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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 12:34:36 GMT -5
((7 August 2027, 2130 HLT, following the events of "Long-Awaited Visit")) Barricade sat quietly in his cell in the Autobot brig, his comms and weapons non-functional mostly due to his still-low energon levels. He'd taken a gamble with coming to the Autobot base, either to swipe some energon or get himself captured as a prisoner. Not that being a prisoner was really appealing to him. With nothing else to do for the moment, Barricade had drifted off into recharge some hours earlier in order to conserve energy. Plus, it gave him time to rest his systems. The snatched bits of recharge over the past two decades were not enough for his systems, and it wasn't too often that he would get a full-length, uninterrupted recharge. As always, however, his recharge was light, and his optics onlined when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, four points of red light watching carefully to see who it was.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 13:36:39 GMT -5
Ironhide had spent most of the afternoon and evening with Anna and Speed Demon, de-stressing himself with his walk and talk with the two. Now they were off doing their own thing and Ironhide had calmed down enough to face Barricade down again without instantly wanting to off-line the mech on sight. His heavy peddes thumped against the flooring, ringing softly with the weight of his chassis as he walked. He strolled up to the cell where Barricade was and looked in at him, letting out a heavy snort. At first he simply looked at the younger mech, wondering where it all had begun to go wrong, what signs he had missed that told him what would happen and whether he could prevent the inevitable falling out they had before the war even started. Had Barricade simply been lost from the beginning with no hope of redemption or salvation at all? No, Ironhide could not believe that, not for a minute. Yet here he was, in a cell, and Ironhide was contemplating killing the mech all over again. As he thought about the situation, Ironhide came to the realization that his friend Barricade had died long ago, and that this mech was not his old friend, not anymore. With a hard dark glare and a heavy snort, Ironhide turned away from Barricade then and tromped several steps away as he muttered softly to himself, ~"Ain't nuthin' left anyway..."~
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 14:40:47 GMT -5
Barricade glared back at the large, older mech. His four optics narrowed, then widened when Ironhide turned and walked several steps away. "What, no yelling, or threatening, or trying to rip my head off again?" He snorted. "Thought you of all 'Bots would be more than glad to see me sitting in a cell. Or, would you rather have been able to kill me out there? Could never figure out why you joined Prime when your attitude about fighting was so much like the Decepticons." He stood up, one hand on the wall next to him to keep him steady. As the humans would put it, he was running on fumes, but that didn't mean he was going to just sit there. He figured Ironhide was there to interrogate him, and he wanted to keep some shred of dignity.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 16:12:20 GMT -5
Ironhide simply grunted at what Barricade had said, then shook his head a bit. "Yer already dead, died a long time ago. Ya just ain't figured it out yet." he answered over his shoulder, a faint hint of sadness in his otherwise deep and gravelly voice. He vented his heat exchange system then and moved over to the main post where the computer was, simply sitting down and beginning to go over filed on the screen that Barricade could not see. He remained quiet for the time being, almost as if he was acting like Barricade wasn't even there. They had a long and rather violent history between them, but now it seemed as if Ironhide had either forgotten or just given up. But one had to wonder just what was going through the big mech's processor as he sat there in silence.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 16:22:21 GMT -5
Barricade snorted again and let out a growl. "I feel pretty fracking alive right now. Maybe you need to get your processor checked some." When it seemed like Ironhide wasn't going to be entering Barricade's cell, he allowed his legs to slowly give out, bringing him back to a seated position. "Though, I've gotta say, who the frack are you and where's the real Ironhide? You're doing a piss-poor job of pretending to be him." His optics were narrowed suspiciously at the black mech. "Or is it that you've already had your little chat with Prime and convinced him that I'll never be fit to rejoin society, or whatever the slag it is you Autobots want the Decepticons to have a chance for, and you're just here to shoot me?" He snorted again, then blinked as a realization, he wasn't sure where it came from, hit him. "Don't tell me you're still all torn up over that bot from training. If it's an apology you're looking to get, then keep looking. Still don't regret what I did to 'm." {"Just that I betrayed you..."}
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 16:36:28 GMT -5
Ironhide pretended not to listen, though Barricade could tell he was as he slowed what he was doing a little. He then sighed and lowered his head, shaking it slightly. "N 'Cade died with him." was all Ironhide would say and turned away, his back to the cells now. He thought about all the friends and brothers in arms he had lost, their names echoing in his processor as their faces drifted across his vision. So many of them, just gone, and part of him had lost his seething hatred of Barricade over recent years, gradually being replaced with the same pain and mourning he felt for so many others who's Sparks had been extinguished in the war. Today he had finally realized what he was really feeling towards Barricade; the hatred and pain over the betrayal had long gone, replaced by the hatred of what Barricade had become. No, the Decepticon scout was no longer the young mech Ironhide had pulled from the brutal streets of Kaon, offering Runner the chance at a better life; this mech was someone else entirely, someone who had killed his old friend and took over his chassis. Ironhide merely lowered his head and seemed to go very still then, unknown if he had gone into recharge or if he was merely waiting for something...
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 16:51:40 GMT -5
Barricade leaned back against the wall, his growls fading. Part of him really wished that Ironhide would either leave or get the interrogation over with. "'F you're just here to talk about the past, then leave me alone. Nothing to be done, and no way to undo what's been done. Rather not think about it." He brought his left hand up, looking at it with feigned interest. His gyro flail was housed in the tire, a weapon that he'd built with his own hands. Now, without the energon to activate it, it was merely a tire.
{"Release me..."} Barricade jumped a bit, his thoughts interrupted as a voice flowed through his processor. {"Release me now!"} A low growl eminated from Barricade's vocals. "You're never getting out so long as I'm still online..." He spoke quietly, so Ironhide would hopefully not overhear him.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 16:57:06 GMT -5
Ironhide shifted almost imperceptibly at the sound of Barricade's voice and the low growl. He didn't move otherwise and remained quiet, his audio receptors focused on the cell behind him, wondering, and part of him daring to hope that perhaps something of his old friend had survived, somehow...
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 17:58:35 GMT -5
{"Fool. You would doom the both of us!"} The voice snarled. "Better than you getting loose, with all the damage you caused last time." Barricade growled, his two side optics glancing at Ironhide. It was hard to tell if the large, black mech was listening, but it didn't seem like it. "Nearly got me killed because you wouldn't stop. Should have never agreed to the project, then I wouldn't have to deal with you." A sharp pain shot through his processor, making him wince and keen in pain. {"You would not have survived without me or my abilities!"}
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 18:21:35 GMT -5
Ironhide tried very hard not to startle at the sudden cry from Barricade. Was the scout... arguing with himself? Ironhide slowly opened his optics, but did not otherwise move, listening carefully. Project? What project? Had the mech gone completely mad? Was his old friend still in there after all, fighting for control? Was some malevolent thing infiltrating Barricade's processor and that was what destroyed the friendship they had? Ironhide's processor was working overtime trying to gather what information he could, trying to make sense of what was going on in the cell behind him, not daring to move for fear of giving himself away.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 18:49:45 GMT -5
Barricade growled sharply. "I don't need you, and I've never needed you. Once I know how to get you out of my processor, I will do so. I don't care if I lose the hacks. The project is done. You're all that's left of it." He hissed. He was tired of Meta's presence, and wanted him gone completely. Part of him didn't care if it caused damage to his processor. He had a back-up, just in case. {"You say that now, and the moment I'm gone, you'll be begging to have me back."} Barricade snorted and rolled his optics a bit. "Keep dreaming. You failed, and there's a number of 'Bots and 'Cons who would love to take me out because of you." He lowered his voice a bit more for the last part, and began throwing up mental walls to contain Meta more.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 19:04:41 GMT -5
{"Because of you..."} Those words rang like crystal in Ironhide's processor. Barricade was struggling, fighting something inside himself, something that was never supposed to be there. The urge to get up and find a way to help Barricade overtook Ironhide then, along with the hope that maybe, just maybe, his lost friend could be saved after all. But Ironhide internally locked every servo in his frame, he needed to know for sure before he acted either way, he needed to know if it was this alien presence in Barricade's processor who had betrayed Ironhide so long ago. Was it this foreign entity or Barricade who committed the atrocities Barricade himself was accused of? Ironhide could not ask directly, but within himself he prayed for the answer, for the truth.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 19:19:51 GMT -5
Barricade waited a long, agonizing minute after putting the blocks up, the vented a sigh of relief. "Finally..." He whispered, taking refuge in the peace and quiet within his processor once more, and leaning back against the wall. He was tired. Actually, he wasn't tired, he was hungry, and that was making him feel tired. His fuel tank was completely empty, the energon he'd gotten from Swindle several days prior having run out some time ago, especially with his repair system working to repair what it could of the damage he'd received from Ironhide. A claw twitched. He could feel it slowly happening. If he didn't get a fuel source of any kind, he'd be half-mad before long.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 19:50:25 GMT -5
Ironhide could not stand it anymore and quiet as a rising shadow, he stood up. He then turned and looked back at Barricade, but the look on the big black mech's face was not anger or hatred, but sorrow, remorse, and maybe a hint of hope. ~"Cade?"~ he asked softly, hesitantly. He was rooted to where he stood, but his optics held a painfully familiar look in them, searching for some kind of confirmation. ~"Who really killed him?"~ he asked, his voice hardly a whisper yet revealing that Ironhide had actually heard one side of the conversation and had guessed at the rest.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 20:16:11 GMT -5
Barricade looked over at Ironhide, his four optics glowing. Apparently Ironhide had heard his little conversation with Meta. ~"Don't get your hopes up, rust bucket."~ He spoke somewhat softly, without his normal attitude. ~"That was all me, and you should know better than anyone that I was more than capable of it back then, and I don't regret it."~ {"Yes I do...I regret what it did to our friendship."} He wasn't about to speak his thoughts, however, nor was he going to willingly volunteer information about Meta. ~"Runner couldn't shake the streets, and I came from Runner."~ {"But I'm still him, still running. I can't stop running, I want to stop running."}
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