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Post by Ironhide on Apr 12, 2012 19:34:00 GMT -5
Michael chuckled a bit and looked over at Caliene. "Reminds me o' lil Anna. She was a sweet lil angel, n when she started gettin' 'round on her own, she was hard ta keep up with. Had her daddy's independent streak, n just as stubborn too." he told her, and he couldn't help but smile at the memories as he spoke. "She was a good kid though. Still is, just not so much a kid no more." he added, glancing down at the book of photos he was holding. "I s'pose I got a soft Spark with lil ones. Always did..." he admitted softly, his thoughts going back to the ones he saved before the war, and to one young mech in particular, one he still cherished with all his Spark.
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Capt. Caliene Meredith
Designated Decoy
A Trigger-happy Translator who loves to blow shit up!
My Guns, My Rules! Start Running![A1i:3]
Posts: 74
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Post by Capt. Caliene Meredith on Apr 24, 2012 16:14:44 GMT -5
”Sounds like dere’s a story dere, Ah know dat dere are few folks that would neveh expect ya ta have a soft spot fer lil’ one’s. And ah can say fer certain dat, yes we do grow up fast – ah mean just look at those pictures and ya’ll see da evidence. Ah’s tellin’ ya dat those pictures were taken between 10 and 15 years ago.” Cali sighed as she mentioned the last part.
Finding the right CD finally she placed it into the system and pressed play, the first strings of ‘Vivaldi’s Four Seasons - The Summer’ started to play from the speakers. Standing up and closing her eyes she visualized the time spent after each Mission she had gone on and for a moment forgot that Michael was in the room and started in on a Kata to calm herself down from some of the more vivid memories that came to the fore.
With all her moves flowing into one another and speeding up and down with the Music playing made it seem as though she was dancing, what she never noticed was that there were a few tears slipping from her closed lids as she concentrated on her movements. Once she got into her Meditative Mindset like this it was almost impossible to get her out of it, but there were a few ways – two that were dangerous to your health and one that only four other people knew about.
One such person was her Guardian, the ‘bot known as Interceptor. The other three were her Father and Brothers, but they weren't here to help right now and possibly never would be.
As she listened to the Music come to a close, she finished her final Kata and came to a rest before opening her eyes again and taking a deep breath as she did so, since the colors in the room were now much more vibrant after doing this type of Meditation.
Turning around she jumped when she realized and started to mentally kick herself that she had forgotten that Michael was in the room with her and had been watching her the entire time. What shocked her even more was the look on Michael’s face.
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Post by Ironhide on Apr 30, 2012 21:23:37 GMT -5
Ironhide watched quietly as she danced with the music, listening to it as he followed her movements. He then noticed the tears that had started to fall and he quietly stood, setting the book down on the chair and stepping closer to her, though not too close at first. As she finished her dance and looked at him, he smiled softly, an expression of understanding and empathy as he stepped forward towards her, reaching up and gently brushed the tears from her cheek. "Memory 's all we got of those we lost." he offered softly. "Time n war has taken a lot o' those I cared for from me, some taken by distance n time, others taken ta Primus. I'll see 'em all again one day, n so will you." he added, hoping to reassure her. In all his many years of life since the Tribal Wars on Cybertron, he knew that much to be true. He had to believe it, to do otherwise was to invite hopelessness, despair, and madness, something he was unwilling to court on any level.
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Capt. Caliene Meredith
Designated Decoy
A Trigger-happy Translator who loves to blow shit up!
My Guns, My Rules! Start Running![A1i:3]
Posts: 74
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Post by Capt. Caliene Meredith on May 3, 2012 19:39:43 GMT -5
Smiling back at Ironhide’s Holoform as he wiped away a stray tear, she gently squeezed his hand in a ‘thank you’ gesture. There were very, very few that ever saw her cry like this, and the fact that he didn’t baulk at her doing so spoke volumes to her about him.
"Memory 's all we got of those we lost." he said as she grabbed a Kleenex from the table behind them and wiped her eyes again. She was surprised to hear him add, "Time n war has taken a lot of those I cared for from me, some taken by distance and time, others taken to Primus. I will see them all again one day, and so will you."
She nodded in understanding at what he was now trying to convey, that even though she had lost them in this life that they would all meet up again in the next. This calmed her down even more and slowly moving around the room trying to gather her wits about her again, she glanced at her stereo as it started to play a different melody – not one that would be considered Classical by any stretch of the imagination by purists, but to her meant a lot.
"Vivaldi - Four Seasons: Spring" done on 250 Electric Guitars by Dan Sindel . She had to admit that hearing a classical piece done on Electric Guitar was definitely something different and praised her Brothers for finding the gem for her and placing it on her discs.
”Ya right dere, ‘Hide. Ah’ll see ‘em all again, and not necessarily once ah die either, I have been able ta walk da Dream Realms since ah was a youngling, and certain music helps me ta do dis – Classical is just one of dem. I have seen past members of mah Family dere, one’s ah never met before seeing as dey passed before ah was even thought of. Although ah gotta admit dat it will be nice ta finally meet up with mah Friends and Family once mah time here is done – though hopefully not for a long while yet, ah gots too much ta do before dat happens.” she said as she looked at a few sketches she had drawn up for her Off-Base Property that were stuck to one of the walls with tacks
Noting the marks of her now completed Shooting Range/Urban Warfare Training Area she had she decided that she could probably get away with adding a building of a racetrack on to the property; behind the house in the rear fields so as to keep the noise down. It would give those who enjoyed racing around a safe place to do so without the local police getting involved and giving Prowl a break from those who would cause trouble by racing. That even included her Guardian Interceptor.
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Post by Ironhide on May 11, 2013 22:48:52 GMT -5
Michael smiled a bit at that. "There's legends among my kind o' Oracles able ta reach out ta the Great Spark where all 're One n can talk ta bots who've returned ta Primus. I never met any, n dunno anyone who has, though." he remarked thoughtfully. "Far as I know, only bot who can is the one who carries the Matrix, Optimus. Legend says he can talk ta all the past Primes n even the Dynasty themselves, the first thirteen o' our race, all Primes created by Primus himself, n that only the Matrix Bearer Prime can hear the voice o' Primus n understand his will fer us all." he explained, though he wasn't sure she'd understand it all. "I sometimes hope I might live long enough ta see an Oracle, but the war's destroyed so much o' our kind n decimated our world..." he said shaking his head slightly.
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Capt. Caliene Meredith
Designated Decoy
A Trigger-happy Translator who loves to blow shit up!
My Guns, My Rules! Start Running![A1i:3]
Posts: 74
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Post by Capt. Caliene Meredith on May 13, 2013 22:13:39 GMT -5
Cali turned and faced Michael smiling a watery smile at what he was saying, she understood far more than most people did about things like this, especially since her Grandmother and Aunt had trained her in the ‘Old Ways’ properly.
In the background the music changed to “Maid with the Flaxen Hair”[/i] by ‘Richard Stoltzman and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra’[/i]. Listening to it with half an ear she walked closer to Michael and gave him a hug, not just a normal type hug either, but the type says; “I’m here for you if and when you need me, and you have my sympathy for everything bad that has happened to you.”
Pulling herself away gently, she went and sat down on the futon couch she had, legs crossed in a meditative pose that to her was comfortable. She watched his face closely as she decided to enlighten him about this side of her life.
” There was one in Greece; way back in our History, known as the Oracle of Delphi. There are few of us left here on Earth that can do this type of communication. The reasoning for this silence is because of those who are real fakes – those who just care about making money off of others. Some of us are labeled as charlatans, whereas others are just too afraid to let others know. I am one of those who are afraid to let others know about this side of me, I am a dedicated member of the United States Army, a Commanding Officer to those who serve with me, and yet I am scared of a power I inherited from my Mother’s side of the family.” she paused slightly before continuing.
”I have helped friends who were close to me who lost loved ones find their peace with this. Some call it a gift; I call it a curse, one that I deal with daily. It is also, one of the reasons I listen to so much Classical Music – it helps to fight the loneliness I feel once I am not working, and why I enjoy going out for a drive and such with Interceptor. I think I can understand somewhat why Prime both reveres and fears the Matrix of Leadership – it is his link to your God, his Wisdom and those who have passed that need a way to contact the living. Am I correct in that last part?” she asked.
She was by now gently popping her toe and finger joints to release the trapped air between the cartilage, making small popping and crackling sounds. Even she had to admit that this was the most she had talked to anyone about her abilities, her family and her history. She snorted a laugh back when she realized that it took talking to a metallic transforming Alien, whose Holoform was in the same room as her, for her to spill what had never before been told in detail.
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Post by Ironhide on May 14, 2013 14:37:27 GMT -5
Michael gratefully returned the hug, then watched her for a moment as she sat on the futon, listening as she spoke. He then nodded and moved to sit as well. "Yeah, sounds 'bout right." he answered. "Primus is our creator n Optimus can talk ta him sometimes. He's always been a quiet mech though; very few really know him well, mostly his lost brother Ultra Magnus, Jazz, Ratchet, me n Bumblebee n a few others closest ta him." he told her as she quietly popped her knuckles. He then gave her a curious look when she seemed to laugh slightly. "Aight, what gives?" he asked, wondering what had struck her as being so funny.
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Capt. Caliene Meredith
Designated Decoy
A Trigger-happy Translator who loves to blow shit up!
My Guns, My Rules! Start Running![A1i:3]
Posts: 74
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Post by Capt. Caliene Meredith on May 28, 2013 6:42:39 GMT -5
Cali thought about what Michael was saying before nodding in agreement – it made a warped kind of sense to her, but she also how Prime felt about such things. She decided that if she should ever need help trying to figure something out due to her gift, that she would let ‘Hide know so that she could try and speak to Prime and see what his wisdom could do to help her out and vice-versa.
She laughed even harder and louder when she heard Michael ask her, "Aight, what gives?" She tried to calm herself down enough to answer him and finally managed it after a few seconds of slight coughing due to inhaling air the wrong way.
”Nothing much Michael, just the thought that you know something about me that the Base Shrinks don’t. And that if I was to phrase it differently it would be like this: The base Shrinks have asked me time and again if there was anything that I wanted to talk about, and I kept saying: ‘No, nothing at all.’ And yet it took me talking to an Alien Being from another Planet, to bring out some of the things I have kept bottled up for years without telling anyone. Kind of ironic really.” she said as she looked Michael in the eyes.
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Post by Ironhide on Jun 8, 2013 17:22:34 GMT -5
Michael chuckled a bit at that. "Well, I suppose it's in the kind o' bot I am, really. 'S why so many look at me as 'Uncle Ironhide. Grumpy as I am most o' the time, with the lil ones, I'm a big soft Spark really, always was." he admitted. "Guess it carries over ta how I am with humans too, bein' so much smaller 'n me I kinda think o' humans as lil ones too, even grown humans." He smiled at her then, thinking about what it might be like for her to have a sit down with Optimus and talk about their experiences together. "I think you n Prime oughta talk, might find more in common than ya might think." he told her, confident he was right in that assessment.
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Capt. Caliene Meredith
Designated Decoy
A Trigger-happy Translator who loves to blow shit up!
My Guns, My Rules! Start Running![A1i:3]
Posts: 74
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Post by Capt. Caliene Meredith on Jul 1, 2013 17:12:26 GMT -5
"I think you n Prime oughta talk, might find more in common than ya might think." he told her, confident he was right in that assessment.
"That would be an interesting conversation to say the least." she murmured to herself, before looking towards Michael and saying, "Yeah, but only if both Prime and myself can find some time to do so together. I mean we're both very busy Commanders, and finding any large amount of down-time is next to impossible, especially when we're always trying to stay a few steps ahead of whatever the 'Cons are planning on doing next. That and I don't know if even Prime would believe me if I tried talking to him about such things, remember that not many understand that some of us humans are wired differently than others - even when it comes to spiritual things."
Getting up and walking over to her system, whilst she let Michael ponder her response, she removed the now ended CD, and placed it carefully back into it's case. Grabbing another much larger black case off of the shelves beneath the system, she unzipped it and started to flick through the pages trying to find some more music to listen to.
Cali finally found a disc containing some music from the great Composer Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)[/i] a piece called Messa di Gloria[/i] which was just over 55 minutes long if she remembered correctly, and that it was from on of the Operas that he had penned whilst he was alive - thus there was singing in this piece, but it was in the Italian used at the time, which was different to what was spoken now.
After pushing the play button, she headed on back to her seat and took a slight sip of her drink. She had to admit to herself that she enjoyed spending time with others who enjoyed such music as this, even though she enjoyed other Genre's when out and about with her Guardian, Interceptor.
After placing her drink down she picked up a silver leather-bound book that had slid underneath her seat. As she opened it up to check it, she frowned slightly as she tried to figure out why it took Classical Music of all things for her to actually sit down and talk with Ironhide: Autobot Weapons Specialist, and all-around Mech Wreaking Machine, in a civilized conversation that wasn't on a battlefield with 'Cons shooting at them left, right and center.
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Post by Ironhide on Jul 2, 2013 4:56:42 GMT -5
Ironhide thought about it for a moment as his holoform watched her. He could certainly appreciate good music, and when the old Italian opera came on, Michael tilted his head slightly, listening for a moment. "Ya know, ye'd be surprised how easy it is ta talk ta Prime, even in his office. N ye'd really be surprised what he'd believe o' what yer species an do. Bot's done a lot o' research, kinda his thing, really. S' what he did back on Cybertron 'fore the war, Archaeology n Cybertronian history. He wanted ta know 'bout our past, hopin' ta see something o' the future fer all o' us, so he lead the science, cultural research, n dig teams while Megatron led the security n military forces ta protect Cybertron. Well, till he betrayed us all n tried ta have Optimus murdered, anyway..." He then paused for a moment, noting her frown. "What's wrong?" he asked, wondering if it might have been the subject of the conversation.
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Capt. Caliene Meredith
Designated Decoy
A Trigger-happy Translator who loves to blow shit up!
My Guns, My Rules! Start Running![A1i:3]
Posts: 74
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Post by Capt. Caliene Meredith on Jan 7, 2014 17:02:20 GMT -5
Looking back up at at Michael, she continued to frown whilst holding onto the silver leather-bound book before hugging it like it was a life-line and then answering his question. ”I’m still trying to figure out why I’m telling you all this, I mean the last time I even had this type of conversation it was with my Grandmother when I was only 5 and my ‘powers’ started to show themselves.” she said using finger quotation marks when she said “powers” whilst shifting into a more comfortable position in the chair.
”I didn’t realize it until the music was playing and finding this book under my chair just brought it all back to me. This book is the one she gave me and it contains just a few of the multiple historical facts about the women and 4 males of my distant family who could do what I do.” she added afterwards as if it would hopefully make any kind of sense to the Mech in question. She truly missed her Grandmother who had been deceased for over 15 years now, but if push came to shove she was sure she could contact her cousin and see what he thought about her trying to spiritually contact her Grandmother to see if she was right about her way of living now.
As if sensing that Michael was waiting for her to continue, she sighed and bowed her head, her hair falling to hide her face from view as she muttered to herself about actually doing it and going to talk to the Prime.
”I think I might just have to talk to the Prime, maybe when I don’t have so much paperwork to worry over - which should be sometime in the next week if I don’t sleep for the next 72 hours and only snack on energy bars and energy drinks - please don’t tell Doc Bot I said that, or he’ll sit meh in da Med Bay ‘til Ah promise ta take it easy and sleep properly or he may even just knock meh out with a tranq until he deems meh rested.” she added with her accent becoming more pronounced as she talked.
She had visibly shuddered when she had mentioned Ratchet keeping her in the Med Bay, but she knew it would be true if the Doc Bot ever found out that she wasn’t keeping better care of herself.
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Post by Ironhide on Feb 7, 2014 16:22:59 GMT -5
Michael chuckled a bit at the mention of Ratchet and nodded. "Ole grumpy bumpers means well, worries 'bout all o' us, humans too." He reached out and gently rubbed the back of her shoulder in a soothing gesture. "Dun worry 'bout ole Doc Bot, I won't say nuthin' ta 'im. Just promise me ye'll get some sleep n take care o' yerself? Dun want ya ta push yerself too hard, I do enough o' that fer all o' us already." he offered with a smile, hoping to reassure her. "Go talk ta Prime when yer ready, he'll listen t' ya, he'll understand a lot more 'n ya think."
After a moment, he decided to make an offer to her. "If ya like, ya can come with me while I finish my rounds n then out fer a drive, get some fresh air away from the base. Offer's open any time ya want er need it." He certainly didn't mind the company, and he well knew how stifling it could be being stuck on base all the time. Besides, he figured he could use a little drive off base himself to destress and stretch out a bit.
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