Decepticon, "We can certainly get our base of organization going faster with you working with us." Starscream just scoffed, processor already going over all the things he'd have to fix.
"I'll have to rewire the entire base." He grumbled irritably, "It will take MONTHS." Starscream turned the terminal off, pulling more wires out again to continue his work. The intercom crackled to life, all but Starscream looking up, since he was absorbed in his work. It was Ratchet's voice.
"Optimus, Ironhide; Bumblebee has arrived with Sam. They have what you requested." Ironhide seemed to brighten slightly, glancing over at Optimus with a rather evil grin. His leader merely nodded to Ironhide before looking over at Starscream. Ironhide grinned,
"Come on Starscream, we have a little surprise for you." There was a rather long pause, Starscream pulling out from the terminal slowly.
"... I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"Probably not." Optimus walked to the door, opening it.
"Come on you two." Starscream stood and walked to the door, Ironhide behind him as they followed Optimus down the hall. The Decepticon couldn't help but to grin secretly, knowing the coded message he'd made for Barricade had been sent while he had access to the terminal.
---------------------------------- TBC!!!!!!!
:O Oooo, cliff hanger!
Leave it to Optimus Prime to make sure everything turns out okay and make sure people don't kill eachother.
Starscream and Ironhide get along great, eh? Like an old married couple... Love-hate relationship kinda thing. Love to hate... kinda thing...
:3 oh there is going to be much fun.